A Week in the Horn 5.4.2019
News in Brief
Armenia’s Foreign Minister visits Ethiopia
UN Peacekeeping Ministerial meeting in New York
Conference in Addis Ababa on India’s engagement with the Horn of Africa
The UN Security Council renews UNSOM’s mandate in Somalia.
AU Technical Committee on Social Development, Labor and Employment meeting
First field office for Ethiopia-Kenya border cooperation opened
A framework to operationalize Ethiopian-Somali cross-border cooperation
The 2nd Ethio-Brazil Trade and Investment Forum
News in Brief
Africa and the African Union
A UN Peacekeeping Ministerial meeting was held on Friday last week (March 29) in New York, with Ministers of Defense, Foreign Affairs and high-level officials from more than 130 member states and intergovernmental organizations attending. The Ethiopian Delegation was headed by Engineer Aisha Mohammed, Minister of National Defense and Ambassador Taye Atske-Selassie, Permanent Representative of Ethiopia to the United Nations. (See article)
The third International Conference on “India’s Engagement with North Africa and Horn of Africa: Issues, Initiatives and Prospects”, organized by the Indian Council of World Affairs (IWAC) as part of the Indian-African Forum Summit initiatives, was held at the end of last week (March 29-30) at the Hyatt Regency Hotel in Addis Ababa. (See article)
The Third Session of the Specialized Technical Committee on Social Development, Labor and Employment (STC-SDLE-3) was held in Addis Ababa at AU Headquarters this week (April 1-5) under the theme: “Poverty Eradication through Strategic Investments at National and Regional Levels towards Social Development, Labor and Employment in Africa”. (See article)
IGAD’s Food Security and Nutrition Working Group issued a warning on Wednesday (April 3) in Nairobi that immediate action was needed to deal with a high risk of increasing food insecurity in parts of Kenya, Ethiopia, Somalia and Uganda.
The meeting of IGAD Committee of Ambassadors this week in Nairobi established a Taskforce on the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden. This is in line with the decision of the Council of Ministers meeting in Djibouti at the end of February. The Task Force will study, review and advise on the conclusions and recommendations of the Council and chart a regional plan of action. It will also build a common position and strategy to respond to challenges and opportunities in the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden arena. It will also coordinate efforts with the African Union Commission.
Mr. Jonathan Parish, Deputy Assistant Secretary General for NATO met Ethiopia’s State Minister Dr. Markos Tekle on Wednesday (April 3) who welcomed NATO-AU cooperation in areas of operational support, capacity-building, and sustaining the African Standby Force. Mr. Parish commended the rapprochement between Ethiopia and Eritrea and the peace dividend for the region. He underscored the importance of strengthening NATO- AU cooperation for Africa. NATO has established a liaison office at the AU Headquarters to work more closely with its partners to tackle the peace and security challenges.
Ethiopia
President Sahle-Work Zewde attended the inauguration ceremony of the re-elected President Macky Sall of Senegal in Dakar on Tuesday (April 2). Others attendees included Presidents Paul Kagame of Rwanda, Olassan Otara of Côte d’Ivoire and George Weah of Liberia as well as other African leaders and officials.
The Foreign Minister of the Republic of Armenia, Zohrab Mnatsakanyan arrived in Addis Ababa on Wednesday (April 3) for a two-day official visit. During his visit, he met with President Sahle-Work Zewde and State Minister of Foreign Affairs, Dr. Markos Tekle for talks on ways of enhancing the bilateral relationship. His visit aimed to establish and consolidate cooperation in education, culture, tourism and capacity building. (See article)
Minister of Transport, Mrs. Dagmawit Moges, and State Minister of Foreign Affairs, Dr. Markos Tekle briefed members of the diplomatic community on Wednesday (April 4) on the findings of the preliminary report on the accident of flight ET-302 last month. The Minister said the initial findings of the investigation showed that the crew repeatedly performed all procedures provided by the manufacturer but were unable to control the aircraft. The report established that the pilots were certified, the aircraft was issued with an airworthiness certificate, and the take-off was normal. The Minister said the report recommended that the manufacturer review the aircraft flight control system related to the flight controllability and that aviation authorities to verify that the review of the aircraft control system had been adequately addressed by the manufactures before releasing the aircraft for operation. In a statement, Ethiopian Airlines chief executive, Tewolde Gebre Mariam, said he was “very proud [of the pilots’] high level of professional performance”.
State Minister of Foreign Affairs, Dr. Markos Tekle received Ms. Anick Van Calster, Direct General for Bilateral Affairs of the Kingdom of Belgium on Friday (April 5). Dr. Markos appreciated the long-standing relations between Ethiopia and Belgium, thanking the Government of Belgium for the support provided in development cooperation. He also briefed the Director General on the overall situation of the Horn of Africa, spanning from the peace and security efforts in Somalia, and South Sudan under the auspices of IGAD to the latest developments of Ethio-Eritrea peace accord.
The 2nd Ethio-Brazil Trade and Investment Forum was held on Thursday last week (March 28) at the World Trade Centre, Sao Paulo, bringing together nearly a hundred private sector business representatives and other interested participants. (See article)
IGAD’s Center for Pastoral Areas and Livestock Development (ICPALD) organized a two-day meeting for Ethiopian and Somali technical teams in Addis Ababa last week (March 26-27). The aim was to develop an implementation framework for cross-border cooperation and coordination on animal health and sanitary measures. It was followed on Thursday (March 28) by meeting of the ministers responsible for animal resources in Ethiopia and Somalia. (See article)
A field office for the Support for Effective Cooperation and Coordination of Cross-border Initiatives Project (SECCCI) along the Ethiopia-Kenya border opened on Wednesday (April 3) in Moyale. (See article)
The French Institute of Languages and Civilizations in Paris held a discussion on Wednesday this week (April 3) on Ethiopia, analysing the reforms and achievements launched by Prime Minister Dr. Abiy Ahmed during the last year.
The Embassy on Canada took part in the 25th Annual Travel and Vacation Show held in the capital, Ottawa, last weekend (March 30 and 31), with a promotion of Ethiopia’s nine UNESCO World Heritage Sites, its historical sites, ranging from the towering stelae of Aksum to the Rock-Hewn Churches of Lalibela and castles in Gondar, and the national parks of the Simien and Bale Mountains, with their wealth of endemic wildlife, the amazing Erta Ale volcano lake, the cultural mosaic of Konso and South Omo, the bird-rich lakes of the Rift Valley floor, and the oldest of human fossils.
Chief Justice Meaza Ashenafi, Ethiopia’s first female Supreme Court President, delivered a keynote address at the annual 2019 LSE Africa Summit, held under the theme: “Africa’s Future Frontiers” last weekend. In a keynote address, Chief Justice, Meaza highlighted the recent increase in the participation of women in politics in Africa. The conference gathered renowned scholars, leading politicians, forward-thinking corporate and entrepreneurial minds at a unique platform for the sharing of ideas and development of relationships to be translated into meaningful action.
Press Officer Mr. Nick Barnett and Public Affairs Officer Amanda Jacobsen of the US embassy in Addis Ababa gave a training on “Communication and Social Media” to MFA Spokesperson Team on Thursday ( April 4), in which ideas were exchanged on the role of social media as a tool of public diplomacy in the pursuit of policy goals. Mr. Barnett underscored the importance of further enhancing the ministry’s digital presence in a bid to increase visibility and outreach as well as react responsively and effectively to the changing dynamics of communication in the 21st century.
Eritrea
Foreign Minister Osman Saleh on his visit last week to Japan spoke of the positive trajectory engulfing all the political forces and countries of East Africa and their integration within the region. He said: “East Africa is finally at a doorstep of a new page of its history – writing down the unfolding of an epoch of peace, stability, prosperity and regional integration.” He called on Japan’s public and private sector to positively consider active participation in this by creating robust business tie-ups and implementation of connectivity infrastructure as mechanisms of collaboration to restore sustainable relationships “with the growing economy and promising future market in East Africa.”
Kenya
Cabinet Secretary for Foreign Affairs, Monica Juma met Somalia’s Minister for Foreign Affairs, Ahmed Issa Awad, in Nairobi on Wednesday (April 3). They discussed outstanding issues between the two countries, and reaffirmed a “strong desire to normalize relations and agreed, as a first step, to have our ambassadors return to their stations”.
Somalia
The United Nation Security Council unanimously adopted Resolution 2461 (2019) on Wednesday last week (March 27) to renew the mandate of the United Nations Assistance Mission in Somalia (UNSOM). (See article)
Lt. General Tigabu Yilma, AMISOM Force Commander, said on Tuesday (April 2) that the joint AMISOM/Somali National Army operation to liberate Sabiid in Lower Shebelle region from the control of the Al-Shabaab marked an important part of the recently revised AMISOM Concept of Operations (CONOPS). Ambassador Madeira, AU Special Representative for Somalia and head of AMISOM, welcomed the capture of the town, saying it was a major milestone in the implementation of the Somali Transitional Plan.
AMISOM representatives have been meeting this week in Nairobi to review the Mission Implementation Plan to fast track key activities detailed in its Concept of Operations (CONOPS). This offers a comprehensive basis for conducting operations, including training of the Somali Police and the National Army as well as creating a framework for stabilization, civil military activities, early recovery and reconstruction. The meeting also drew up the budget for these activities and ensured AMISOM’s core activities were aligned with its operational and strategic landscape. The Plan also sets out priorities to be undertaken by AMISOM before the 2020/2021 one-person-one-vote election.
The government has called on the Arab League to back its debt relief efforts. Speaking at the 30th annual summit of the Arab League in Tunisia, Somali Foreign Minister, Ambassador Ahmed Isse Awad, urged members to ease his country’s debt relief process by fulfilling pledges made during the last gathering. He reminded Arab leaders of the promises made at last year’s forum in Dhahran, Saudi Arabia to support the unity and sovereignty of the Federal Republic of Somalia and the rebuilding of various government institutions.
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has appointed George Conway of Canada as acting deputy special representative for the United Nations Assistance Mission in Somalia (UNSOM). He succeeds Peter de Clercq of the Netherlands.
Spain took over command of the headquarters of the EU’s counter-piracy Naval Force (EUNAVFOR), Operation Atalanta, from the UK last week.
The United Nations Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF) and the Somalia Humanitarian Fund (SHF) released US$45.7 million on Mon day (April 1) to increase assistance in Somalia, where over 4.2 million people including 900,000 acutely malnourished children need urgent humanitarian assistance. CERF is allocating $12 million for food assistance in Awdal and Woqooyi Galbeed regions, and nutrition, health, and water and sanitation and hygiene programs in Sool, Sanaag and Bari regions. SHF’s US$33.7 million, its largest allocation since 2012, will go to support protection, education and shelter. The fund is supported by Germany, Australia, Canada, Denmark, Ireland, the Republic of Korea, the Netherlands, Norway, Sweden, Switzerland and the United Kingdom.
Sudan
President Omer al-Bashir announced the opening of all border crossing points between Sudan and South Sudan on Sunday (March 31). This followed a message from President Kiir brought by Presidential Advisor Tut Galwak on ways to enhance bilateral relations and underlining the support of the South Sudan government and people for President al-Bashir against conspiracies and foreign intervention.
President Omer al-Bashir, in consultation with the Prime Minister Mohamed Taher Aila, appointed 7 ministers on Monday (April 1), including Ministers of Culture, of Youth and Sport, and Minister at the Federal Government Chamber. Other appointments were State Ministers for Foreign Affairs; Finance and Economic Planning; Justice; and Industry and Commerce.
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Armenia’s Foreign Minister visits Ethiopia
The Foreign Minister of Armenia, Mr. Zohrab Mnatsakanyan, visited Ethiopia this week (April 3-4) to discuss Ethio-Armenia bilateral relations. During his visit, he met and held talks with President Sahle-Work Zewde, Ambassador Dr. Markos Tekle, State Minister of Foreign Affairs, and Dr. Engineer Getahun Mekuria, Minister of Innovation and Technology, as well as the Deputy Chairperson of the African Union. The Minister noted the importance of Addis Ababa as the seat of the African Union and the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa. He said he was impressed by the strength of the African Union in multilateral fora especially at the UN. He also expressed his country’s willingness and readiness to work together with Ethiopia in multilateral fora. During his visit, Minister Mnatsakanyan also visited historic sites in Addis Ababa, notably the Armenian Orthodox Church and the Ararat Club.
During discussions with Ethiopian officials, Mr. Mnatsakanyan emphasized that his visit showed Armenia’s commitment and support to the reforms that the new government in Ethiopia had started. He noted that the Armenian Government had decided to increase its presence in Africa and said it was seriously thinking to open an embassy in Ethiopia, a country with which Armenia had old and historic relations. He said history had compelled the two countries to work together and it was now time to take their relationship to the next generations. He said Armenia had been making the same kinds of transformation in the name of democracy and rule of law as Ethiopia under Dr. Abiy Ahmed had been carrying out. Dr. Abiy’s agenda was also an agenda of the new leadership of Armenia. He appreciated the strong role of women in Ethiopia and the representation of women in the higher echelons of power and the society. The two countries, he said, could work together on areas of common interest.
The Minister also underlined Armenia’s interest to further expand economic cooperation. In 25 years of relations business links have remained small. Ethiopia’s exports to Armenia include finished leather products and oil seeds, and it imports medical technology. The trade balance is in favor of Ethiopia. The Minister said the two countries could cooperate at the Eurasia Economic Union which would be an attractive arena to work together and facilitate access to bigger markets in the Eurasia region. Armenia was ready to share experience in the IT sector, he said. The Minister signed a Memorandum of Understanding to strengthen technological cooperation between the two countries. Mr. Mnatsakanyan said it was importnant that the talent of all people was fully amplified and unleashed to provide sustainable development and allow people to be owners of their development. Under the MoU, Armenia has promised to provide laboratory equipment worth 1.5 million USD for about 50 high schools to facilitate science, technology, engineering, and mathematics to help students to be more creative and innovative.
Armenia declared independence in 1993 after the disintegration of the Soviet Union and immediately established diplomatic relations with Ethiopia, but the Armenian presence in Ethiopia is, however, far older. There was a community of Armenians in Ethiopia for most of the last century, primarily in Addis Ababa. These included the 40 “Arba Lijoch” orphan children brought to Ethiopia by the future Emperor Haile Selassie in 1924. The “Arba Lijoch,” along with their bandleader Kevork Nalbandian, became the first official orchestra of Ethiopia, and Nalbandian composed the music for the Imperial National Anthem. The Armenian population peaked shortly before the Italian invasion in 1935 at around 2,800, but after the fall of the Ethiopian monarchy in 1974 numbers fell sharply following the change in regime and the nationalization of many of their properties. The number of the Armenian community today is less than a hundred.
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UN Peacekeeping Ministerial meeting in New York
A Peacekeeping Ministerial meeting was held on Friday last week (March 29) in New York and the Ethiopian Delegation was headed by Engineer Aisha Mohammed, Minister of National Defense and Ambassador Taye Atske-Selassie, Permanent Representative of Ethiopia to the United Nations. The meeting’s objectives were to discuss possibilities of augmenting uniformed capabilities and improving performance and the protection of civilians as well as peacekeepers themselves. The meeting had been preceded by three preparatory meetings held in Montevideo (Uruguay), The Hague (Netherlands) and Addis Ababa (Ethiopia). The most recent of these in January in Addis Ababa was co-hosted by Ethiopia and Canada and focused on Women, Peace and Security.
Ministers of Defense, Foreign Affairs and high-level officials from more than 130 member states and intergovernmental organizations attended the meeting, and about 60 delivered statements under four main headings: pledge announcements, training and capacity building, performance, and protection of civilians. Speakers reaffirmed their support to the Action for Peacekeeping Initiative and emphasized the need to generate specialized capabilities necessary to address the challenges peacekeepers face.
Minister Aisha recalled Ethiopia’s participation in the United Nations peacekeeping operations over the last seventy years, and drew attention to the fact that many Ethiopian peacekeepers had paid the ultimate sacrifices for the cause of promoting global peace and security. She underlined that Ethiopia’s long-time commitment to UN and AU-led peacekeeping operations would continue. Minister Aisha also stated Ethiopia was currently the largest Troop Contributing Country and leader in the number of women peacekeepers with more than eight hundred deployed in different peacekeeping missions. She also expressed her concern that although this number of female peacekeepers from a single country might look high, it was hardly representative of the possibilities when compared to the total number of peacekeepers that Ethiopia deployed, over eight thousand. UN Secretary-General António Guterres underlined that the number of female staff officers and observers had been increasing since 2017, and more women were deployed in mixed police and military units. Equally, he said it was necessary to do more: “it is unacceptable that in 2019, only 4% of military peacekeepers are women”.
Underlining Ethiopia’s support to Peacekeeping Operations, Engineer Aisha reiterated Ethiopia’s declared contribution of two fully equipped battalions of uniformed peacekeepers to fill gaps identified in current operations, and its standing commitment to provide eight military officers to be deployed to Yemen as well as its preparedness to accept other individual deployment requests of military and police officers to meet identified gaps. While at the UN, the Minster held bilateral discussions with a number of senior UN officials including Assistant Secretary Generals in charge of Peace Operations, Operational Support, Peace-building and Political Affairs. This helps to create an atmosphere of transparency over decisions involving management of peacekeeping deployment, issues of equipment and overdue payments. The Minister also held discussions with a number of ministers and heads of delegation on the possibilities of cooperation in peacekeeping between Ethiopia and Indonesia, and with Ireland as well as Israel.
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Conference in Addis Ababa on India’s engagement with the Horn of Africa
The third International Conference on “India’s Engagement with North Africa and Horn of Africa: Issues, Initiatives and Prospects”, organized by the Indian Council of World Affairs (IWAC) as part of the Indian-African Forum Summit initiatives, was held at the end of last week (March 29-30) at the Hyatt Regency Hotel in Addis Ababa. The Conference, which deliberated on India’s engagement with the region, a region with which India had substantial and historic ties, brought together academia, scholars, business leaders and experts from India and the region, to examine the various dimensions of India’s engagement with the region.
Dr. Markos Tekle, State Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ethiopia, as a guest of honor, delivered a keynote speech, underlining the longstanding friendly relations that had progressed at a fast pace more recently. He noted India had entered into a structured engagement with African countries with the launch of the first Indian African Forum Summit in New Delhi in 2008, followed by a second Summit in Addis Ababa in 2011. The third India–Africa Forum summit, in New Delhi in October 2015, renewed India’s focus on strengthening its partnership with African countries. He also underlined the importance of visits by Indian leaders to Africa including President Ram Nath Kovind’s visit to Ethiopia in October 2017. This demonstrated India’s desire to intensify high level dialogue and consultations with Africa.
Dr. Markos, recalling Ethiopia and India celebrated the 70th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations last year, emphasized that Ethiopia sees India as a very important partner. He noted Ethiopia’s relations with India had grown into an all-round development partnership that covered trade, investment, and development assistance in the form of soft loans and technical assistance. They enjoyed, he said, robust trade and investment relations. Currently, Indian investment in Ethiopia was one of the top three countries and the largest in agriculture and the agro-processing sectors. He said India had granted more than USD 1.1 billion in letters of credit to Ethiopia, mainly to finance sugar projects and rural electrification. He also mentioned Ethiopia had benefitted significantly from scholarships and short-term training programs offered by India. He told his audience that Ethiopians were greatly impressed by India’s achievements in maintaining such steady and inspiring progress in fighting poverty especially in the last quarter of a century. He said: “India’s progress in its growing ability to feed its people and in meeting challenges, is now matched by development in many other areas including impressive advances in ICT, Space Science and engineering”. He concluded: “we believe India has a lot to contribute to our region.”
The Ambassador of India to Ethiopia, Djibouti and the African Union Ambassador Anurag Srivastava, welcoming participants and highlighting historic and civilizational links between Africa and India, noted that “India and Africa were part of the same landmass, until India (and Madagascar) separated around 100 million years ago.” He underlined India’s support for African liberation struggles, and noted that since India gained observer status in the AU in 2005, the India-Africa partnership had been taken forward by the India-Africa Forum Summit. 41Heads of States and Governments had participated in the last Summit in 2015 when India committed itself to deliver concessional credit of US$ 10 billion, implement US$ 600 million in grant projects and provide 50,000 scholarships and training opportunities over the next five years. Achievements against these targets had been fairly satisfactory, he said, with over 9 billion dollars of concessional credit projects completed or being implemented; more than 8,000 Africans travelling to India as part of the training and scholarship opportunities every year; India-Africa trade reaching US$ 63 billion; and with cumulative investment of US$ 54 billion, India was now the 5th largest investor in Africa.
Ambassador Srivastava stressed that overall the quality and spirit of India-Africa engagement had been “immensely satisfying”. This century was century of India and Africa, he noted. In 2050, the combined GDP of India and African states would add up to USD 35 trillion and their combined populations would have surpassed 4 billion. Sharing his perspective on India’s engagement with Africa and its future, he said a number of areas of engagement should be strengthened. These would include experience-sharing and expertise; education and training with a focus on innovation, entrepreneurship and start-ups; investment, and economic partnerships, in areas of agriculture, agro-processing, ICT, healthcare, education, tourism and renewable energy; and political and strategic relationships as well as people-to-people ties.
Over the course of the two day meeting, the conference examined political and diplomatic relations, trade, economic and developmental cooperation, strategic and security issues and people-to-people linkages. It was organized in four sessions with sub-themes including Political and Diplomatic Relations, Strengthening Trade, Economic and Developmental Cooperation, Strategic and Security Issues in North Africa and Horn of Africa, and the Role and Prospects for Culture, Educational Exchanges, Media and Diaspora.
Ambassador Mahlet Hailu, Permanent Secretary for America, Europe, Asia and Multilateral Affairs of Ethiopia’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs chaired the first session of the conference, held under the theme: “Political and Diplomatic Relations: Issues and Perspectives on Global Political Dialogue and Good Governance.’’ This covered India’s historic and contemporary political linkages with the region, global politics including the issues of reforming the UN and global trade institutions, regional perspectives on democracy and good governance, and exploring the possibilities of cooperation through sharing of experience and capacity building, as well as sharing perspectives on the global political dialogues on climate change, food security, water, cyber and outer space and finding ways of cooperating to shape the related global regimes. Other sessions covered “Strengthening Trade, Economic and Developmental Cooperation”; Strategic and Security Issues in North Africa and Horn of Africa”; and “People-to-People Linkages”.
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The UN Security Council renews UNSOM’s mandate in Somalia.
The United Nation Security Council unanimously adopted Resolution 2461 (2019) on Wednesday last week (March 27) to renew the mandate of the United Nations Assistance Mission in Somalia (UNSOM) until the end of March next year. UNSOM was established in June 2013 to provide policy advice to the Federal Government on the peace and reconciliation processes and to support the Federal Government and AMISOM on peace building and state-building in the areas of governance, security sector reform, and rule of law, development of a federal system, the constitutional review, democratization and coordination of donor support. It is also mandated to help the Federal Government in capacity building to promote respect for human rights and women’s empowerment, promote child protection, prevent conflict-related sexual and gender-based violence, and strengthen justice institutions. It is expected to monitor, investigate and report abuses or violations of human rights or of international humanitarian law committed in Somalia, particularly abuses committed against children or women.
The renewed mandate underlined the importance of UNSOM’s political, technical, operational and logistical support, in collaboration with the United Nations Support Office in Somalia (UNSOS), to the Somali Federal Government, for the delivery of inclusive, peaceful, free and fair one-person-one-vote elections. The resolution also urged the Government and the Federal Member States to increase the representation and participation of women and youth at all decision-making levels. It called for the adoption of an election law by mid-year, and for the upcoming elections in Federal Member States to be conducted in line with Somalia’s international obligations and commitments.
The Security Council urged the Federal Government and the Federal Member States to accelerate implementation of key security reforms, with support from UNSOM, UNSOS and AMISOM. It called for the Federal Government to resume implementation of a transition plan with clear target dates for transferring security from AMISOM to Somali security institutions and forces. It strongly condemned recent attacks in the region by Al-Shabaab and encouraged the United Nations to continue working with the Federal Government and AMISOM to strengthen security.
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AU Technical Committee on Social Development, Labor and Employment meeting
The Third Session of the Specialized Technical Committee on Social Development, Labor and Employment (STC-SDLE-3) was held in Addis Ababa at AU Headquarters this week (April 1-5) under the Theme: “Poverty Eradication through Strategic Investments at National and Regional Levels towards Social Development, Labor and Employment in Africa”. The theme underlined the importance of strategic investments and strengthening of key institutions as catalytic means for policy planning, implementation and accountability of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the AU Agenda 2063. The Session aimed to consider investment strategies for poverty reduction policies at national and regional levels and for social development through empowering vulnerable and marginalized groups to improve access to livelihood opportunities.
Ethiopia’s Minister of Labor and Social Affairs, Dr. Ergogie Tesfaye, stressed that poverty still remained a critical challenge in Africa, and underlined that progress in the fight against extreme poverty had been way too slow. Today more than half of the world’s 725 million people living in extreme poverty were in Africa. Africa had the highest rate of vulnerable employment, remaining at around 66%. The challenge is even worse for young people, as the region is home to the highest youth-working poverty rate, with nearly 67% of young workers are in sub-Saharan Africa. While noting that the Government of Ethiopia was committed to respond to poverty challenges, the Minister said: “In Ethiopia, our vision is to bring about structural transformation to be a middle-income country and ensure the creation of employment and decent work that brings about increased productivity and competitiveness. This remains the government’s policy priority.” She also noted that with a view to address root causes of youth unemployment through research and strategic works, the government had established a Jobs Opportunity Creation Commission under the Prime Minister’s Office.
The Minister emphasized that the government was also evaluating policies and strategies to address the challenges of poverty and employment in a sustainable manner. It was spending a significant amount of GDP on education, health, development of infrastructure and above all on interventions aimed to alleviate unemployment through both public and private investments. She said: “We are conscious of the need to attract quality Foreign Direct Investment as a way to bring about necessary industrial development for eradication of abject poverty and particularly to appropriately address the existing national unemployment problem.” With poverty and unemployment as complex problems, and with poverty eradication at the heart of AU Agenda 2063, the Minister underlined the importance of forging strategic leadership to address them.
Ministers considered the Report of the Experts’ Meeting and endorsed the Draft Protocol to the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights on the Rights of Citizens to Social Protection and Social Security. They also considered and endorsed the draft of the AU Social Agenda 2063 and other draft policy frameworks and guidelines. Ahead of the ministerial session, the technical committee reviewed items related to enhancing inter-agency cooperation for promotion and protection of the rights of migrant workers and ensuring extension of social security rights to workers in the informal economy and rural sector. It also considered the Draft Report on the Implementation of the Continental Plan of Action on the African Decade of Persons with Disability (2010 – 2019) and the Draft Replacement Policy Framework of the Continental Plan of Action (2010 – 2019).
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First field office for Ethiopia-Kenya border cooperation opened
The first field office for the Support for Effective Cooperation and Coordination of Cross-border Initiatives Project (SECCCI), along the Ethiopia-Kenya border opened on Wednesday (April 3) in Moyale. The project that started in February last year, aims to address drivers of conflict and instability, irregular migration and displacement in cross-border areas. The Moyale field office will cover Borana zone in Ethiopia and Marsabit County in Kenya. The field team will work closely with local governments, communities, civil society, and the private sector to provide cross-border technical support to implement livelihood, peace building and capacity building activities to sustain peace and harmony on these border areas.
The Moyale office will also serve as a joint UN Development Program–IGAD Cross Border Unit to deal with the SECCCI project in Southwest Ethiopia–Northwest Kenya, and to cover “Cross-border cooperation between Ethiopia and Kenya for conflict prevention and peace building in the Marsabit–Moyale Cluster”. Both projects are also part of the EU Cross–Border Program, funded by the European Union Emergency Trust Fund for Africa and the UN, and implemented by UNDP and IGAD. Setting up the Moyale office will allow both projects to ensure implementation of activities are in line with local priorities as well as cross-border dynamics between Ethiopia and Kenya. The EU said it believed the opening of the UNDP–IGAD field-level office in Moyale would be “a keystone to materialize cross-border coordination and cooperation in the area, and ensure that the projects’ activities benefit local institutions and communities that have suffered a lot from marginalization and conflict in past years.’’
Two additional field offices will soon be opened to cover the Kenyan and Ethiopian border at Turkana–Omo and the Kenyan, Ethiopian and Somali borders at Mandera–Gedo–Doolo in the near future. The SECCCI Project Manager at the UNDP Regional Service Center for Africa said the field presence would adopt an integrated approach to bring peace and socio-economic opportunities to the border regions through legal trade and improved management for livelihood and water: “This would allow regional communities to live in an environment in which humanitarian assistance would bring about development actions.”
SECCCI is closely coordinated with Ethiopia, Kenya and Somalia national and local government activities. It is designed to strengthen regional policy frameworks, structures and protocols for cross-border cooperation between national and local government, the private sector, civil society and international technical and financial partners in development; build capacities of communities, local government and civil society to fully engage in the processes for development planning and results; and ensure effective cooperation and coordination, monitoring and evaluation of cross-border initiatives including involvement of relevant actors.
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A framework to operationalize Ethiopian-Somali cross-border cooperation
IGAD’s Center for Pastoral Areas and Livestock Development (ICPALD) organized a two-day meeting for Ethiopian and Somali technical teams in Addis Ababa last week (March 26-27). Funded by USAID, the meeting aimed to develop an implementation framework to operationalize a Memorandum of Understanding on cross-border cooperation and coordination on animal health and sanitary measures. It was followed on Thursday (March 28) by a ministerial meeting for the ministers responsible for animal resources in Ethiopia and Somalia, Ethiopia’s Minister of Agriculture. Umer Hussien, and Somalia’s Minister of Livestock, Forestry and Range, Hussein Mohamud Sheikh Hussein.
Umer Hussien, opening the Ministerial meeting, emphasized the need for Ethiopia and Somalia to work together in a harmonized approach in terms of information sharing, disease prevention and control, livestock movement control, vaccination, and disease surveillance, for the benefit of each country. This would, he said, mitigate animal disease outbreaks, ensure continued cross-border and international trade in livestock especially with Middle East countries. It would improve the income of cross-border communities and the two countries in general.
The two Ministers signed the MoU on strengthening cooperation and collaboration along the border to address animal health issues including disease surveillance, disease control and timely sharing of animal health and trade information. They decided to work to maintain the necessary political will at the highest level to support the Memorandum of Understanding and the draft Implementation Framework to operationalize the MOU. They agreed to mobilize the required resources from both countries, from IGAD and the Donor community, to fund activities in the proposed areas of cooperation and the implementation framework.
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The 2nd Ethio-Brazil Trade and Investment Forum
The 2nd Ethio-Brazil Trade and Investment Forum was held on Thursday last week (March 28) at the World Trade Centre, Sao Paulo. The Forum, organized by WAFA Marketing and Promotion PLC and the São Paulo World Trade Centre, brought together nearly a hundred private sector business representatives, 80 from Brazil, as well as dozens of other interested participants.
Opening the Forum, Ambassador Yalew Abate, Ethiopia’s Ambassador to Brazil noted that despite more than half a century of diplomatic relations there had been no strong growth in trade and investment between the two countries. He said bilateral relations had to be translated into meaningful economic ties between their business communities. He strongly advised, members of the private sectors of each country to spearhead activities to boost trade and stressed the readiness of the Embassy to support potential investors in Ethiopia.
Mr. Zemedeneh Negatu, the Global Chairman of the Fairfax Africa Fund and the former Managing Partner for Ernst and Young (E&Y) in Ethiopia and Head of the Transaction Advisory Services for Eastern Africa, also detailed reasons for Brazilian investors to invest in Ethiopia. He encouraged Brazilian entrepreneurs to establish joint ventures with their Ethiopian counterparts. Others who shared their experiences of establishing businesses in Ethiopia were Ms. Natalia Melo, CEO of Standard Bank, the largest private bank in Africa, and Mr. Lucas, CEO of CBA Sementes. Sementes is a company working to empower potato producers by increasing profitability; it is now in the final stages of preparation to invest in Ethiopia.
