An agreement has been reached in the Ethiopian civil war with both sides agreeing to end hostilities after two years of fighting.
United Nations Secretary General, António Guterres has welcomed the announcement of an Ethiopian ceasefire.
This comes after the conclusion of African Union peace talks hosted in Pretoria.
The Secretary General’s spokesperson Stephane Dujarric elaborates, “We’ve just seen the announcement. We obviously will be looking into the details but this is very much a welcome first step which we hope will bring some solace to the millions of Ethiopian civilians that have really suffered during this conflict.”
The war between the Ethiopian government and Northern Tigray forces caused a severe humanitarian crisis.
According to the World Health Organisation, almost 90% of Tigrayans need food aid and about a third of the region’s children are suffering from malnutrition.
Former Nigerian President, Olusegun Obasanjo, who mediated the talks, said both sides agreed to a disarmament plan as well as unhindered access to humanitarian supplies.
Ethiopia’s government and Tigray rebels agree to end all hostilities:
Obasanjo elaborates, “The agreement also takes care of assurance of security for all concerned within and outside Ethiopia. Monitoring, supervising, verification of implementation will be carried out by the AU high level panel. What you have achieved delegates from both sides, working together among yourselves, we salute you, we commend you and we congratulate you.”
