With a peace deal signed on November 2nd in South Africa, the Ethiopian Government and the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) have agreed to end the blockade on Tigray imposed at the beginning of the civil war two years ago.
Both parties, the Ethiopian government and the TPLF, agreed to “orderly, smooth, and coordinated disarmament” and “restoration of law and order,” according to the lead mediator of the talks and former Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo.
The African Union (AU) reportedly hailed the disarmament plan, which the parties have officially signed, and the peace agreement as a “new dawn.”
The United Nations Secretary General, Antonio Guterres, has urged the involved parties “to continue with negotiations on the outstanding issues in a spirit of reconciliation in order to reach a lasting political settlement, silence the guns, and put the country back on the path of peace and stability.” (UN News)
Secretary-General @antonioguterres welcomes the signing of the Agreement for Lasting Peace through a Permanent Cessation of Hostilities between the Government of the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia and the Tigray People’s Liberation Front: https://t.co/RAykrCQax8
— UN Spokesperson (@UN_Spokesperson) November 2, 2022
He further appealed to stakeholders “to scale up humanitarian assistance to all civilians in need and to restore desperately needed public services.”
The Escalation
War broke out in November 2020 when Ethiopian federal troops and their Eritrean allies captured major towns in Tigray. The situation escalated, claimed thousands of lives, left millions displaced, and left hundreds of thousands on the verge of famine.
In this agreement, both parties “agree and recognize” that the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia has “only one defense force” and both sides have thirty days for disarmament, as Aljazeera reported.
Inclusive Practices
After ten days of negotiations, the TPLF agreed to “cease all attempts at bringing about an unconstitutional change in the government” and respect the constitutional authority of the federal government.
Meanwhile, the Ethiopian government pledged to stop the military operation, lift the terrorist designation on TPLF fighters, restore essential services in the region, and most importantly, promise to ensure and improve the representation of the Tigray region in the federal structure.
In addition to this, the agreement also deals with the issue of protecting civilians and the millions of people who have been displaced because of violence in Tigray.
It stipulated an end to all atrocities, including sexual and gender-based violence, violence against women and the elderly, and the recruitment of child soldiers, as various reports indicated.