On Friday, the Secretary-General spoke by telephone with Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf, the former President of Liberia. She informed him of the contacts held between the Envoys of President Cyril Ramaphosa in his capacity as President of the African Union, namely Joaquim Chissano, former President of Mozambique and Kgalema Motlanthe, former President of South Africa, with the Ethiopian authorities, particularly with the Prime Minister of Ethiopia, Abiy Ahmed.

The Secretary-General expressed his grave concern over the consequences of the Ethiopian conflict to the civilian population and over the spread of hate speech and reports of ethnic profiling.

The Secretary-General expressed the UN’s full support for the African Union initiative led by President Ramaphosa.

New York, 28 November 2020