Ciarán Cannon (Galway East, Fine Gael)
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The Horn of Africa is currently experiencing a period of tremendous political change and transition.

Since his appointment in April last year, the Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed has pursued an ambitious programme of political, economic and social reform, on which he briefed the Taoiseach when they met in Addis Ababa in January. However, the Ethiopian reform process is complicated by a backdrop of ethnic conflict and high levels of internal displacement. More positively, Prime Minister Abiy led the process leading to an historic rapprochement between Ethiopia and Eritrea in July 2018, after decades of conflict.

In South Sudan, President Salva Kiir signed a new peace agreement with a number of opposition groups in September 2018.

Widespread protests erupted in Sudan in December, initially against the worsening economic situation but which have since developed into calls for President Omar al-Bashir’s resignation.

Al Shabaab have claimed responsibility for a recent terrorist attack in Nairobi in which 21 people were killed.

There have been a number of worrying developments in Somalia, including attacks on the UN Compound in Mogadishu and expulsion of the UN Special Representative of the Secretary General for Somalia in January.

The region is also affected by the challenges of irregular migration, forced displacement, trafficking in human beings, and smuggling of people. Taken together, the political trajectory of the region when combined with climatic shocks, severe drought, and conflict, has escalated the scale of the humanitarian crisis in the region, with more than 24 million people in need of humanitarian assistance.

Ireland, together with its UN and EU partners, is strongly committed to and actively engaged in the Horn of Africa, through our political, development and humanitarian efforts. The EU engages in the region through political dialogue, its Common Security and Defence Policy (CSDP) missions (EU NAVFOR Operation Atalanta, EUCAP Somalia, and EUTM Somalia), and development and humanitarian cooperation. The former Director of the Irish Coast Guard will deploy to Mogadishu to take up the position of Deputy Head of Mission at EUCAP Somalia at the end of this month. Ireland, through the EU, also supports the efforts of the UN peacekeeping mission AMISOM to stabilise Somalia. Through regional and bilateral programmes and the Trust Fund for Africa, the EU is providing over €3 billion to the Horn of Africa (2014-2020). Ireland has pledged €15 million to the Trust Fund for Africa.

Ireland supports regional efforts in the Horn of Africa to achieve stability, normalise relations and increase regional cooperation, including through regional organisations such as the African Union and the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD). During his visit to Ethiopia in January 2019, the Taoiseach met with the acting Chairperson of the African Union, to discuss regional issues. During his visit to Ethiopia and Kenya in November 2017, the Tánaiste met representatives of IGAD and the African Union, and Ireland has since provided funding to IGAD to support negotiation, monitoring and evaluation of the South Sudan peace agreement and is planning to further increase engagement with the African Union in 2019. In addition, two Departmental officials are seconded to the EU mission in South Sudan.

The EU has a Special Representative to the Horn of Africa, Alex Rondos, whose mandate is to contribute to regional and international efforts to achieve lasting peace, security and development in the region. The Tánaiste discussed EU efforts in the region with EUSR Rondos when he visited Dublin in November 2018.

In response to the multiple humanitarian crises in the region, Ireland has provided €164 million in direct humanitarian assistance to the Horn of Africa since 2012. Over €30 million in Irish funding was provided in 2018, including to UN agencies and Irish NGOs to assist them in reaching the most vulnerable. With humanitarian needs likely to remain acute throughout 2019, Ireland remains committed to providing humanitarian assistance where it is needed most in the Horn of Africa, working with partners who can ensure that such assistance is delivered in a coordinated and effective manner.