Ethiopia’s AU-facilitated Peace Accord Signing

November 12, 2022   

In the lens of Pan-African media practice

BY WORKU BELACHEW

Part I

The African-Union-led Permanent Cessation of Hostility Agreement (PCHA) formally signed on November 2, 2022, would not only set the way for peace to reign in Ethiopia, but the entire process has once again branded Africa as a continent that is gifted with the wisdom and capability to translate the buzzword ‘African solution to challenges facing the continent.’

The critical questions here are: To what extent have African media houses that have a relatively wide online circulation practiced Pan-African journalistic practices to eventually achieve the aspirations of Africans? And do African media approach sensitive issues such as peace and security in a different way as compared to so-called global media? This piece of work attempts to give a bird-eye view of news reporting of some global media and certain notable African media houses concerning their framing of news stories on the PCHA event.

The news items of the media houses that also have high online visitors are observed in relation to some key aspects that have also become patterns in the media reporting of the conflict in Ethiopia. For instance, the phrases “unhindered access,” “communication shutdown,” and “starvation” have been appearing in most media reporting of the conflict. On the other hand, “African solution to an African problem,” “AU-led peace talks,” and “Silencing the guns” have frequently been mentioned. Many mention the latter in the context of fulfilling Africa’s aspirations expressed resolutely in Agenda 2063.

It requires a rigorous study to determine as to why the patterns appear in the media outlets but let’s see some theories related to issue in discussion.

Mass communications theory have it that media houses make conscious decisions in choosing what to report and how to report a kind of event which take us to the concept of “Media framing”. They frame a kind of event deliberately to influence public opinion, as to available literature, see more on https://masscommtheory.com. But one cannot overgeneralize the fact that the framing is the sole decision of the media houses.

A comparative media study by Hallin and Mancini (2004) suggests that there are four “dimensions” that play a part in influencing the media’s decision. Hallin and Mancini’s dimensions are: Political parallelism, Journalistic Profession, Media market and Role of the State. Political parallelism has to do with whether there is link between media houses and political parties or journalists political affiliations and so on. Journalistic Professionalism on the other hand is about the degree of autonomy of the journalists. According to their study, there are internal and external forces that exert influence on the journalists, not to mention journalists’ ethics …: What is more, Media Market delves into the circulation of newspapers or the outlets. Last but not least is the role of the state – restrictive or supportive.

The Pan-African aspirations

It is important to attempt to see what the aspirations of Africans are clearly and succinctly. Of course, some of them are expressed in black and white in the popular document of Agenda 2063. The rest comes under various topics. As regards the latter, the Pan-African Vision of 2063 says it all: “An integrated, prosperous and peaceful Africa, driven by its own citizens, representing a dynamic force in the international arena. Here one can easily see that we Africans have a vision of achieving peace through the efforts of our own citizens.

The document, Agenda 2063, #8, also under ‘African Aspiration for 2063’ states the confidence in the people of Africa in dealing with conflicts using African wisdom. Part of the aspiration reads: to “realize her [Africa’s] full potential in development, culture and peace and to establish flourishing, inclusive and prosperous societies.”

Concepts such as “peace” and “realize […] full potential” may stand out in the aspiration. And this tells us that Africans have the determination to unlock their full potential and take peace and other matters into their own hands. Or put it this way, though war and conflicts are not unusual in Africa, the initiative and practice of acting proactively and reactively to deal with the problems should be a matter of Africans and their institutions. This calls for the struggle to lessen, if not completely avoid, foreign meddling. Often, people use the catch-all phrase “African solution and African problem”—a term that African scholars are highly debating on claiming that it fails to properly reflect the challenges Africa has been facing. Somehow, the “African Solution” works despite the direct and indirect influences on the decision of Africans and their institutions.

But the term “African problem” raises many questions. Do African problems really originate only from the conflict of interest among people of a given nation? Yes, conflicts are unavoidable. But there are potential causes of conflicts. Say for instance, interstate border wars in Africa, in most cases, are related to colonial demarcations. Geopolitical interests and actions to dominate the big market and other resources of Africa at least play a great part as well. Last but not least, aspiration #4 of Agenda 2063 explicitly argues and puts mechanisms to fend off potential and actual challenges of peace and security in Africa.

ASPIRATION 4. A peaceful and secure Africa

Mechanisms for the peaceful prevention and resolution of conflicts will be functional at all levels. As a first step, dialogue-centered conflict prevention and resolution will be actively promoted in such a way that by 2020 all guns will be silent. A culture of peace and tolerance shall be nurtured in Africa’s children and youth through peace education.

How some global media framed PCHA

The 10-day peace talks held between the delegation of the GoE and TPLF started on October 24/25, 2022. The world had eagerly been waiting for whether the talks resulted in closing the two-year deadly chapter of war in Ethiopia. November 02, 2022, was the date scheduled by the African Union Panel to announce the results. Media houses representing both international and domestic ones were on the alert to break the news, no matter what. But the announcement scheduled at 4:00 in the afternoon was postponed by a few hours. Time had been ticking and the scheduled hour finally came. On and after the conclusion of the event, media houses reported about the PCHA in various ways but two frames were highly observable— the so-called “pressure frame” and the “pan-African frame”.

CNN- Its headlines read ‘Warring parties in Ethiopia agree on ‘permanent cessation of hostilities. The story was published on November 3, 2022. CNN’s story properly named the parties as the “GoE” and “TPLF.” The first paragraph of the story that media practitioners rather call it as a “lead sentence” is framed from the perspective of Disarming, Demobilizing and Reintegrating (DDR).

“Ethiopia’s Tigray rebels will eventually “disarm” and “reintegrate” with national forces, according to the statement. “We have also agreed on a detailed program of disarmament, demobilization, and reintegration for the TPLF combatants, taking into account the security situation on the ground,” it read. The phrase “will eventually” is important here. It is a public knowledge that the CNN has not been impartial in the two-year war in the north. And maybe, “eventually” could mean, after all the bloody events, the result is “DDR”. For anyone who contemplates the CNN’s barrage of disinformation campaign, it wages against Ethiopia, the final Pan-African solution of resorting to peace might not be welcome. The story actually quoted the statement made by the AU High Representative for the Horn of Africa Olusegun Obasanjo. Obasanjo’s statement is —minutes long. But only the “DDR” perspective was picked by the CNN.

On the same day, the accord was signed, Aljazeera published a story headlined: ‘Ethiopia: Government, Tigrayan forces agree to end two-year war’. The organization of the story that the media used was just a mix of “DDR” and “pressure-framing”. Here is its lead story: “The parties in the conflict in Ethiopia’s northern region of Tigray have agreed on a “permanent cessation of hostilities”, the African Union mediator said, just more than a week after formal peace talks began in South Africa.”

It continues: the parties agreed on “orderly, smooth and coordinated disarmament” along with “restoration of law and order”, “restoration of services” and “unhindered access to humanitarian supplies”. The usage of the frame, whether intentionally or unintentionally tells us that most media are more interested in reporting on the dichotomy of winner/loser.

One can get a relatively different framing in a report published by Reuters. While it broke the news of the signing of the PCHA, describing it as a “dramatic diplomatic breakthrough.” it also highlights the fact that the process was an AU-led one—a fact that other media outlets shied away from mentioning.

In the second paragraph of its story, Reuters wrote this: “Just over a week after formal peace talks mediated by the African Union (AU) began in the South African capital Pretoria, delegates from both sides signed an agreement on a “permanent cessation of hostilities”.”.

Yet, DW’s news presentation seemed to have zoomed in on the “Pan-African framing. “The first three paragraphs of the news story, not to mention the lead story, in one way or another, had mentioned the role of the African Union. Both the headline and the lead sentence attempted to give due credit to the AU-led efforts.

CGTN’s news story as well could be described as a “Pan-African framing” of the event. The presentation of the entire story is quite mesmerizing for any reader who wants to get a different perspective, the writer believes. Let’s have an overview of the news story. The media house itself has a motto that goes: ‘See the difference. But, is there really a big difference?

The news is headlined ‘Ethiopian government and TPLF sign peace agreement in South Africa and presented with a nine-paragraph story highlighting some key concepts that have become a pattern in the media reporting of the northern conflict. Some of these are; “Cease hostilities;” “African Solution to African Problem;” “orderly, smooth and coordinated disarmament;” along with “restoration of law and order,” “restoration of services;” and “unhindered access to humanitarian supplies;” “AU High-level Panel;” “communications shutdown of internet and telephone services in Tigray region has been among world’s longest”.

One can irrefutably say that only two phrases or patterns appear as pan-African issues—“African solution to African problem;” and “AU High-Level Panel”. The rest of the five phrases/terms are often used by most western media houses and one middle-eastern media mentioned above.

If we take a look at one of the terms, we can infer the purpose of the framing, whether or not the media house did it intentionally is still debatable. But the news story tells us this: “…communications shutdown of internet and telephone services…” The thing is that the story informs the reader that the government has shut down communication and the internet at all. The argument is exactly the “blame term” that most western media and rights-based institutions have widely used. On the flip side, the government of Ethiopia says communications infrastructure was damaged by the antagonist force in what could be described as a strategic move to weaken the central government’s capacity to control the tragic event.

For its part, TRT World published a story under the headline of ‘A New Dawn.’ It also did a follow-up story of ‘Excellent News’. In both stories, the media house neither reproduced the western media narrative nor did it have a Pan-African perspective.

The Ethiopian Herald November 12/2022

Also posted by https://panafricannews.blogspot.com/2022/11/ethiopias-au-facilitated-peace-accord.html

 

Are External Forces Emboldening the TPLF to Launch “Permanent War” Against Ethiopia?

BY WORKU BELACHEW 

Lawrence Freeman is a well-known Political-Economic Analyst for Africa, who has been involved in economic development policies for Africa for over 30 years. He is a teacher, writer, public speaker, and consultant on Africa. Over the years, he has been an outspoken critic of western intervention in Ethiopian internal political affairs, he is known for his strong commentary and opinion in relation with the TPLF-provoked war in Ethiopia. The political and economist analyst has sat down with The Ethiopian Herald’s Worku Belachew on WhatsApp, to talk about Ethiopia’s current and wide-range of affairs. The following is the excerpt of the full interview.

I really appreciate your willingness for this interview. Previously, the terrorist TPLF confiscated humanitarian trucks and they used it for war purposes. But the international community’s response seems very weak. What do you comment on this?

 

 

 

See more on https://lawrencefreemanafricaandtheworld.com/2022/09/03/are-external-forces-emboldening-the-tplf-to-launch-permanent-war-against-ethiopia/

 

 

Imperialism in humanitarian, security cloak

BY WORKU BELACHEW

The pretext of humanitarianism is often raised by the officials of the Biden administration to justify their unwarranted pressure against Ethiopia.

Biden’s September 17, 2021, executive order is one in a series of instruments that are sugarcoated with humanitarianism and the protection of US national security. The latter in particular begs the question; the preamble of the executive order says that the conflict poses: “extraordinary threat to the national security and foreign policy of the United States.”

The situation in Ethiopia is purely an internal matter— also as some permanent members of the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) at various times make it crystal clear. But the question is: why has the Biden administration remained stubborn not to treat the issue as an internal matter to Ethiopia?

In this writer’s assessment to understand the matter, among the chief reasons that are making the Biden administration bog down in a policy that is against the 100+ million people of Ethiopia and at the cost the centuries’ old Ethiopia-US relations can be his and his advisors’ far-fetched ambition to impose their imperialistic will on a sovereign state, and later to expand the practice on a continental level in Africa.

Available literature shows that there are various arguments as to how powers such as the US advance their imperialistic ambitions either subtly or forcibly. But in our case, two of them seem to hold water. Actually, one of the arguments is premised on “moral ground”. This one looks like a resurgence of a subject that was put to play to justify colonialism in Africa in the late 19th C-early 20C. The colonial powers marched to Africa in the fig leaf of “Christianizing” and “Civilizing” the people of Africa.

At this very time, the Biden administration and its western allies are fabricating stories after stories through their agents that work under the cloak of humanitarianism. In today’s world, by and large, imperialism is reviving being encapsulated with humanitarianism—as many would agree. At face value, the sympathy the Biden administration shows to some people in Ethiopia appears to have sort of humanitarian element but the ultimate goal is to advance its illegitimate interests in a seemingly legitimate way.

In Ethiopia, the lives of close to seven million people is affected in all states of Tigray, Amhara and Afar, but the Biden administration and his allies are lax on demonstrating sympathy to the people of Amhara and Afar. This speaks for itself, doesn’t it?

The second track that the US and its allies employ to advance imperialism can be analyzed through the prism of “the protection of national interests in faraway geo-strategic places”.

What we have witnessed thus far is that the US and its allies choose short-sighted approaches than sustainable ones. Regarding the former, the powers have opted for supporting client states to remain on the helm of government or resorted to giving every life-support even to a dying group that advances their interests. As far as the client states are protecting the interests of, say the US and its allies, they keep lubricating the state machinery with aids and donations, and whether or not human rights abuses are rampant, corruption deepens media freedom stifled, they just don’t care. In the words of late Ghanaian President Kwame Nkrumah this is the worst form of imperialism “power without responsibility”— neo-colonialism if you like.

Now that the frontiers of superpowers are expanding beyond their terrestrial and aquatic boundaries, the Horn of Africa has already become a hub for their military buildup in faraway geo-strategic locations— a matter with a visible threat to the sovereignty of countries of the region in particular and the entire continent in general.

It is now plausible to argue that the military buildup in the region must be checked and countered in some way to avert the imminent danger. A November 12, 2021, BBC report first headlined as US Force Ready ‘to respond’ to Ethiopia crisis quoting Maj. Gen. William Zana at Camp Lemonnier in Djibouti furnishes enough reason as the US has the ambition to promote its interests against the wills of the millions of people and their sovereignty.

The Biden administration, its allies and the western media altogether are supplying political, diplomatic and other key supports to the rebel terrorist TPLF force, on one hand. And they publicly brag to militarily intervene in a UN member country, Ethiopia, on the other. Humanitarianism and the protection of security or whatever interests are now found to be sugarcoated pretexts; inside these are the bitter imperialistic ambitions that Africans should check sooner than later.

Africans, the black population all over the world and all who seek justice, equality and fraternity to prevail must closely look into the current situation in Ethiopia. The current model—i.e., trying to destroy a legitimate government by force using an internal rebel is likely to be exported to other African countries. The necessary condition for this is, as we are practically witnessing it here, determination to chart out one’s destiny by oneself. When any African country starts to develop its natural resources, formulate home-grown policies, then the model would be put to play.

The model is worse in its entirety. But it becomes worst for Ethiopia as a country that boasts for having the oldest democracy like the US is attempting to restore a group chased away by popular unrest.

The people of Ethiopia have elected their representatives marching in droves to polls which the US’s two institutions verified.

The International Republican Institute (IRI) and the National Democratic Institute (NDI) on their joint report on the June 21, 2021 as part of a Limited Election Observation Mission for Ethiopia released on August 9, 2021 indicated this very matter.

For instance, NDI President Derek Mitchell said there were important improvements over past elections, particularly relating to the national election body and election monitoring by political parties and civil society.

The report also acclaimed “reforms that allowed civil society and political parties to emerge as actors of the electoral process. It also noted the reforms that allowed for NEBE to be more independent as well as important positive efforts made by Ethiopian individuals and institutions, including NEBE, citizen election monitoring, and voter education groups.”

Obviously, this does not mean that Ethiopia conducted one of the rarest elections. But the improvement has been tremendous as compared to the previous ones.

As every cloud has a silver lining, the approach by the US and its allies towards the current situation in Ethiopia holds important lesson to all people of Africa, the black community on the globe and all justice-seeking people of the world. The attempt is like a knockout game where these forces want to mess up the lives of non-western people and protect what they call “their national interests” at the cost of millions of people, particularly in the developing world. It is high time to all who stand for justice to prevail to stop these devilish forces.

The current path of the Biden administration and its allies is totally against the interests of the people of the respective countries. It is a path of destroying centuries-old cooperation. Of course, there is no proof that the entire people in the west back such imperialistic policy that exposes millions of souls to death and destruction. But there is proof that a substantial number of western people stand for truth and justice. One can see the number of black and white people of citizens in the western countries that are supporting Ethiopia by publically defending the Ethiopian cause. This has also been evident in the past. While the fascist Italian aggressor invaded Ethiopia, good people like Sylvia Pankhurst were standing for truth. Sylvia also went as far as establishing a newspaper dedicated to revealing the truth in her New times & Ethiopia news.

Published in The ETHIOPIAN HERALD NOVEMBER 30/2021

 

Adwa AU’s big task ahead to relight forebears’ spirits

 The African Union (AU) has the responsibility of taking a measure to uphold and hand down the spirits of the victory of Adwa, says pan-African experts and scholars alike as Ethiopia is set to mark the 124th Victory of Adwa on Monday.

The victory that is a landslide black people’s achievement had sent an enduring message to all the oppressed on the fact that the myth of European superiority was able to defeated; hence, the experts and scholars say the continental organization should no longer ignore this remarkable heritage.
Ayele Bekerie is an Associate Professor and Coordinator of a Ph.D. Program in Heritage Studies at Mekelle University. He argues that the Victory of Adwa goes way beyond Ethiopia.
“The victory is not limited to an outcome of a battle between two warring countries. The central message of the victory at the Battle of Adwa is that colonialism was wrong, and under any circumstance, it cannot be acceptable.”
The victory at Adwa provided the spark for fellow African brothers and sisters to determinedly fight against colonial subjugation, he says.
“It is true that the end of colonialism was in Africa and the historic contribution of Ethiopia had been marked by establishing the headquarters of the African Union in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. While the gesture was significant, I would argue that AU should take another critical step by declaring Yekatit 23^rd as African day.”
 The continental bloc looks like to turn its heads to glorify the history of the continent, particularly in recent years.
The Union has put up the statues of the founding fathers—of the precursor of AU, the Organization of African Unity (OAU). The Ghanaian independent leader Kwame Nkrumah and Ethiopia’s last Emperor Haile Selassie’s statues have now been gracing the AU Headquarters in Addis Ababa. There is also Julius Nyerere Peace and Security Building which was funded by the government of the Federal Republic of Germany on the premises of AU.
But the victory of Adwa which is said to have inspired the founding fathers themselves, and an event that dismantled the myth of African inferiority for good, has not got its deserved place at the continental bloc.MORE ON https://www.press.et/english/?p=19543#

 

 

A speech tailored to the size of Horn

22 Jun 2018

Editorial-View-Point 

BY WORKU BELACHEW 

Last Monday’s afternoon was so unique and yet historic for most Ethiopians, both home and abroad. But it may not put anyone on a hasty generalization if he/she concludes as the Day has also brought to light new generation of pan-African statesman in an Ethiopian soil, notable as the embalm of PanAfricanism.
No doubt, this piece is all about Prime Minister Dr. Abiy Amhed’s vibrant speech, if not lecture, televised to the people of Ethiopia.
What could strike the mind of viewers/listeners, and may lead them to include the premier in the list of pan-African statesmen is not only the writer’s perception of the Dr.Abiy’s argument while addressing questions from Members of the House of Peoples’ Representatives.
It is also his way of addressing the question regarding the issue of Bademe, to single out, a border town between Ethiopia and Eritrea. History has already recorded the place as, may be, the immediate cause of the senseless war between the two brotherly peoples which took the lives of tens of thousands of productive citizens of both sides.

The demarcation in East Africa is artificial that was imposed by the Whiteman which resulted in the split of people tied by blood, culture, religion and language into two or more, as he said it.
He mentioned the Kunama people that the colonial lines forced them to be in two different sovereign states, Ethiopia and Eritrea. Also, the Afari people to live in three countries— Ethiopia, Djibouti and Eritrea while some section of the Oromo people to be Kenyan by citizenship.
To the contrary, Bismarck’s’ partition of Africa project forced people of different language, culture and religion to be assembled under the same flag, sadly in an exploitative way.
As most independent leaders of Africa already argued, the borders of Africa are nothing other than colonial inheritance, therefore.
The question presented to the premier was that EPRDF’s unconditional acceptance of the Algiers Agreement on the Ethio-Eritrean would go against the interest of people living in the area. There is no dispute with the assertion if it goes in a way one would gain while the other loose, I believe.
The premier’s response to the question, however, did not focus simply on delimitation and demarcation. He takes it to something bigger cause, and explained it being outside the box—Horn economic integration. Most expected him to say this and that approaching it in a narrower context. But his response was even tailored to the size of Horn of Africa.
Ethiopia is playing a lead-goose role to attain the sub-regional integration arrangement of the African Union. The 3.4 billion USD railways, connecting Ethiopia and Djibouti, is adequate example in this regard. But if more examples have to be cited, the roads to Djibouti, Kenya, and Sudan are mentionable, not to mention the energy interconnection with the said countries.
‘So, what has this to do with the Agreement?’ seems to be a question at this juncture. Any sane mind could get the fathom of the investment in the infrastructure. The projects serve no purpose other than supporting the Somali and Afari people living in Ethiopia and Djibouti to craft their future together or just it calms the water for them to swim together. To the south, Kenyan brothers and sisters can trade among others, and the like.
Ethiopians and Eritreans not only living in the border town but also people of both countries living in remote south Ethiopia and far north Eritrea can have opportunity to know one another.
Besides, the African Union vision 2063 is: “An integrated, prosperous and peaceful Africa, driven by its own citizens and representing a dynamic force in international arena.”
Its people are the architects of this vision. The attainment of the vision as well rests on the shoulders of Regional Economic Communities in which Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD) is one.
Therefore, putting the Ethio-Eritrean cause in a narrower context- demarcation and delimitation is unable to see the bigger picture.
People of Ethiopia and Eritrea, who are tied by blood, cannot be reduced to border issue, and the past bad event was just something that the present and future generation should take lesson from it. As the premier said it precisely it is unwise to pass down enmity to present and future generations.
The two peoples need one another but not for the sake of economic interest only—sea outlet and market for instance. This is secondary. But, the main objective is long-term peace and breaking the stalemate that has been wasting the human capital of both countries. It also shows both countries’ determination to abort the time bomb the colonial power buried.
Above all, it promises the reunification of families break apart due to the reign of “no peace, no war” over the last decade.
Indeed, the two countries have prospects of economic integration. The hundred and plus million people could offer market opportunity to Eritrea’s manufacturing firms. Similarly, Port Assab could offer Ethiopia with additional sea outlet.
That’s why the premier could be seen as new generation of pan-African statesmen. Pan-Africanism is still relevant in the sense that it could abolish the colonial boarders and serve the interest of the billion people of the region. And this was the line of argument of the premier.
Peace and harmony between the two countries is not the issue of Ethiopia and Eritrea. It goes far beyond this for it has impact on the wider Horn. Thus, such far-sighted decision which the Executive of EPRDF passed has greater significance.
The Eritrean government has reciprocated the peace call and has vowed to send a delegation soon to give a final blow to the issue—most hopefully a panAfrican solution.

 

Invaluable religious mosaic 
Worku Belachew 

                     

Ethiopia has been the hallmark of inter-religious harmony. It is an all-too common and age-old phenomenon to observe adherents of Christianity, Islam, Judaism and other local religions leading peaceful life together.

In recognition to this and to take inspiration from Ethiopia’s backlog of experiences, the annual World Interfaith Harmony Week was marked in Addis—for the first time outside of the UN Headquarters. The annual marking falls on the first week of every February. 

On the event last Friday, the Inter-religious Council of Ethiopia (Council) received award from United Religious Initiative-Africa for promoting tolerance peace and co-existence among the people.

Both the event and the award have conveyed clear and succinct messages to any observer as to the steadfast position of Ethiopians in nurturing religious peace and harmony. It speaks for itself the fact that cynical ambitions of individuals and groups cannot and will not take roots in this land.

Giving less regard to religious differences, Ethiopians have been interacting among themselves in various social platforms. As such, the people have not been precluded from socializing; be it intermarriage, neighborhood, friendship, and the like due to variations in their world views. 

Put this very fact another way, Idir is one of the typical and traditional community associations in most places in Ethiopia.  Members of this community association cooperate particularly in times of funeral. Members comfort family of a deceased, provide monetary support and extend helping hands before, on and after the funeral.  Membership to this association is absolutely free from discrimination on the basis of religious belief, among others. 

To the surprise of all, Christians and Muslim brothers and sisters even cooperate in building religious shrines of one another. It is a nightmare to observe such a strong bond in most other societies— isn’t it? 

Without a shadow of doubt, the people have been passing on these virtues over generations. And the current one has constitutionalized and institutionalized the virtues by declaring equality among all religions and establishing Inter-religious Council of Ethiopia respectively. As a result, cohesive factors—brotherhood, neighborhood, friendship, respect and humanity—have further become the defining attributes of the peoples irrespective of religious orientations.  

That is why the spillover effect of religious radicalization has repeatedly failed to take roots in Ethiopia though few individuals and groups never quit toiling to import the components and assemble them here to orchestrate their destructive goals.

The ideals being promoted in the World Interfaith Harmony Week, “Love of God” and “Love of one’s neighbor”, which have already become the cultures of the people, helped to abort radicalization before it completes it metamorphosis. 

However, the wave of religious radicalization is still razing peace in most countries of the Horn of Africa. Thus, the Council should take further inspiration from the award and recognition to accelerate its activities targeting the youth. 

It has to facilitate platforms whereby the bulging youth population, who hold various religious beliefs, can build inter-faith understanding. It has to also use the media, public forums, religious ceremonies, and the like, to teach the virtues and values of the past generations. 

In addition, as the youth is so active on social media, the Council and other stakeholders should make sure that this important section of the society does not involve in all-forms of hate speech and discriminatory activities. In fact, those who always see the glass half empty involves in disseminating sensational posts on social media. To this end, leaders of various religions must aware the youth on how to chase the pessimists out of the cyber village. 

By doing so, it is the youth who, first and foremost, taste the sweet fruits of peace. It is this part of the society who fulfills its aspiration in a developed Ethiopia. The youth has all the potent to either   build or demolish the country. Thus, tasks on the youth have to be doubled, tripped and quadrupled…

The world has once again proven that it can emulate lessons from Ethiopia on matters regarding inter-faith harmony.   Hence, this heritage has to further get nurtured to keep the country’s peace and fast-tracking all-round development.

 

Timket—Humanity’s resplendent asset!  

 BY WORKU BELACHEW

Timket—the commemoration of Jesus’ baptism at River Jordan—is yet another intangible heritage which Ethiopia has preserved for millennia. The unique and colorful festivity which combines both religious and secular traditions deserves to be included among the representative list of cultural heritage of humanity.

The marvelous ritual and street festival which lasts two days (the eve-Ketera, and the holiday-Timkat), has been handed down over generations gluing the community, nurturing collective memory, promoting human creativity and contributing to the sustainable development of the country at large.   

Irrespective of differences in age, sex, culture and language, people escort the Tabots (Replica of the Arc of the Covenant) with great pomp from the respective parishes to riversides or large meadows where the festival takes place. Also, people of different socio-economic and cultural backgrounds get together and follow the liturgical services while other cultural and secular proceedings take place on the sideline.

Timket celebration has two important aspects. The grand one is the mass liturgical services which members of clergymen undertake starting from the eve of the festival until the event is wrapped up on the day of Timket with the sprinkling of sacred water up on the believers and taking the Tabots back to their respective parishes. 

The second one is the secular section which interested groups in small circles dances and chants. It allows participants to have the opportunity to exchange their culture while availing extra opportunity to tourists to observe and participate in the traditional dances and chants of the various peoples of the country. 

The Day is so unique in that even non-Christian people involve in the festivity’s secular facet. To the surprise of all, people who belong to a different faith cooperate with their Christian neighbors to see the celebration wrapped up peacefully. Any spectator can truly sense the peaceful co-existence among the peoples on this day.  

Though the celebration is part and parcel of epiphany which other Christian communities mark year in and year out, Timket in Ethiopia has been beyond compare both by the size of the congregation that partake in the event and by the liturgical, cultural and socio-economic undertakings carried out on the eve and during the holiday.

Without a shadow of doubt, the whole essence of Timkat will help in diversifying the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO)’s prestigious list.

Since Ethiopia’s ratification of the Convention for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage in 2006, only three years behind the adoption of the Convention, the country has got three of its intangible heritages inscribed in the world’s prestigious list. Meskel (the founding of the true cross) Fichee-Chambalaalla (New Year’s celebration among the Sidama people) and Geda System (an indigenous democratic socio-political system of the Oromo) have got their right places in the UNESCO’s intangible heritage list.

The inscription of these heritages has created great enthusiasm among the people of Ethiopia motivating them to further preserve and promote the world’s asset. Likewise, if Timket joins the representative list, it further fosters the preservation efforts of the intangible heritage and increases the festival’s contribution to the overall development of the country as well.

Authority for Research and Conservation of Cultural Heritage (ARCCH), among other pertinent bodies, has endeavored remarkably in throwing light to the heritages of the country by including them in the national inventory system. Timkat is one among these. In addition, the stated bodies are exerting maximum efforts to illuminate the elements of the historic Timkat in order to be included in the UNESCO’s representative list.

Since last Ethiopian year, the Authority has been exerting efforts to prepare the nomination file for Timkat. Reports show that the Authority has been collecting inputs to select 10 photographs to be included in the Nomination List and to produce a 10-minute documentary footage. Tasks have continued to collect samples from places such as Wollo, Lalibela and Addis Ababa. The Authority plans to send the file to UNESCO within two months after in-depth consultations with relevant stakeholders.

ARCCH and other pertinent bodies ought to work their fingers to the bone to finalize the nomination file, and get it included in the list of world’s intangible heritages. 

The Authority has registered various heritages on the national heritage inventory. No doubt, most of them do not only belong to Ethiopia, they are also humanity’s asset. Thus, pertinent bodies, the media, and other stakeholders should maximize efforts to include them in the world’s heritage list.