Intergovernmental

• As the final Intergovernmental Negotiating Body (INB) meeting of the World Health Organization (WHO) Pandemic Agreement approaches, the AIDS Healthcare Foundation and the AHF Global Public Health Institute are voicing significant concerns about the April 16, 2024, Proposal for the WHO Pandemic Agreement .
• In addition to the GPMB and the IPPPR, the Panel for a Global Public Health Convention and Spark Street Advisors have also emphasized the critical need for independent monitoring.
• Empty handshakes in Geneva will not prevent another global health disaster, nor will it keep countries from trampling over each other when the next pandemic comes.
• To learn more about the AHF Global Public Health Institute, visit https://ahfinstitute.org/ .

The memorandum of understanding between Ethiopia and Somaliland announced on 1 January 2024 set off diplomatic rows in the Horn of Africa – and beyond. Details of the agreement are not publicly known, but both state leaders have touched on its content. Among the main elements:
Ethiopia gets a 50-year lease on a strip of land on Somaliland’s Red Sea coast for naval and commercial maritime use and access to the Berbera port.
Somaliland gets a share of Ethiopian Airlines. It also gets an undertaking that Ethiopia will investigate recognising Somaliland as a sovereign state. If it decides to do so, Ethiopia will be the first country to recognise Somaliland. The breakaway state has operated autonomously since it declared its independence from Somalia in May 1991, but lacks international recognition.

• It argues that the country’s historical status and its rapid economic growth entitle it to sovereign access to the sea.
• The diplomatic squabbles show re-configurations of political alliances in the Red Sea region and beyond.
• The memorandum of understanding has placed the question of Somaliland’s recognition into the centre of these political dynamics.

Opposition

• The president of the federal government of Somalia, Sheikh Hassan Mohamud, declared the memorandum a violation of Somalia’s sovereignty and territorial integrity.
• It does not even exert full territorial control across Somalia – Al-Shabaab controls territory in south and central Somalia.
• So far the United Arab Emirates, a close partner of Somaliland and Ethiopia, has been silent.
• Not surprising is the opposition of Djibouti and China.
• Eritrea and Ethiopia fell out again after Ethiopia struck peace with the Tigray People’s Liberation Front in November 2022.

The way forward

• The regional Intergovernmental Authority for Development, chaired by Djibouti, recently convened an extraordinary meeting to discuss tensions between Somalia and Ethiopia.
• It affirmed the territorial integrity of Somalia, but also called for de-escalation and dialogue.
• But Ethiopia’s president, who uses access to the sea to mobilise public support, has a lot to lose by offending these states.

This author is part of a research project on Port Infrastructure, International Politics, Everyday Life in the Horn of Africa (http://portinfrastructure.org) which received funding from Carnegie Corporation of New York. The statements made and views expressed in this article are solely the responsibility of the author.

• At this time, the draft text of the agreement does not contain independent monitoring provisions and other effective compliance-enhancing mechanisms.
• The pandemic agreement that is currently being negotiated by WHO member-states requires a robust accountability framework with independent monitoring to achieve its objectives.
• This idea was echoed in the GPMB report, which has supported the integration of monitoring into the pandemic agreement governance structure that will eventually be established.
• Do we need another pandemic to remind member states that we cannot continue with just another declaration full of general principles common in the pre-Covid19 pandemic era?” concluded Dr. Saavedra.

• BROMONT, QC, Oct. 13, 2023 /CNW/ - Today, federal, provincial and territorial (FPT) ministers of Justice and Public Safety concluded two days of productive discussions on justice and public safety priorities.
• Ministers acknowledged the urgency of the crisis and the need to mitigate harms while balancing public health and public safety priorities.
• Ministers discussed the contract policing assessment led by Public Safety Canada, in collaboration with the RCMP.
• Ministers were updated on the federal UNDA Action Plan measures related to Indigenous justice and public safety across Canada, including the development of the federal Indigenous Justice Strategy.