Peace is a precondition for a prosperous future.

In Ethiopia during the last two years there is a sign of change. The release of political prisoners in the country, and even in negotiation with other countries getting Ethiopians released from prisons of other countries, creating a good contact with the diaspora Ethiopians are good signs for changing course. Equally important is the reuniting of the divided orthodox church and giving equal treatment to Christians and Muslims of the country.

The diplomatic effort by prime minister Abiy Ahmed´s government to convince the political parties and different armed groups outside the country to return home and struggle in a peaceful means is a vital step towards democratic development and sustainable peace. As one aspect of this, the agreement to resolve the long-lasted boarder conflict with Eritrea is also a huge achievement for the new Ethiopian government. This peace effort with Eritrea, and the attempt to create a peaceful coexistence between neighbouring countries and the help to create an agreement between the factions in the Sudan conflict led to prime minister Abiy Ahmed to receiving the Nobel Peace Prize of 2019.

While there are a lot of positive developments that need a long list to count here, there are also some negative developments and disgraceful acts that cannot skip our attention. The attempt to murder the pro-change prime minister Dr. Abiy Ahmed, the murder of the progressive Amhara region leaders and the burning down of churches and mosques are some of them.  

Equally disgraceful are ethnic conflicts that are showing their ugly face by neighbours killing each other, mob actions against those considered “enemies” and recently even university students killing fellow students from another ethnic group than their own. It is truly sad that people in the 21st century are trying to resolve their problems by killing each other. From what I understand Ethiopia´s problems are myriad and a deep analysis is needed to understand the root causes and systematic efforts to resolve them are required. But what all parties involved in a conflict need to understand is that hatred and killing each other will never solve the problems of the country. Listening to each other, respect for each other´s ideas and dealing with differences through dialogue instead of aggressive physical attacks against adversaries. Peace is a precondition to build a democratic and prosperous society in a country.