We commend the government of Ethiopia and its Prime Minister Ahmed Abiy
for the initiation of this peace process. We are impressed by the Prime Minister’s
commitment to this process which was not dampened by the bomb blast some
days ago at a rally he attended in Addis Ababa. We equally salute the Eritrean
government for accepting to honour the invitation and to commit to effectively
engaging in the peace talk process.

African workers consider this historic talk as a major step to ending one of
Africa’s longest border conflicts. We are convinced that this initiative when
effectively and successfully completed will also contribute to reducing the
unstable and volatile situation in the Horn of Africa in particular and Africa in
general. This is so because the benefits of peace and stability that include safety
and security of people, their communities and properties, and revival of
commercial and economic activities will scale up and impact positively on the
two economies and the region as a whole.

We urge the governments of Ethiopia and Eritrea to genuinely commit to this
peace talk process and to guard against making it an endless process. In essence,
we hope that the talk process will deliberate and agree on a timeline; and adopt a robust communication process so that the citizens of the two countries and
allies to the peace process can be well informed of the development of the talks.
ITUC-Africa will continue to monitor this historic process and we express our
best wishes for the success of this important development.

Kwasi Adu-Amankwah
General Secretary ITUC-Africa