Over the past three years, the Embassy of Ethiopia in Brussels has been actively promoting Ethiopian tourism destinations and attractions by participating in holiday fairs and organising tourism events. This article was originally published in the 10th issue (April 2018) of The Ethiopian Messenger, the quarterly magazine of the Embassy of Ethiopia in Brussels.

Over the past three years, the Embassy of Ethiopia in Brussels has been actively promoting Ethiopian tourism destinations in Benelux and Baltic countries, in collaboration with Ethiopian Airlines in Brussels (EAL), the Ethiopian Tourism Organization (ETO) and the Ethiopian Tour Operators Association (ETOA). Considering the European public’s habit of visiting holiday fairs to discover future travel destinations, the Embassy took the lead in coordinating various Ethiopian tourism stakeholders to take part in major holiday fairs in the Benelux Countries. A significant number of people were able to discover the country’s rich culture and natural beauty through such events.

On each occasion, the elaborate Ethiopian stands, in addition to the traditional music, dances and coffee ceremony never failed to catch the eyes of intrigued visitors. By stopping at the stand, visitors not only obtained practical information about the country but also experienced the hospitality of Ethiopia by enjoying a warm cup of coffee while sitting on a traditional stool, surrounded by the aroma of Ethiopian roasted coffee beans.

A new image for the country

A key moment for European visitors is to discover the reality of a country that is miles away from the barren land described in the 1980s. After broadening their knowledge, most visitors conclude that Ethiopia is a must-see destination and inevitably ask the same question: “When the best season to visit Ethiopia?”. Tour operators and Ethiopian Airlines play a crucial role in providing information on Ethiopia’s tourism destinations and flight details. Over time, holiday fairs have also become a platform where Europeans travellers who have visited Ethiopia to share their testimonies. It is not rare for them to express their intention to visit Ethiopian again. The Embassy has worked tirelessly to make use of this crucial platform to showcase Ethiopia as a must-see touristic destination in Africa offering a uniquely rich culture and endowed with the awe-inspiring natural scenery.

Many factors have played a role in the constantly increasing number of tourists visiting Ethiopia, such as its stability and its dynamic economic development. The growing interest of European media also played a positive role in placing Ethiopia as an important cultural touristic destination in Africa. More and more journalists are visiting Ethiopia to film documentaries or write articles about the country. In parallel, Ethiopia has caught the attention of several bloggers and travel magazines. For instance, the Daily Mail vaunted the beauty of Ethiopia in an article titled “Forget sunny Spain, enchanting Thailand and the romance of France: Ethiopia is named ‘World’s Best Tourism Destination.” Thanks to their reporting and testimonies, the image of Ethiopia of the 80s is beginning to fade away from popular memory.

Recent holiday fairs

The Embassy’s efforts would not have succeeded without the active support of Ethiopian Airlines Benelux Area Office. The national carrier is connecting Africa to the world thanks to its flights to 56 cities in Africa, to 18 Europe & America destinations and 26 terminals in Gulf countries, the Middle East & Asia. The Airline has always been a part of the Embassy’s efforts in promoting the new tourism brand dubbed ‘Ethiopia Land of Origins’ in several tourism events organised in the past. Mr Bisrat Tedla, manager of EAL Brussels, has made a valuable contribution towards promoting Ethiopia in the Benelux countries. The Embassy has been playing a major role in facilitating the participation of several Ethiopian tour operators through active engagements with the respective organizers of the fairs. So far this year, the participation of Ethiopian tourism stakeholders to the holiday fair of Brussels (Salon des vacances) and of Luxembourg (Vacanz) has been widely successful. The Brussels holiday fair was marked by a stand designed to replicate the Church of Lalibela, while the traditional coffee ceremony got the attention of Belgian RTL TV channel and several other journalists and bloggers. Similarly, Ethiopia’s participation to the Vakanz Tourism Fair of Luxembourg included cultural performances by the Ethiopian Diaspora in Luxembourg and the Luxemburger Wort daily featured Ethiopia’s stand in its front page dedicated to the fair.

Major tourism promotional event in Ghent

More significantly, the Ethiopian Embassy organized a workshop on tourism on 13 March 2018 in close collaboration with the University of Ghent and Koombana Bay Tourism Marketing & Communication Agency. Over 19 Ethiopian tour operators and Ethiopian officials lead by H.E. Meaza G/Medhin, State Minister for Tourism, took part to the event for the first time. The workshop also served a platform to establish a Business to Business (B2B) and Business to Government (B2G) links, as it has brought together over 150 Destination Management Companies, Tour Operators, journalists and bloggers from Belgium and the Netherlands. After welcoming remarks by Ambassador Ewnetu Blata, charge d’affaires at the Ethiopian Embassy in Brussels, and an opening speech of H.E. Meaza G/Medhin which gave an insight about the development of Ethiopia’s tourism sector to attendees. The Acting CEO of the ETO, Yechale Mihret, and Area Manager of the EAL (Benelux Area Office) presented several Ethiopian tourism attractions and the flight destinations of EAL. ETOA’s Representative, Mr Desale Mitiku mentioned the untapped tourism potential of the country and underscored that visiting Ethiopia is like visiting three countries at the same time due to the country’s long and rich history, unique nature and incredible cultural diversity.

Later, ample time was given for networking opportunities resulting in fruitful connections among the participants. The workshop also contributed in promoting the Ethiopian culture as were offered Ethiopian authentic food by Toukoul Restaurant (Brussels), were entertained with a coffee ceremony and Washint Music (an Ethiopian traditional instrument similar to flute) and an exhibition of Ethiopian traditional costumes and crafts organized by Mrs Tezerash Asfaw-an, a prominent member of the diaspora in Belgium. In a nutshell, this tourism event was successful as it brought together all the key stakeholders in tourism and the European public to scale up the flow of tourism to Ethiopia.

 

 

Ethiopia, Egypt and Sudan have managed to resolve differences on key issues regarding the Ethiopian Grand Renaissance Dam (GERD).

 The countries have managed to reach consensus on issues that stalled the negotiation in the tripartite meeting which held on Tuesday 15 May in Addis Ababa. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs said that the issues that the three countries have reached consensus yesterday are in accordance with the national interest of Ethiopia.

 The consensus reached on the establishment of an independent team to study the filling of the GERD reservoir and operating the dam is a major success. The agreement is a step forward for Ethiopia that has been insisting on the need to resolve difference jointly without the involvement of a third party.

 Egypt had been insisting for an involvement of a third party in the negotiation, which Ethiopia and Sudan had strongly opposed. The issue has been discussed for more than a year due to this.

The three countries have now reached agreement on the issue, as Egypt changed its view in this regard. Accordingly, a team that consists of five individuals from each country will be established to study the filling and operating of the dam.

 Another issue that stalled the negotiation was Egypt’s refusal to accept queries and concern from Ethiopia and Sudan on the terms of reference presented by the consultant firm.

However, the three countries have resolved this difference in yesterday’s meeting.

They agreed to present any of their query and concern through the tripartite technical committee in an organized manner to the firm.

They also agreed to discuss the responses of the consultant in their upcoming meeting.

Holding a high-level meeting at the level of the leaders twice a year in each country is among the agreed points.

They are also agreed to meet in Cairo at the beginning of June to discuss the framework that would allow the establishment of a joint infrastructure fund.

The final document is expected to be presented to the leaders in order to be approved.

Ethiopia has been discussing with the downstream countries to reach agreement on the time that should take to fill the dam without harming those countries and ways of presenting queries and concern on the intended studies.

The countries have managed their differences in yesterday’s meeting that continued until midnight.

 In his concluding remarks, Workneh Gebeyehu, Ethiopia’s Foreign Minister expressed happiness over the agreement, as the issues that have been stalled for a long period of time are solved.

 He also expressed hope that the agreement would strengthen the people-to-people relations between the countries.

 Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shukri on his part said the meeting was conducted in a spirit of brotherhood and transparent way. He appreciated Ethiopia for its efforts towards reaching consensus.

 Sudanese Water Minister Mutaz Musa said that the meeting is unique as they are managed to resolve their differences following extensive discussions held for more than a year.

 He added that the achievement displayed that the countries can manage to narrow their differences without the involvement of a third party.

The month of Ramada is unique as it concurs with peace, love, kindness, unity and other several religious values, the Premier said in his message.

“I strongly believe that Ramadan will be a month in which you pray for peace, unity and prosperity of Ethiopia,” said Prime Minister Dr Abiy.

As a month of fasting, Ramadan will give us an opportunity to carry out practical activities that are beneficial for the country and the people.

Accordingly, “during this month of fasting, I urge you to pray as usual for peace and uphold Ethiopian’s age-long history of living in harmony,” he added.

The Premier finally wished all Muslims a peaceful and happy Ramadan.

The holy month of Ramadan will start tomorrow.

Ethiopia Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed has reiterated his stance on financial transparency in a meeting with top government appointees including members of the cabinet on Tuesday 15 May. The meeting was aimed at finding ways through which officials could deliver results and respond public demands.

Abiy stressed that the historic transition of democratic power in early April had set fertile grounds for more changes.

Foreign trips of officials and their destinations are going to be strictly monitored as a means to improve accountability. Foreign bank accounts of government officials are also under investigation.

The Premier mentioned that there are officials who travelled abroad more than 10 times within a year unnecessarily. In addition to the excess travel, there are also officials who stop over to visit some places other than their original destinations.

These make the implementation of strong monitoring mechanisms necessary to save the country’s resource.

Unnecessary travels of government officials will be cancelled in order to save time and cost alongside ensuring transparency and accountability.

Regarding the investigation on foreign bank accounts of officials, Abiy said: “investigation is being conducted on foreign bank accounts of government officials to ensure accountability and transparency”.

He said countries are collaborating with the Ethiopian government in the investigation. The premier pledges to disclose the result as soon as the investigation completed.

The premier is also said to have moved weekly cabinet meeting to Saturday from Friday as part of a move to avoid waste of time during a working day.

In his inaugural speech to the House of Peoples’ Representatives in April, Abiy pledged to fight corruption, which is among the causes that galvanized the grievances of the people in recent years.

He stated during the time “We have come to learn that it is impossible to combat corruption by merely establishing anti-corruption institutions. I politely ask all of us to do all we can to ensure that Ethiopia won’t become a country where one works hard and the other simply snatch it away”.

He also said that it is impossible for a people and a country that are busy taking away the created wealth to reach the desired level of development.

“Rather, let us busy ourselves with utilising the unique opportunities presented to us by the circumstances, coordinating our national capacity, and overcoming our scarcity and shortage mindset,” he said.

Water and Foreign Ministers of Ethiopia, Egypt and Sudan meet to discuss the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) in Addis Ababa on Tuesday 15 May.

Foreign Minister Workeneh Gebeyhu said that Ethiopia would work full-heartedly to the successfulness of the meeting. He also expressed hope that consensus would be reached on many issues that are tabled for discussion.

The ministers discussed issues that the three countries have failed to reach agreement in their last meeting held during the first week of this month.

The tripartite meeting was held in Addis Ababa on 5 May 2018, on various issues including the filling of the reservoir and the two studies to be conducted on the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam.

In the end, the tripartite meeting of Ethiopia, Egypt and Sudan agreed to establish an independent, national and scientific group to study the filling of the GERD.

The agreement reached during the meeting is a step forward for Ethiopia that has been insisting on reaching agreement on the issue.

The three countries have been discussing on filling of the GERD reservoir and operating it for years.

Ethiopia has been discussing with the downstream countries to decide upon the time that should take to fill the dam without harming those countries.

The day-long meeting also agreed on ways of presenting queries and observation to the consultancy.

The three countries have also agreed to establish a tripartite infrastructure fund that would allow engaging on joint infrastructure development endeavours.

In 2011, Ethiopia began constructing GERD over the Blue Nile, which it sees the dam as a defining national project and a means of overcoming poverty.

The Battle of Adwa fought on 1 March 1896, holds a special place in Ethiopian history. By repelling the Italian invaders, Ethiopia, led by Emperor Menelik II, defeated one of Europe’s major powers in an age of relentless European expansion into Africa. This article was originally published in the 10th issue (April 2018) of The Ethiopian Messenger, the quarterly magazine of the Embassy of Ethiopia in Brussels.

The people of Ethiopia have fought several battles and wars to preserve the dignity and the territorial integrity of their nation throughout its long history. In the 1870s and 1880s, Ethiopia successfully defeated Khedive Ismail Pasha of Egypt, who sought to bring the Nile River basin under his rule, the invading Mahdist army of Sudan and the Italians trying to turn the country into an Italian protectorate under the leadership of Emperor Yohannes IV (1837-1889).

The importance of Adwa

But the Battle of Adwa fought on 1 March 1896 holds a special place in Ethiopian History. By repelling the Italians, Ethiopia, led by Emperor Menelik II, defeated one of Europe’s major powers in an age of relentless European expansion into Africa. This victory changed the country’s destiny and transformed the consciousness of Ethiopians and people of African descent all over the world as a symbol of resistance to colonialism. Thanks to their heroic resistance, Ethiopians managed to remain the only independent African country of that time, which is why they cherish the victory of Adwa for the generations to come. As we celebrate this important part of Ethiopia’s modern history, we should also seize this opportunity to investigate many aspects of that famous chapter, and numerous revelations probably still await us as many aspects of the battle are still not well researched.

 

Historical Context

It is important to remind the current generation of the historical background of Adwa, the preparation for the battle, its aftermath and the various consequences of the battle, at the local, regional and international levels. In the late 19th century, the opening of Suez Canal in 1896 coupled with the Scramble for Africa by European powers increased the strategic importance of Ethiopia as several European Powers (notably France, Italy and Great Britain) sought influence in the area. Ethiopia was a country with a long history of civil war, but at the same time, it also had its share of resistance against foreign aggression. Egyptians, Sudanese, Ottoman Turks, and Portuguese had all tried and failed to dominate Ethiopia. Emperor Tewodros and Yohannes IV both died to protect the safety and security of their land and peoples.

Therefore, upon coming into power, Emperor Menelik (1844-1913) had the considerable pressure of maintaining the sovereignty and dignity of the people and the territorial integrity of the country. He had to manage internal problems while dealing with external threats at the same time. Unlike his predecessors, Emperor was ready to adopt modern inventions and lead his people by example. On the diplomatic front, he tried to foster good relations with many European powers and left his door open for negotiations and pacts. One of these pacts, made with Italy, eventually became the ‘seed of contention’ that caused of Battle of Adwa.

Treaty of Wuchale

The interpretation of the famous Treaty of Wuchale was the spark that ignited the second war between Ethiopia and Italy. In 1889, Menelik had concluded a treaty with Italy at Wuchale in Wollo province. However, there were two versions of the treaty, one in talian and another in Amharic. Unknown to Menelik the Italian version gave Italy more power than the two had agreed to. Article 17 of the Italian version stated Ethiopia’s relations with foreign countries would be determined by Italy, implying that Ethiopia was an Italian protectorate. But this was not an accurate reflection of the Amharic version which had been presented to the Emperor. Emperor Menelik II rejected the treaty as soon as he learned about the alteration. In the long history of Ethiopia, Ethiopians have never bargained nor compromised on their sovereignty, their independence and their freedom. Popular saying and proverbs of the land such as ‘No compromise on one’s wife, no compromise on one’s country!’ testify to this particular trait. However, it was not the intention of the Emperor Menelik to go to war against the Italians. Well aware of the enormous challenge the war would present, he first tried to use his diplomatic channels and skills to avoid the disaster.

The battle

The Italians first attempted to bribe Menelik with two million rounds of ammunition, but he refused. After a failed attempt to create a civil war in Ethiopia, the Italians declared war and invaded the country. As latecomers to ‘the scramble for Africa’, Italy wanted to imitate what other European powers had done. The interpretation of the Treaty of Wuchale was a good excuse for them to justify their expansion in Africa. Menelik had no choice but, to tell the truth to his people and alert them. He declared the preparation for the war. However, Italy had not anticipated the fierce resistance they would have to face to do so. Although aware they were outnumbered, Italians believed the Ethiopians to be undisciplined and unskilled at the art of war, negating the advantage in numbers. They were proven severely wrong, and by the afternoon of 1 March 1896, Italian forces were in a desperate, panicked retreat. For a country like Ethiopia, waging war against a highly superior, better trained and mechanised army at a place very distant from his capital city, required logistics efforts unprecedented in the history of the country. In consequence, the way the emperor and his allied handled the entire preparation and the battle can only be described as a masterstroke.

Historical legacy

The victory of Adwa quickly became the pride and inspiration of the subjugated people of the world and a beacon of hope for all those who resisted any form of domination of a people over others. Indeed, Adwa changed perspectives and History was never to be the same as in the pre-Adwa days for Ethiopians and of the people of African origin. What was considered unthinkable in pre-Adwa days was proved wrong. That is why Adwa is considered ‘the pride of Africa’. To commemorate this historical battle and reminds that it belongs to all people of African descent, the construction of Adwa Pan-African University was launched in January 2018. Upon completion, the university staff will carry out researches related to the battle to promote a better understand its story by all Africans.

Regional integration is complex in Africa, where a single country often belongs to several overlapping regional organisations. The EU is supporting the integration efforts of the Eastern Africa region under the Cotonou Partnership Agreement. This article was originally published in the 10th issue (April 2018) of The Ethiopian Messenger, the quarterly magazine of the Embassy of Ethiopia in Brussels.

The EU contribution to the integration efforts of the Eastern Africa region is taking place within the context of the Cotonou Partnership Agreement uniting 79 ACP member states with the EU 28 countries under a legally binding agreement. Among the ACP countries, 48 are from SubSahara Africa, 16 from the Caribbean and 15 from the Pacific Region. The 48 African nations are geographically divided into four regions (West, Central, Eastern, Southern), making the ACP a six-regional inter-governmental grouping with similar development aspiration and cultural background. The current development cooperation arrangement between EU and ACP countries incorporates at its centre a financial protocol known as the European Development Fund (EDF), which plays a crucial part of the agreement and provide financial support to ACP counties in various forms. The EDF is interlinked with other parts of the agreement that include trading arrangements such as the Economic Partnership Agreement (EPAs) and political dialogue (on human rights, democratic principles, …) between the EU and ACP.

Regional Frameworks

The EDF financial protocol devolves into three financial envelopes: the first one is National Indicative Programme (NIP), which is agreed and jointly administered between an ACP beneficial country and the EU, the Regional Indicative Programme (RIP) between an ACP region and the EU, and the Intra-ACP Programme, which aims to foster the linkage and integration between the six regions of the ACP group by focusing on commonalities among all the ACP countries. It also intends to complement NIPs and RIPs at the ACP grouping level. The case of RIP is somewhat complex in Africa, where a single country often belongs to several overlapping regional organisations. For example, Ethiopia is a member of the Eastern Africa group, one of the six regions of the ACP, when it comes decision making and other consultation within the ACP. However, when it comes to the Regional Indicative Programme (RIP), the East Africa Region is merged with other regions to form the bigger Eastern Africa (EA), Southern Africa (SA) and Indian Ocean (IO) region. The EA-SA-IO region is made up of 25 African countries with diverse political and socio-economic backgrounds and that are members of one or more Regional Organizations. Such kind of complex regional arrangement makes it complicated to implement any program in the 11th EDF. In consequence, the implementation process requires greater coordination, capacity and flexibility.

The coordinating aspect of the implementation is collectively undertaken by the Duly Mandated Regional Organizations (DMROs) which are COMESA (Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa), EAC (East African Community), IGAD (Intergovernmental Authority on Development), IOC (Indian Ocean Commission) and SADC (Southern African Development Community). Due to this peculiar character of the region, a single Regional Indicative Programme is devised for the collective overview and programming of the five Duly Mandated Regional Organization, as stated in the Cotonou Agreement (Annex 4, Article 7) regarding regions with overlapping memberships across the regional organisations.

EU objectives in EA: fighting insecurity and poverty

The RIP exercise is primarily driven by the EU and offers a glimpse of EU’s policy interest towards the region. The EU has obviously an interest in a stable, peaceful and prosperous EA-SA-IO region. These interests are defined by the sub-region geostrategic importance particularly that of the Horn of Africa, where the EU has historically tried to protect vulnerable populations, including refugees and internally displaced persons and support the sub-region for self-sustaining economic growth. The implementation of these priorities underpins EU’s regional interests (for example these are enshrined in the EU Strategic Framework for the Horn of Africa). This Strategic Framework takes a regional approach in supporting EA-SA-IO countries by addressing the link between insecurity, poverty and governance.

A key objective is to promote sustainable development by enhancing intra-regional trade. This kind of integration will further contribute to the realisation of development goals, poverty alleviation, as well as improved conditions for investment, private sector development and decent job creation. However, to make these become a reality, EA-SA-IO countries need to take their national priorities into account in addition to the EU interest stated above (such as Agenda for Change policy document) as well as their own regional needs while setting out priorities in the RIP programming process.

Defining RIP priorities

The process of identifying priority areas under RIP and the subsequent financial allocation was a gradual exercise. The RIP programming exercise that started in 2012 attempted to adopt a participatory approach by bringing together the five DMROs and the EU to coordinate the programming and formulation processes. In practice, the EU drove the whole process as it was providing the funding. As the process required and continues to require higher internal coordination among the DMROs, within their member states and with other stakeholders, it allowed the EA-SA-IO RIP to become an instrument that mainly supports EPA negotiation and implementation. The total Regional Indicative Programme for EA-SA-IO region is 1.332 billion euros divided into three envelopes (allocations for regional organisations; infrastructure; cross-regional programmes), with an overall focus on peace and security, regional economic integration, and natural resource management.

IGAD

The allocation for IGAD is 80 million euros which will cover the conflict, early warning and response mechanism, mediation and preventive diplomacy, and countering transnational security threats; reducing barriers to free movement of persons (regional economic integration); and resilience of pastoralist populations and promoting sustainable ecosystem rehabilitation (natural resource management). And an additional amount of 5 euros million for building the capacity of the IGAD Secretariat. The biggest chunk of the financial allocation is Infrastructure projects across the entire region which will receive 600 million euros. This is expected to be used primarily for blending with funds from investment banks such as EIB. A further 205 million euros is available for seven cross-regional programmes covering the Great Lakes, migration, maritime security, the interim Economic Partnership Agreement, transboundary water management, sustainable fisheries, and wildlife conservation. In 2017, 10 million euro was also approved to the Nile Basin Initiative project from the finance allocated under Natural resource management of the current RIP.

Challenges

There are also regional implementation challenges: The first is almost all countries of the EA-SA-IO region are members of at least two regional organisations, a situation which poses problems to both regional integration and EU support to the region. An attempt to address this challenge is the Tripartite Free Trade Area Agreement between COMESA-SADC-EAC States, which committed them to the establishment of a single Free Trade Area covering 26 countries. The Tripartite process was launched in 2008, and the modalities for creating the FTA are still being negotiated. The second issue is that Eastern Africa, and particularly the Horn of Africa sub-region, is characterised by a long history of underdevelopment and conflict. This requires strong political commitment from the region and sustained a financial support by partner countries and organisations. In this light, EU needs to continue its contribution to a peaceful and developed region by supporting consensus and political dialogue as is the case in Somalia, Sudan and South Sudan via its financial support to AMISOM and UNMISS, UNISFA, peacekeeping mission. The principle of complementarity between a RIP and National Indicative Program (NIP) is another critical point that should be looked at in view of efficient utilisation of EU’s financial support.

For example, in the case of Ethiopia, the financial and technical support of EU (under EDF) to Ethiopia’s economic development agenda is complemented to some extent by earlier RIPs. This becomes visible when we look at EU assistance to Ethiopia which focuses on support for infrastructure development, food security, good governance, and capacity building. Since the early days of its cooperation with Ethiopia, the EU has provided substantial support for the infrastructure sector, and since 2006, it has provided budget support to Ethiopia’s road sector development programme (RSDP). This sector has synergies with other sectors contributing to connecting Ethiopia with its neighbours and foster regional infrastructure integration and trade linkages. For example, rural development and food security are supported by the development of rural roads and private sector development is supported by capacity building of the domestic construction industry. As the way forward, one new feature envisaged and dully pursued under the 11th EDF – RIP is the principle to allow member states have direct access to finance rather than having all funding channelled through the regional organisations. The second is the process of submitting projects for funding under the infrastructure envelope must be agreed in advance between member countries, the various RECs and EU regarding project identification, having a clear timetable for submission etc. Governments of the region need to discuss proposals with EIB. Other projects to be funded through the Regional Programme could be subject to a call for proposals, and member countries could apply. On the other hand, activities financed through RIP should be implemented by individual Governments if they fall within the regional framework. But all this must be negotiated and agreed between the EU, the five RECs and all the member countries to efficiently utilise the allocated fund and contribute to greater regional integration.