The Economic Commission for Africa (ECA), in collaboration with the International Organization of La Francophonie (OIF), its multilingualism partners and the Permanent Missions in Ethiopia, celebrated International French Language Day on 30 March 2023, at the United Nations Conference Centre in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
Commemorated on 20 March each year – in reference to 20 March 1970, when the Agency for Cultural and Technical Cooperation was created, which later became the OIF – the day was postponed this year due to the holding of the Conference of African Ministers of Finance, Planning and Economic Development. The theme of the 2023 edition, “321 million Francophones, billions of cultural contents”, aimed to promote creative imagination, Francophone artistic creativity and cultural diversity.
Opening the session, ECA’s Acting Executive Secretary, Antonio Pedro, highlighted the link between multilingualism and peace, stating that cultural diversity is at the centre of dialogue between people and cultures. Language and daily experiences serve as fertile ground for understanding, tolerance, crisis management and peace.

From 5 to 8 October, the great event organised by FederUnacoma and dedicated to the agricultural supply chains of the Mediterranean area will be back on stage in Bari. New features of the 2023 edition include a large space for gardening and landscaping, and an exhibition area dedicated to robotics for agriculture, as well as several initiatives being planned. Simona Rapastella: “the fair talks about the crucial challenges of this important geographical area”.
More than 8 thousand models of machines and equipment for agriculture, gardening and related components, dozens of conventions and meetings on technical and economic-political topics, an exhibition area of more than 30 thousand square metres (80% already occupied and the remaining 20% to be sold out in the coming weeks).
These are the figures for the 2023 edition of Agrilevante, the major exhibition of technologies for typical Mediterranean area agriculture, organised by FederUnacoma, held in Bari from 5 to 8 October and presented this afternoon on the opening day of Agriumbria.

The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) in Ethiopia recently completed a successful three-year program to identify, treat, and cure people living with tuberculosis (TB) in urban areas in Ethiopia, while increasing the capacity of local health organizations to serve TB patients. USAID/Ethiopia’s $4 million (over 215 million Birr) Urban TB Local Organizations Network activity worked in close collaboration with the Ministry of Health, Addis Ababa City Administration, Dire Dawa City Administration, the Harari Regional Health Bureau, and seven community-based organizations.
Over the past three years, this efficient and effective USAID TB treatment activity reached over 235,000 people in urban areas of Ethiopia with TB testing and other services. As a direct result of the project, over 14,300 people were tested for and diagnosed with TB, treated, and completely cured of the disease. USAID’s Urban TB Local Organizations Network activity worked alongside USAID’s ongoing Eliminate TB project, which is striving to end TB in Ethiopia entirely by 2030.

April 2nd is observed as The International Day of Fact Checking, by the International Fact Checking Network (IFCN) and its partners since 2017. For the first time in Ethiopia the day is observed with an event at the Sheraton Addis. The occasion aimed to raise awareness about the growing issue of Mis/Disinformation and Hate Speech spreading online. The launch of a new campaign called “Gira-Kegn” coincided with the event, which aims to tackle the problem by bringing together eleven social media influencers with a combined following of up to seven million.
During the event it was disclosed out of 1 million reviewed posts in Ethiopia in three local languages- Amharic, Affan Oromo and Tigrigna, 50,000 fake, 30,000 violence-inciting and 25,000 hate speech contents were found. The survey targeted three social media platforms- Facebook, Telegram and Twitter and employed automated machine learning tools developed by Factify Ethiopia. These alarming figures underscore the need for concerted efforts to address the issue.
On the occasion of the International Day of Fact Checking, a new campaign called “#Gira-Kegn” has been launched to address mis/disinformation and hate speech in Ethiopia. The coordinated campaign brought together eleven social media influencers with a combined follower base of up to seven million.