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:
- Strategic Initiative for women in the Horn of Africa (SIHA Network)
- The Uganda Association of Women Lawyers (FIDA Uganda)
- Voice of Somaliland Minority Women Organisation (VOSOMWO)
- Musawah
- Akina Mama wa Afrika
- The African Women’s Development and Communication Network (FEMNET)
- Mouvement Inamahoro, Femmes et Filles pour la paix et.la securite
- CVPP/Community Voices for Peace and Pluralism (Africa)
- FemWise
- WCGE
- Muzna Dureid- Syrian Women’s Political Movement
- Children’s Rights Innovation Fund
- Fundacion Arcoiris por el respeto a la diversidad sexual
- National Women Empowerment and Rehabilitation Organizations
- Mother of Hope Cameroon (Mohcam)
- Forum for Women in Development, Democracy and Justice
- Nongovernmental Gender Organisations Coordinating Council
- Stella’s Girls
- L’association Tunisienne de la gouvernance et de l’Égalité entre les Femmes et les Hommes dans les Postes de décision l’ATGEC
- Call it Genocide
- Center for Human Rights and Democracy in Africa
- HopeNow-Uganda
- Ayin Media
- Sarah Mukasa
- Bashiratu Kamal
- Catherine Nyambura
- Amel Gorani
- Alobo Susan Toolit
- Adeng Leek
- Niat Amare
- Melanie Lindayen
- Patience Poni
- Lorna Mesina
- CARE international
- Union de l’action féministe
- Medica Liberia
- Association Nationale AL HIDN
- Global Learning for Sustainability
- AWLN CAMEROUN (African Women Leaders Network)
- Amal Chariot Foundation
- UAF
- Majda
- DAWN (Development Alternatives with Women for a New Era)
- UN Trust Fund to End Violence against Women
- New Millennium women Empowerment Organization
- International Women’s Rights Action Watch Asia Pacific
- Candlelight NGO
- Network for Women’s Rights in Ghana (NETRIGHT)
- Gender Lab
- FemInStyle Africa
- Rights and Responsibilities Initiatives Ghana
- National Women’s Lobby Group (NAWOLG)
- Developing Women for Skills and Opportunities Initiative
- Sisters Diary
- Societe civile
- Amélie Gontharet
- Advocates & Trainers for Children and Women’s Advancement and Rights
- AWLA DNV USA
- Disability Employment Rights Initiative
- Gender Centre and Human Rights Documentation Centre
- HYT
- AFEDECO (Action Feminine pour le Développement Communautaire)
- Juan José Guzmán
- Daniele Elizaire
- Women’s Refugee Commission
