While it’s a big enough challenge to provide relief to those in need, sadly the bigger challenge is to deal with the governments involved. The challenges are not isolated to Ethiopia as many governments around the world make it difficult for aid workers to help afflicted populations. As the problems grow among corrupt governments, so will the population of people needing help.

Violence and displacement are threatening the lives of the civilian population in Ethiopia’s conflict-affected Somali region, the medical humanitarian organization Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) said today.

Despite urgent humanitarian needs, however, two sections of MSF have been denied access to the ‘Ogaden’ region. MSF is calling on the Ethiopian authorities to immediately allow its teams to provide assistance to people in the region who are in an increasingly desperate situation.

MSF has a signed agreement with the Government of Ethiopia to work in the Somali region and had conducted several assessments of the humanitarian needs in the area when it was forced to evacuate its teams for security reasons in late July.

Despite repeated appeals over the past weeks to gain permission to return, the Government of Ethiopia has denied both MSF Belgium and MSF Holland access.

allAfrica.com: Ethiopia: Medical Charity Warns of Humanitarian Crisis in Ogaden Region