Day: June 20, 2023

The government of Ethiopia will continue to play its role by taking the initiative endorsed by the African Union towards the implementation of Single African Air Transport Market (SAATM), State Minister of Transport and Logistics, Dhenge Boru said.

This was disclosed at the opening of the two-day Focus Africa Conference kicked off today in Addis Ababa.

Focus Africa has brought together airline CEOs along with aviation leaders, decision makers and influencers from Africa, the Middle East and globally to collaboratively drive the advancement of aviation in Africa.

He recalled that African heads of states have been promoting enabling initiative such as Single African Air Transport Market (SAATM) and the Africa Continental Free Trade Areas (AfCFTA) which are instrumental in enhancing people to people and economic ties within African nations.

He said “my government will continue to play its role in the initiative endorsed by the African Union towards the implementation of SAATM.”

Moreover, he elaborated that the home-grown Ethiopian Airlines is playing its role to integrate several economies in the continent and beyond.

We value the importance of air transport to socio-economic development of our country and the continent, he underlined.

To this effect, he said Ethiopia has put in place the required infrastructure that facilitate the development of aviation.

The International Air Transport Association (IATA) Director General, Willie Walsh said on his part some 23 countries signed a Memorandum of Understandings in the implementation of SAATM.

“But none unfortunately have ratified this,” he said.

Full implementation of SAATM across the continent has the potential to generate nearly 600,000 jobs and over 3.9 billion US dollars in GDP, he added.

Walsh further said in Ethiopia alone, we believe SAATM could support an additional 21,000 jobs and contribute over 80 million US dollars to GDP.

CEO of Ethiopian Airlines, Mesfin Tasew said African airlines and partners have to work together with better cooperation to overcome challenges facing the airlines today.

He reaffirmed that Ethiopian Airlines is committed to advocating free movement of people and goods in the continent.

He called on all actors of African aviations to join hand and collectively voice for the fast implementation of SAATM and AfCFTA.

Focus Africa also seeks to develop a safer, more secure, and better-connected continent, driven by a diverse, skilled workforce to unleash aviation’s potential and unlocks the commercial and economic opportunities that will help grow the industry across the continent.

The conference will focus on Africa’s challenges and opportunities include improving safety and security, smarter regulations, strengthening connectivity, airlines modern retailing, among other issues.

Source: Ethiopian News Agency

Presenting its year-long report on social media channels, the Ethiopian Media Authority (EMA) announced today that five social media forums have been disseminating “very concerning hate speech and misinformation” that threaten Ethiopia’s peace, security and national interest.

The report conducted from January 1, 2022 to January 1, 2023 on contents identified Facebook, Twitter, Tiktok, YouTube, and Telegram as the forums that disseminated hate speech and misinformation.

According to the report, activists, political groups, religious leaders and journalists are the main sources of hate speech and misinformation that mainly targeted individuals, prominent personalities, and the country.

The report concluded that the spread of hate speech and misinformation on social media has placed a serious challenge on human dignity, citizens’ lives, peace and security of the country.

Ethiopian Media Authority Deputy-Director, Yonathan Tesfaye told journalists that the spread of hate speech and misinformation via these channels has become very concerning even if further research is required on the subject.

He added that more concerning is what the report found with respect to hate speech based on ethnic identity and political differences.

The spread of those items triggered tensions and conflicts in the country, the deputy director pointed out.

Recall that Ethiopia in 2020 enacted the Hate Speech and Misinformation Prevention and Suppression Proclamation to address hate speech and misinformation.

However, the proclamation was not implemented effectively due to many reasons, including lack of regulation, it was stated on the occasion.

Source: Ethiopian News Agency

A two-day high-level ministerial meeting to validate and endorse the IGAD regional food safety strategy and harvest loss strategy is underway in Addis Ababa.

The meeting has been attended by agricultural ministers of the IGAD member countries including Girma Amente, Ethiopian Minister of Agriculture, FAO representatives and among others.

The highest proportion of the current estimate of the global burden of foodborne diseases is in Africa. According to the WHO, 91 million Africans fall sick each year due to foodborne diseases and 137,000 of them die of the same cause, it was noted.

From economic point of view, foodborne diseases contribute to decreased worker productivity, disability and early death, thus lower incomes. An economic impact study done by the World Bank (WB) in 2019 estimated that, annually, unsafe foods cost low-and middle-income economies (mainly those in Sub-Saharan Africa and Southeast Asia) about 110 billion US dollar loss in productivity and in the form of medical expenses alone.

Particularly, Africa and the IGAD region currently suffer from food and nutrition insecurity, it was indicated.

The Post-Harvest Loss (PHL) is also another challenge especially for the IGAD region countries by exacerbating the food and nutrition insecurity, the high-level ministerial meeting stressed.

Therefore, the IGAD member countries have been urged to harmonize food safety related standards, practices and procedures so that the food safety related barriers to regional and continental food trade become addressed.

The objective of today’s workshop is to validate and endorse IGAD Post-Harvest Loss Management Strategy and IGAD Food Safety Strategy.

Source: Ethiopian News Agency

The 2023 World Refugee Day (WRD) was marked today with a focus on durable solutions and a call for more support from the international community to enhance refugees’ access to national services.

Each year on June 20, the global community honors the strength and resilience of people who have been forced to flee their homes to escape conflict, persecution and other calamities, according to a press release of the UNHCR.

The 2023 World Refugee Day was marked in Aysaita, Afar Region, highlighting the power of inclusion and appeals to the international community to take more action in offering refugees more hope and opportunities so that they can rebuild their lives and give back to the communities hosting them.

Speaking on the occasion, Refugees and Returnees (RRS) Director-General Tesfahun Gobezay said that in order to share the ever-increasing burden and responsibility Ethiopia has been shouldering in hosting huge number of refugees and asylum seekers, the government urges humanitarian and development partners in tandem to engage seriously in responding to the needs of refugees more than any other time before.

The Government of Ethiopia is more than ready to welcome the private sector and create amicable environment for their involvement in the refugee response in line with government priorities, he added.

Refugee camps and sites across the country as well as the capital Addis Ababa are organizing various commemorative activities, including sports, cultural performances, tree planting, and more, on this day.

In Aysaita, home to some 27,000 Eritrean refugees, RRS, UNHCR and partners have organized the main national event, attended by federal and regional government officials, partners, refugees and host communities.

UNHCR Deputy Representative in Ethiopia, Margaret Atieno, said that “on this World Refugee Day, let’s take a moment to remember the thousands of refugee families that have been forced to flee to Ethiopia as a whole and to the Afar region in particular. Let’s also recognize and appreciate the generous hospitality of the people and Government of Ethiopia and thank donors and partners for helping Ethiopia respond to the needs of refugees.”

According to her, the day “is also an opportunity to celebrate Ethiopia’s progressive refugee policy and the government’s and host communities’ initial successes in including refugees in national services and systems.”

Refugees and Returnees Service (RRS) and the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR), together with partners, refugees and host communities, marked the day.

Ethiopia’s refugee law, revised in 2019, grants refugees a wide range of rights, including obtaining work permits, access primary education and health care and engaging in livelihood activities.

The government has also made a set of commitments at the first Global Refugee Forum (GRF) in 2019 to enhance protection and solutions for refugees and host communities.

In recent years, the government issued ID cards to over 315,000 refugees, created economic opportunities for some 130,000 people, including refugees and host communities; while nearly half a million refugees and host communities are able to access alternative energy solutions for cooking, lighting and other activities, it was learned.

Greater achievements can be attained if additional resources are made available to the government.

Across the Afar region, for example, refugees have equal access to schools, health facilities, water and land with host communities.

They meaningfully and productively engage together in shared crops, fishing and poultry projects, and they also work together at the local briquette factory and other small businesses and income generating activities.

In the Doolo zone of the Somali region, where around 100,000 refugees from neighboring Laascaanood district are hosted, the government is working to include refugees right from the onset allowing them to use existing services rather than building parallel ones.

The same approach is being pursued in response to the recent refugee inflows from Sudan who are arriving in the Amhara, Benishangul-Gumuz, and Gambella regions.

Ethiopia is the second largest refugee hosting country in Africa with nearly 1 million refugees.

World Refugee Day is being marked at a time when forced displacement figures have reached a record 110 million worldwide.

Source: Ethiopian News Agency