The 36^th ordinary session of the Executive Council kicked off today under the theme “Silencing the Guns: Creating Conducive Conditions for Africa’s Development”.

In his opening remark, AUC Chairperson Faki Mahamat said: “the rise of terrorists and extremist Jihadists posed a distinct threat to the peace and security of Africa, which is evident by the repeated deadly attacks.”

This forces survivors into exile and displacement, he said, adding that ‘this constitutes a permanent source of concern for Africans.”

The emerging resurgent of conflicts in different member states strengthens the continental conviction that “silencing the guns and establishing conducive conditions to the development of Africa is more than pertinent.”

The deadline for silencing the guns in Africa as part of the Agenda 2063 has passed, the Chairperson said, and stressed: “this reveals further the complex nature of security problem in Africa.”

Africa is currently facing entirely distinct security threats, one from the rise of radical Islam, the other from increased natural resource extraction, whereas African security forces are inadequate to meet these threats.

He noted “we should question our security doctrine and look into the root causes. We need to build peace in a different manner by implementing innovative solutions.”

United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA) Executive Secretary, Vera Songwe, said “to silence the guns we need to continuously focus on building an ecosystem that creates for whole with institutions whose role is to guard against the abuse of any group.”

Citing the Peace Research in Oslo, she pointed out that during 2005-2018 the African countries with armed conflicts have risen from 6-17 and armed conflicts have escalated from 7-21.

Democratic elections are under threat in many parts of the continent, Songwe said, adding that “there is an inherent tension in our society.”

“For a strategy on silencing the guns to be successful, we must honestly seek to build more inclusive societies and this Union has an important yet untapped role to play in this quest,” the Executive Secretary stressed.

Today over 77 percent of all arms imported into the continent are from 4 countries, she said, and emphasized: “the economics of the arms sector does not favor the continent as more and more of our young perish at the end of the gun.”

The 62^nd edition of the Brussels Holiday Fair kicked off this morning at Brussels Expo.

Taking part in the fair, the Embassy of Ethiopia will promote the various tourist destinations in Ethiopia until February 9^th. The event gathers more than 65 destinations, over 700 exhibitors (including Ethiopia) and is expected to attract over 100.000 visitors.

Mr. Gebremichael Gebretsadik, Deputy Head of Mission of the Embassy inaugurated the Ethiopian booth to kick off the four days event. Held by the Ethiopian Embassy, Ethiopian Airlines, and Ethiopian Tour Operators Association, the Ethiopian booth exhibits tourism destinations, Ethiopian history, and culture through videos and brochures.

The 36th Ordinary Session of the Executive Council of the African Union is officially opened today (February 6) at 10:00 EAT in Addis Ababa in the presence of the leaders and officials of the AU Commission.

38 leaders of member states of the African Union have confirmed attendance at the 33rd Ordinary Session of the Assembly of the Heads of State and Government.

Preparations are finalized to host the leaders, officials and other guests, Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced today.

“A total of 45 leaders and ministers have confirmed their participation to the sessions till yesterday,” Acting Director of Protocol Affairs, Gisila Shawel, said.

Of the total confirmed leaders and ministers, 31 are presidents, 4 prime ministers, and 3 vice presidents as well as 7 foreign ministers, he added.

Prime ministers of Canada, Norway, and Palestine will also participate in the session.

High-level global officials, including UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres and WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom, will take part in the session, it was learned.

Up until yesterday, 8,700 persons were registered online to attend the sessions.

The acting director said full preparations in terms of logistics, accommodation, security and other services are made to receive and host all the participants.

Five-star hotels like Sheraton Addis, Hilton, Sky Light, Capital, Hayat, Radisson Blu, and Marriott are ready to accommodate participants.

The 34^th Ordinary Session of the Executive Council and 33^rd Ordinary Session of the Assembly of the Heads of State and Government of the African Union will begin on February 6  and 9, respectively.

Prime Minister, Abiy Ahmed today (February 4th) inaugurated Genale-Dawa III hydropower project.

The Genale-Dawa III hydropower project, which was built on the Dawa River in Southeast Ethiopia, has a total installed generating capacity of 254 MW.

The power project was built with an outlay of 451 million USD, out of which about 67.8 million USD was covered by the government of Ethiopia, while the remaining was covered by a loan.

The hydropower project was launched in 2010, the 110 meters high and 426-meter long dam has the capacity to hold 2.5 billion cubic meters of water, it was noted.

The project was temporarily suspended for more than a year due to certain setbacks pertinent to the resettlement of residents living close to the dam.

The completion of the power project will increase the country’s electric power generation capacity to 4654 MW from the existing 4,200MW.

The constructional work of the Genale-Dawa III hydropower project was undertaken by China Gezhouba Group.

Water, Irrigation and Energy Minister, Sileshi Bekele, Oromia Regional State Vice President, Shimels Abdisa and other senior federal and regional officials have also presided over the inaugural ceremony of the power project.

Finance Ministers of Ethiopia, Djibouti, Eritrea, Kenya, and Somalia met on February 3rd in Djibouti to discuss policy directives that seek to foster economic integration and regional cooperation in the Horn of Africa.

In the two-day meeting, the ministers will evaluate the joint trade and investment activities undertaken since the five countries came together to launch the Horn of Africa Initiative last year.

After considering the global experiences in regional integration, the countries will discuss ways to search sources of finance for the $15 billion required to foster cooperation.

In today’s session, they evaluated the progress made in the implementation of the deals signed in transport, power and digital infrastructures as encouraging, according to a statement the Ministry of Finance sent to FBC today.

In his remarks, Dr Eyob Tekalign, Ethiopia’s State Minister of Finance said, the countries should do more to create employment opportunities for the youth and expand infrastructures.

He further underscored the need to seize the wind of change blowing through the Horn of Africa to improve the lives of the people who have been affected for a long period.

The five countries launched the Horn of Africa Initiative last year during the World Bank Group / the International Monetary Fund (IMF) annual meetings held in Washington DC.

They agreed to take forward discussions on fostering economic integration and regional cooperation, with the support of the European Union, the African Development Bank, and the World Bank.

President Sahle-Work Zewde has praised UNESCO for its ability to bring together people from across the world to work together to tackle problems.

“UNESCO has, as it always does, brought relevant stakeholders from all over the world to exchange ideas and deliberate on next steps,” she stated.

She was speaking at UNESCO’s International Commission on the Futures of Education meeting held to take stock of the global situation in education today and what can be predicted for 2050 and beyond.

The International Commission, chaired by President Sahle-Work, held its first meeting on 28 and 29 January 2020 at the UNESCO headquarters in Paris.

The President also reminded commission members of the high expectations placed on them and emphasized the importance of looking beyond “our current global state to craft a long lasting structure for education.”

The Futures of Education is the latest in a series of global reports commissioned by UNESCO every quarter a century to grapple with the challenges and opportunities that the future holds in store and to inspire change.

The Commission meets next in September 2020 and in the meantime will be engaging with people and ideas from around the world.

Ethiopia bagged seven medals at the first-ever Special Olympics Pan African Games.

Ethiopia earned two gold, one silver and four bronze medals in the competition that took place in Cairo, Egypt from 23-31 January 2020.

 

 

Four suspected cases of coronavirus in Ethiopia have tested negative, according to the Ministry of Health.

“The test results of the 4 suspected cases sent to South Africa have become negative for the virus,” said Lia Tadesse, State Minister of Health.

As part of the efforts to prevent the virus, the country has started screening of passengers for the virus at the Addis Ababa Bole International Airport.

Individual temperature measurement and form filling for passengers from China and other ten affected countries are being conducted at the airport.

China reported its biggest single-day jump in coronavirus deaths on Thursday. The death toll rose to 170 on Thursday, up from 132 reported on Wednesday, a rise of 29%.

The number of confirmed cases in China now stands at 7,711, up from 5,974 a day earlier.