Deputy Prime Minister Demeke Mekonnen held a discussion yesterday (April 13th) with security bodies about ways of implementing the state of emergency declared to contain the spread of coronavirus (COVID-19).

The discussion was a follow-up to the directive issued by the Attorney General on Saturday to implement the state of emergency proclamation endorsed by the House of People’s Representatives to contain COVID-19 late last week.

The meeting brought together the leadership of the defense force, federal police, and other relevant institution.

Opening the meeting, the deputy premier said the security forces at all levels should discharge their responsibilities for the full implementation of the proclamation.

He also urged the public to practice all advice given by the World Health Organization beyond respecting the detailed directive of the attorney general.

Yet the meeting in its discussion has found that there are still gaps in the implementation of the directive which warrants due strictness of law enforcement bodies in ensuring respect of the law.

They particularly singled out the violation of social distancing in places of worship and markets.

The participants have therefore agreed to enforce the proclamation. “Security forces will take all the necessary measures to enforce the proclamation and punish anybody who violates it.”

The committee also called on the public to contribute their share in implementing the directive for the state of emergency proclamation.

Companies in Hawassa industrial park have begun producing face masks as part of efforts to halt spread of coronavirus (COVID-19).

Currently, they are “producing 10,000 face masks per day to increase to 50,000 per day” said the Prime Minister Dr Abiy Ahmed on Twitter.

“Our industries are adapting to the times. Companies in Hawasa Industrial Park undeterred and shifting operations to meet immediate needs,” he added.

The Prime Minister also called on others to follow suit. “Well done. I encourage other companies to innovate and adapt,” he said.

Ethiopia has so far registered 71 cases of COVID-19, three deaths and 10 recoveries.

According to the latest figures from Johns Hopkins University, more than 1.8 million cases of coronavirus have been registered globally.

More than 114,000 people have died and close to 428,000 have recovered from the virus.

 

The Chairperson of the African Union, President of the Republic of South Africa His Excellency Cyril Ramaphosa has appointed Dr Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, Dr Donald Kaberuka, Mr Tidjane Thiam and Mr Trevor Manuel as Special Envoys of the African Union to mobilize international support for Africa’s efforts to address the economic challenges African countries will face as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Special Envoys will be tasked with soliciting rapid and concrete support as pledged by the G20, the European Union, and other international financial institutions.

President Ramaphosa says: “In the light of the devastating socio-economic and political impact of the pandemic on African countries these institutions need to support African economies that are facing serious economic challenges with a comprehensive stimulus package for Africa, including deferred debt and interest payments.

“The impact of the coronavirus pandemic has been global in both scale and reach, and this necessitates coordinated international action to capacitate all countries to respond effectively, but most particularly developing countries that continue to shoulder a historical burden of poverty, inequality and underdevelopment,” President Ramaphosa said.

President Ramaphosa added: “The sentiment expressed in two recent letters written to the G20 by a group of world leaders and a team of esteemed economists underscore the importance of bolstering health systems in poorer countries; this can only be done with the support of the international community.”

Dr Okonjo-Iweala is an internationally respected economist and development expert and served two terms as Minister of Finance of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. She has also served as Managing Director of the World Bank.

Dr Kaberuka is an economist and former President and Chairman of the Board of Directors of the African Development Bank (AfDB). He is the former Finance Minister of Rwanda and in 2016 was appointed as a Special Envoy of the African Union on sustainable financing for the AU and funding for Peace in Africa.

Mr Manuel was the longest-serving Minister of Finance in the Republic of South Africa and formerly headed the country’s National Planning Commission. In 2018 he was appointed as an Investment Envoy by South African President Cyril Ramaphosa to engage domestic and international investors as part of the country’s national investment drive.

Mr Thiam is a banker and businessman. He is the former Chief Executive Officer of Credit Suisse and also served as Chief Financial Officer and CEO of Prudential. He also has a background in management consulting and worked for McKinsey and Company.

The AU Chair said the appointment of the special envoys would expedite the process of securing economic support to enable countries on the continent to respond swiftly to this grave public health emergency. President Ramaphosa said the envoys brought with them a wealth of experience and enjoyed longstanding relationships in the international financial community.

“The African Union is immensely encouraged by the support that has been extended by the international community thus far. It is an affirmation that as nations of the world, we are all in this together. We must now focus on efforts to marshal every resource at our disposal to ensure that this pandemic is contained, and does not result in the collapse of already ailing economies and financial systems on the continent,” President Ramaphosa said.

ISSUED BY THE PRESIDENCY OF THE REPUBLIC OF SOUTH AFRICA AND CHAIRPERSON OF THE AFRICAN UNION

የኮቪድ 19 ወረርሽኝ ስርጭትን ለመከላከል፣ ለመቆጣጠርና የሚያስከትለውን ጉዳት ለመቀነስ የወጣው የአስቸኳይ ጊዜ አዋጅ ማስፈፀሚያ ደንብን የፌዴራል ጠቅላይ አቃቤ ህግ ይፋ አደረገ።

በሚኒስትሮች ምክር ቤት የወጣው ረቂቅ አዋጅ ትናንት በህዝብ ተወካዮች ምክር ቤት መፅጽደቁ ይታወቃል።

Minister of the Foreign Affairs of Ethiopia, H.E. Gedu Andargachew today (April 11) held a video teleconference with Ethiopian heads of missions in Europe, the Middle East and the Americas.

Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed had a telephone conversation with World Health Organization (WHO) Director-General Dr. Tedros Adhanom in which he commended the organization for providing collective leadership by example.
The premier thanked the director-general for the updates on COVID-19, and the work WHO is doing globally to mitigate the spread of the virus.

Abiy further said, “Our phone conversation yesterday further affirmed that indeed this precarious period requires collective leadership more than ever. And you are leading by example.”

The Ministry of Health has registered nine new cases of coronavirus (COVID-19) out of the 442 samples that were tested over the past 24 hours.

This brings the total COVID-19 cases in Ethiopia to 65.

Seven of the nine confirmed cases are Ethiopians. The other two cases are Indian and Eritrean nationals.

All are individuals who have returned home from abroad and placed under a mandatory 14-day quarantine.

The country has so far registered two deaths and four recoveries from the virus.

According to the latest figures from Johns Hopkins University, more than 1.6 million cases of coronavirus have been registered globally.

Close to 96,000 people have died and more than 356,000 have recovered from the virus.

The Ethiopian Parliament has approved today (April 10th) the state of emergency declared to fight coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.

The Council on Wednesday declared a five-month state of emergency to avert the spread of the virus and reduce its impact on the country.

Prime Minister Dr Abiy Ahmed has held phone talks with Lt. Gen. Abdel Fattah Abdelrahman Burhan, Chairman of the Sovereign Council of Sudan.

“We discussed working closely together to address COVID19 challenges; strengthening economic ties to overcome this difficult period; and championing the lifting of sanctions placed on Sudan,” said the Prime Minister on Twitter.

በተለያዩ አገሮች ከሚገኙ የኢትዮጵያ ሚሲዮኖችና ዳያስፖራ ማህበረሰብ ከ18 ሚሊዮን ብር በላይ የገንዘብ ድጋፍ መሰብሰቡን የውጭ አገሮች ድጋፍ አሰባሳቢ ኮሚቴ አስታወቀ።

ዓለምን ለሁለንተናዊ ቀውስ እየዳረገ ባለው የኮሮናቫይረስ (ኮቪድ-19) ሉላዊ ወረርሽኝ የሚያስከትለውን ጫና ለመቋቋም አገሮች የተቻላቸውን ሁሉ ጥረት በማድረግ ላይ ናቸው።

ኢትዮጵያም በውጭና በአገር ውስጥ ያሉ ዜጎችን የተባበረ ክንድ በመሻት ብሔራዊ የኮሮናቫይረስ መከላከል የሀብት አሰባሳቢ ግብረኃይል በማቋቋም ወደ ስራ ከገባች ሰነባብታለች።

በአገር ውስጥም ሆነ በውጭ ያሉ ኢትዮጵያዊያንም የተቻላቸውን እጃቸውን በመዘረጋት ላይ ሲሆኑ በውጭ የሚገኘውን ድጋፍ የሚያሰባስበው የግብረሃይሉ አንዱ ክንፍ ነው።

የውጭ አገራት ድጋፍ አሰባሳቢ ኮሚቴ ሰብሳቢ የሆኑት የውጭ ጉዳይ ሚኒስር ዴኤታ አምባሳደር ብርቱካን አያኖ ማምሻውን ለኢዜአ በሰጡት መግለጫ፤ ኮሚቴው በየክፍላተ ዓለም ከሚገኙ ሚሲዮኖችና የዳያስፖራ ማህበረሰብ በፍላጎት ላይ የተመሰረተ ድጋፍ የማሰባሰብ ተግባር ላለፉት 15 ቀናት አከናውኗል።

በዚህም ኮሚቴው በሚሲዮኖች የአደራ ሂሳብ ቁጥር፣ በባንኮች ሬሚታንስ፣ በኢትዮ ቴሌኮም ድጋፍ ማሰባሰቢያ ፕላትፎርም የተዘጋጁ ሲሆን በዚህም በየአገሮች የሚገኙ 60 ሚሲዮኖች ሰራተኞችና የዳያስፖራ አባላት በገንዘብ፣ በአይነትና በሙያ ሁለንተናዊ ድጋፍ እያደረጉ መሆኑን ጠቅሰዋል።

የዳያስፖራ ማህበረሰቡ ከዚህ በፊት በተለያየ አገራዊ የልማት ስራዎችና የአደጋ ጊዜ አለኝታ ሆኖ መቆየቱን የገለጹት አምባሳደር ብርቱካን፤ ”የወቅቱን ድጋፍ ለየት የሚያደርገው ወረርሽኙ ዓለም አቀፋዊ ቢሆንም ዳያስፖራው ከራሱ አልፎ ወገኑን የማስቀደም ተግባር ላይ መሰማራቱ ነው” ብለዋል።

በዚህም እስካሁን በተደረገው እንቅስቃሴ የውጭ ጉዳይ ሚኒስቴር ሰራተኞችን ጨምሮ ከ60 ሚሲዮን ሃላፊዎችና ሰራተኞች ከ3 ነጥብ 9 ሚሊዮን ብር በላይ መሰብሰብ ተችሏል።

በተለያዩ አገሮች ከሚገኙ የኢትዮጵያ ዳያስፖራ ማህበረሰብ አባላት በድምሩ 14 ነጥብ 2 ሚሊዮን ብር በላይ ተሰብስቧል።

ከነዚህም መካከል ከአቡዳቢ 2 ሚሊዮን፣ ከዱባይ 1 ነጥብ 3 ሚሊዮን፣ ከቤጂንግ 1 ነጥብ 4 ሚሊዮን፣ ከካናዳ ኦታዋ 1 ሚሊዮን እንዲሁም ከስዊዘርላንድና ኦስትሪያ 1 ነጥብ 3 ሚሊዮን ብር በላይ ድጋፍ ተገኝቷል።

”በዚህም በድምሩ 18 ነጥብ 2 ሚሊዮን ብር ድጋፍ የተገኘ ሲሆን ሁሉም በኮሚቴው እጅ የገባ ድጋፍ ነው” ብለዋል።

በሌላ በኩል ኢትዮ-ቴሌኮም ባመቻቸው ኢትዮሬሚት የተሰኘ የገንዘብ ማሰባሰቢያ ስርዓት ከ302 ሺህ 587 ብር በላይ እንደተሰበሰበ ጠቁመዋል።

በሌላ በኩል ከዳያስፖራ ትረስት ፈንድ አባላት በኢትዮጵያ ብር ሲመነዘር ከ32 ሚሊዮን የሚገመት ድጋፍ ለማሰባሰብ ከሰሞኑ ቃል መግባታቸውን ገልጸዋል።

ኮሚቴው ባይረከብም በዋሽንግተን በኢንተርኔት ገንዘብ ማሰባሰቢያ ስልት ‘ጎፈንድሚ’ አማካኝነት 27 ሚሊዮን ብር የሚገመት ገንዘብ እንደተሰበሰበ መመልከታቸውን ገልጸዋል።

የዳያስፖራ አባላቱ በገንዘብ ብቻ ሳይሆን በተለያዩ የህክምና መሳሪያዎችና ቁሳቁሶች በአይነት ድጋፍ በሚሲዮኖች በኩል እያደረጉ መሆኑን ጠቅሰዋል።

በዚህም ከፓሪስ፣ ፍራንክፈርት፣ ስዊዘርላንድ፣ ኒው ደልሂ፣ ዱባይ፣ ሎስአንጀለስ፣ ቻይና፣ ጆሀንስበርግ፣ ዋሽንግተን የተለያየ የቁሳቁስ ድጋፍ መገኘቱን ገልጸዋል።

ከድጋፎች መካከልም የንጽህና መጠበቂያ ቁሳቁስ፣ መድሃኒት፣ የእጅ ጓንት፣ የአፍና አፍንጫ መሸፈኛ ጭንብል፣ የሙቀት መለኪያ መሳሪያና የሆስፒታል አልጋዎች ይገኙበታል።

እንዲሁም በኢትዮጵያ የሚገኝ ቤታቸውን መንግስት በሽታውን ለመከላከል ለማንኛውም አገልግሎት እንዲጠቀምበት የለገሱ ኢትዮጵያዊያንም መኖራቸው ተገልጿል።

ለአብነትም በፍራንክፈርት ነዋሪ የሆኑት አቶ ብሩክ ወልዴ ዓለምገና ከተማ የሚገኝ ባለ18 መኝታ ክፍል ፔንሲዮን ለግሰዋል።

የሎስአንጀለስ ነዋሪ የሆኑት አቶ ታሪኩ ክፍሌና ባለቤታቸው ወይዘሮ ፍሬህይወት ጥጉ ሰበታ ከተማ የሚገኝ ህንጻ አበርክተዋል።

ጆሃንስበርግ የሚኖሩት አቶ ዳግማዊ መኮንንና ባለቤታቸው ሕይወት አየነው አዲስ አበባ የሚገኝ ሆቴል ሲለግሱ የአብሲኒያ አየር መንገድ ባለቤት አቶ ሰለሞን ግዛው ለአደጋ ጊዜ ነጻ የሄሊኮፕተር በረራ አገልግሎት ለመስጠት ቃል ገብተዋል።

ለችግር ጊዜ ለወገናቸው ለቆሙ ኢትዮጵያዊያን ምስጋና ያቀረቡት አምባሳደር ብርቱካን፤ በየአገሮቹ ካለው የዳያስፖራ መጠን አንጻር አሁንም ድጋፉን አጠናክረው እንዲቀጥሉ ጥሪ አቅርበዋል።

ወቅቱ ከማንኛውም አመለካከት በላይ መተሳሰብን በተግባር ማረጋገጥ የሚያስፈለግበት በመሆኑ በውጭም በአገር ውስጥም ያሉ ኢትዮጵያዊያን ይህን ክፉ ጊዜ በመተባበር ማለፍ አለብን ሲሉ ጠይቀዋል።