Press Statement for Immediate Release

The Ethiopian Civil Society Organizations Council Calls for the Protection and Safety of Humanitarian Workers Providing Much Needed Services in Conflict Affected Areas

Addis Abeba – 14 August 2024 – The Ethiopian Civil Society Organizations Council (ECSOC) has received multiple reports from Civil Society organizations detailing a surge in attacks targeting humanitarian workers in the Amhara, Oromia and other regions. The violent incidents targeting aid workers range from killings, assault and kidnappings, to seizing of vehicles, pillages of warehouses and stores. These incidents have all together severely disrupted relief services and humanitarian activities. While episodes like these have in the past been discernable in many conflict affected pockets and regions of the country, such incidents have most recently been conspicuous in the Amhara Region.

It is worth noting that the Council had previously expressed concerns about the violence targeting aid workers and urged for it to stop. The Council continues to vehemently condemn the abhorrent acts of targeting aid workers, their vehicles, and operational warehouses. These despicable actions are a flagrant violation of International Humanitarian Law (IHL), which unequivocally states that aid workers risking their lives to provide life-saving assistance, even in the most perilous environments, must be protected and never subjected to such unacceptable targeting.

The Council demands that all involved to immediately cease these unconscionable attacks. It calls upon community elders, religious leaders, local governments, armed groups, and community-based organizations in these areas to categorically denounce these heinous acts and fulfill their moral obligation to safeguard the safety and security of humanitarian personnel serving the most vulnerable populations. Their selfless efforts to alleviate suffering must be respected and protected. There can be no justification for impeding this critical humanitarian work.

The Council also urges humanitarian workers and organizations to persevere in their critical lifesaving work, particularly for women, children, and marginalized groups, despite the immense challenges posed by the current environment.
The Ethiopian Civil Society Organizations Council stands in solidarity with all those who have been affected by the acts of violence and acknowledge the bravery and selflessness of humanitarian workers who continue to risk their lives on a daily basis to provide aid and support to communities in need.

About the Ethiopian Civil Society Organizations Council (ECSOC)
The Ethiopian Civil Society Organizations Council (ECSOC) is an independent apex body of CSOs established as per Article 85 of the Civil Society Organizations Proclamation No. 1113/2019. The Council is mandated to represent, coordinate and ensure self-regulation within the CSO sector as well as advise the Authority of Civil Society Organizations (ACSO) on CSOs’ registration & administration.

መግለጫ

የኢትዮጵያ ሲቪል ማህበረሰብ ድርጅቶች ምክር ቤት ግጭት በተከሰተባቸው አካባቢዎች አገልግሎት በመስጠት ላይ ያሉ የሰብዓዊ ድጋፍ ሠራተኞች ደህንነት እንዲጠበቅ ጠየቀ

አዲስ አበባ - ነሐሴ 8 ቀን 2016 ዓ.ም. - የኢትዮጵያ ሲቪል ማህበረሰብ ድርጅቶች ምክር ቤት በአማራ፣ ኦሮሚያ እና ሌሎች ክልሎች በሰብአዊ እርዳታ ሰራተኞች ላይ ያነጣጠረ ጥቃት መበራከቱን ከተለያዩ የሲቪል ማህበረሰብ ድርጅቶች ሪፖርቶች ደርሰውታል። ከነዚህም ውስጥ የሰብዓዊ ድጋፍ ሠራተኞች ላይ የደረሱ የግድያ እና አፈና ጥቃቶች፣ ተሸከርካሪዎችን መንጠቅ፣ እንዲሁም በመጋዘን የሚገኙ የዕርዳታ አቅርቦቶች ላይ የተከሰቱ ዝርፊያዎች ይገኙበታል። እነዚህ ክስተቶች ተደማምረው የእርዳታ አገልግሎቶችን እና ሰብአዊ እንቅስቃሴዎችን እያደናቀፉ ይገኛሉ። እንደነዚህ ያሉት ክስተቶች ባለፉት ጊዜያት በተለያዩ የሀገሪቱ ክፍሎች በተከሰቱ ግጭቶች ውስጥ ሲስተዋሉ የነበሩ ቢሆንም ከቅርብ ጊዜ ወዲህ ግን በአማራ ክልል ውስጥ ጎልተው እየታዩ ነው።

ምክር ቤቱ ከዚህ ቀደም የረድኤት ድርጅቶች እና ሰራተኞቻቸው ላይ ያነጣጠሩ ጥቃቶች እንዳሳሰቡት ገልጾ መሰል ድርጊቶች ዳግም እንዳይከሰቱ መጠየቁ ይታወሳል። ይሁን እንጂ እነዚህ ድርጊቶች እየተባባሱ በመምጣት በረድኤት ሰራተኞች፣ ተሽከርካሪዎቻቸው እንዲሁም በመጋዘኖቻቸው በሚገኙ የዕርዳታ ቁሳቁሶች ላይ በተደጋጋሚ እየደረሱ ያሉ ጥቃቶችን ምክር ቤቱ በጥብቅ ያወግዛል። እንደሚታወቀው የአለም አቀፍ የሰብአዊነት ህግ የእርዳታ ሰራተኞች ስራቸውን ለአደጋ ተጋላጭና አስቸጋሪ በሆኑ አካባቢዎች በሚያከናውኑበት ወቅት ጥበቃ ሊደረግላቸው እንደሚገባ እና በማንኛውም ሁኔታ የጥቃት ኢላማ እንዳይሆኑ በግልጽ ይደነግጋል።

ምክር ቤቱ መሰል ጥቃቶችን የሚፈጽሙ አካላት በአስቸኳይ ከድርጊታቸው እንዲቆጠቡ በአጽንዖት በማሳሰብ በእነዚህ አካባቢዎች ያሉ የሀገር ሽማግሌዎች፣ የሃይማኖት መሪዎች፣ የአካባቢው የመንግስት አደረጃጀቶች፣ ታጥቀው የሚንቀሳቀሱ ሃይሎች እና ማህበረሰብ አቀፍ ድርጅቶች፤ የሰብአዊ እርዳታ ሰራተኞች ደህንነት እንዲረጋገጥ የበኩላቸውን ድርሻ እንዲወጡ ጥሪውን ያቀርባል።
የሰብአዊ እርዳታ ሰራተኞች እና ድርጅቶችም ስራችሁን በማከናወን ሂደት ከፍተኛ ተግዳሮቶች ቢያጋጥሟችሁም ይህንን በመቋቋም ሴቶችን፣ ህጻናትን፣ አቅመ ደካማ ወገኖች እና ተጋላጭ የሆኑ የህብረተሰብ ክፍሎችን ለመታደግ የምታደርጉትን ጥረት ምክር ቤቱ እያደነቀ ከፍተኛ የሆነ ምስጋና በማቅረብ በስራችሁ ሂደት ሁሉ ከጎናችሁ እንደሚቆም በዚሁ አጋጣሚ ለመግለጽ ይወዳል።
ስለ የኢትዮጵያ ሲቪል ማህበረሰብ ድርጅቶች ምክር ቤት
የኢትዮጵያ ሲቪል ማህበረሰብ ድርጅቶች ምክር ቤት በአዋጅ ቁጥር 1113/2011 በአንቀጽ 85 መሰረት የተቋቋመ ገለልተኛ ተቋም ሲሆን የሲቪል ማህበረሰብ ዘርፉን በመወከል እና በማስተባበር በኢትዮጵያ ውስጥ እንዲንቀሳቀስ በአዋጁ ኃላፊነት ተሰጥቶታል። ምክር ቤቱ የሲቪል ማህበረሰብ ድርጅቶች ባለስልጣንን በሲቪል ማህበረሰብ ድርጅቶች ምዝገባ እና አስተዳደር ጉዳዮች ላይ ያማክራል።

የኢትዮጵያ ሲቪል ማህበረሰብ ድርጅቶች ምክር ቤት ከአባሉ አዲስ ብርሃን በጎ አድራጎት ማህበር የምስጋና ወረቀት ስለተበረከተለት ምስጋናውን ይገልጻል።

ምክር ቤቱ ማኅበሩን እና ለአገሪቱ በጎ አስተዋጾ እያደረጉ ለሚገኙት ሁሉም የሲቪል ማህበራት በዚህ አጋጣሚ ምስጋናውን ያቀርባል።

ለወቅታዊ መረጃዎች ድህረ ገጻችንን ይጎብኙ
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The Ethiopian Civil Society Organizations Council is honored to receive a certificate of appreciation from its member, the Addis Birhan Charity Association.

ECSOC would like to thank the Association and all CSOs who continue to contribute positively to the country.
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#HappeningNow
A validation workshop of ECSOC’s Membership Engagement Strategy and Communication Strategy is taking place here in Addis Abeba. Some 30 CSO representatives are attending the validation workshop which is hosted through the support of the David and Lucile Packard Foundation. Participants at the workshop are expected to provide their input on broadening the Council’s membership base and coordination, enhancing corporate profile & visibility, and optimizing digital medium potential among others that are extensively covered in the two strategic plan documents.

እንኳን ለአለም አቀፍ የሴቶች ቀን እደረሳችሁ!!

ይህ ክብረ በዓል በዓለማችን ላይ ለውጥን እያመጡ የሚገኙ እንዲሁም በያንዳንዳችን ሀይወት ውስጥ ያሉ ሴቶችን የምንዘክርበት ነው።

የኢትዮጵያ ሲቪል ማህበረሰብ ድርጅቶች ምክር ቤት በሁሉም ቦታ ለሚገኙ ጠንካራ፣ ለውጥ አራማጅ፣ ክቡር ሴቶች ጎን በመቆሙ ከፍተኛ ኩራት ይሰማዋል!

መልካም የአለም አቀፍ የሴቶች ቀን!

Happy #internationalwomensday2024 from all of us at ECSOC!

Celebrating the women who are making a difference in our world and in each of our lives.

The Ethiopian Civil Society Organizations Council is proud to stand by strong, inspiring, honorable women everywhere!

Invest in Women: Accelerate Progress