Foreign Affairs committee  We have a number of projects that support governance and inclusive governance in Ethiopia. I think we recognized from very early days, in the earlier conflict of Ethiopia and it's rise and progress in recent years, that having more inclusive governance is key as a federal state and a state with multiple ethnicities to the progress of the country.

Foreign Affairs committee  No, that is different. The $43 million is international humanitarian assistance. However, our bilateral development assistance has gone to organizations that support governance and inclusive governance in Ethiopia.

Foreign Affairs committee  There's a strong commitment by the Government of Ethiopia to make progress and reform in the area of economic governance in particular. At the same time, I think the conflict that has arisen now, which is an inter-ethnic conflict, has raised lots of questions about the actual effectiveness of Ethiopia's federalist state and federalism in Ethiopia.

Foreign Affairs committee  I think Ethiopia is a long way from becoming a Somalia. It still has relatively strong state institutions and a fairly strong centralized government, but it does have ethnic division in the country and polarization. I think we cannot see it becoming a Somalia in the early stages.

Foreign Affairs committee  I'm pleased to return to that question of genocide. There is broad consensus among the international community that serious violations of human rights and international humanitarian law are taking place in Tigray and other conflict-affected areas. But, as I said, there is not a confirmation of genocide.

Foreign Affairs committee  Our ambassador and diplomatic staff on the ground in Addis Ababa are very active. They travel and meet regularly with regional governments, the Government of Ethiopia, as well as civil society and of course with local NGOs. This gives them a chance to listen and to hear if there are signs of those kinds of human rights violations.

Foreign Affairs committee  Thank you. I'll turn to my colleague, Mrs. Hilary Childs-Adams, to respond on the detention of journalists.

Foreign Affairs committee  China and Russia have made their positions very clear. They called for non-interference in what they see as Ethiopia's internal affairs. The ability for us to have a conversation with Russian and Chinese counterparts—and similarly with Turkey and the UAE—is quite limited. I would say that we clearly discourage the interventions in the region by any of these countries, as this would exacerbate tensions or escalate hostilities.

Foreign Affairs committee  This was obviously one of our major concerns and one in which we're like-minded, to the extent to which this conflict could spread to the broader Horn of Africa. There are two factors that I would say are regional in nature and of significant concern to us. First, as you mentioned, the presence of Eritrean troops in Ethiopia is a destabilizing factor.

Foreign Affairs committee  For Somalia it is less so. Somalia is of course dealing with its own internal conflict and destabilization by groups such as Al-Shabab, but we do not see a direct link between what's going on in Tigray, for example, and Somalia.

Foreign Affairs committee  Do you mean of countries such as Somalia and neighbouring countries?

Foreign Affairs committee  We do not see signs that those neighbouring countries are seeking to play a significant role in resolving the conflict. We have not seen that.

Foreign Affairs committee  Thank you for your question. I'll briefly respond to the last question. I would add that Kenya is also a neighbouring country that has many interests in the Horn of Africa. I'll now ask my colleague, Mr. Salewicz, to answer your other question regarding humanitarian aid.

Foreign Affairs committee  I'm not aware of the deleting of that tweet, but I'll certainly take a look and find out. I have no knowledge of that.

Foreign Affairs committee  I can only say that we are aware. When we communicate with our partners and when they share information with us related to sanctions, we do take careful consideration as to whether our joining those would have an impact. In this case, the U.S. individual sanctions were on Eritrean individuals, of course, and one Eritrean institution.