The United Arab Emirates (UAE) has donated emergency health supplies to ramp up support to the response in Tigray regional state.
The health supplies, which will be distributed via WHO, include medicines and COVID19 related materials.
A fully loaded emirate chartered cargo flight arrived in Addis Ababa today carrying the emergency health supplies donated by the UAE government.
The diplomatic efforts to change the wrong perceptions of some of the international communities about the law enforcement operation in northern Ethiopia were successful, Foreign Affairs Spokesperson Dina Mufti said.
Briefing the media today, the spokesperson said high-level government officials shuttled to and fro neighboring and other countries to explain about the ultimate objective of the law enforcement operation in Tigray Regional State.
Upon completion of the operation, Deputy PM and Foreign Minister Demeke Mekonnen held series of phone conversions with the foreign ministers of Russia, Denmark, Norway, Austria, Netherlands and the UN Special Envoy to the Horn of Africa, among others, he added.
According to Dina, the Deputy PM and Foreign Minister informed the ministers about the minimum casualties and destruction incurred and the commencement of rehabilitation of the displaced.
“The military aspect of the operation is now over. Only the police force has been active in Tigray to apprehend the fugitives and bring them to justice,” Dina stated.
The spokesperson further explained that “the wrong narratives that dubbed the law enforcement operation in the northern part of the country as civil war or attacks waged on one party are more or less corrected and replaced by the right narratives.”
Now, the narrative on the law enforcement operation is changing into rehabilitating the displaced people and opening up corridors for humanitarian actors, he pointed out.
Thus the concern of the international community tends to be shifting towards collaborating with the government to facilitate ways of delivering humanitarian assistance to those in need.
The spokesperson revealed that, “Humanitarian corridors are now open. The displaced and those who fled to Sudan will be coming back soon and rehabilitated. In fact, we are working in collaboration with Sudanese government officials and other national, regional and international organizations to speed up their return.”
Ethiopians living in Washington DC and its area have expressed their support to the national defence forces.
In the event organized by the Council for Ethiopian Diaspora Action, they also vowed to provide support to the national defence forces and countering the disinformation being spread by the extremist TPLF sponsored activists.
H.E. Demeke Mekonnen, Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister of Ethiopia welcomed to his office on Thursday (December 04), the President of the Association of National Olympic Committees of Africa (ANOCA), Mr. Mustapha Berraf.
Mr. Mustapha is in Addis Ababa to attend the Association of National Olympic Committee of Africa (ANOCA) Extraordinary General assembly which will be held on the upcoming Sunday.
On the occasion, Mr. Demeke briefed the ANOCA president about the potential of Ethiopian regional cities to host international sports competitions mentioning the construction of stadiums and sports facilities in various parts of the country.
Mr. Mustapha thanked the minister for meeting with him on such short notice and affirmed that ANOCA would continue to work closely with relevant bodies in Ethiopia.
The World Bank has provided $512.5 million in loan and grant to enhance the implementation of Strengthen Ethiopia’s Adaptive Safety Net Project (SEASN).
Of the total, $312.5 million is a grant, while the remaining amount is a loan.
Ethiopia’s Minister of Finance, Ahmed Shide and World Bank Country Director for Eastern and Southern Africa, Ousmane Dione, signed the agreement here today.
This financing will allow for more geographic coverage, enable better service delivery, and is an important next step in modernizing Ethiopia’s productive safety net program (PSNP).
SEASN benefits people living in extreme poverty in rural areas and those areas affected by drought.
Taye Atske Selassie, Ambassador and Permanent Representative of Ethiopia to the UN, held a meeting with Mark Lowcock, Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator and the Head of UNOCHA.
The meeting focused on the agreement signed between Ethiopia and the UN for enhanced coordination mechanism for humanitarian access in Ethiopia.
The two exchanged views on the operationalization of the agreement and the need for the maintenance and restoration of basic infrastructure services in the Tigray region.
It is to be recalled that Ethiopian and the UN yesterday signed an agreement that seeks to enable unimpeded, sustained and secure access for humanitarian personnel and services to areas under the control of the Federal Gov’t in Tigray, the bordering areas of Amhara and Afar regions.
H.E. Demeke Mekonnen, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Foreign Affairs of Ethiopia has held a phone conversation today (December 01) with H.E. Sergei Lavrov, Foreign Minister of the Russian Federation.
Mr. Demeke commended the long-standing and friendly relationship that exists between the two countries and underlined the need to further strengthen it.
Regarding Tigray, Mr. Demeke said the law enforcement operation has successfully been completed, carefully avoiding civilian casualties, with Mekelle now fully under the control of the national defense forces.
The government will apprehend the leaders and cliques of the TPLF junta, he said adding that some have begun to surrender to the government.
Mr. Demeke said the government is now engaged with reconstruction and rehabilitation, and law and order restoration activities in the region.
The government is working in close consultations and collaboration with the interim government of Tigray that has been active in holding public discussions and organizing regional executive organs.
Mr. Sergei Lavrov, on his part, thanked Mr, Demeke for the briefing and affirmed that Russia respects the territorial integrity of Ethiopia.
Appreciating what the Ethiopian government is doing to protect the rights of civilians and provide humanitarian assistance to affected people, he said Russia believes that ensuring peace in Ethiopia is indispensable to let peace reign in the Horn of Africa.
He said the government of Ethiopia has got the right to enforce law and order in the country without the interference of external parties since the matter is the internal affair of the country.
He further added that Ethiopia and Russia should strive more to scale up their bilateral relations and cooperation in multilateral fora.
Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed today met with political parties and civil society organizations (CSOs) to discuss about the upcoming general elections scheduled for mid-2021.
The discussion, which took place at the Prime Minister’s office, was attended by the National Electoral Board of Ethiopia (NEBE).
The discussions saw presentation on the roles and responsibilities of key stakeholders and an overview of electoral systems.
During the discussion, participants raised among others the following points:
• not rushing to elections without putting the necessary foundations in place• creating an enabling environment
• ensuring the primacy of rule of law preceding the elections
• placement of an election code of conduct for stakeholders including election observers
• stocktaking of legitimate political parties
• engagement of political parties according to the ‘rules of the game’
The Prime Minister on the occasion shared the federal government’s unwavering efforts to lay the foundation for free and fair elections in Ethiopia.
At the end, the participants reached an understanding on ways to ensure that the 2021 elections are democratic.
Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs of Demeke Mekonnen received at his office on Monday Parfait Onanga, special envoy of the United Nations for the Horn of Africa.
Talking with the special envoy, Demeke Mekonnen explained that the operation that the federal government is undertaking in the Tigray region aimed at restoring constitutionality and rule of law.
The government is taking all the necessary caution for the protection of civilians and the avoidance of collateral damage during the operation, Demeke added.
The government has succeeded in wresting control of most of the areas in Tigray, he said adding that the government has started to set up interim administrations in the liberated areas.
Since most of the areas are under government control, the government is ready to facilitate the works of humanitarian actors in the region, he said.
He said the government is providing humanitarian assistance to people who need urgent support based on the needs assessment studies conducted by government agencies.
He also explained the government’s readiness to support all Ethiopians who fled the operation to return back to their communities.
The special envoy thanked Demeke for the briefing and underlined the need to continue to ensure the protection of civilians, human rights, and access to humanitarian assistance to the affected areas.
Meanwhile, Ambassador Redwan Hussien received yesterday copies of the credentials of Kang Seokhee, the new ambassador of the Republic of Korea to Ethiopia.
The two discussed the situation in Tigray, access to humanitarian assistance, transportation and communication facilities in the region.
Ethiopian Ambassador to Washington, Fitsum Arega yesterday briefed the Heads of Missions and diplomats of Ethiopia’s neighboring countries accredited to the United States.
The briefing mainly focused on the current situation in Ethiopia in relation to the law enforcement measures in Tigray regional state, according to the Ethiopian Embassy in Washington DC.
Ambassador Fitsum recounted the efforts by the federal government for dialogue in the past two and half years where by the TPLF’s clique stubbornly rejected and continued to belittle the reform process.
He mentioned that the TPLF gangs crossed the red line when they commit the barbaric and treasonous attack on the unsuspecting Ethiopian National Defense Forces of the Northern Command.
Ambassador Fitsum said the law enforcement operation has been successfully completed after the seizure of Mekelle by the heroic Ethiopian National Defense Forces (ENDF).
He also noted that the remaining task will be apprehending TPLF’s cliques and bring them to justice.
Ambassador Fitsum expressed his gratitude to the leaders and governments of Ethiopia’s neighbors and IGAD member states for standing with us and for their invaluable support to Ethiopia’s sovereignty, national integrity and lasting peace.
The Head of Missions and diplomats thanked Ambassador Fitsum and the Embassy for organizing this timely and important briefing.
They also appreciated the government of Ethiopia for wrapping up the law enforcement operation in a short time with minimum civilian casualties.
The Ambassadors vowed to work closely for the peace and economic integration of IGAD region.