The Secretariat of the Command Post and Minister of Defense Siraj Fegessa during a discussion forum with members of the Ethiopian opposition political parties on Thursday (Dec. 01, 2016) reassured the gathering that the state of emergency is not up for threatening opposition party members.

The Secretariat of the Command Post further said the state of emergency was established to ensure that stability and calm is restored in the country.

It is to be recalled that Chairman of the Oromo Federalist Party, Dr Merera Gudina has been detained for violating the directive issued for the implementation of the state of emergency.

According to a statement issued earlier on Thursday (Dec 01, 2016) by the Secretariat of the Command Post, Merera was arrested for violating the directive stated under article 2.

As stipulated under Article 2 of the directive for the implementation of the state of emergency, it is prohibited to communicate with organizations proscribed as terrorist, anti-peace groups; to bear and disseminate writings of terrorist organizations, to bear or promote their logos, to watch and listen to television and radio broadcastings, to broadcast, watch, and report ESAT, OMN and other media outlets used by organizations proscribed as terrorist.

The statement by the Secretariat of the Command Post further said, “Merera is under investigation for violating this article.” Dr Merera met and held discussion with Berhanu Nega, leader of the outlawed Ginbot 7, in Brussels, Belgium recently,” the statement added.

Members of Ethiopian Diaspora from all over Europe staged a demonstration on 28 November 2016 in front of the seat of European Union in Brussels, Belgium.

The demonstrators denounced terrorist organizations which threaten the unity and existence of Ethiopia.

Condemning the terroristic activities of the so-called Oromo Liberation Front, Ogaden National Liberation Front, and Ginbot 7 which are agents of the Eritrean Government, they demanded that EU take the necessary measure.

They specifically asked EU to stop Mrs. Anna Gomes from inviting the leaders of Ginbot 7 to the European Parliament.

The demonstrators expressed their support for the Ethiopian government in its endeavor to extract the country from poverty and build peace, infrastructure and a democratic system.

The over 350 demonstrators stated that the terrorist groups  pause threat to the existence of the country.

Ethiopia’s Ambassador to EU Teshome Toga held discussion with the representatives of the diaspora.

During the discussion the ambassador said the world is witnessing efforts by the government to uplift the country from backwardness and poverty.

He added that the government is also trying to solve the problems that arose in the process of transformation by applying deep reform and expanding the political space for opposition parties.

Ambassador Teshome Toga stressed that the government is determined to strengthen civic organizations and to improve the electoral law and respond to issues of good governance, unemployment among the youth, and other development concerns voiced by the public.

According to him, some extremist members of the diaspora in Europe are working day and night to disrupt the peace in Ethiopia by exploiting grievances of the public to disintegrate the country.

These forces have been smearing the image of the country by disseminating false information and organizing recurrent demonstrations in front of the European parliament, he added.

He thanked the demonstrators for exposing the extremists by holding demonstrations and asked them to intensify the cooperation based on principle with their sincere fellow citizens.

United Nations Education, Science and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) has inscribed Gada System as Intangible World Heritage in its 11th intangible world heritage meeting being held in Addis Ababa.

Inscribing Gada system will provide opportunity to share the best experience of the ancient democratic socio-political system, Chairperson of the 11th Session of the Intergovernmental Committee for Safeguarding the Intangible Cultural Heritage Yonas Desta had told the media on Monday.

“The Gada system, I think, is a great nomination really”, UNESCO Assistant Director-General for Culture Francesco Bandarin said.

The Gada System has five parties, and each party can lead only for eight years duration. The five parties lead in their order for eight years each, and it is not allowed for given party to lead for over eight years.

A given party can lead again only after 40 years.

The Gada System is and indigenous, democratic system with which the Oromo People have been governing themselves in a democratic way before centuries.

Source: EBC

Ethiopia celebrates the 11th Nations, Nationalities and Peoples day this year in the State of Harrari next week on Thursday, December 8.

Based on the proclamation at the very beginning of the current democratic and federal constitution of Ethiopia, which in 1995 assured the Nations, Nationalities and Peoples of Ethiopia of their diversity, their unity and their ownership to the constitution itself, the Nations, Nationalities and Peoples of Ethiopia will be celebrating the day nationwide next week.

This celebration is a commemoration of the testimony of the people of Ethiopia’s ultimate triumph against the repressive and oppressive regime that had deprived them of their rights in their own nation.

The day on which those rights and equality of the Ethiopian Nations, Nationalities and Peoples were fully restored and guaranteed under the Constitution of the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia (FDRE), was December 8, 1995.

The people of Ethiopia will celebrate this 11th Ethiopian Nations, Nationalities and Peoples Day with their usual great enthusiasm and verve across the nation.

With the Constitution ensuring human and democratic rights, the Nations, Nationalities and Peoples of Ethiopia entered into a new world of equality and mutual cooperation to safeguard and ensure their common interests in 1995.

They will enthusiastically commemorate this year’s Nations, Nationalities and Peoples day, devoted as it is to all Ethiopians, both in Ethiopia and across the world.

The United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR) and the United Nation Children’s Fund (UNICEF) have inked an agreement that outlines key areas of collaboration in child protection, education, health and nutrition, as well as water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH).

According to a statement from UNHCR, Ethiopia at present hosts 783,340 refugees, 58.3 percent of whom are children under 18, including 38,502 unaccompanied children. Currently, Ethiopia has also witnessed a new influx of South Sudanese refugees fleeing renewed violence and food shortage. Of the 39,000 new arrivals 64 percent of them are children, said the statement.

Upon signing the agreement Clementine Nkweta-Salami and Gillian Mellsop, representatives of UNHCR and UNICEF respectively, said “UNICEF and UNHCR have a long history of effective and demonstrated collaboration in humanitarian action which has greatly improved the lives of refugees over the years,” adding that “this agreement will further cement our partnership and help us to advance our respective mandates in Ethiopia.”

The agreement is expected to expire on August 2020 and is assumed to enable both parties to collaborate together in picking up the pace of their joint refugee response in terms of technical assistance, visibility, advocacy resource mobilization and supply management.  The agreement is also deemed to have a strong focus on identifying risks and thereby ensuring contingency planning and preparedness measures.

The 48 members of the Climate Vulnerable Forum have agreed to use only renewable energy by 2050.

At their meeting on the sidelines of  the United Nations Climate Change Conference in Marrakech, Morocco, the Forum decided to make their energy production 100 per cent renewable “as rapidly as possible” and between 2030 and 2050 at the latest.

The forum also vowed to take action to help limit global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels.

The Climate Vulnerable Forum, currently chaired by Ethiopia, was set up in 2009 and is made up of countries that are disproportionately affected by climate change.

A representative of the Marshall Islands said, “We are pioneering the transformation towards 100 percent renewable energy, but we want other countries to follow in our footsteps in order to evade catastrophic impacts we are experiencing through hurricanes, flooding and droughts.”

An adviser to the Bangladesh government said: “We shouldn’t see it as a burden, but an opportunity. Climate vulnerable countries can seize those opportunities.

“Former US Vice-President Al Gore described the forum’s statement as an ambitious vision for others to follow.”These ambitious and inspiring commitments show the path forward for others and give us all renewed optimism that we are going to meet the challenge before us and meet it in time.”

The 48 members of Climate Vulnerable Forum who have agreed to the decision are: Afghanistan, Haiti, Philippines, Bangladesh, Honduras, Rwanda, Barbados, Kenya, Saint Lucia, Bhutan, Kiribati, Senegal, Burkina Faso, Madagascar, South Sudan, Cambodia, Malawi, Sri Lanka, Comoros, Maldives, Sudan, Costa Rica, Marshall Islands, Tanzania, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Mongolia, Timor-Leste, Dominican Republic, Morocco, Tunisia, Ethiopia, Nepal, Tuvalu, Fiji, Niger, Vanuatu, Ghana, Palau, Viet Nam, Grenada, Papua New Guinea, Yemen, and Guatemala.

On November 26, 2016 the Danish Ambassador to Ethiopia Mette Thygesen asserted that the government of Denmark is dedicated to make available various technical assistance to Ethiopia’s renewable energy resources development undertakings.

“Denmark is geared up to provide all the necessary technical assistance to Ethiopia to meet its power demand from wind over the coming three years”, the ambassador revealed.

The Danish Ambassador Mette Thygesen  has also said the partnership between the Ethiopia and Denmark has been growing in various sector and said  a good example on this regard could be her country offer to support the Agricultural Transformation Agency (ATA) to expand modern farming in Ethiopia.

In addition to this the Ambassador further added that “recently we are about to establish corporation in the fields of climate and climate change,” adding that the two nations agree on the need for economic growth that does not have negative impact on climate. On this regard Ambassador Thygesen said agreement on the first phase of the project will be signed with the pertinent government body next week to make the project become operational soon.

EUCAP Nestor and EU Naval Force Somalia (EU NAVFOR Operation Atalanta) recently held a series of meetings with state government officials and local leaders in Bosasso, in Somalia’s Puntland state.

They discussed the maritime security situation off the Somali coast and the importance of keeping down pirate attacks. EUCAP Nestor said the meetings were very constructive and fruitful, adding: “We now have even better understanding of the situation in Puntland and where the support of EU Missions would be required the most. We are all in this together and these meetings are a great example of the good cooperation between the local leadership and the EU Missions.”

Operation Atalanta’s Force Commander said he was pleased with the engagement with the local authorities. “Cooperation and coordination is crucial between the EU organizations, but also with key Somali officials and security agencies. It is only by working together that the threat of piracy might one day become a distant memory,” he said.

Alongside the meetings, members of the Bosasso Port Police trained with Dutch sailors at sea and take part in exercises designed to develop search skills of suspicious vessels. Such training is an important part of Operation Atalanta’s commitment to strengthen cooperation and capabilities of regional partners.

Source: MFA Ethiopia