U.S. Ethiopia Cooperation

U.S. Ethiopia Cooperation

“African-led solutions are increasingly making the difference on the challenges of the 21st century,” said Secretary of State Antony Blinken during his recent visit of Ethiopia. “One of the most powerful testaments to the importance of African leadership has been the November 2nd Cessation of Hostilities Agreement to end the conflict and suffering in northern Ethiopia.” This is “a major achievement and step forward, saving lives and changing lives.”

“The guns are silent. As the fighting has stopped, human rights violations declined. Humanitarian assistance is flowing, finally reaching nearly all communities in need, services are being restored in the Tigray Region, the TPLF is disarming, Eritrean and other non-federal forces are departing,” he said. “The dedicated diplomacy of the mediators from the African Union, from Kenya, from South Africa, supported by the United States, was essential to securing this agreement. And the AU monitoring mechanism is a key to its full implementation.”

“We welcome the commitments that the parties have made to acknowledging the atrocities committed and their devastating consequences,” said Secretary Blinken.

“Recognizing the atrocities committed by all parties is an essential step to achieving a sustainable peace. We urge Ethiopians to follow through on their commitments to each other to implement an inclusive and comprehensive transitional justice process that includes both reconciliation and accountability,” he said. “Overcoming poisonous grievances and ethnic divisions is the only way to break the cycle of political and ethnic violence in the north, in Oromia, or anywhere else. As a partner in that effort, the United States is providing both technical and financial support.”

Nonetheless, because “building lasting peace is being made more complicated by the acute economic challenges that Ethiopia faces,” the United States will keep partnering with Ethiopia on food security, and more, said Secretary Blinken:

“We’ll keep working together on public health, building on our many years of partnership to combat HIV/AIDS, and continue to tackle the COVID-19 pandemic and ensure that we’re all prepared for future pandemics.

“We’ll continue to support Ethiopia’s economic development, investing hundreds of millions in health, economic growth, education, democracy, and food security every year. And we’ll continue to support migrants and refugees, and victims of human rights abuse.”

“In all that we’re doing,” said Secretary Blinken, “our mission is to build a strong partnership between the United States and Ethiopia that ensures we can meet the aspirations of our people.”