ADDIS ABABA — Ethiopia will deepen its multilateral diplomacy and peacekeeping role to contribute to peace and security in Africa, Ethiopia’s United Nations Permanent Representative Tesfaye Yilma said.
According to Ethiopian News Agency, in an exclusive interview with ENA, Ethiopia will bolster its multilateral diplomacy and contribute to Africa’s peace and security through peacekeeping missions under the United Nations and African Union. “Ethiopia has been a front runner in maintaining African peace and security. This is our history and legacy. We are now in South Sudan and Somalia. We will continue deepening this role to maintain peace and security in Africa,” Tesfaye noted. He recalled that Ethiopia had also sent peacekeeping forces to Rwanda, Liberia, Burundi, Darfur, Abyei, and Somalia.
Ambassador Tesfaye highlighted that, regardless of changes in government, Ethiopia has consistently engaged in multilateral cooperation and peacekeeping missions, mainly in Africa. Beyond security, Ethiopia also advocates for the socio-economic development of developing countries. “We will continue participating in different socio-economic affairs based on international agreements,” he said. For instance, the third financing for development conference held in 2015 in Ethiopia led to the adoption of the Addis Ababa Action Agenda.
Following multilateral engagements with the UN and other countries, Ethiopia recently hosted the First Preparatory Session of the 4th Conference on Financing for Development in Addis Ababa from July 22-26. “This recent conference was decided to be hosted in Ethiopia mainly due to its major role in engaging at the multilateral level and its willingness to host it,” Tesfaye pointed out. The conference demonstrated successful multilateral diplomatic engagement to improve the socio-economic development of developing countries.
The representative reiterated Ethiopia’s historical role as a founding member of the United Nations and its ongoing commitment to multilateralism.