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The Second Africa-Arab Summit held in Sirte, Libya.
On Sunday (October 10th.)
the Second Africa-Arab Summit took place in Sirte, Libya, more than
three decades after the first such summit was held in March 1977 in
Cairo. The Chairperson of that first Africa-Arab Summit, President
Hosni Mubarak of Egypt, also addressed this meeting, as did Colonel
Muammar Ghadafi, Current Chairman of the Arab Summit, Mr. Ali Bongo,
President of Gabon and Vice Chairman of the African Union, Jean
Ping, Chairperson of the African Union Commission and Amr Moussa,
Secretary-General of the League of Arab States. More than 60 African
and Arab leaders attended.
Given the
geographical, historical and cultural ties of the member states of
the two regions (nine of the twenty-two member of the League of Arab
States also belong to the African Union), the Summit agreed to
reactivate the cooperation agreement reached during the first
Africa-Arab Summit and to elevate it into a partnership strategy. As
adopted by the Summit, this strategy provides long-term guidance to
African and Arab countries and their regional institutions for the
achievement of common objectives. The strategy defines the
principles, objectives and areas of cooperation as well as
implementation and follow-up mechanisms. These will involve a joint
council of Ministers of Foreign Affairs to meet every 18 months and
a Commission of Africa-Arab Partnership to provide an executive arm
for the Summit, as well as various sectoral committees. A detailed
Six-Year Action Plan (2011-2016) for priority areas was also
produced: this covered cooperation in politics, peace and security;
economic and financial issues, agriculture and food security,
including climate change, and socio-cultural fields.
The strategy
envisages upgrading the Africa-Arab political dialogue at all levels
to foster a strong and sustainable region-to-region partnership,
with the African Union and the League of Arab States providing
essential institutional support. This should lead to the realization
of durable peace and security in the two regions and more widely. In
the economic field, the strategy aims to intensify Africa-Arab
cooperation in finance, trade and other developmental fields on the
basis of solidarity, interdependence and mutual benefit. It calls
for the promotion of physical infrastructure as a prerequisite for
the achievement of sustainable development, increased productivity
and increased trade flows as well as inter-regional tourism and
other people-to-people exchange. The strategy plans to build on the
experiences of the two regions in linking bilateral and regional
power grids. It will also provide for support and investment in the
agricultural agenda of Africa, as set out in the Comprehensive
Africa Agricultural Development Program, and in similar Arab
programs.
The Summit adopted a
Declaration enumerating areas of common interest regionally and
internationally. It pronounced its support for the struggle of the
Palestinian people and their inalienable right to
self-determination. It expressed its concern over the continued acts
of violence and terrorism in Somalia targeting civilians regardless
of excuse or justification; it reaffirmed its full support for the
Somali Federal Transitional Government (TFG), for the unity,
sovereignty, territorial integrity and stability of Somalia and for
the efforts to achieve national reconciliation. It welcomed the
signing and implementation of the agreement concluded in Addis Ababa
on March 15th between the Somali TFG and Ahlu Sunna wal Jama’a, and
the TFG’s agreement with Puntland on April12th. At the previous
day’s Extraordinary Arab Summit it was agreed to provide the TFG
with US$ 10 million a month to enable it to operate state
institutions and implement programs for security, stability and
reconciliation.
The Summit expressed
its appreciation of the role of AMISOM. It reaffirmed the need to
support its deployment to contribute to maintain security and
stability; it affirmed the importance of support to AMISOM and for
increasing the size of AMISOM in accordance with the resolution
adopted by the AU at the Kampala Summit. It reiterated the call for
the international community and the UN Security Council to mobilize
resources necessary to meet the challenge of Somalia and start
planning for a new and enlarged stage of deployment for AMISOM.
On Sudan, the Summit
affirmed the importance of completing negotiations for the
post-referendum arrangements in South Sudan, in light of the Mekelle
Memorandum of Understanding signed in June, and the outcome of the
IGAD Summit of March, both of which underlined the need to ensure
the full implementation of the CPA to ensure peace, close
North-South cooperation, and protection of the rights of all
Sudanese people regardless of the results of the Referendum on self
determination which should be conducted with full transparency. On
Darfur, the Summit expressed satisfaction with regional and
international support for the ongoing peace negotiations.
The Summit also
agreed to establish an Africa-Arab Fund for Disaster Response in an
effort to jointly provide for natural or man-made calamities. The
fund is expected to be financed from the budgets of the African
Union and League of Arab States, as well as from contributions from
African and Arab countries, civil society, private sector and
partners.
The Summit underlined
the fact that cooperation between Arab and African Countries can
play an important role in bringing about sustainable peace and
security in the region. The new strategy and its follow-up
mechanisms should allow full implementation of the partnership in
investment and trade by utilizing the potential that exists between
the two regions. Given the current global financial and economic
crisis as well as the crisis of food, a stronger partnership in
investment, particularly in the agriculture sector, can be expected
to contribute largely toward attainment of food security and
sustainable development in the two regions. Full implementation of
the agreed strategy and action plan can be expected to greatly
benefit both regions, but both need to make sure that the agreements
reached at the Summit are adhered to, and follow-up mechanisms
implemented, unlike the case after the 1977 Summit.
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The African Development Forum’s 7th
session in Addis Ababa this week
This week the African
Development Forum has been holding a week-long session in Addis
Ababa on the theme of “Acting on Climate Change for Sustainable
Development in Africa.” The Forum was created in 1999 by the African
Development Bank, the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa
and the African Union Commission to address development challenges
in Africa and to establish a consensual Africa-driven development
agenda for the continent. The meeting, the Forum’s seventh session,
ended today, adopting a consensus statement covering key challenges
and opportunities, and harnessing the means of response to climate
change. This covered, inter alia, governance and leadership,
awareness raising, the financing of adaptation and mitigation
activities, science, technology and innovation, climate data and
information, capacity building, and climate risk management, and
Africa and international climate change negotiations, as well as
various necessary sectoral actions dealing with climate change and
infrastructural, social, and human development and governance, peace
and security, and ecosystem sustainability. A final section detailed
the way forward.
At the opening of the
Forum, welcoming statements were made by UN Under-Secretary-General,
Abdullahi Janneh, Executive Secretary of the Economic Commission for
Africa, and the Chairperson of the African Union Commission, Dr.
Jean Ping, and the Forum was officially opened by President Girma
Wolde Giorghis. The President noted that global warming might be a
global phenomenon but “Africa was feeling the heat more than another
other part of the world”. He appealed to the world to recognize this
and take urgent action. Failure to do so would be a major injustice
to millions of people in Africa who through no fault of their own
are paying a heavy price for climate change. African leaders are
fully aware of the magnitude of the threat posed by climate change
and of the urgent and decisive response needed, of the need for
collective, meaningful and durable action. The Conference of African
Heads of State and Government on Climate Change (CAHOSOC) had
provided the united political voice necessary for climate change
negotiations. The President said it was important for industrialized
countries to subscribe to ambitious cuts in green house gas
emissions. President Girma noted that Africa had already made heavy
sacrifices to adapt to climate change. Millions had succumbed to
famine and malnutrition caused by severe droughts induced by climate
change. All across Africa, pastoralists were losing their
livestock-based livelihoods; the private sector was in desperate
need of sustainable energy sources. This was the reality against
which the Forum was holding its discussions.
Prime Minister Meles
also took part as a panelist on the Forum’s High-Level Leadership
Dialogue, under the theme: Governance and Leadership Response to
Climate Change. The panel was chaired by Dr. Jean Ping and other
panelists were Mr. Bharrat Jagdeo, President of Guyana; Mr. Jens
Stoltenberg, Prime Minister of Norway; and Mr. Donald Kaberuka,
President of the African Development Bank. In his remarks, Prime
Minister Meles suggested that the forthcoming conference at Cancun
and the next one in South Africa would be “a total flop”. He said
that at the international level there was a leadership crisis on
environmental issues, though he was optimistic that the US$100
billion that developed countries had pledged in climate adaptation
assistance for developing nations would be forthcoming. However he
also emphasized that this figure is only feasible if leaders from
the developed countries responsible for most of the climate change
were willing to face up to their responsibilities. This funding was
not to be given as aid – it was a “down payment on reparations” to a
continent suffering from problems it did not cause. Africa did not
cause climate change and was paying for crimes it did not commit.
The Prime Minister
noted that proper carbon pricing would be enough to raise these
funds; and this is where the challenge of leadership lies. The
developed world had yet to educate its citizens adequately about
climate change, though he appreciated the attitude of the United
Kingdom and Norway. Not all NGOs, for example, seemed to realize the
seriousness of the problems and some were even opposed to major
developments on alleged environmental grounds, apparently wanting
certain areas to stay pristine and undeveloped. The Prime Minister
said the impact of climate change was raising the cost of
development in Africa; and it was important to enlighten people in
developed countries about its impact – there could be no separation
in Africa between climate change and development.
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Peace Accord signed between the FDRE Government and
the ONLF
The
government of the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia and the
leaders of the Ogaden National Liberation Movement (ONLF) have
signed a peace agreement providing for the termination of the ONLF‘s
18 year-long insurgency in the Somali Regional State of Ethiopia.
The signing of the agreement was the culmination of a series of
negotiations between the two sides over several months. It has been
welcomed as a landmark to pave the way for further consolidation of
the overall political and economic development in the region by
removing the major stumbling block that has, for nearly two decades,
denied the region the full measure of socio-economic development and
good governance that other regions of the country have been able to
carry out. Dr Shiferaw Tekle Mariam, Minister of Federal Affairs,
signed the agreement to represent the government, while the ONLF was
represented by Engineer Salahudin Abdurrahman Mao’w, current
chairman of the organization. Speaking during the occasion, Dr
Shiferaw hailed the decision of the ONLF leadership to lay down
their arms as “bold and courageous” and reiterated the government’s
readiness to do everything in its capacity to see that the ONLF
leaders and their followers are rehabilitated and given every
opportunity to contribute to the overall development in the country
in general and in the Somali Regional State in particular. He
pointed out that the government will be giving
amnesty to all ONLF members that are
currently serving prison sentences for atrocities committed in the
last 18 years. He expressed his hope that other groups inclined to
make similar gestures for peace will be treated in the same way.
Speaking on behalf
of the ONLF, Engineer Salahudin expressed his thanks to the Federal
Government and to the Government of the Somali Regional State for
giving the all necessary support to facilitate the peace process. He
expressed regret at the loss of life and destruction of property as
well as the missed chances for enhanced development following the
insurgency waged by his organization. He promised to do everything
possible to contribute to the sustainability of the peace accord and
to work genuinely together with both the Federal and the Regional
governments to make sure that the peace is not disrupted by any
agents of destabilization who might still harbor illusions that war
is the solution to resolving political differences. More
specifically, addressing the few remnants of the ONLF abroad who are
still serving the agenda of the government of Asmara, he warned them
that the people of the region were fed up with the insurgency and
that any further attempts by such elements would be crushed
immediately. He called on members of the Somali Region’s Diaspora to
withdraw any support from such elements and to encourage them to
join in the current successful peaceful process. He expressed his
hope and expectation that the development activities so prevalent in
other regions of Ethiopia would now be able to gather momentum in
the Somali region. Engineer Salahudin expressed an apology to the
peoples of the region and of Ethiopia for the destructive activities
and atrocities perpetrated by the ONLF in the past and promised to
do everything possible now to meet and satisfy the aspirations of
the people of the region through peaceful means and civilized
dialogue.
Also speaking on the
occasion was Ato Abay Tsehaye, National Security Advisor to the
Prime Minister. Ato Abaye expressed his appreciation for the heroic
decision taken by the ONLF leadership, in opting for peace and
renouncing violence as a means of achieving political ends. He
pointed out that ONLF’s cause had only been confined to a limited
portion of the people of the region and even that limited support
had collapsed once people had realized that the ONLF’s agenda was
not in their interest. He emphasized the role of the people of the
region, of the Ethiopian Defense Forces and of the Regional
Government in creating a conducive environment for the signing of
the peace agreement. He reaffirmed the government’s commitment to
ensure the viability and sustainability of peace in the region and
its determination to consolidate the gains made so far in economic
development and good governance. He reiterated again that anyone who
had illusions about the use of violence as a means of achieving
political ends would be better advised to follow the footsteps of
the ONLF. The people of the region, he emphasized, have clearly
rejected violence. The government will do everything in its power to
prevent any further attempt to disrupt the peace in the region.
Similar remarks were
also made by the Somali Regional President, Abdi Mahamoud Omar, and
by representatives of the ONLF from Europe and North America as well
as clan leaders and elders representing a cross section of the
region’s population. Referring to Admiral Mohamed Omar Osman, the
former head of the Somali navy, and a group of former Somali army
generals, all now based in Eritrea, speaker after speaker emphasized
that anyone who threatened to continue any insurgency was only
advancing an outside agenda with no relevance to the people of the
region. All speakers were in complete agreement that violence had no
place in the region.
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Democracy in Eritrea? Three generations away says
President Isaias
Last week, we
commented briefly on President Isaias’ version of Eritrea and of his
remarks to the cabinet that Eritrea had registered success in all
areas of endeavor. He even claimed his government had succeeded in
creating an excellent atmosphere for the media and for Eritrea’s
justice system to flourish. Eritrea currently ranks at the bottom in
almost all classifications of government relations with the media
and in operation of its system of justice.
This week, in what
appears to be another effort to sell his version of Eritrea, he
makes the same points in an interview with a Swedish journalist.
Once again, he stresses that Eritrea “does not want assistance” and
he does not want Eritrea to be crippled like “so many countries in
[Africa].” Oddly, despite his insistence on self-reliance, he is
also prepared to admit to receiving assistance from the EU, though
“not much”. It doesn’t seem to matter that the International Food
Research Institute reported only this week that levels of hunger in
Eritrea are now ranked as “extremely alarming.”.
Another of the topics
raised during the interview relates to the UN imposed sanctions. As
usual, President Isaias blames everything on the US and its
servants. The interest of almost every country in the world when
dealing with Eritrea is to promote a US agenda to destabilize
Eritrea. The fact that Sweden complains about the imprisonment of
one of its nationals, a journalist, for years without charge or
trial or any process of law, is defined as part of Sweden’s efforts
to do the US bidding in America’s crusade against the Eritrean
government. The UN imposed sanctions on Eritrea because the US
“hopes that Ethiopia will be able to benefit from Eritrea getting
punished.” In what then appears to be an attempt to claim some sort
of solidarity with other alleged “victims” of US policies, real or
imagined, President Isaias then adds that the US doesn’t necessarily
have any particular interest against Eritrea. It is merely part of a
wider US agenda “for Africa, the Middle East, Oil and so on.”
President Isaias
argues that any suggestion that Eritrea is isolated is no more than
a fiction peddled by - the US government and “many US lobby groups”
because Eritrea doesn’t take their orders. The evidence for this can
be seen in the fact that more Eritreans than ever have spent their
holidays in Eritrea this summer. Isolation appears to be more about
Eritreans on holiday than having a mutually beneficial relationship
with the international community, or indeed about the numbers of
Eritreans who leave annually, fleeing across the border into Sudan
or Ethiopia. President Isaias is carefully circumspect about the
possibility of improving relations with other countries though he
offers some sort of pseudo-philosophical explanation of
relationships in general. In this context, President Isaias provided
his own method to resolve the Middle East crisis, something he says
the US will never be able to do. He claims no so-called ‘two-state’
solution will work and the only option is for Palestinians to become
part of what he calls Trans-Jordan. He has been offering his advice
to all stakeholders, but to no avail. Interestingly, his comments
explain a lot about the way he conducts diplomacy and the haphazard
way he makes or breaks relations. Eritrea does not recognize the
state of Palestine apparently because the former Palestinian leader,
Yasser Arafat, used to have relations with Ethiopia under Mengistu;
and revealingly, President Isaias also admits he quarreled with
Arafat on a few occasions.
During the interview,
President Isaias also adds a few additional remarks on his vision
for Eritrea. It is no longer the old idea of likening Eritrea to
Singapore. That dream has long since been shattered. Now that there
is talk about mineral finds in Eritrea, he would prefer Eritrea to
be “like Norway”, a country where the resources will be used without
putting future generations at risk – “using resources responsibly”
as he puts it, and certainly it would be difficult to disagree with
such a sentiment. In this context, however, he is emphasizing that
Eritreans should believe that tomorrow will have so much to offer
that they should not worry about the current lack of democracy or
good governance or indeed the prevalence of hunger. Indeed, he once
again reaffirmed his commitment to postponing any semblance of
democracy for the people of Eritrea. Eritrea, he said, is in the
process of nation-building and it is impossible to see how the idea
of democracy can be readily applied in the foreseeable future – or
to be more specific, not before another three generations have
passed!
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Core principles of Ethiopia’s Foreign
Policy: Ethiopia-Kenya relations
Ethiopia’s neighbors
have always been a foreign policy priority because of obvious
historic, geographic and strategic considerations. Ethiopia knows
that it has an enormous amount in common with all its neighbors. The
historical connections and the common borders it shares, as well as
long-standing links, cross-border ties and the normal cooperation
among the peoples of the Horn of Africa over many centuries are the
bedrock of the good relations that exist between Ethiopia and its
neighbors.
It is no surprise that
Kenya is one of the countries with which Ethiopia enjoys excellent
relations of cooperation and bonds of close friendship. Indeed,
Ethiopia has always attached great importance to its relations with
Kenya and its people going back many years, though formal relations
date to 1954 when Ethiopia established an Honorary Consulate General
in Kenya. Ethiopia appointed its first Ambassador to Kenya in 1961,
and six years later Kenya opened an Embassy in Addis Ababa. Earlier,
during the Italian occupation of Ethiopia, Ethiopian forces were
able to operate across the common border, getting medical and other
supplies from Kenya. Similarly, during the Mau Mau liberation
struggle for Kenya’s independence, Kenyan fighters were able to
operate from Ethiopian territory.
After Kenyan
independence, the personal friendship between President Jomo
Kenyatta and Emperor Haile Selassie cemented existing ties and both
countries embarked upon joint co-operation in a number of areas,
notably in working towards the realization of the principles of ‘non
interference’ in the OAU’s Charter. In fact, the Ethiopia-Kenya
boundary was initially defined in 1907, and this was used as a legal
base for a detailed boundary description in 1947, and then
demarcation, carried out 1950-1955. After Kenya’s independence a
Joint Inter-Ministerial Consultative Committee reviewed the work,
and the boundary was formally agreed by a treaty signed in 1970.
The close links
between Ethiopia and Kenya have been particularly visible in the way
the two countries have constantly supported each other’s positions
in international forums in many different areas. Ethiopia and Kenya
share a common understanding on such issues as cross-border
terrorism, piracy, regional integration under the umbrella of IGAD
and the prime importance of peace and security in the Horn of Africa
and beyond. Their common involvement in IGAD provides a significant
indication of the strength of their relationship. Both countries
have consistently demonstrated their common interests through the
organization, their support for revitalizing IGAD and for ensuring
that it provides the basis for one of the AU’s Regional Economic
Units.
In particular, Kenya
and Ethiopia have worked together to bring lasting peace in Somalia
and showed their commitment by organizing several Somali national
reconciliation meetings. During their respective chairmanships of
IGAD, they played a major role in brokering the peace deal between
the south and north Sudan, and the signing of the CPA, ending the
longest war in Africa, as well as providing for the reinstitution of
the TFG in Somalia. Both Ethiopia and Kenya have been the target of
Somali irredentism at various times. Both countries play a
significant role in UN peacekeeping operations.
Ethiopia and Kenya
have also cooperated closely over cross-border problems. One
important element of IGAD for both Ethiopia and Kenya is the
Conflict Early Warning and Response Mechanism (CEWARN). This has
been successful in organizing and expanding community-led peace
initiatives in areas all along the border, including the Maikona and
Dukana Peace Accords that have improved the relations between the
Borana and Gabbra communities of the two countries. Since these were
instituted in 2008/9, they have significantly reduced violent
incidents among these communities while enhancing peaceful
interaction and resource sharing. Other communities along the border
have expressed their commitment to adopt similar accords, pledging
to work towards living peacefully and sharing resources both
internally and along the border. Committees are being set up within
the framework of CEWARN to be tasked to follow up peace and security
issues.
These activities
underline the close people-to-people relationship that exists
between Ethiopia and Kenya going back over many years. Links have
never been solely based on government ties. In fact, government
relations and cooperation has always been characterized as cordial
and strong, and the relationship and the attendant cultural
understanding that exists between the two peoples have a very solid
foundation. Current cooperation that exists between the two
countries range from political to economic and cultural matters. The
biannual Joint Ministerial and the annual Joint Border Commission
meetings, held alternatively in each country, provide opportunities
to exchange views on issues of common concern. There have been
numerous exchanges of high-level visits.
Cooperation has been
strongly encouraged by these bilateral contacts. Both countries have
embarked upon a number of joint development programs in road
construction, commerce and trade and other areas. Ethiopia has been
exploring the possibility of using Mombasa as a port, and is taking
a keen interest in the discussions about the creation of a new port
at Lamu and the possibilities of rail links with other areas. One
major new project has been the development of the Omo River valley
which alarmed some conservationists in Kenya, worried about the
impact on Lake Turkana. In fact, the series of dams in the Omo
Valley, in particular Gilgel Gibe III, will generate nearly 2,000
MWs of hydro-electric power. A significant amount of this will go to
Kenya, and as Kenya’s Environment Minister recently said “Gilgel
Gibe III should brighten not threaten out future.”
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