Ethiopian embassy in Uganda marks Africa Day 2022 with celebrations

The Ethiopian Embassy in Uganda, on Friday marked Africa Day 2022 with celebrations at the ambassadorial residence.

Africa Day is observed annually on May 25 to commemorate the founding of the Organisation of African Unity (OAU) created on May 25, 1963.

This year's Africa Day, was celebrated under the theme “The importance of addressing malnutrition and food insecurity.”

The celebration was hosted by the Ethiopian Ambassador to Uganda, Alemtsehay Meseret and officiated by the guest of honour, John Mulimba, the Minister of State for Foreign Affairs of Uganda in charge of Regional Cooperation.

In the welcoming remark, Ambassador Meseret touched upon various matters ranging from the historical paths of the then OAU and its successor African Union, the state of Affairs of Africa in general, and Ethiopia in particular.

“History reveals that Ethiopia stood tall by reconciling the then two ideological blocks and contributed immensely for the formation of OAU in the leadership of Emperor Haile Selassie who was the First chairman of the organisation,” the ambassador said.

Meseret further noted that Ethiopia other than being a seat for the Organization, extended meaningful supports to the young revolutionaries and freedom fighters like Nelson Mandela and Oliver Reginald Tambo in the fight against Apartheid and liberation movement in the continent.

The ambassador applauded that the founding fathers of the organization were determined to sort out their ideological differences and chart common objectives to eradicate all forms of colonialism from Africa and promote the unity and solidarity of the African States.

The ambassador lauded Uganda for propagating and promoting Pan-African ideals and for its commitment in enhancing the African Union as well as for sharing common positions in regional and multilateral forums and reaffirmed Ethiopia’s commitment to African causes, which she said remain constant.

In his remarks, Minister Mulimba pointed out that this year’s celebration theme resonates well with the development challenges being witnessed on the continent, including increasing food insecurity and malnutrition.

“These challenges have been amplified by the inter-state, inter-community conflicts, effects of climate change and recently the outbreak of Covid-19 pandemic as well as the conflict in Ukraine.” Mulimba said.

He stressed that these challenges continue to weaken the production capacities of various economic agents in the food value chain hence causing food insecurity.

The minister, however, welcomed the efforts by African Union in addressing malnutrition and food insecurity challenges in Africa through building resilience in food and nutrition security, strengthening the agro-food system, the initiative on the Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Program (CAADP) under Agenda 2063 & promoting AfCFTA, making Africa the largest common market in the world.

He reiterated Uganda’s commitment to continue working with African Union and other regional bodies, member states and development partners to promote regional integration at insuring food security on the continent.

The event was attended by former Prime Minister of Uganda and special envoy to the Great Lakes region, Amama Mbabazi and different diplomatic corps. It also contained tasting of diverse Ethiopian cuisines, the Ethiopian coffee ceremony and a raffle of free air-tickets sponsored by Ethiopian Airlines