The Secretary-General welcomes the signing of the Agreement for Lasting Peace through a Permanent Cessation of Hostilities between the Government of the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia and the Tigray People’s Liberation Front. The Agreement is a critical first step towards ending the devastating two-year old conflict in which the lives and livelihoods of so many Ethiopians have been lost. The Secretary General urges all Ethiopians and the international community to support the bold step taken today by the Federal Government of Ethiopia and the Tigrayan leadership.

The Secretary-General pledges his support to the parties in the implementation of the provisions of the agreement and urges them to continue with negotiations on the outstanding issues in a spirit of reconciliation in order to reach a lasting political settlement, silence the guns and put the country back on the path to peace and stability. The Secretary-General appeals to all stakeholders to seize the opportunity that the cessation of hostilities provides to scale up humanitarian assistance to all civilians in need and to restore the desperately needed public services.

The Secretary-General commends the African Union and its High-Level Panel for the facilitation of the peace talks and the Republic of South Africa for hosting the peace talks. The United Nations stands ready to assist the next steps of the African Union-led process and will continue to mobilize much-needed assistance to alleviate suffering in the affected areas.