By: Sintayehu Tamrat
UK is working to build stronger and enduring ties with Ethiopia through youth engagement, says the United Kingdom Ambassador to Ethiopia, Darren Welch.
The British Embassy in Ethiopia is undertaking to various projects targeting shaping the youth to become leaders and ambassadors of the future.
The United Kingdom and Ethiopia have a long history of bilateral relations, encompassing a range of cooperation areas. Investing in human capital is one of the areas the UK government has been engaged in.
The UK Ambassador to Ethiopia, Darren Welch exclusively told EBC World that the UK is working to build stronger and enduring ties with Ethiopia through youth engagement.
“We've got a very long friendship and partnership with Ethiopia over many many years. This is an opportunity for us to reach out to young people. Because we see this is an enduring partnership that will go on for many more years to come and get only stronger.”
Ambassador Darren also said the Embassy is investing in women and girls as vital segments of Ethiopia.
“It's part of our work to raise the profile of gender equality and the need to invest in women and girls as an important part of the future of this country and in deed our own country.”
Demonstrating one of the girls empowerment projects, the embassy selected girls from across Ethiopian high schools through competitions and allowed them to spend a day to share diplomats’ experience in the UK embassy in Addis Ababa.
Meron Fekadu is the first of the three girls who took capacity building and language trainings and won the competition of this year to shadow the Ambassador. She spent a day with Ambassador Darren taking part in various engagements and hailed the rare opportunity.
Competitors with high achievements took certificates from the Ambassador at a ceremony held at the British Embassy in Addis Ababa.