Advocacy for Ethiopia (AFE) and Ethiopian National Priorities Consultative Process (ENPCP) are pleased to announce the convening of a historic three-day conference on good governance, peace, security, and sustainable development in Washington, D.C, and April 9-11, 2010, at the Double Tree Hotel, Crystal City, VA.

The purpose of this conference is to bring together scholars, civil society leaders, activists, diplomats, journalists of the free press and representatives of the international community to one forum to highlight potential tragic conflicts that have escaped the minds of many in the past. The conference will focus on how to put Ethiopia, the most populated country in the Horn, on a path towards rapid, equitable, democratic and sustainable growth and development. Creating the foundation for pluralist democracy and rapid and equitable development, in which everyone will benefit, will pave the way for regional peace, stability, economic cooperation, security and shared prosperity.

Her Excellency Ms. Anna Gomez, member of the European Parliament who had headed its election monitoring team to the 2005 Ethiopian parliamentary elections and had exposed electoral fraud, irregularities and crimes against innocent civilians and opponents, will be our key-note speaker at the plenary session on Saturday, April 10, 2010. Ms. Gomez has continued to champion civil liberties, human rights and democratization in Ethiopia. High ranking dignitaries from the U S Government and Congress, including the US State Department, human rights organizations, think tank/policy and advocacy NGOs are expected to speak as keynote speakers and distinguished speakers at plenary sessions on Friday, April 9 and Saturday, April 10.

Many imminent scholars, professionals, researchers, academics, human rights activits, members of the free press, civil society leaders and past Ethiopian Government officials, coming from various States in the US, Europe, Canada, Ethiopia, and the countries of the Horn, will present researched, scholarly and policy-oriented papers on themes relevant to the conference. In order to cover as many topics as possible, the organizers have scheduled concurrent sessions. Themes and topics will include, but will not be limited to: the 2010 national elections, pre and post election scenarios, meaning and application of good governance, human rights, freedom of the press, politics beyond ethnicity and ethnic-polarization, the role of civil society organizations, independent judiciary, election board, policy and security, the political economy of poverty, aid, debt and dependency, foreign direct investment (FDI) and regulations, farmland leases and sales to foreign investors and the role of FDI in achieving food security, economic monopolies and the domestic private sector, economic productivity, regional economic integration, peace and security in the Horn Africa, the threat posed by terrorism, environmental degradation, and climate change in the region.

At the end of the conference, on Sunday, April 11, a public meeting will be held at which distinguished personalities will address the participants and the community at large. Speakers and presenters are committed in crafting and disseminating a roadmap for rapid, equitable and sustainable development and democratization of Ethiopia. The conference intends to hold a special program to honor those who have made notable sacrifices in the struggle for freedom, political pluralism and shared prosperity.

This conference is sponsored by a number of civil society networks and advocacy organizations. This is the first time that Ethiopians in the Diaspora have gone beyond political advocacy for a single political group or ideology and focused solely on a common purpose whose objective is to serve the needs, hopes and aspirations of all of the Ethiopian people. The Conference is co-sponsored by Africa Action and TransAfirca Forum, two of the oldest Africa advocacy organizations in the US.

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