U.S. vows to continue working with Ethiopia to stabilize Somalia

Addis Ababa, March 30, 2016 (FBC) – State Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ethiopia, Ambassador Taye Atskeselassie, has held today discussions with the U.S. Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for African Affairs, Amanda Dory.

Ambassador Taye on the occasion briefed Dory on the recent developments in the region.

Amanda Dory on her part said the US will continue working with Ethiopia to stabilize Somalia.

In a related development, Ambassador Taye discussed with African Ambassadors based in Addis Ababa on the campaign of Dr. Tedros’ candidacy for the post of Director General of the World Health Organization.

Expressing his gratitude to the ambassadors for honoring the calls of the Ministry, Ambassador Taye noted that Dr. Tedros has been nominated by Ethiopia for the post of the next Director-General of the World Health Organization for an election that will be held in May 2017.

He added the African Union has endorsed the candidacy during the 26th ordinary session of the African Union Assembly of Heads of States and Government last January.

The State Minister said, “Even though the African Union fully endorsed him, there is still a long way to go to make his candidacy a reality.”

Accordingly, he called for the ambassadors’ full support and requested them to pass the message across to their respective governments.

The original letters attached with the abridged bio of Dr. Tedros Adhanom were also distributed to the ambassadors.

The ambassadors thanked the state minister for having them and stated it would be a great loss for Africans to lose such a wise and dedicated diplomat, adding that the proposed WHO headship should be seen as a huge step for Africa as a whole.

The ambassadors underlined as Dr. Tedros is the AU candidate, all African countries should unite and start campaigning for him outside of the continent.

The State minister thanked all the ambassadors for their continued support and hoped to see an African leading the WHO in the year 2017.