Addis Ababa, July 5, 2021 (Walta) – The Embassy of Ethiopia in Brussels has held a program dedicated to express gratitude for the relentless support extended by the community to national calls all year round.
Ambassador Hirut Zemene, on the occasion, paid tribute to the community’s engagement in mobilizing advocacy efforts for various national issues as well as raising funds including for the GERD project, the COVID 19 pandemic, humanitarian support to the needy community, and to the Gebeta le Hager eco-tourism projects.
Representatives of the three main community groups also spoke during the occasion. Abera Yemaneab chair of GERD Support Group in Belgium noted his team’s engagement to create understanding about the purpose and intent of the Dam, with a view to fighting misinformation and advocate for the advantages of this flagship project both to Ethiopia and the lower riparian countries, around Europe and particularly with the EU institutions.
Dr. Zerihun Abebe, chair of the advocacy group and also the soon to be formed Council of Ethiopian Diaspora Associations in Belgium, elaborated on concrete steps taken to advocate for Ethiopia’s effort to ascertain peace and security since the attack on the Ethiopian National Defense Force by the TPLF click, with the EU institutions and Belgium. He also noted progresses made to form the Ethiopian diaspora umbrella council.
Gaas Ahmed on his part, as a chair of the resource mobilizing committee, has talked about the various resource mobilization efforts made to reach out to displaced and vulnerable people due to the security situation in some parts of Ethiopia.
Various individual and group initiatives extended by the community to help their country were also celebrated.
A video dedicated to the community’s year-long effort was screened during the event.
The event was an opportune moment to rededicate the support of the Ethiopian community to the motherland especially during this critical time the country is in, according to MoFA.