BY STAFF REPORTER
Mr. Kitaw Yayehyirad lives in Geneva, Switzerland. He received his MBA in Management of Technology from the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Lausanne (EPLF). He is also a PhD-Fellow in Governance and Policy Analysis at University of Maastricht UNU-MERIT. Mr. Kitaw has been participating in advocacy works to educate the diplomatic community in Geneva and Europe on the Ethiopian situation on many important issues. He is the founder of the Network of Ethiopians in Geneva for Action Taskforce (NEGAT), which is a founding member of Defend Ethiopia Task Force in Europe. No doubt, as the city is a seat for nearly 178 permanent representatives, international organizations and NGOs, information of any kind gains a high value, and is likely to be interpreted to any use. In this interview, he briefly touches upon the activities of the diaspora community in Geneva and the role NEGAT and other diaspora associations are playing to support the Ethiopian cause.
What platforms do you use as diaspora community to inform the diplomatic and international community in Geneva about Ethiopia?
Geneva is indeed an international city home to many international organizations including the United Nations Office in Geneva formerly known as the League of Nations where Emperor Haile Selassie made his historical speech in 1936 before it was moved to New York after the Second World War.
As an advocacy group of Ethiopians defending our country, we frequently use Digital Platforms to reach out to the Diplomatic Community in Geneva, the United Nations Human Rights Office but also Geneva Press Club to explain and counter the flow of misinformation that followed the conflict in the Northern Ethiopia in November 2020. More specifically, we have sent out targeted emails and launched twitter campaigns using a database of key policy makers, representatives of permanent missions in Geneva and journalists. We have also had the opportunity to hand out letter and meet with the representatives of the High Commissioner of Human Rights after the #NoMore demonstration organized in November 2021. We have also established a community website for Ethiopians in Switzerland at ‘Ethiopians.ch’.
There is also the Network of Ethiopians in Geneva for Action Taskforce (NEGAT), a founding member of Defend Ethiopia Task Force in Europe. Give us a brief about it?
The Network of Ethiopians in Geneva for Action Taskforce (NEGAT) is a self-governed group of Ethiopian volunteers living in Geneva, Switzerland, who value an intellectual and collaborative approach to information sharing and networking among Ethiopians. NEGAT is engaged in advocacy and action towards the betterment of Ethiopia, its peace, stability and unity.
The Network was formed in December 2021 just after the conflict erupted in Northern Ethiopia following the attack by Tigrean People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) on the Northern Command of the Ethiopian National Defence Forces. A lot of disinformation was being spread on the conflict, both in mainstream and social media. As Ethiopians living in Geneva, home to United Nations and other international organizations, we have noticed, very early when the conflict erupted, the effect of such a coordinated campaign to demonize the legitimate operation being undertaken by the Ethiopian Government and founded NEGAT to advocate in the defense of Ethiopia. NEGAT is also a founding member of Defend Ethiopia Task Force in Europe, a group of professionals and scholars defending Ethiopia from pressures by external entities through Public Diplomacy by the Ethiopian Diaspora Communities in Europe. We have organized Press Conferences, written several letters to the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, wrote articles in local newspapers to explain and give a nuanced perspective on the situation in Ethiopia to the Diplomatic and International Community in Geneva.
Right after the conflict erupted in Tigray, the Network of Ethiopians in Geneva for Action Taskforce (#NEGAT) and the Geneva Press Club, in collaboration with the Ethiopian permanent mission in #Geneva have organized a press conference on January 6, 2021 where over 300 members of the Diplomatic Community and journalists were present. Ambassador Zenebe Kebede said the conference aimed at putting Developments in Ethiopia in the right perspective and correcting the misinformation circulating in social and mainstream media outlets regarding the law enforcement operation in the Tigray regional state. At the panel Moderated by H.E. Ambassador Minelik Alemu and in the presence of Mr. Kitaw Yayehyirad representing the Network of Ethiopians in Geneva, Ethiopia’s Attorney General Dr. Gedion Timothewos, Chief Commissioner of Ethiopian Human Rights Commission, Dr. Daniel Bekele, and Berhanu Nega (Prof) from Ethiopian Citizens for Social Justice (Ezema) have reflected on several issues surrounding the measure taken.
As early as January 2021, in an open letter co-signed by several advocacy groups in Europe , NEGAT invited the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights to work with national entities (Ethiopian Human Rights Commission) and bring its institutional capacity and experience to bear and thoroughly investigate and conduct verification with scrutiny prior to public communications on Ethiopia. We have sent out several follow-up letters, including a joint letter by the Ethiopian and Eritrean Communities in Switzerland to the High Commissioner following the #NoMore rally in November 2021 where our delegation was received in the High Commissioner’s Office. The last Open Letter to the High Commissioner in June 2022 by the Network of Ethiopians in Geneva for Action Task Force (NEGAT), endorsed by 14 organizations was sent to all member states of the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) as members of the Council were preparing to meet in Geneva for the 50th regular session of the Human Rights Council for an oral briefing on the situation in Ethiopia on the 20th of June 2022. A twitter campaign was organized to maximize the reach of the letter among member states during the session.
How are you using this network to voice the national cause?
We mainly use it as a platform to advocate for the national cause by writing letters to relevant international entities, media, policy makers in Geneva for multilateral purpose and Switzerland for national ones. Moreover, the group has organized press conferences, digital campaigns (Twitter and email) to voice and explain Ethiopia’s cause to the international community and other relevant entities such as journalists, UN Human Rights Council Member States Permanent Representatives in Geneva. NEGAT has also created Ethiopians.ch as a platform to exchange information, locally mobilize and unite Ethiopians.
Are there other Ethiopian organizations established for the purpose of public diplomacy? Do you get dependable information on matters regarding home affairs? How?
As a self-governed group, keen in maintaining its independence in its operations, we do get information from various sources and ensure their reliability and dependability through triangulation before relaying or making repurposed use of it. We also have close collaborative relationship with the Permanent Mission of Ethiopia in Geneva. As a founding member of the Defend Ethiopia Task Force in Europe, which has representation in 12 European countries, we also regularly double check our information from various dependable sources in and outside Ethiopia.
In what way do members in various organizations synchronize efforts to attain a common goal?
We do have meetings as regularly as possible, using WhatsApp and Social Media to exchange information. We also try to collaborate with various groups in Europe and North America on specific, time bound agendas (e.g co-organizing webinars, twitter and email campaigns as well as co-editing and co-signing letters to key influential entities in our respective countries and continents.
What are your key achievements?
We can see our key achievements both at multi-lateral level as well as national levels. At the Multilateral Level the first thing we did was holding Press Conference with the Geneva Press Club early when the conflict erupted as we noticed the effects of the concerted misinformation campaign on the International Community in Geneva. This has resulted in Press Coverage with the participation of over 300 media professionals’ members of the Geneva Press Club.
The second achievement at multilateral level is sending of regular letters to the High Commissioner of Human Rights (link)
At the National Level (Switzerland) we can mention our engagement with the Press, reacting to various misleading reporting on the Ethiopia. Received authoritative response from the Media Mediator to our call for balance and objectivity in reporting on the situation in Ethiopia. As a result, contacts were established with mainstream newspapers who have contacted our members and wrote balanced articles. (see https:// www.letemps.ch/monde/ethiopie-abiy-ahmed-coudees-franches.
We have also participated in organizing the #NoMore Rally in November 2021, releasing a joint statement with Ethiopian and Eritrean communities in Switzerland and opportunity to physically hand a letter to the High Commissioner of Human Rights in Geneva
https://ethiopians.ch/net/2021/11/14/ ታ ላ ቅ – የ ሰ ላ ሚ – ሰ ል ፍ – በ ጄ ኔ ቫ – 2 5 – november-2021/ 333653216. Others listed below
Ethiopia is set to hold a National Dialogue. What is the understanding of members of the diplomatic/ international community based in Geneva?
We believe that more effort is needed in making the National Dialogue’s thoughtful intentions and purposes well communicated and well understood by the International Community. As a Ethiopian group supportive of the National Dialogue, we shall strive to contribute to as best as we can, including in fundraising, participation as stakeholders as part of the Ethiopian Diaspora Community and also communicating the intent and progress of the National Dialogue to the Diplomatic Community in Geneva, as a complement and support of what the Permanent Mission of Ethiopia in Geneva will be conducting.
Can we say that they have an improved perception about Ethiopia?
While such a concept is uneasy to measure, NEGAT’s actions and collaboration with other groups engaged in similar endeavors in Europe and North America has unarguably contributed in having a nuanced perspective on the situation in Ethiopia, in countering the concerted misinformation, challenging the positions, policies and actions of multilateral institutions such as the UNHRC in Geneva and winning hearts and minds of policy makers by giving sustained, posed, fact based advocacy in favor of Ethiopia. Efforts must continue in a more institutionalized and concerted manner to truly transform the Ethiopian Diaspora as a Public Diplomacy instrument in a constructivist approach. A lot remains to be done in response to pressures and challenges by external and internal forces hindering the promising transition our country has embarked on towards prosperity and lasting peace.
Thank you very much!
You’re most welcome!
The Ethiopian Herald 27 August 2022
