ADDIS ABABA- Ambassador Zenebe Kebede, Permanent Representative of Ethiopia to UN Geneva -(UNOG) and other International Organizations in Switzerland said, the reform undergoing in Ethiopia is bringing fundamental changes in democratization, upholding rule of law and human rights and liberalizing the economy.
On Tuesday, Zenebe held discussions with Mark Lowcock, Under-SecretaryGeneral for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief and head of OCHA at his office, according to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. On the occasion, Ambassador Zenebe Kebede briefed Lowcock on the current reform process in Ethiopia and its achievements thus far and indicated that the reform is impacting regional peace and stability in a positive way which in turn is setting the ground for regional integration.
He appreciated the support of United Nations OCHA in responding to humanitarian emergencies in Ethiopia during the transition and expressed the Government’s readiness to further build up on the existing excellent cooperation in further enhancing the resilience of communities and addressing the root causes of internal displacement.
Ambassador Zenebe highlighted the need for OCHA to redouble efforts to meet the 1.3 billion USD needed to respond to 8.9 million people who need emergency aid. He reiterated the need for concerted efforts in fund mobilization indicating that that only 75 million USD of the 1.3 Billion USD required is thus far funded.
He also went on discuss the Ethiopian governess’s commitment to address the root causes of internal displacement by addressing the root causes of displacement and finding durable solutions from the very onset. Marck Lowcock, on his part, appreciated the gradual increase in the resilience of Ethiopia over the years in responding to drought induced humanitarian emergencies.
He indicated the need to upscale the best practices into areas in South East and Eastern part of Ethiopia to address recurrent drought situation. He further went on to affirm OCHA’s commitment to support Ethiopia’s effort to address internal displacement by strengthening the humanitarian development nexus. He also underlined OCHA’s commitment to further intensify efforts to mobilize resources to respond to the 2019 Humanitarian Response Plan.
The Ethiopian Herald, May 9/2019
