Day: June 14, 2023

African countries should build their own capacity to be able to address disasters, Director of Blue Economy and Sustainable Environment at the African Union, Harsen Nyambe said.

A two-day validation workshop for the Second Africa Bi-Ennial Report on the Implementation of the Programme of Action for the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction (2015-2030) in Africa is underway in Addis Ababa.

The workshop aimed to bring together all member states of AU to validate the Second Africa Bi-Ennial Report on disaster reduction.

The workshop is looking at validating bi-Ennial report review report, which we do every two years to assess how member states perform in addressing issues of disasters, he said.

From the report, we expected that members of states will now be able to provide more inputs that can be taken to ministers who will meet in November this year, he stressed.

“What we expected from the member states is more to build their own capacity to be able to address those disasters,” he said, adding but more importantly, we have launched the multi- hazard early warning system for disasters.

He also elaborated that each member state will have its own early warning system, because it is better to be able to warn people before disaster strikes.

“In that way, people can be better prepared and they can avoid casualties,” he added.

He said we are supporting member states in terms of development of policies, but we are also actually training them on how to handle disasters but more importantly, actually for early warning.

“We have got a situation room here in Addis at AU headquarters, and we have been bringing member states, representatives of member states and regional economy communities to be trained on how to operate that because that’s one thing that we feel can help a lot in terms of alleviating disasters,” he stated.

The Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction 2015-2030 was adopted at the Third UN World Conference in Sendai, Japan, on March 18, 2015.

The aim of the Sendai Framework is to achieve the sustainable reduction of disaster risks and losses in lives, livelihoods, and health and in the economic among others by 2030.

Source: Ethiopian News Agency

The Human Rights Watch (HRW) report issued a fortnight ago is a destabilizing agenda intended to disrupt the ongoing peace agreement in Ethiopia, an American journalist who visited the area stated in the report noted.

The American journalist, Jemal Countess, told ENA that the Human Rights Watch and other international human rights organizations have repeatedly failed to employ proper working procedures during investigations.

According to him, the Human Rights Watch latest sensational report containing a litany of allegations of grave human rights violations is solely a compilation of phone reports.

The journalist, who visited the areas cited in the report last year noted that these organs have had years to engage people doing phone reports even from other countries and adjacent countries.

The fact is those people have never seen anything on the ground, he stressed.

“Whether people who may or may not exist, but they had the opportunity to have a phone report about these places and say something. It is completely questionable.”

As he had witnessed the facts on the ground, Countess rejected the latest Human Rights Watch report that has basically reversed the circumstances.

The American described the report as a statement employed by a destabilizing agent.

Moreover, it can obstruct the ongoing peace process that has ended the two-year war in northern Ethiopia by fueling ethnic conflict, he underscored.

Therefore, “I think that drastic action is required on the part of governments and other entities like human rights entities in Ethiopia and in the region for that matter. This body (Human Rights Watch) is a destabilizing agent that challenges the entire region, not just Ethiopia.”

Countess believes that most of the international human right organs are instrumental for intervention to achieve their geopolitical interest in Africa by putting pressure on the ground.

Africans, therefore, need to band together and support other Africans.

“Those human right organizations think that they have free reign to spew anything they want. That is why I am saying this needs to be a collective African effort. Multiple countries and other players just need to start the call and force change because the reason is this can’t go on like this.”

The journalist finally urged all Ethiopians to reinforce the reconciliation and justice efforts and avoid divisive agendas that lead to unnecessary conflicts.

“We need to move forward in that way. At the same time this needs to be a collective voice, basically to reject conflict entrepreneurs,” Countess pointed out.

Recall that the Ethiopian government declared that Human Rights Watch’s report is a distorted and misleading portrayal of the situation that attempts to undermine peaceful coexistence and fuel inter-ethnic conflict in Ethiopia.

Source: Ethiopian News Agency

Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD) has adopted a roadmap for the resolution of the conflict in Sudan and commended the African Union-led and Ethiopian-owned successful peace process.

The 14th Ordinary Session of the IGAD Assembly of Heads of State and Government was held on Monday, 12th June 2023, and was chaired by Malik Agar, the Deputy Chairman of the Transitional Sovereignty Council of Sudan and representative of the Chair of the IGAD Heads of State and Government, it was indicated.

The assembly was also attended by leaders of the IGAD member countries and foreign affairs ministers including Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed.

In its communiqué sent to ENA, IGAD has adopted four point of action plans to resolve the ongoing Sudan crisis.

It Includes Ethiopia as the fourth member of the IGAD High-Level Delegation for the Peace Process in the Sudan; and for William Ruto, President of Kenya, to Chair the Quartet Countries of the Djibouti, Ethiopia, Kenya and South Sudan and for the Quartet to work in close coordination with the African Union Commission.

Within ten days, the Quartet would arrange a face-to-face meeting between General Abdel Fattah Al-Burhan, the Chairperson of the Transitional Sovereignty Council of Sudan, and General Muhammad Hamdan Dagalo in one of the regional capitals, it was indicated.

Moreover, the communiqué stressed the need to secure a commitment from the leadership of the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) to establish a humanitarian corridor within two weeks.

Within three weeks, an inclusive political process towards a political settlement of the conflict in the Republic of Sudan will be initiated, it added.

Expressing alarm regarding the continued fighting and the deteriorating security and humanitarian situation in Sudan, it commended the unrelenting efforts of IGAD High-Level Delegation led by Salva Kiir Mayardit, President of Sudan, towards the de-escalation of armed engagements and resolution of the conflict in Sudan.

The communiqué also lauded the African Union, the AU High-Level Panel, and the African Union Commission, the AU Monitoring, verification, and compliance mission, the IGAD Executive Secretary for supporting the implementation of this AU-led and Ethiopian-owned successful peace process.

IGAD further called upon regional and international partners to support Ethiopia`s efforts for the rehabilitation and reconstruction of conflict-affected areas in northern Ethiopia.

Source: Ethiopian News Agency