In its two years as a non-permanent member of the UN Security Council between January 1, 2016 and December 31, 2018, issues in the Horn of Africa were, of course, a matter of priority for Ethiopia. Continuing our look at Ethiopia’s two years as a non-permanent member of the UN Security Council, we can see it was, as might be expected, consistently proactive in the relevant discussions on the Horn, including the UN force in Abyei (UNISFA), the UN/AU Hybrid force in Darfur (UNAMID), the lifting of sanctions on Eritrea, AMISOM in Somalia and the problems of South Sudan.
The mandate renewal of UNISFA was one of the critical issues that required close consultations with partners and council members over the past two years. It is still a work in progress that needs the parties’ commitment to make progress in line with implementation of the agreement that Sudan and South Sudan signed. The issue of force reduction, the establishment of civilian administration, and of the progress of the Joint Border Verification and Monitoring Mechanism have continuously generated substantial debate in the Council.
With regard to Darfur, Ethiopia has consistently tried to highlight the progress on the security situation on the ground and has been vocal in highlighting positive developments and the constructive role that Sudan has been playing on a range of issues. It has pushed for a change in approach in terms of dealing with Khartoum, including the lifting of sanctions imposed on the country.
Over the past two years, Ethiopia has been emphasizing on the need to ensure unity within the Council in support of the IGAD-led process to resolve the conflict in South Sudan and find lasting peace and reconciliation in the country. We were in recognition that the unity of purpose between IGAD, AU and the UN led to the signing of the revitalized agreement and urged the Council stays united in pushing the parties to implement the agreement they signed which is considered as the last hope for restoring peace and stability in the country.
As a neighbour to Somalia and a major troop contributing to AMISOM, Ethiopia has also consistently advocated for support to Somalia and for AMISOM at a time when other regional peace and security issues have threatened to take greater attention.
Following the rapprochement between Ethiopia and Eritrea, Ethiopia urged the Council to look into the significance this would have for the peace, security and development of the Horn of Africa and, indeed, for Africa itself. It strongly requested the lifting of the sanctions on Eritrea, and welcomed the Security Council’s decisions to encourage and consolidate the positive developments resulting from Prime Minister Dr. Abiy’s foreign policy decisions. On November 14, the Security Council decided to lift the decade-long sanctions on Eritrea. The decision emphasized the real improvement of bilateral relations across the region, as well as the visible and renewed determination of the countries to promote good neighborliness and foster regional cooperation.
Ethiopia has always advocated principled and balanced positions on global issues and contributed constructively to the search of peaceful resolution of conflicts and crisis situations through political dialogue and negotiations whether in the Horn of Africa or elsewhere. It therefore consistently pushed the Council to have a unity of purpose and aim for consensus on the most pressing international peace and security issues. This was done both as a member of the Security Council and in its own national capacity.
In this respect, Ethiopia has for many years been one of the leading contributors to UN Peacekeeping, which is and remains one of the most important tools in the promotion and maintenance of international peace and security. Equally, the security terrain under which the blue helmets operate has significantly changed, and Ethiopia as a member of the Security Council has strongly advocated the need for strengthened UN Peacekeeping to make it fit for purpose in the modern world. In addition to organizing a high-level open debate on the reform of UN Peacekeeping Operations during its Presidency of the Security Council, in September 2017, to facilitate discussion on the implementation and follow up of reform of UN Peacekeeping, Ethiopia proposed a draft resolution which was unanimously adopted by the Council at the High-Level Open Debate.
Ethiopia is also a member of the Peace Building Commission and the adoption of two concurrent resolutions by both the Security Council and the General Assembly on the outcome of the peace-building review put the “Sustaining Peace” agenda at the core of the United Nations. Since most of the countries under consideration by the Peace Building Commission are African, Ethiopia has been strongly supporting the idea of enhanced cooperation and collaboration between the peace-building architecture of both the UN and the AU.
Another significant achievement of Ethiopia in the Security Council was the tangible contribution it made as Chair of the Security Council Ad-Hoc Working Group on Conflict Prevention and Resolution in Africa. For the first time, Ethiopia was able to introduce country specific discussions, as on the Democratic Republic of Congo, the Central Africa Republic, Mali and other conflicts in Africa, onto the agenda of the Ad-Hoc Working Group. This contributed significantly to meaningful discussions for Sanction Committee meetings. The joint meetings of subsidiary organs Ethiopia started between the Ad-Hoc Working Group on Conflict Prevention and Resolution in Africa and the Informal Working Group on Peacekeeping Operations have now expanded to other subsidiary organs and become a matter of practice.
In fact, over the last two years, Ethiopia has generally been able to advance balanced and principled positions on issues of international peace and security around the world, aiming to contribute positively and constructively to the search for peaceful resolution of conflicts and crisis situations through political dialogue and negotiation. It has tried to be the voice of reason, calling for unity and consensus in responding to some of the most difficult and complex peace and security challenges of our time.
