We Stand with you – A Statement of Solidarity

We, as African Women Activists with our regional and global partners, write this statement in a rapidly changing context as the conflict that started in the Tigray region in November 2020 expands to the Amhara and Afar regions, and threatens the stability of Ethiopia and the wider Horn of Africa region. We stand in solidarity with our sisters, partners, and advocates in Ethiopia.

SIHA Network
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We, as African Women Activists with our regional and global partners, write this statement in a rapidly changing context as the conflict that started in the Tigray region in November 2020 expands to the Amhara and Afar regions, and threatens the stability of Ethiopia and the wider Horn of Africa region. We stand in solidarity with our sisters, partners, and advocates in Ethiopia.

We are dismayed and horrified by the suffering of the Ethiopian people, including the impact of the conflict on women, children, the elderly, and persons with disabilities in Ethiopia. As African women activists, we know all too well the barriers that Ethiopian women face to realising lives free from violence and harm.

Ethiopian women, in all their diversity, find themselves in the path of an eruption of violence stemming from decades-long ethnic tensions, regional inequality, and political and economic instability.

Reports from the ground paint a horrific picture of what women, children and the most disadvantaged are experiencing – rape, abuduction, arbitrary arrest, human-caused famine, lack of access (for approximately 2.5 million people) to essential health care services, and massive displacement internally and across borders.

The state of emergency across Ethiopia has created a climate of fear that has crippled human rights defenders’ and activists’ efforts, making it impossible for them to mobilize around the defense of human rights in Ethiopia.

We support and align ourselves with the global movement of locally-rooted solutions and crisis-response that centre leadership in the impacted communities and populations. We also express our concern over the “silence” of African leaders about the ongoing conflict in Ethiopia.

We call for the following:

  • An immediate declaration of a ceasefire and cessation of all hostilities
  • Immediate humanitarian access to affected communities and populations
  • An end to all atrocities including the use of rape as a weapon of war
  • Independent investigations into rights violations and the establishment of independent mechanisms to deliver justice
  • Neighbouring countries to keep their borders open and allow safe passage to fleeing refugees
  • All efforts to resolve this conflict involve Ethiopian women in all their diversity as central partners
  • Survivors are provided the needed protection, medical treatment and trauma counselling
  • Establishment of frameworks to support family reunification, and care for children born of rape
  • Immediate and unconditional release of all persons arbitrarily arrested under the state of emergency laws

In Solidarity, Signed:

  1. Strategic Initiative for women in the Horn of Africa (SIHA Network)
  2. The Uganda Association of Women Lawyers (FIDA Uganda)
  3. Voice of Somaliland Minority Women Organisation (VOSOMWO)
  4. Musawah
  5. Akina Mama wa Afrika
  6. The African Women’s Development and Communication Network (FEMNET)
  7. Mouvement Inamahoro, Femmes et Filles pour la paix et.la securite
  8. CVPP/Community Voices for Peace and Pluralism (Africa)
  9. FemWise
  10. WCGE
  11. Muzna Dureid- Syrian Women’s Political Movement
  12. Children’s Rights Innovation Fund
  13. Fundacion Arcoiris por el respeto a la diversidad sexual
  14. National Women Empowerment and Rehabilitation Organizations
  15. Mother of Hope Cameroon (Mohcam)
  16. Forum for Women in Development, Democracy and Justice
  17. Nongovernmental Gender Organisations Coordinating Council
  18. Stella’s Girls
  19. L’association Tunisienne de la gouvernance et de l’Égalité entre les Femmes et les Hommes dans les Postes de décision l’ATGEC
  20. Call it Genocide
  21. Center for Human Rights and Democracy in Africa
  22. HopeNow-Uganda
  23. Ayin Media
  24. Sarah Mukasa
  25. Bashiratu Kamal
  26. Catherine Nyambura
  27. Amel Gorani
  28. Alobo Susan Toolit
  29. Adeng Leek
  30. Niat Amare
  31. Melanie Lindayen
  32. Patience Poni
  33. Lorna Mesina
  34. CARE international
  35. Union de l’action féministe
  36. Medica Liberia
  37. Association Nationale AL HIDN
  38. Global Learning for Sustainability
  39. AWLN CAMEROUN  (African Women Leaders Network)
  40. Amal Chariot Foundation
  41. UAF
  42. Majda
  43. DAWN (Development Alternatives with Women for a New Era)
  44. UN Trust Fund to End Violence against Women
  45. New Millennium women Empowerment Organization
  46. International Women’s Rights Action Watch Asia Pacific
  47. Candlelight NGO
  48. Network for Women’s Rights in Ghana (NETRIGHT)
  49. Gender Lab
  50. FemInStyle Africa
  51. Rights and Responsibilities Initiatives Ghana
  52. National Women’s Lobby Group (NAWOLG)
  53. Developing Women for Skills and Opportunities Initiative
  54. Sisters Diary
  55. Societe civile
  56. Amélie Gontharet
  57. Advocates & Trainers for Children and Women’s Advancement and Rights
  58. AWLA DNV USA
  59. Disability Employment Rights Initiative
  60. Gender Centre and Human Rights Documentation Centre
  61. HYT
  62. AFEDECO (Action Feminine pour le Développement Communautaire)
  63. Juan José Guzmán
  64. Daniele Elizaire
  65. Women’s Refugee Commission

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Borne of the social justice movement, the Strategic Initiative for Women in the Horn of Africa (SIHA) Network is an indigenous African women’s rights network with a soul. We are convinced beyond any doubt that if African women are given the space, they will drive change in this region and beyond. Defying presumptions about African women, SIHA has been carried on the shoulders of numerous African women’s rights activists and has been sustained by their relentless commitment to their cause.
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