Crisis how long

At the time, Tigray's administration said this amounted to a "declaration of war". Tensions increased, and the eventual catalyst was when Tigrayan forces were accused of attacking army bases to steal weapons. Mr Abiy said Tigray had crossed a "red line". Ethiopia, Africa's oldest independent country, has undergone sweeping changes since Mr Abiy came to power.

A member of the Oromo, Ethiopia's largest ethnic group, Mr Abiy made appeals to political reform, unity and reconciliation in his first speech as prime minister.

His agenda was spurred by the demands of protesters who felt Ethiopia's political elite had obstructed a transition to democracy. In the s and s their party, the TPLF, fought a war to seize control of the government from a military junta.

The party succeeded, which is how it came to be the leading member of the coalition government that took power in The coalition gave autonomy to Ethiopia's regions, but retained a tight grip on the central government, with critics accusing it of repressing political opposition. Tigray's decision to hold its own election last September, for example, was an unprecedented act of defiance against the central government.

Both sides then designated each other as "illegitimate". Tigray argued at the time that the central government had not been tested in a national election since Mr Abiy's appointment as prime minister. Polls have since just been held in some parts of the country. There has long been animosity between Tigray and Eritrea's government. A dispute over territory along their shared border was the cause of a war fought between Ethiopia and Eritrea from until You may remember this dispute making headlines in That year, Mr Abiy signed a peace treaty with Eritrea, ending the territorial spat.

Now it is war and starvation that is drawing attention to Ethiopia. More than two million of Tigray's six million people have fled their homes since 4 November, when Mr Abiy ordered an invasion after the TPLF fighters captured federal military bases.

Tens of thousands of them have sought refuge in neighbouring Sudan. The TPLF has been designated a terrorist organisation. The stigma of long-term unemployment can be profound and long-lasting.

But research shows that stubborn biases among hiring managers can make the lived experiences of jobseekers distressing, leading to a vicious cycle of diminished emotional well-being that can make it all but impossible to land a role.

Covid has ravaged employment in the United States, from temporary furloughs to outright layoffs. Currently, over 4 million Americans have been out of work for six months or more , including an estimated 1.

The causes of the Great Recession and Covid job crises differ, of course. But the stigma attached to LTU will likely be similar, particularly for knowledge workers and older workers. But it can, and it does for millions. Now that the United States is facing another growing unemployment crisis, in addition to an aging population, understanding the sociological effects of LTU it is critical for shaping a response — both for organizations and for individuals who lose their jobs.

My research over the past 15 years studying unemployment among white-collar American professionals shows that flawed understandings of long-term unemployment held by employers and former colleagues is one of the biggest barriers out-of-work people can face. This widespread stigma leads to isolation, makes looking for a job discouraging, and undermines well-being. To help answer this question, I interviewed over job seekers from the Boston area between and to better understand their experiences of LTU after the Great Recession.

Participants had been unemployed six months or longer, between the ages of 40—65, previously held careers in white-collar occupations, and were actively looking for work. I also interviewed job recruiters. For many life-long professionals who find themselves suddenly jobless, the search for new work typically begins with optimism befitting someone who has had a lengthy and successful career. But this optimism can quickly turn to bewilderment.

Working in the field of secondary education, he climbed his way up from guidance counselor to school principal before being laid off. Most job postings have a range of desired years of experience, typically no more than 5 to 8 years. Even a degree at a prestigious university or experience at a prestigious firm may not help. In addition to age discrimination, the mere fact of being unemployed invites bias, something that grows with the duration of unemployment.

Jody explained:. A company could lay off people because of a wide variety of reasons. But there is that perception. If a jobseeker does not find a job within a few months, this new barrier to employment can dwarf any others. Obviously other recruiters, other hiring managers have already made that call for them, that this person for some reason is not hirable or else they would have already been hired in the last year.

Facing these obstacles, and with mounting financial pressures and concerns about their ever-lengthening employment gap, many jobseekers broaden their searches to include lower-level jobs. This makes intuitive sense, but another obstacle appears: their own prior success. Having advanced to relatively high levels in their field, companies now refuse to consider them for lower-level jobs. He had started his career as an engineer in a small company and climbed his way to the position of director.

Because there are very few director positions and many more engineering jobs, after months of searching, Doug shifted his focus. To avoid the overqualification trap, some jobseekers consider switching to a new field in which their prior work experience will not be held against them. Senior level marketing positions are rare and when applying for lower-level marketing jobs, Cindy was told she was overqualified. I went on an interview for the exact job I wanted. I was so excited and [the interviewer] looked at me like I had 10 heads.

In the spirit of collaboration, we recently launched a Joint Programme on Ageing , in partnership with the United Nations Population Fund, the World Health Organization, the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, and HelpAge International, with the goal to uphold the rights and dignity of older persons through health, social care, and enabling environments in Europe and Central Asia. One of our first activities is an assessment of the impact of COVID on long-term care for older persons in Kazakhstan, which could be used as a potential model for other countries in the region to follow.

As many governments prioritize older persons among the at-risk populations to receive the first vaccinations, I hope that this may mark a turning point in the political attention given to their specific needs and vulnerabilities, and our collective responsibility to address them.

At the international level, we must not lose sight of the moral imperative for solidarity and equality in the distribution of vaccines. Protection from the virus cannot be a luxury for those who can afford it. Looking ahead, we must use the lessons learned from the crisis to better respond to the needs of older people. As we begin this new year, we also embark on a Decade of Healthy Ageing — a call to action to improve the lives of older people and their families by changing how we think, feel and act towards ageing; fostering the abilities of older people; delivering person-centred integrated care; and providing access to long-term care for older people who need it.

Despite the acute challenges that the pandemic has thrown our way, we must now take this opportunity to rebuild in a more age-inclusive manner. Reforming long-term care systems to ensure ageing with dignity, and decent work for those involved in long-term care must be at the heart of these efforts.

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