a delegation from House of Representatives highlighted Ethiopia’s position on the GERD negotiation.
The 56th session of the Organization of African Caribbean Pacific States (OACPS) was held virtually on Friday October 23, 2020. The plenary session was preceded by meetings of the three standing committees, the Committee on Political Affairs, the Committee on Social Affairs and the Environment, and the Committee on Economic Development, Finance and Trade, and a meeting of the Bureau, beginning from October 19 to 22, 2020.
The meeting brought together members of Parliament of the African, Caribbean, and Pacific states from the 78 signatory states to the Cotonou Agreement which is the foundation for the ACP-EU partnership. In this meeting Ethiopia’s delegation was headed by Honorable Mr. Zeleke Mehari, deputy chair of Foreign relation and peace sub-standing committee of the House of Peoples’ Representative.
The meeting deliberated on various important issues of concern of the ACP Countries: impact of Covid-19 pandemic, ways of underpinning solidarity, consolidating democracy and respect for Constitution as well as the fate of the Joint Parliamentary Assembly (JPA) under the post Cotonou agreement are the main ones,.
On this Assembly, Ethiopia’s delegation took the opportunity to inform the members of the Assembly regarding the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) and ongoing tripartite negotiation. In this regard, Honorable Mr. Zeleke noted Ethiopia’s inalienable right to utilize its natural resources to alleviate its people from abject poverty and the importance of the GERD to the country and beyond. While informing the Assembly of the facilitation effort being made by the African Union under the leadership of the South African President with the principle of finding African solutions to African problems, Honourable Zeleke also stressed Ethiopia’s willingness to work in collaboration with the brotherly countries of the downstream for the mutually beneficial solution on the issue.
The OACPS Parliamentarians are expected to meet with their European Parliament counterparts on October 29 and November 5 2020, at the Joint Parliamentary Assembly of the two sides. On this meeting, various motions of resolution tabled by the three joint standing committees are expected to be adopted.
