They are set up to avert humanitarian catastrophes and provide relief for civilians. But they also can be abused. How can humanitarian corridors help and how can they harm?

The U.N. human rights chief said on Monday the situation in northern Ethiopia had deteriorated since November and her office had received reports of wide-spread violations including rapes and lethal airstrikes. Michelle Bachelet told the Geneva-based Human Rights Council her staff had recorded 304 deaths and injuries to 373 people in air attacks "apparently carried out by the Ethiopian Air Force" in Tigray and Afar regions.

Experts have noticed a surge in online sales of Ethiopian artifacts. They fear these relics could have been looted during Ethiopia's ongoing civil war.

The war in Ukraine has provoked a massive humanitarian and economic crisis. The International Monetary Fund unblocked 1.4 billion dollars in emergency aid for Kyiv this week - and says it's ready to help neighbouring countries that request further assistance. The IMF's First Deputy Managing Director, Gita Gopinath, has been speaking to France 24's Kate Moody about the need for financing, the impact on regional and emerging economies, and how the global economy might change.

"Today the key task is Mariupol," he said, adding that a humanitarian supply convoy was now only 80 kilometers (50 miles) away from the besieged port city, where more than 400,000 people are trapped.

In Ukraine the destruction continues and the death toll increases. Tonight we are focusing on the humanitarian situation. This Monday, day 19 of the Russian invasion, there have been strikes on residential buildings on the outskirts of Kyiv. A Russian vice squeezing the Ukrainian capital.

At least 53 people died after an unidentified armed group attacked a civilian convoy. The previously unreported attack occurred in March. A video appearing to show men in military uniform burning victims alive prompted the government to say it would find those responsible.

Human rights were among the first casualties of the ongoing conflict in Ethiopia. While both sides continue to accuse each other of atrocities, independent organizations find it increasingly difficult to monitor abuses.

Tigray fighters have agreed to uphold a cease-fire in the war-ravaged Tigray region to allow for the delivery of aid. Hundreds of thousands of people in Tigray face starvation.

The Ethiopian Government declared the cessation of hostilities on Thursday, saying that it was to allow aid to reach stricken civilians. Hours later, Tigrayan authorities issued a statement saying that they would do everything possible, to make the humanitarian ceasefire, a success.

Aid convoys have yet to reach Ethiopia's war-ravaged Tigray region almost a week after the government announced a humanitarian truce.

Tigrayans are being targeted with ethnic cleansing in the contested Western Tigray zone, according to a new report by human rights groups. The onslaught of rape and killings amounts to "war crimes," they added.