Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether his Department has considered taking steps to help ensure that (a) Eritrean and (b) other non-Ethiopian federal forces honour the terms of the Ethiopia-Tigray Cessation of Hostilities Agreement, signed on 2 November 2022.

The full implementation of the 'Agreement for Lasting Peace through a Permanent Cessation of Hostilities' in Pretoria in November 2022 is key to peace and stability in Northern Ethiopia. The UK continues to be at the forefront of diplomatic and development efforts to sustain the agreement and encourage political dialogue. We regularly engage the parties to the agreement and the African Union guarantors to reiterate the importance of full implementation. We most recently issued a statement to this effect on 13 March alongside the US, EU, and 22 other countries. Furthermore, we are supporting the African Union Monitoring Verification and Compliance Mechanism.