United Nations in Ethiopia

The Sustainable Development Goals are a call for action by all countries – poor, rich and middle-income – to promote prosperity while protecting the planet. They recognize that ending poverty must go hand-in-hand with strategies that build economic growth and address a range of social needs including education, health, social protection, and job opportunities, while tackling climate change and environmental protection. These are the goals the UN is working on in Ethiopia:

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30 November 2021

Ethiopia kicks off 16 Days of Activism against Gender-Based Violence campaign

The UN in Ethiopia in partnership with the Government of Ethiopia and other stakeholders launched 16 days of activism campaign against Gender Based Violence (GBV) under the theme “Orange the world- End Violence against women and girls now!”. Speaking at the event, President of the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, H.E. Sahle-Work Zewde, called for relentless efforts of all stakeholders to address GBV in Ethiopia. “As we launch the 16 days GBV activism this year, our situation and particularly the context we are in requires a 24/7 approach to address GBV. These days women and girls become the victims of warrying parties,” President Sahle-Work said. “We need to openly speak up loudly, make efforts and systems sustainable in addressing GBV,” added the President. Ms. Letty Chiwara, UN Women Representative to Ethiopia, UN Economic Commission for Africa and African Union, noted that women are more susceptible to sexual and gender-based violence when social structures are eroded by conflict, and they are especially vulnerable during migration and displacement. “Generally, humanitarian emergencies deepen pre-existing gender inequalities, leading to increased discrimination, greater exclusion, and disproportionate risks for women and girls,” Ms. Chiwara said. Despite the multiple roles’ women play everywhere they haven’t received the recognition, the protection, and the services they deserve particularly they are suffering from the threat of GBV every time. “Let peace prevail now end violence against women and girls now,” said H.E. Ergogie Tesfaye, (PhD) Minister of Women and Social Affairs, who also repeated the national theme for this year’s 16 days of activism campaign against GBV. “In the current context of the country, we have been hearing the worst forms of GBV being committed against women and girls with a deep and life-long consequences on their physical, sexual and pyscho-social wellbeing requiring a concerted multisectoral rehabilitation effort,” the Minister said. In her remarks to the official launch, Ms. Sarah Masale, UNFPA Office In Charge, called for addressing digital violence which is devastatingly rampant. “Digital violence takes many forms. Perpetrators may threaten and stalk women online,” she said. “They may, without permission, attach pictures of women’s and girls’ faces to sexualized bodies and share them widely over social media, for years. Vicious online campaigns of hate speech and abuse target women with public roles, such as politicians and journalists as well as women’s rights activists.” Ms Masale also called on all stakeholders to take concrete action to stop digital violence by making relentless efforts to define and measure it as well as understanding its forms, impact and ways to respond to and prevent it. Violence Against Women and Girls (VAWG) is one of the most systematic and widespread violations of human rights globally. It may occur against any woman or girl regardless of nationality, age, or socio-economic status. About 1 in 3 (30 percent) of women worldwide have been subjected to either physical and/or sexual intimate partner violence or non-partner sexual violence in their lifetime. Nevertheless, stigma and sensitivity around disclosure throughout the world means that VAWG is almost universally under-reported. According to Ethiopian Demographic and Health Survey (2016), nearly a quarter (23 percent) of women aged 15-49 reported having survived physical violence at some point in their lives, and 10 per cent reported experiencing sexual violence. This year marks 30 years of the annual 16 Days of Activism on Gender-Based Violence. Since the Campaign’s launch in 1991 by the Center for Global Women’s Leadership, there has been significant attention to raising the visibility of the various forms of violence faced by women and girls in their diverse identities and throughout the course of their lives. The national event attended by the high-level ministers and H.E. the president also saw the launch of the National Standard Operating Procedure (SoP) for shelter services to women and girls’ survivors of violence in Ethiopia. The SoP was supported by UN Women and UNFPA under the leadership of MoWSA. A high-level policy dialogue held under the theme “Experiences and lessons in provision of essential services for women and girls’ survivors of violence” was also part of the opening event. Panellists for the dialogue include H.E Meaza Ashenafi, President of the Federal Supreme Court, H.E Liya Kebede, Minister of Health, H.E Dr. Ergoge Tesfaye, Minister of Women and Social Affairs, H.E Meskerem Gesit, Commissioner for Women and Children’s Rights at the Ethiopian Human Rights Commission, H.E Fekadu Tsega, State Minister of Justice and H.E Mr. Jima Dilbo, Director General of the Ethiopia Agency for Civil Society Organisations.

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09 November 2021

UN leadership in Ethiopia visits IDPs in Amhara Region

Senior UN officials in Ethiopia, including the UN Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator, Dr. Catherine Sozi, the World Food Programme Country Director, Dr. Steven Were Omamo, and the OCHA Head of Office, Sarah Hilding, visited IDP sites in Amhara region and held discussions with the leadership of Amhara Region on 7 November 2021. In Bahir Dar, capital of Amhara Region, the UN officials held constructive discussions with the Amhara Regional President to identify means of improving humanitarian access and flow of aid to people in need in Amhara region, including those newly affected by the conflict. During the discussion, President of Amhara Region, Dr. Yilikal Kefale, called for scaling up humanitarian assistance to Internally Displaced Persons in Amhara region. Noting the growing humanitarian needs in the Northern Ethiopia including Amhara Region, UN Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator Dr. Catherine Sozi, mentioned the challenges facing humanitarian agencies in getting aid to communities most in need. “While humanitarian needs increase and grow more severe in the country, the humanitarian community faces significant difficulty in getting aid to communities most in need,” Dr. Sozi said. In a site for internally displaced persons in Amhara, the UN delegation met many women, one of whom shared her fear of the future, having been displaced three times with her children due to fighting in the past month. In Amhara, over 700,000 people have been displaced by the conflict so far and a million people are in urgent need of food assistance, according to the National Disaster Risk Management Commission. WFP is working with Federal and Amhara Regional authorities to continue delivering emergency food assistance – and has reached 213,000 food insecure people displaced by conflict so far across seven districts. In the next round it aims to reach 440,000 people. “The needs are increasing exponentially across the three northern regions but we know there has been a very sharp increase of people displaced in Amhara – all authorities must facilitate access to the most affected populations so we can reach them with lifesaving food and nutrition assistance,” said Dr. Steven Were Omamo, WFP Ethiopia Country Director. The funding gap for the humanitarian response in Ethiopia for 2021 stands at more than US$1.3 billion. An estimated $606 million has been mobilized for response towards the Northern Ethiopia Response Plan, and $474 million for response towards the draft Humanitarian Response Plan, which covers areas outside Tigray. However, this is far from sufficient to cover the mounting humanitarian needs across the country.

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31 October 2021

UN Day colourfully celebrated in Ethiopia

The United Nations Day was colourfully celebrated in Addis Ababa in the presence of Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ethiopia, H.E. Demeke Mekonnen, the United Nations team, representatives of the Africa Union, diplomatic community and young people in the country. During the ceremony held at the UNECA compound, Executive Secretary of the UN Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA), Ms. Vera Songwe, delivered the message of the UN Secretary-General on the UN Day. “The values that have powered the UN Charter for the last 76 years — peace, development, human rights, and opportunity for all — have no expiry date,” said Ms. Songwe. “As we mark UN Day, let’s unite behind these ideals, and live up to the full promise, potential and hope of the United Nations.” Speaking at the event, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ethiopia, H.E. Demeke Mekonnen, said, “The United Nations is the only global umbrella organisation through which we collectively chart our common destiny in the increasingly inter-related world.” “In a world where individualised power and isolated prosperity is proven impossible, the UN will continue to enjoy our allegiance and support. Collective security and multilateralism are critical pillars of Ethiopia’s foreign policy. We have seen, both the good and bad days on the multilateral forum. We also have the great honour of hosting the Economic Commission for Africa and several UN agencies in our capital.” The event also saw students who delivered messages on the five Ps of SDGS – People, Peace, Prosperity, Planet and Partnership - and called on the UN, member states, donors and partners to accelerate the implementation of the SDGs. UN Day marks the anniversary of the entry into force in 1945 of the UN Charter.

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06 August 2021

UNIDO Launches the First Creative Hub in Ethiopia to Support Creative Industries and Entrepreneurship

The Ethiopian Ministry of Trade and Industry and the Italian Agency for Development Cooperation, along with UNIDO Regional Office Hub and the Federal Small and Medium Manufacturing Industry Promotion Authority, have inaugurated the "Creative Hub - Ethiopia". The Hub has been set up within the framework of the UNIDO project “Phase 2 (Extension) of the Technical Assistance Project for the Up-Grading of the Ethiopian Leather and Leather Products Industry”, financed by the Italian Agency for Development Cooperation (AICS). In line with UNIDO mandate to enable everyone to reap the opportunities of the Fourth Industrial Revolution and support the achievement of Inclusive and Sustainable Industrial Development (ISID), the Creative Hub has been designed to foster innovation and economic growth by promoting creativity, digitalization and knowledge sharing. The Hub, located within the premises of the FeSMMIPA in the heart of Addis Ababa, is equipped with advanced machineries and includes co-working areas, laboratories and a Coffee space, or “C-office”. The Hub will provide a wide range of services to designers and innovative entrepreneurs, such as seminars, workshops, trainings, social events, and networking sessions. Moreover, the Hub will offer the possibility to access digital instruments (such as 3D printers for rapid prototyping, laser cutters, a digital library, etc.) and will encourage digital payments with the newly launched “Telebirr”! The Creative Hub will not only be a suitable platform for existing MSMEs as well as new businesses (especially women-owned companies, operators in design, leather, fashion, textile, etc.) to promote product development, sales activities and services, but also a meeting place where they can experiment new solutions and share experiences. The Hub puts creativity at the centre of every decision-making process, as a key to understanding and interpreting the global market and its evolutions. The contribution of the new generations is of paramount importance for mitigating the impact of COVID-19 pandemic and rapidly re-inventing a “new normal”, fostered by the digital transformation and a wider sharing of knowledge and expertise. This activity is part of the United Nations Sustainable Development Cooperation Framework for Ethiopia 2020–2025, under the Strategic Priority 3, Prosperity, whereby: The UN will work towards accelerating the transition to a more inclusive and diversified economy, utilizing a “smart response’’ to and recovery from the socioeconomic impact of COVID-19 to improve the pace, scale and quality of the change process. At the core of the UN’s focus will be the development of an enabling environment that can attract investments and boost entrepreneurship as well as enterprise/start-up formation and survival, to generate decent and productive jobs at scale for a young and growing population whilst improving social protection.

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Press Release

10 October 2021

Secretary-General's remarks to the Security Council on Ethiopia

Mr. President, excellencies, I welcome this opportunity to brief you concerning the situation in Ethiopia. In August, I warned the Council that a humanitarian catastrophe was unfolding before our eyes in Ethiopia. Since then, the crisis has worsened. Up to 7 million people in Tigray, Amhara and Afar are now in need of food assistance and other emergency support. This includes more than 5 million people in Tigray where an estimated 400,000 are living in famine-like conditions. Humanitarian aid is still not reaching the area at anywhere close to the levels needed. The only option for road transportation into Tigray is along the Afar corridor where movements are being severely restricted by official and unofficial checkpoints, insecurity and other obstacles and challenges. Some minor improvements – that are welcome – did not change the fundamental nature of the problem. Vital fuel supplies continue to be blocked, as are essential medicines and equipment. Humanitarian organizations continue to lack the cash they need to operate and to pay their staff. Access to electricity remains precarious. Millions of people are cut off from communications networks and vital services such as health care. Fighting in Amhara is another serious impediment to humanitarian access. As a result of all these facts, life-saving humanitarian operations are being crippled. Our colleagues on the ground are sharing increasingly alarming eye-witness testimony of the suffering – including growing accounts of hunger-related deaths. And in locations where screening has been possible, we are seeing acute malnutrition rates that remind us of the onset of the 2011 Somalia famine. We are also seeing deeply worrying reports of violations of human rights abuses perpetrated by all sides. I am particularly concerned about chilling accounts of violence against women and children, including sexual and gender-based violence. Mr. President, The UN is also actively engaged in humanitarian support to other regions of Ethiopia with pressing needs. The country is facing an immense humanitarian crisis that demands immediate attention. All efforts should be squarely focused on saving lives and avoiding a massive human tragedy. This makes last Thursday’s announcement by the Government of Ethiopia to expel seven senior UN officials – most of them humanitarian staff – particularly disturbing. This unprecedented expulsion should be a matter of deep concern for us all as it relates to the core of relations between the UN and Member States. As expressed in the Note Verbale to the Mission of Ethiopia from the Office of Legal Affairs and shared with the Council a few days ago – and I quote: “A Declaration by a State that an official of the United Nations is persona non grata accompanied by a request or demand that the Secretary-General consequently relocate that official out of its territory is not consistent with [the] Charter obligation and is inconsistent with the fundamental principles of the international civil service enshrined in the Charter.” The procedure on such matters is clear. As the Note Verbale states: “…if the Government has any specific issues concerning any…individuals…the relevant information should be brought to the attention of the United Nations to enable the Secretary-General to make a decision as to whether any appropriate actions should be taken.” In other words, there is a proper, formal procedure – and that procedure was not followed. The United Nations will continue to play its mandated role and work with the Government of Ethiopia and with local and international partners to support millions of people in need of humanitarian assistance in Tigray, Amhara and Afar, and across the country, in full accordance with the UN Charter and General Assembly resolution 46/182. I now call on Ethiopian authorities to allow us to do this without hindrance and to facilitate and enable our work with the urgency that this situation demands. This means ensuring that visas for incoming personnel – from UN entities and from our partners – are issued quickly so that we can augment our capacity. The delays we have witnessed in the recent past are another obstacle to effective humanitarian aid. It also means that personnel inside the country are treated with dignity and respect as they carry out their vital work. Our focus remains on ensuring humanitarian assistance to every Ethiopian who needs it. We must save lives and restore livelihoods. I urge the Government to allow the unrestricted movement of desperately needed fuel, cash, communications equipment, and humanitarian supplies into all the regions in need. I appeal to all members of the Security Council to do all they can to support these calls and to unify behind the efforts of the United Nations and its partners in Ethiopia. Last August, in this Council, I called for action on several fronts. As I said then, and I quote: “All parties must immediately end hostilities without preconditions and seize that opportunity to negotiate a lasting ceasefire. Foreign forces should leave the country. Unrestricted humanitarian access to all areas in need must be guaranteed and humanitarian workers must be respected. Public services must be re-established.” This appeal is even more pressing today. Any further escalation of the conflict would only make the situation more tragic. Mr. President, Important political events have taken place in Ethiopia since my last Security Council briefing in August. Just two days ago, a new Government of Ethiopia, led by Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed, was inaugurated. The mandate conferred by the election carries a responsibility – a responsibility to unite all Ethiopians. To focus on the future. To return Ethiopia to its place as a strong, unified, stable leader among the nations of the world. I encourage the newly inaugurated Government to use this mandate and work with renewed determination to be a Government for all. I welcome the Prime Minister’s inauguration remarks prioritizing an inclusive political dialogue involving all segments of the community to resolve the ongoing challenges facing the country. I also note the many messages from African Heads of State emphasizing the need for harmony, national unity, development and peace. I urge all sides to grasp the peace initiative from the AU and its High Representative for the Horn of Africa, H.E. Olusegun Obasanjo. Without peace, the challenges facing Ethiopia will intensify and further destabilize the broader Horn of Africa region and beyond. We have an obligation to avoid such a dire outcome at all costs. Mr. President, Dialogue is the foundation for peace. Peace is the foundation for a stable and prosperous future. Let us all work to help secure that future for all Ethiopians and for the peoples of the region. I thank you.

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Press Release

10 October 2021

Secretary-General's Right of Reply at the Security Council meeting on Ethiopia

If there is anything I have cherished over this period, it is to maintain a very effective and operational relationship with the government of Ethiopia and its Prime Minister, to the effect that there has been criticism in the global media about that, accusing me of being biased in favour of the Ethiopian Government.

So, it is with total, I would say, in a spirit of complete easiness that I would like to ask you one thing, Mr. Ambassador.

If there is any written document, provided by the Ethiopian Government to any UN institution, about any of the [seven] members of the UN that were expelled, I would like to receive a copy of that document, because I have not had any knowledge of any of them. And it would be very useful for me to detect, if documents are given to the UN and not given to my knowledge, then I have to investigate what has happened in my organization.

So, I ask you please, Mr. Ambassador, to provide me with a copy of any of the written documents, written by the Government of Ethiopia about any of the [seven] that were expelled by the Ethiopians in this regard.

And I would recall that twice, I told the Prime Minister that if there were concerns about lack of, how to say, lack of impartiality of UN staff, that I asked him, please, send me those situations for me to be able to investigate.

Twice, I asked the Prime Minister and until now I have no response to these requests.

And so, for us, the question is very simple.

We believe that Ethiopia has not the right to expel these [seven] members of the UN.

We believe Ethiopia is violating international law in doing so and we are ready to cooperate with the Government of Ethiopia in relation to any situation in which the Government of Ethiopia feels that any member of the UN is not behaving in total impartiality, in total independence, as humanitarian law prescribes and humanitarian principles establish.

I want to tell you, Mr. Ambassador, we want to cooperate with the Government of Ethiopia, because we have only one agenda in Ethiopia, and that agenda is the people of Ethiopia – Tigrayans, Amharans, Afaris, Somalis, the people of Ethiopia.

The people of Ethiopia are suffering. We have no other interest but to help stop that suffering.

Thank you very much.

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Press Release

04 August 2021

UN Humanitarian Chief makes official visit to Ethiopia

(Addis Ababa, 4 August 2021): The Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator, Martin Griffiths, concluded his six-day visit to Ethiopia yesterday evening, his first official mission since he assumed office in mid-July.

While in Ethiopia, the humanitarian chief held constructive meetings with the Federal Government, the Amhara regional president, the African Union, and the humanitarian and diplomatic community. During his meetings with the Prime Minister and other key interlocutors, including the Deputy Prime Minister/Minister of Foreign Affairs and the Minister of Peace, Mr. Griffiths had the opportunity to discuss the humanitarian situation in the country and the challenges aid organizations face in getting assistance to Ethiopians.

Mr. Griffiths also spent two days in the Tigray region, where he saw first-hand the dire humanitarian situation, meeting with civilians whose lives had been upended by the conflict. “I met with people in Tigray who lost everything they had after they had to flee their villages or towns, leaving behind their houses and farms. In Hawzen, I visited a family whose house was burned and crops were looted. It was heart-breaking to see the scale of devastation and families who, to this day, do not have a place to live or food to put on their table,” said the humanitarian chief.

During his visit to Tigray, Mr. Griffiths also met with civilians who had suffered horrific violence and saw first-hand the systematic destruction of civilian infrastructure, including schools, hospitals and water systems. In Mekelle and Freweyni, the humanitarian chief engaged with women who had endured unimaginable violence, including some who said they had been raped for weeks. These women need access to comprehensive and holistic services, and yet “this is happening at a moment where most health centres are not functional, like the hospital I visited in Hawzen, where almost nothing but the walls were left untouched; all equipment and medicines have to be replaced,” Mr. Griffiths said. The disruption of essential services, including access to communication, fuel and the banking system is compounding the dire situation.

More than 5.2 million people across Tigray—more than 90 per cent of the region's population—require life-saving assistance, including nearly 400,000 people already facing famine-like conditions. Humanitarian needs are also increasing in neighbouring Amhara and Afar, as the conflict spills over into these regions. In the face of increasing conflict and increasing difficulty getting aid into northern Ethiopia, the Under-Secretary-General said that “we need to change the circumstances that have led to the slow movement of aid – we need the conflict to stop.”

Beyond Tigray, humanitarian organizations are assisting millions of people in Ethiopia facing conflict, displacement, and drought, and are now scaling up response efforts in Amhara and Afar, in light of significant conflict-related displacement. The humanitarian chief said: “It is my highest priority that every Ethiopian in humanitarian need – be they in Tigray, in Amhara, in Afar, or indeed in every region of this country – receive assistance.”
*** For further information, please contact:
Saviano Abreu, OCHA Nairobi, +254 780 530 141 (WhatsApp), deabreuisidoro@un.org
Anna Bliss Jefferys, OCHA New York, +1 347 707 3734, jefferysa@un.org
Jens Laerke, OCHA Geneva, +41 79 472 9750, laerke@un.org
OCHA press releases are available at www.unocha.org/south-sudan or www.reliefweb.int.

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