President Viola Amherd and Ethiopia’s President Sahle-Work Zewde open the International Cooperation Forum
Bern, 11.04.2024 - President Viola Amherd and Ethiopia’s President Sahle-Work Zewde opened the third International Cooperation Forum (IC Forum) on Thursday, 11 April, in Basel. At a bilateral meeting, they discussed the extensive relations between Switzerland and Ethiopia as well as security issues in Europe and Africa. The IC Forum, which is organised by the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC), is taking place this year under the motto ‘What is peace?’ and is dedicated to building peace.
During their meeting, the Ethiopian president and the president of the Swiss Confederation commended the development of bilateral relations between their countries. President Amherd emphasised the growing influence of the African countries in global politics and the opportunities for economic exchange. She referred to Switzerland's first Sub-Saharan Africa Strategy, which highlights Ethiopia's key role in the development of East Africa and the region's economic potential. Switzerland's commitment to the region was also discussed. The SDC is present in Ethiopia as part of the cooperation programme for the Horn of Africa. One of the aims of the programme is to create more stable livelihoods for the population in the arid south-east regions of the country.
Cooperation with the African Union (AU), whose headquarters are located in the Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa, is also important from a Swiss perspective. In particular, Switzerland supports the instruments of the African Peace and Security Architecture, which is co-sponsored by the AU. During the talks, President Amherd also emphasised Switzerland's commitment to the multilateral system at global level within the framework of the UN.
Another key topic was the situation in Ethiopia after implementation of the 2022 Pretoria Agreement, ending the two-year civil war in the Tigray region. Security issues in East Africa, in particular the civil war in Sudan, were also discussed. A further focus of the talks was the security situation in Europe and the Russian war against Ukraine. President Amherd explained the objectives of the planned conference on peace in Ukraine and stressed that a large part of the international community would need to be involved in order to develop a common understanding for a successful peace process.
2024 IC Forum: Peace support at the heart of the discussions
In her speech at the opening of the IC Forum, President Amherd spoke about Switzerland's commitment to peace policy within the UN and to civilian and military peace support. She emphasised that Switzerland is committed to a peaceful and just international order at all levels: “To achieve this, peace support instruments must work together and all sectors must be involved. We must work step by step to improve the situation, even if we are unfortunately a long way from a peaceful world at present. We must strive for improvements, however small.ˮ
The IC Forum in Basel lasts until Friday. Over 900 participants from politics, civil society and the public and private sectors will be exchanging views on current challenges and prospects in international cooperation, with 800 more taking part online.
Address for enquiries
DDPS Communications
+41 58 464 50 58
kommunikation@gs-vbs.admin.ch
Documents
Publisher
Federal Department of Defence, Civil Protection and Sports
http://www.vbs.admin.ch
