ADDIS ABABA: Ethiopia has announced it will fully accept the terms of a peace agreement with neighboring Eritrea in a major step toward calming deadly tensions with its decades-long rival.
The development Tuesday night came as the ruling party also announced that the East African nation, one of Africa’s fastest-growing economies, will open up parts of state-owned enterprises in sectors such as energy, aviation and telecoms to private investment.
The news came just hours after Ethiopia lifted a state of emergency in what had been the most dramatic reform yet under new Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed, who has promised change after more than two years of deadly anti-government protests demanding greater freedoms in Africa’s second most populous country.
But it is the prospect of peace with reclusive Eritrea that has come as the latest, and largest, surprise.
The agreement signed in 2000 ended a two-year border war that claimed the lives of tens of thousands of people, but a no-peace-no-war situation continued, with the two countries skirmishing from time to time. Ethiopia had refused to accept the deal’s handing of key locations, including Badme, to Eritrea and continues to control that town.
Ethiopia’s ruling party now accepts that agreement without conditions and calls on Eritrea’s government to do the same, the state-affiliated Fana Broadcasting Corporate reported.
“The suffering on both sides is unspeakable because the peace process is deadlocked. This must change for the sake of our common good,” the chief of staff for the prime minister’s office, Fitsum Arega, said on Twitter.
Eritrean officials in Ethiopia’s capital, Addis Ababa, could not immediately be reached for comment and Eritrea’s information ministry had posted nothing on the development.
Tiny Eritrea is one of the world’s most reclusive nations, ruled since 1993 by President Isaias Afwerki.
When the 42-year-old Abiy was installed as Ethiopia’s prime minister in April his inaugural speech mentioned the need for reconciliation with bitter rival Eritrea, raising hopes of peace.
“We are fully committed to reconcile with our Eritrean brothers and sisters and extend an invitation to the Eritrean government to start dialogue and establish rapport,” he said in his address to Parliament.
Ethiopia accepts peace deal with longtime rival Eritrea
Ethiopia accepts peace deal with longtime rival Eritrea
India rolls out free HPV vaccines to combat cervical cancer
- Nationwide HPV vaccination campaign targets 11.5 million 14-year-old girls annually
- India records about 80,000 cervical cancer deaths, 120,000 new cases every year
NEW DELHI: Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched a free HPV vaccination drive on Saturday for young girls across India, which has the world’s highest rate of cervical cancer deaths.
India records around 120,000 new cases of cervical cancer annually and around 80,000 deaths. It is the second-most-common cancer among women in the country.
India has the highest number of cervical cancer deaths, followed by China and Indonesia. The number of cases in India is the second highest globally, after China.
With cervical cancer largely preventable through HPV vaccination and regular screening, the new campaign aims to vaccinate around 11.5 million 14-year-old Indian girls annually.
“The prime minister launched the nationwide HPV vaccination campaign … describing it as a pivotal step toward empowering India’s ‘Nari Shakti’ (women power) and ensuring the health of mothers and daughters,” Modi’s office said in a statement.
Under the campaign, a dose of HPV vaccine will be provided free of cost at all government health centers across the country for all 14-year-old girls, said Anupriya Satel, minister of state for health and family welfare.
“This initiative is a historic step towards protecting our adolescent girls from serious diseases like cervical cancer,” she wrote on X.
The launch event, which took place in the northern city of Ajmer, also saw a few young girls receiving the HPV vaccine on stage.
The vaccination is a “powerful preventive step that can save lives,” according to a statement from India’s Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, which also said that HPV vaccinations can help families “secure a healthier, cancer-free future for India’s daughters.”
