This archive report was first published on 27 August 2021.
African Intellectuals Urge Action to End Ethiopia's Civil War ¶
Published on August 27, 2021
A group of African intellectuals has issued an open call for urgent action to end the civil war in Ethiopia, which has been ravaging the country for years. The intellectuals, who are experts in various fields, including philosophy, history, and social sciences, have expressed deep concern over the deteriorating situation in Ethiopia and the lack of effective engagement from the African Union (AU) and other international organizations.
The civil war in Ethiopia has resulted in the deaths of thousands of people, displacement of millions, and widespread destruction of infrastructure, including institutions of higher learning, houses of worship, and cultural heritage. The intellectuals have condemned the conflict, which they say is affecting ever-increasing numbers of civilians, including women and children.
The group has called on the Ethiopian government and the national regional government of Tigray to respond positively to repeated calls for political dialogue, including with affected and implicated groups in the Amhara and Oromia regions. They have also urged neighboring countries to exercise maximum pressure on the Ethiopian government and the national regional government of Tigray to submit to external mediation of the conflict under the framework of the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD) and the AU.
The intellectuals have also called on the IGAD and the AU to proactively take up their mandates with respect to providing mediation for the protagonists to the conflict, including providing all possible political support to the soon-to-be-announced AU Special Envoy for the Horn. They have also urged the rest of the international community to continue to support such IGAD and AU action with the carrots and sticks needed to get the protagonists and all other stakeholders to the table and determine a political solution leading to more broad-based national dialogue on the future of the Ethiopian state.
The group has also emphasized the need for a political solution to the conflict, rather than a military one, and has called on all Ethiopian leaders and civic groups to demonstrate the magnanimity and vision needed to reconstruct a country that has suffered far too long already.
Signatories to the open call include prominent African intellectuals, including Souleymane Bachir Diagne, Mamadou Diouf, and Achille Mbembe, among others.
