Addis Abeba — Embassies and Missions of Australia, Canada, Denmark, Finland, Japan, The Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Sweden and the United Kingdom to Ethiopia said in a joint statement that they commend the progress made following the Pretoria peace agreement which "silenced the guns, and laid the foundations for normalcy to return" to northern Ethiopia.

While recognising that "more needs to be done to protect, sustain and realize peace for all citizens," the joint statement called the peace deal a "momentous achievement".

The statement emphasized that further progress is required "on disarmament, demobilisation and reintegration; national dialogue; the withdrawal of Eritrean and non-governmental forces; the return of internally displaced persons; full recovery of services; support to victims of conflict-related sexual violence; the implementation of a credible transitional justice and accountability process for the victims of atrocities; and continued monitoring and verification of compliance with the Agreement".

"We continue to urge all parties to implement the Agreement in full and to find solutions to address challenges, as soon as possible, through dialogue," it stated.

The countries also expressed concern over the ongoing violence in Amhara and Oromia regions, and the "disturbing" human rights violations that have persisted in many places. "We continue to stress the need for all parties to ensure the protection of civilians, for a cessation of hostilities as well as an inclusive dialogue".