Oromia Conflict Disrupts Crucial Healthcare Access For Pregnant Women

The ongoing conflict in the Oromia Regional State has severely disrupted healthcare services, leaving pregnant women without critical medical care and leading to preventable deaths, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) reports.

The aid organization stated the region faces a hidden healthcare catastrophe, where pregnant women in remote villages are dying due to conflict-induced medicine shortages and shuttered clinics.

For nearly two years, the report says, conflict has forced local health centers to close, leaving pregnant women without access to skilled medical care. According to the report, those with high-risk pregnancies are particularly vulnerable, with some resorting to a last-ditch effort of being transported by donkey cart to distant hospitals.

The report added that the region is having a devastating effect on many communities, particularly those in remote areas.

“Oromia doesn’t make the headlines, yet civilians continue to be deeply affected by violence, with many people killed or injured and limited help coming from outside the region,” reads the report.

The report also states that local residents are witnessing a high number of maternal deaths due to a severe lack of medicine and healthcare services.

“I was shot and wounded due to hostilities in our district,” recalled Sanbato Karkarsa, a resident of Begi zone. “It was a very difficult time; the road was blocked. People like me who were wounded, including a pregnant woman, were in a desperate situation. Begi hospital was destroyed and there was not enough medicine and functioning medical equipment.”

According to the report, the ICRC is continuing its operations in the region, engaging with all parties to ensure access to communities in need.

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“The conflict has ravaged existing infrastructure like health facilities, increasing the humanitarian consequences for communities that are stranded between both sides of the conflict,” said Arpita Mitra, the ICRC delegate in West Wellega and Kellem Wellega zones.

The Global Shelter Cluster’s July 2025 report reveals that nearly 173,000 people have been displaced across six regions, with the overall majority displaced in the Oromia region.

The report attributes approximately 46.5 percent of these displacements to conflict.

The conflict in Oromia, which has lasted for more than five years, involves ongoing armed confrontations between government forces and the Oromo Liberation Army (OLA), also referred to by the government as ‘OLF-Shene.’