Ethiopian Human Rights Commission Gets Vehicle Support from USAID
ADDIS ABABA – The Ethiopian Human Rights Commission (EHRC) has received eight vehicles from the US Agency for International Development (USAID).
Ambassador Tracey Ann Jacobson, Chargé d’Affaires of the US Embassy, handed over the vehicles to Deputy Chief Commissioner Rakeb Messele on Monday.
The vehicles will allow the EHRC’s independent investigators to travel to hard-to-reach areas of Ethiopia to investigate, document, and report allegations of human rights violations and abuses, says the US Embassy in Addis Ababa.
The vehicles were requested by the EHRC, “which has faced incredible difficulty hiring short-term cars and drivers willing to travel to regions recently impacted by conflict,” the US embassy in Addis Ababa said.
At the handover event, Ambassador Jacobson claimed “promoting accountability for human rights abuses remains one of the U.S. government’s top priorities in Ethiopia.”
“Human rights accountability must be a cornerstone of any inclusive political process to heal Ethiopia’s divisions and to provide peace and security for all Ethiopians,” she added.
The U.S. government has been working with the EHRC since 2020 as the Commission.
Featured Image Caption: Ambassador Tracey Ann Jacobson, Chargé d’Affaires of the U.S. Embassy in Addis Ababa, and USAID/Ethiopia Mission Director Sean Jones with Ethiopian Human Rights Commission (EHRC) Deputy Chief Commissioner Rakeb Messele, Addis Ababa, September 12, 2022
