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Ethiopia is dismayed by the “Resolution” of the Executive Council of the League of Arab States on the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) issued on 15 June 2021 after its meeting held in Doha, Qatar. Ethiopia rejects the “Resolution” in its entirety. In fact, this is not the first time the League of Arab States issued a statement regarding its misguided positions on the GERD. As a result of its egregious support to the baseless claims of Egypt and the Sudan regarding the GERD, the League of Arab States has already squandered its opportunity to play a constructive role. It should be abundantly clear that futile attempts like this to internationalize and politicize the GERD will not lead to sustainable regional cooperation in the utilization and management of the Nile.

The League of Arab States should know that utilization of the Nile waters is also an existential matter for Ethiopia. It is about lifting millions of its people out of abject poverty and meeting their energy, water and food security needs. Ethiopia is exercising its legitimate right to use its water resources in full respect for international water laws and the principle of causing no significant harm. Ethiopia firmly believes that it is only through cooperation and dialogue that the water security of any of the Nile Basin states can be achieved. The Nile is a shared resource and not an exclusive property of Egypt and the Sudan. That is why it is perplexing that the League of Arab States places particular emphasis on the water security of the two downstream countries in complete disregard to the interest of the rest of the Nile riparian states, which are the sources of the river. There is no better example than this to demonstrate the organization’s unhelpful and misguided approach towards the Nile issue.

From the outset, Ethiopia has done everything possible to accommodate the concerns of the two downstream countries in good faith with the hope of ushering in a new era of cooperation among the Nile Basin countries. It is the intransigence of both Egypt and the Sudan, which has made it extremely difficult to make any meaningful progress in the tripartite negotiation. During the South African-led negotiation, it was Egypt and the Sudan that disrupted the negotiations seven times.

Despite the tremendous efforts by the DRC to create the necessary conditions for the resumption of the trilateral negotiations at the meeting held in Kinshasa from 3-5 April 2021, the two countries deliberately undermined the possibility of agreeing on a roadmap for the continuation of the negotiations. Ethiopia agreed to seven of the nine proposals contained in the draft communiqué prepared by the DRC, while Egypt and Sudan rejected the substantive parts of the communiqué. The two countries worked in concert to ensure the failure of the Kinshasa meeting by raising unrelated procedural issues. It is, therefore, regrettable that the League of Arab States decided to take a position on the AU-led negotiation without verifying the facts.

The League of Arab States also seems to be oblivious of the fact that the tripartite negotiation between Ethiopia, Egypt and the Sudan are guided by the Declaration of Principles (DoP), which the leaders of the three countries signed in 2015. The filling of the GERD will be conducted as per the plan in accordance with the DoP and the recommendation of the research group composed of experts from the three countries. Hence, Ethiopia categorically rejects the futile attempt by the League of Arab States to dictate terms regarding the filling of the GERD. As a regional organization, it would have been only appropriate for the League of Arab States to encourage the three parties to reach a win-win solution instead of its unhelpful, partial and unreasonable position.

What is even more disappointing is the attempt by Egypt and the Sudan to unnecessarily politicize the GERD negotiation and try to make it an Arab issue. This clearly shows their lack of fidelity to the AU-led tripartite process. The GERD is an African issue, which needs an African solution. The disagreement between Ethiopia, Egypt and the Sudan can only be resolved through good faith negotiation and compromise in the spirit of finding African solutions to African problems. It is precisely because of this reason that the United Nations Security Council referred the matter to the African Union.

Therefore, the League of Arab States should desist from making such unhelpful statements, which will only serve to antagonize the relations between the three countries and undermine the tripartite negotiation. It should instead encourage Egypt and the Sudan to engage in good faith negotiation to find a win-win solution and lend its full support to the ongoing AU-led process in this regard. Once again, Ethiopia reaffirms its commitment to the Declaration of Principles and remains fully engaged in the AU-led tripartite negotiation process to find a mutually beneficial outcome on the GERD issue.

Spokesperson Office

15 June 2021

Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed has put forth a challenge to all Ethiopians to go out June 21^st to cast their vote.

The Premier further urged Ethiopians to join the effort to adorn the country through the already started tree planting campaign as per the national Green Initiative Legacy.

“All Government offices will be closed on this day to enable us to exercise our democratic right to vote and to impart our civic duty in greening Ethiopia”, he said, adding “We will make up for work by going in full day the Saturday that follows”

በኢትዮጵያ ዳያስፖራ ኤጀንሲና በኢፌዴሪ ሚሲዮኖች አስተባባሪነት በመላው ዓለም ከሚገኙ የዳያስፖራ ወጣት ተወካዮች ጋር በሃገራችን ወቅታዊ ሁኔታ ላይ የመከረና በአይነቱ የመጀመሪያው የሆነ የበይነ መረብ ውይይት ተካሄደ።

በውይይት መድረኩ ላይ በክብር እንግድነት የተገኙት የኢፌዴሪ ም/ጠ/ሚ እና የወ/ጉ/ሚ ክቡር አቶ ደመቀ መኮንን ባስተላለፉት መልዕክት ኢትዮጵያ ሁሉን አሳታፊ በሆነ ለውጥ ውስጥ እንደምትገኝ ገልጸው፣ ይኽው የለውጥ ሂደት በስኬት እንዲጠናቀቅ ወጣቶችን ጨምሮ ሁሉም ሃገር ወዳድ ኢትዮጵያውያን በያሉበት ርብርብ ሊያደርጉ እንደሚገባ አሳስበዋል። አክለውም ኢትዮጵያ ከያቅጣጫው ፈተና ቢበዛባትም በጽናት ወደፊት በመራመድ ላይ እንዳለች ጠቅሰው፣ ፈተናዎቹ የህዝቡን አንድነት ይበልጥ እያጠናከሩት መምጣታቸውን ገልጸዋል። የፈተኛዎቹ መብዛት ኢትዮጵያ ሁሉንም አቅሞቿን አስተባብራ እንድትጠቀም የሚጠይቅ መሆኑን አንስተው፣ ይህ ትውልድም እንደቀደምት አባቶቹ ታሪክ ሰሪነቱን የሚያሳይበት ወቅት ላይ እንደሚገኝ ገልጸዋል።

በተለይም ወቅቱ በሃገራችን ታሪክ ውስጥ ወሳኝ ሚና የሚኖራቸውን ነጻና ሁሉን አሳታፊ ምርጫን እንዲሁም ሁለተኛው ዙር ታላቁ የኢትዮጵያ ህዳሴ ግድብ ሙሌት የሚከናወንበት መሆኑን አስታውሰው፣ ከዚህ አንጻር በሃገራችን ላይ እየተሰነዘሩ ያሉ ያልተገቡ ጫናዎችን ለመቋቋም የዳያስፖራ ወጣቶች የሚያከናውኑት የተደራጀና ፈጣን የፐብሊክ ዲፕሎማሲ ስራ ወቅታዊና አስፈላጊ መሆኑን አስገንዝበዋል። በመሆኑም ይህንን አስቸጋሪ ጊዜ በስኬት መሻገር እንዲቻል ሚሲዮኖችና የሚመለከታቸው አካላት በሙሉ ፈተናውን የሚመጥን ጥረት ማድረግ እንዳለባቸው፣ ወጣቱም የተናበበ የፐብሊክ ዲፕሎማሲ ስራ ሊያከናውን እንዲሁም ሁሉም አካላት በቃላቸው መሰረት ለመገኘት ጥረት ማድረግ እንዳለባቸው አሳስበዋል።

ለተሳታፊዎቹ የእንኳን ደህና መጣችሁ መልዕክት ያስተላለፉት የኢትዮጵያ ዳያስፖራ ኤጀንሲ ዋና ዳይሬክተር ክብርት ወ/ሮ ሰላማዊት ዳዊትም በበኩላቸው ዳያስፖራው ለሃገሩ አለኝታ መሆኑን በሚያረጋግጥ መልኩ ሃገራዊ ፕሮጀክቶችንና ጥሪዎችን ለመደገፍ ከፍተኛ መጠን ያለው ሃብት አሰባስቦ እየላከ በመሆኑ ምስጋናቸውን ገልጸዋል። በፐብሊክ ዲፕሎማሲ ዘርፍም ዳያስፖራው የኢትዮያን ገጽታ ለማጠልሸትና ያልተገባ ጫና ለማሳደር የሚንቀሳቀሱ አካላትን በመቃወም ታላላቅ የተቃውሞ ሰልፎችን፣ የትዊተር ዘመቻዎችንና የማግባባት ስራዎችን በማከናወን ላይ እንደሚገኝ ገልጸው፣ በዚህም ተስፋ ሰጪ ውጤቶች መታየታቸውን አንስተዋል። ዋና ዳይሬክተሯ አክለውም የዳያስፖራው አንድ ክፍል የሆነውን ወጣት ዳያስፖራ በማሳተፍ የተጠናከረ የፐብሊክ ዲፕሎማሲና ሌሎች ተያያዥ ስራዎችን በተጠናከረ ሁኔታ መስራት እንዲቻል የሚመለከታቸው አካላት ሁሉ የየበኩላቸውን አስተዋጽኦ ማበርከት እንደሚጠበቅባቸው አሳስበዋል።

በመድረኩ ላይ በፓናሊስትነት የቀረቡ ክቡራን አምባሳደሮችም በኢትዮጵያ ላይ እየተፈጸሙ ያሉ ያልተገቡ ጫናዎችን ለመከላከል በሚያስተባብሯቸው ሚሲዮኖች እየተከናወኑ ያሉ ተግባራትን አስረድተዋል። ክቡራን አምባሳደሮቹ አክለውም ወጣት ዳያስፖራዎች ካላቸው የቴክኖሎጂ ቀረቤታና በሚኖሩበት ሃገር ከሚገኙ ሰዎች ጋር የፈጠሩትን ቅርበትና ማህበራዊ ትስስር ተጠቅመው ያለማመንታት የኢትዮጵያን እውነት ለማስረዳትና በየሃገሩ የኢትዮጵያ ወዳጆችን ለማብዛት፣ ከሚዲያ አካላትም ጋር በቅርበት ለመስራት ጥረት ሊያደርጉ እንደሚገባና ከዚህም አንጻር የሚመሯቸው ሚሲዮኖች አስፈላጊውን ድጋፍ ለማድረግ ዝግጁ መሆናቸውን አስገንዝበዋል። በህብረትና በመናበበ እስከተሰራ ድረስ ውጤት ማግኘትና አስቸጋሪ ሁኔታዎችን መቀየር እንደሚቻልም ገልጸዋል።

የዳያስፖራ ወጣቶችም በበኩላቸው በያሉበት አካባቢ በማከናወን ላይ ያሉትን የፐብሊክ ዲፕሎማሲ ስራ ያቀረቡ ሲሆን፣ ጥረታቸው በተሻለ ውጤት እንዲታጀብ አደረጃጀቶቻቸውን ማጠናከርና ወደፊት ወጥተው መስራት እንዳለባቸው፣ የሃገር ገጽታ ግንባታ ትኩረታቸው ሊሆን እንደሚገባና በስሜት ሳይሆን በዕውቀትና በምክንያታዊነት መንፈስ መስራት እንዳለባቸው እንዲሁም ኢትዮጵያ ከእነሱ የምትፈልገውን ሁሉ ለማድረግ ዝግጁ መሆናቸውን ገልጸዋል።

መድረኩ ሲጠቃለል ክብርት ዋና ዳይሬክተር ባስተላለፉት መልዕክት ወጣቶች በሃገራቸው ጉዳይ ላይ በጋራ ለመስራት ስላሳዩት መነሳሳት አመስግነው፣ ወጣት ዳያስፖራዎች ሃይላቸውን አስተባብረውና አንድነታቸውን አጠናክረው ከሰሩ በሁሉም ዘርፍ የሃገራቸውን ጥቅም ማስከበር እንደሚችሉ አረጋግጠዋል።

በመድረኩ ላይ ከ400 በላይ የኢፌዴሪ ሚሲዮኖችን የወከሉ ክቡራን አምባሳደሮች፣ የሚሲዮን መሪዎች፣ ዲፕሎማቶች እንዲሁም የወጣቶች ዳያስፖራ ተወካዮች ተገኝተዋል።

In a pre-recorded video message, Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister of Ethiopia, Demeke Mekonnen said Ethiopia is disappointed by the campaign that is being waged against its handling of the situation in the Tigray region.

He said “what Ethiopia needs now is concrete support and, a mission to undermine the unity, territorial integrity and the cohesion of the Ethiopian state, under the guise of humanitarian concern is not acceptable”

Ethiopia stands ready to work positively and constructively with all its partners to scale up humanitarian assistance, rebuild social cohesion, and restore basic services in the Tigray region of Ethiopia, the Deputy Prime Minister said.

“Therefore, what the country needs at this critical moment is the support of friends and partners and not uncalled for pressure that would complicate the situation further”, he noted.

Demeke explained “It is extremely regrettable to see that some within the international community have embarked on a mission to undermine the unity, territorial integrity and the cohesion of the Ethiopian state, under the guise of humanitarian concern. We urge these individuals and partners to desist from these unhelpful activities”

Deputy Prime Minister added that accusations labelled against Ethiopia of using hunger as a weapon of war on its own citizens, is an egregious falsehood, and in no way calculated to help foster peace, harmony and stability.

It should be noted that, in the first round of humanitarian response, effort was made to reach out to 4.5 million people in the Tigray region through the delivery of food and non-food items. In the second and third rounds, the relief efforts were able to reach out to 5.2 million people. So far, 170,798 metric tons of foods, worth 135 million USD have already been distributed, he indicated.

Currently, 6 operators namely World Food Program, World Vision, CARE, Relief Society of Tigray, Food for the Hungry and the Ethiopian government are providing food assistance in the region.

“The Ethiopian government has not only demonstrated its willingness and commitment to work with the international community to respond to the humanitarian crisis in Tigray, but it has also provided full and unfettered access for humanitarian actors to operate in all parts of the region, through a simplified blanket approval process. In the areas where safe movement of humanitarian cargo are strained, military escort is offered as a matter of last resort to reach those in need”, the Deputy Prime Minister underscored.

Ethiopia has credible evidence indicating that some actors have attempted to smuggle weapons to arm the terrorist cell under the guise of humanitarian assistance, and this is unacceptable, he stressed.

“There is no doubt about the enormity of the challenges in the Tigray region. It is through working with the government to accelerate the humanitarian response to reach out to every person in need that will address the problem. The Ethiopian government is well aware of its responsibilities towards its own citizens and its obligations under international humanitarian law”

He added saying “The Ethiopian government is using every ounce of its strength to mobilize all the necessary resources from within the country to reach out those in need, but its resources are limited. This is where the support and solidarity of the international community becomes all the more critical. We are grateful to those who lent a helping hand in this regard”

Deputy Prime Minister further reiterated the commitment of Ethiopia to work closely with those partners willing to engage positively and constructively to protect lives and livelihoods.

Embassy of Ethiopia in Washington DC hosted a virtual business forum on the theme of “The United States and Ethiopia Business and Investment Opportunities”.

The session was organized in collaboration with the Houston International Trade Center and Ethiopia’s Honorary Consul in Houston, Texas.

H.E Ambassador Fitsum Arega briefed the participants on the various business and investment opportunities for American companies.

He particularly mentioned Ethiopia’s wide-ranging economic reform and liberalization measures, the historic telecom liberalization initiative, and the ten-year national development plan that has been recently adopted.

Ambassador Fitsum also indicated the abundant investment opportunities available for U.S. companies in various sectors in Ethiopia such as agriculture, manufacturing, tourism development, ICT, energy, and mining. He also stated the governments’ unwavering commitment to supporting the private sector.

Ambassador Fitsum explained the all-around efforts undertaken by the government of Ethiopia in addressing the humanitarian and security issues in Tigray and other parts of the country.

Former U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs Tibor Nagy, on his part, said that he is Ethio-optimist and expressed the importance of enhancing economic relations between Ethiopia and the United States.

He also mentioned his strong confidence that Ethiopia will come out of the current challenges and continue being a key economic and security ally to the United States.

H.E Ambassador Fitsum responded to questions raised by participants of the program. He also thanked Mr. Gezahegn Kebede, Ethiopia’s Honorary Consul in Houston, Texas, and others who contributed to the success of the event.