thank you about now. ok. all right, i want to thank the chair and the ranking member for holding this hearing, but also for joining me and ranking member smith in leading house resolution for 45 that condemns all violence and human rights abuses, calls for unfettered humanitarian access to hold people accountable for human rights violations and calls on e p o, p, to pursue a political solution to convene a credible and country wide process of national dialogue and reconciliation, inclusive of all non violent parties, ethnic communities, religious groups and civil society in ethiopia, to work toward a sustainable resolution of grievances and chart, a democratic and peaceful path forward for the country. yesterday,

the government of b. o. p, i declare to unilateral human humanitarian cease fire, for the conflict and to gray, every effort must be made to make the sci fi meaningful, including discussions with all parties to the conflict. i look forward to hearing from our witnesses today about what humanitarian efforts the united states has taken, and also recommendations on how we can work toward a peaceful resolution. thank you mister chair. thank you, chair bath, not recognize ranking member smith for thank you very much. was chairman, you know, as prime minister avi came in the office, i sponsored a bipartisan resolution joined by my good friend and colleague, karen bass. that passed the house that had a prescriptive list of what all of us collectively thought should be done to democratize into free political prisoners. we traveled over as he was doing all of that. that was then, this is now, now we have a situation that is a horrific humanitarian crisis as sarah will point out. in a few moments,

sarah charles, 24000000 ethiopians will likely require managerial assistance with 13000000 needing emergency food assistance. while ti gray is at present, the understandable focus, we all have to be concerned about the rest of the, the o, b m, which could deteriorate very quickly. and i would also say to my colleagues, you know, we know that the aroma and hara cory somali of 40 and others are all at risk. and again, i want to thank our friends who are testifying today for the good work you're doing . the bring attention to it and to try to find a peaceful resolution and then to hold people accountable for these trust the back of ref. i knowledge of those are witnesses. ambassador robert f goad, it is the acting assistant secretary for the bureau of african affairs at the u. s . department of state. he served as us ambassador kenya from 2013 the 2019

before. now robi ambassador, go to was the principal deputy coordinator for counter terrorism. us ambassador to denisia from 20 o 629, and proctor that deputy assistant secretary in the near eastern affairs bureau deputy coordinator for the transition of wrap and acting deputy chief of mission administer the counselor for economic affairs at the u. s. embassy and south africa assistant to the administrator. sarah charles is the assistant administrative of u. s. a. i d 's bureau of humanitarian assistance. prior to her time at usa id is charles with a senior director for policy and advocacy for the international rescue committee. she also worked at the national security council and led the usa, i. d, 's, post our spring efforts to strengthen democracy, promote space for the democratic dialogue, and support stabilisation and encourage civic participation in the middle east. so

without objection, all the witnesses prepared testimony will be made part of the record and now recognize the witnesses for 5 minutes each to summarize their testimony. and i'll start with ambassador rabbit. go to you now recognize. thank you mister chairman. mister chairman, ranking member, distinguished members of the committee. i appreciate the opportunity to discuss with you the dire situation and today, increasing inter communal and interethnic conflicts across the country are putting e c o p as unity and territorial integrity at risk. if the crisis continues to worsen the horn of africa and wider region will be destabilized, the worst conflict is in t grey. with a scale of suffering, the civilians is shocking, horrifying and heartbreaking. the gray is an emergency that demands the immediate

action united states and from the international community. before i outline the urgent steps, the united states is taking to end the conflict, stop the atrocities and provide humanitarian assistance. however, there were some potentially important developments yesterday. in the open government announced a unilateral temporary cessation of hostility t gray. some reports indicate that the gray enforce defense forces made significant gains in recent days, and this may have factored into the government's decision. and the t p. s is now in charge in mckelly, a capital n t gray. the announcement was accompanied by what appears to be a significant withdrawal of ethiopia, national defense forces from t greg including capital city mckelly. we understand that the open government's decision to pursue this cessation of hostilities and withdraw its military forces has been communicated to the government, ethiopia, and it was asked to take similar action. we urge the tray and government to comply

immediately. we will watch closely to determine if the cease fire results and changes on the ground. but the ethiopian government's decision to declare a temporary and hostilities is a promising development. and we welcome it. it is essential now that all parties commit to the cease fire, allow humanitarian access, protect civilians or be independent investigations into atrocities. and that there is justice for victims. ethiopia, is that a pivot point to have an inflection point with the parties do now matters and will determine whether there is a better future ahead. for the, earlier this month, the un announced that famine is occurring in p gray usa id. now estimates that between 700900000 people are experiencing catastrophic phase 5 food insecurity. this is the largest number of people living with high levels of acute food insecurity. some to the 2011, some all your famine. but in this case,

it is entirely manmade. this is unacceptable, and we can damage in the strongest terms assistant administrator. charles will discuss the humanitarian emergency in more detail atrocities have been committed by all actors involved in the conflict. in western te great security forces allied with the horn regional government are forcing ethnic to gray and from their homes. and what secretary clinton is described as acts of ethnic cleansing, eritrea in an ethiopian forces to purposely and methodically destroyed water points, health facilities, schools, food storage, site, agriculture and livestock inputs and farming equipment, leaving the to grey and population with no ability to feed itself. they have impeded humanitarian relief efforts and threatened and even killed assistance workers or thoughts or with the friends and family of the 3 med found, some frontier staff members tragically killed last week in the course of their work

. t gray, such attacks on humanitarian actors are unacceptable and must stop. un as reported mass rapes, the women and girls in widespread massacres as civilians, their credible reports, and hundreds of unlawful killings. putting one captured on video, showing likely ethiopian troops shooting an arm prisoners and then throwing the dead bodies of prisoners off a cliff. civilians have been dragged from their homes or ibp camps and shop for no apparent reason, other than being to gran. just last week, if you open air strike, hit a market and to goga, killing, or injury at least 80 civilians, these atrocities must stop and stop. now. the administration is using every available tools in this conflict, along with a growing number of governments around the world. we have called for an immediate cessation of hostilities full and unhindered humanitarian access protection of civilians. the withdrawal of eritrea and har regional forces, a political settlement of the crisis,

an independent international investigations of human rights violations, abuses, atrocities, and justice for victims and accountability. for those responsible to achieve these goals, we are working with like minded partners, regional governments, the african union range of organizations and individuals at the highest levels. we have pressed the un security council and the un human rights council to work towards ending the crisis at the g 7 liter summit and u. s. u summit. in june the united states and our partners spoke with one voice about the crisis. we've engaged with the ethiopian an era tree and government at the highest level, pressing them to end the hostilities and to follow through on commitments. the withdrawal of air train forces, protection civilians and humanitarian access. the secretary of state remains personally engaged presidential amator emissaries. senator coons traveled ethiopian, and march special envoy feldman and other officials are intensely working in the conflict. in may, the secretary announced the visa restriction policy for current or former ethiopian

territory and government officials, members of the security forces and other individuals to clued and har, regional and irregular forces. and members of the t p. o f, who are responsible for a complicit, undermining the resolution, the crisis in t. dre. to important to note the contrary to some allegations, these targeted restrictions do not, in fact cannot harm the people. we have also restricted foreign assistance to ethiopia, and i'm posing defense trade controls, withholding our support for most new lending from the multilateral development banks, except for basic human needs. and i've asked other countries to do likewise. if the government announcement of a cessation of hostilities does not result in improvement and the situation continues to worse and if the opiate in eritrea should anticipate further actions, we will not stand by in the face of horrors m t gray. at the same time, we continue to emphasize to the governments of addis ababa and as mar that another path is possible. we stand ready to work with them in ending the humanitarian

suffering, resolving the conflict, and renewing momentum towards economic and political reforms. we urge them to make the right choices for the people as tragically ethnic divisions are heartening across other parts of ethiopia as well or been attacks on their horns and moves and venetian vulgar mos region on ethnic romo and horace in romeo region. in addition, there's been conflict between groups in a far and smalley regions and several conflicts, and folding in the southern nations nationalities and peoples region. ethiopia is response, regardless of where the conflict is unfolding has been inadequate. in some cases, the, the open government's responses has exacerbated the conflicts, indiscriminate arrests, media restrictions, human rights violations, and abuses, shrinking political space or anger populations fueled interethnic rivalry. parents national cohesion and the territorial integrity of ethiopia. the election on june 21st was largely peaceful in the united states, commends all ethiopian to exercise their right to vote. nonetheless,

we do not believe the elections will at sped problems facing the country. we raised our concerns about the elections with the government of ethiopia on many occasions to include public statements, but have noted grave concern about the environment in which these elections occurred. we continue to press the open government to begin and inclusive dialogue reconciliation to heal the current divisions and find a shared democratic path forward by minister abi has promised to undertake such a dialogue and we urged him to do so immediately. finally, we also remain focused on the ongoing regional challenges around the ground, ethiopian renaissance damn, and the alpha shock border areas between stand and ethiopia, both issues pose risks to the regional peace and security. and the united states government is working hard with bilateral partners in the a you to help resolve them. i want to thank the members of congress with a strong resolutions and statements that have been issued. they are important and they help the united states. i personally pledge to continue to work closely with

you to address the crises. need the help you. i look forward to your questions. thank you. thank you. miss charles, you now recognize chairman mix ranking member mccall, distinguished members of the committee. thank you for this opportunity to discuss the humanitarian crisis in ethiopia, a life saving assistance that usaid is providing any ongoing challenges that our response faces. thank you. also for the committee is continued engagement on this issue, including through member support for house resolution 445. before i began, i want to acknowledge the heinous murder and t great last week of doctors without borders staff. maria hernandez. johan is alison rata. and taylor is deborah mary. i'm deborah michael with this horrific act, we have now seen at least $128.00 workers killed since the start of the conflict. each one a tragedy. that underscores the ongoing danger to humanitarian staff and a volatile security situation in gray. indeed,

last week we saw traveling surge and violence including the ethiopian air strike that hit a market to go to killing at least 80 people and injuring anymore. the situation on the ground as we read even more there after the events of yesterday. if i leave you with one thing today, it is that usaid believe famine is likely already occurring and ethiopia of the 6000000 people that live in t gray. we estimate that 3.5 to 4500000 are in need of urgent humanitarian food assistance. of these 700002900000 people are already experiencing catastrophic conditions. populations at that level of food insecurity are facing extreme deprivation, starvation, destitution and death. nearly 40 years ago in the year, in dirt, a famine that shocked the world,

devastated the country and killed an estimated 1000000 people. without us to stand cessation of hostilities and proved humanitarian access and a scale of assistance. we will likely, once again see widespread famine in ethiopia. this year, several weeks ago testifying before the senate. i shared the stories of marianne and hobbin. today i want to tell you about you, one of your hon is a 23 year old. his family was split up when they fled, conflict and gray is friends, were shot and killed as they fled. but he couldn't stop to help them or a risk being killed himself. he reached sudan with his father, but then returned to tea grey to find his 11 year old sister and 5 year old brother . the 3 of them now live in an informal settlement. nikia separated from their parents and reliant on the local community for food. sadly, there are 200000000 stories of displacement like you, honda says n t gray and across the border and sudan where 45000 refugees have fled. the scale

of need and t great is immense, and averting widespread famine requires more than just food assistance. there are also devastating reports of widespread human rights abuses, including gender based violence by arm doctors across t gray. the report speaks to widespread incidence of rape and other gender based violence and systematic attempts to dismantle society and destroy families. perpetrators have targeted the wives of priest abuse women in front of their families and use brutal violence against women. as i've said publicly before, the severity of abuse is among the absolute worst. i have seen him, i nearly 2 decades of humanitarian work. we have usa id condemn these atrocities and the strongest possible terms in the face of staggering need. the united states has responded with significant support and advocacy, where their largest danner to the humanitarian response providing nearly 488000000

and humanitarian assistance since the conflict began. or then 3900000 people with assistance. any usaid funding announced earlier this month will provide enough additional food to feed $3000000.00 people for nearly 2 months. it also provide support for case management for survivors of gender based violence, say spaces psycho social support services for services, for women and girls, and training for social workers and community case workers. we've also been loudly ringing the alarm about the deteriorating situation in gray, if held a series of high level events earlier this month focused on t grey convening humanitarian partners diplomats general counterparts and even the weekend for urgent discussions on salmon and ongoing atrocities. this is part of an ongoing effort to drive action onto grey among donors and the broader public and continue to increase pressure on parties to the conflict. to bring an end to this crisis, our assistance there is not enough to avert widespread famine in ethiopia. if the

parties to the conflict obstruct access to people in need currently and more than a 1000000 people are in need and inaccessible to humanitarians. the response have been hindered from the beginning by access constraints imposed by the government of ethiopia and blocking of assistance funding or trans defense forces. ethiopian national defense forces and heart special forces, unilateral see fire yesterday, but the government of ethiopia is very welcome and we have to build on that momentum to be clear. the threat of widespread famine is manmade. if actors may have ground on the ground, lock assistance and prevent farmers from planting and harvesting. actors are actively increasing the likelihood of widespread famine. an honor to be heard of a discuss our work and underscore, our commitment to the people via our humanitarian assistance can help alleviate urgent need. but it will not address the root causes of the conflict or ongoing

human rights violations. despite the heroic efforts of local communities and humanitarian workers, the directory of the crisis and t gray is troubling. widespread famine unless parties for the conflict sustain a cessation of hostilities and provide unhindered humanitarian access, we must ensure that they do. we went to children like 13 year old ro, how soon m. she had been an active student that enjoyed poetry and sports before she was forced to flee with her sister and great uncle. when conflict broke out in western te gray part of another family torn apart by the violence, she now lives in an informal access with limited informal settlement with limited access to food, where she's become withdrawn and anxious and misses her mother for johan. as for her hell for their families, for their neighbors, we must demand better. thank you for this opportunity to speak with you today, and i welcome your questions. thank you for your testimony, both of you. and i'm now going to recognize members for 5 minutes each for sorts of

house rules and all time yield. that is for the purposes of questioning our witnesses, i'm going to recognize members by committee, seniority, alternate between democrats and republicans. if you miss your turn, please let us know and our staff will come back to you. if you seek recognition, you must use your microphone to address the chair variably identify yourself so that we know who is speaking. i'll ask the witnesses to try to be brave because you want to work within the 5 minute time limitation and response. and as the members to make sure they give time for the witness to answer questions should they choose to ask a question? thought by recognizing myself for 5 minutes. ah, better to go to it. you know, i noted the top of my remarks, the situation into gray. and i'm just looking at some

texts, but actually some recently put out texting as, as well as emails that are going back and forth. now, in regards to the sci fi and whether or not it's real or not, and we hear that the t, l p, maybe looking to go into our a tree in territories or, you know, if that's f required, or if necessary is what they said in for more and staff, so my question to you, do you think that this sci fi is, you know, and what can we do to try to make sure there's a real opening to negotiate our, you know, the size just trying to look at this as the next phase of a protracted conflict of morphing into a civil war and we thought net. thank you mister chairman.

the cease fire announcement by the ethiopian government was an important development, but it needs to be made real on the ground. what we need is a permanent ceasefire, which all of the parties are committed to. the moment we still do not have a statement from the t p l f or the tree, and that they're committed to a cease fire. and we urge that that happen. we need a ceasefire that will allow humanitarian access and other issues to be addressed. the administration is going to work very hard to help put this in place. we are in contact with the government and we're in contact with other parties and we will be pressing them very hard to reach an understanding and put in place a permanent ceasefire. and then begin an inclusive national dialogue that addresses all of the issues to include the issues in p. great, that's essential. if the

o p is going to make progress. so and i and i go back and forth because as i said, i see fought, and i think you've indicated on your statement miss charles and her that all sides have done wrong in this. so we're not looking to phase one side as opposed to the other. it's all sides that have, you know, recently you know, we've also asked retreated in ethiopia, officials, you know, they failed to follow through on their commitments, to withdraw every tree and troops to meet the opium. in fact, there's been some reporting that there's fresh ethiopian troop rotations into to gray and air tree and say air a tree and troop rotation to, to gray and air a tree, and troops of fanning out to other parts of ethiopia. as recently as or earlier this month. so i was wondering if you could give us the status of the era tree and defense forces in ethiopia and how they are commanded and controlled.

i'm sorry, the era tray and defense force and it's re defense forces. yes. the trans defense forces are still in t grey. we have seen some indications of movement, but we don't yet know that there are withdrawing they have committed, horrifying atrocities during their time. their that much is clear. we do know that they were present as well in the alpha sha, a border area. we've seen reports, but i can't confront them that they were present in other parts of the country is as well the era tray and forces need to leave immediately. that is absolutely essential if there's going to be peace and a restoration of civil order instability in te gray. and indeed, in more generally in ethiopia, the the era try and forces have been a malign force in, in this conflict and have so annoying. what's your assessment?

a saw warning there to the european government in its allies on the t p, a left to stop the escalation of the conflict in european t gray region that was from the u. s. house committee on foreign affairs. witnesses were called and they said they were extremely concerned about the situation in te gray. and that this was a pivotal moment in the conflicts are concerned that the conflict would extend into eritrea and perhaps even the wider region. this of course, comes off to nearly 8 months of fighting that has taken place in the country. let's speak to all corresponded. she had pretend, see, who has been following this hearing on capitol hill. she asked, what did you make of what we, what we heard that i think that was was rather just because you mentioned is this fair that this conflict might spread further into eritrea. chevy meets that saying, he's intelligence, that's the t p. i laugh all considering now, invading eritrea would seem from what leaks were saying,

there was no comment from the the by didn't ministration. officials at the, at the out, the hearing about that in particular. but it was interesting because we heard the what we often hear from the bite and ministration that you know, this is, this is welcome of a sci fi, but not quite sure whether it is enduring holes for lasting political supplement. calls for an independent inquiry into human rights abuses. and so we have the, the very grim, accounting from us, a id of the humanitarian situation. 6.5000000 in te gray as the population 3.5 to 40 in the emergency assistance, 702900000, are already in catastrophic conditions. and, and sarah charles is making clear that as far as us idea is concerned, famine is already underway. in europe, and she was very clear that a lot of this was the phone off the ethiopian government. but you can always see that balancing act when you see us politicians discuss if you, if you, because as,

as they're counting, the heroic situation in integrating. they are constantly mentioning, what are important ally, ethiopia is to the united states in the horn of africa. it's always been called. the u. s. is anchor of stability in the horn of africa. very difficult to describe it as such right now. and that's partly because the bye didn't ministration season if you're, if you're through the prism of china and they're very concerned about chinese influencing africa the by the notation also wants to expand as military footprints in the horn of africa and elsewhere against mac extremism. and to get by the ministration on american multinational corporations are very happy with the different governments as they. busy as a deregulate, the economy, that putting new liberal reforms in us multi nationals smacking the chops of getting, getting a piece of the action the therapy. so even as i say, when meeks talks about the possibility of gender site in ethiopia, he then the strongest, he can say about prime minister ideas. but perhaps his legacy is in doubt. the

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with me. ah, this is al jazeera ah, the time is 1500 hours gmc hello, i'm come all santa maria, welcome to the news. our on al jazeera federation beneath your abuse, to pick out the local force and drive away government troops. i say they've taken back full control of the regional capital.