On Sunday, September 16^th, Ethiopia’s Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed and Eritrea’s President Isaias Afwerki attended a summit in Saudi Arabia to sign a new peace agreement, referred to as the “Jeddah Agreement”– cementing a previously unstable relationship between the two former Horn of Africa rivals. The summit was hosted in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia by Saudi King Salmon the event was also attended by UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, and African Union Commission chairman Moussa Faki Mahamat. This historical agreement was foreshadowed by other events over the past few months. In June, Prime Minister Abiy announced his plan to hand back to Eritrea the disputed areas which resulted in a bloody war in the late 1990’s, according to Al Jazeera, then on July 9^th, Prime Minister Abiy and President Isaias signed a “Joint Declaration of Peace and Friendship,” which formally restored diplomatic relations between the two estranged nations.

The international community continues to ponder what the terms of the agreement were; however, this information remains largely unknown. Ethiopia’s Foreign Ministry described the agreement to have “seven-point[s],” while Eritrea offered no additional details, according to Africa News. According to the Washington Post, UN Spokesman, Farhan Haq, disclosed on Friday, September 14^th, that the signing would occur on September 16^th, but did not provide specific details, stating that the Ethiopian and Eritrean leaders were to sign a “further agreement helping to cement the positive relations between them,” referring to the signing as “the formal signing ceremony of the [July] peace agreement.” Further details on the peace agreement were not made immediately available to the public following the ceremony on Sunday, but according to a Tweet made by Saudi Arabia’s Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir, “[the agreement] will contribute to strengthening security and stability in the region at large,” at this time it is unclear whether Saudi Arabia had a substantial role in brokering peace between the two previously warring nations.

The UN Secretary-General, Antonio Guterres has also spoken in regard to this momentous agreement stating, “There is a wind of hope blowing in the Horn of Africa,” according to Africa News. It seems that Guterres may be onto something; since Prime Minister Abiy was elected into Ethiopian office a great deal has changed. According to the Associated Press, “A whirlwind of talks suddenly ended the long conflict between the two nations in July, with telephone calls and flights suddenly possible between the two nations.” Many hope, that this peace agreement marks the beginning of a new chapter for the two nations, as more paths are unblocked between them – last Tuesday, September 11^th, Ethiopia and Eritrea reopened two land border crossing points for the first time in 20 years, allowing trade to commence between the two nations, according to Al Jazeera. Regardless of the nations’ direct intentions, this agreement, so far, is having a positive impact on its citizens who are celebrating what they hope to be the end of a two-decade-long border war, according to CBC News.

The Eritrean-Ethiopian War, one of the conflicts in the Horn of Africa took place from May 1998 – June 2000; the conflict which broke out over a border dispute led to Ethiopia and Eritrea suffering tens of thousands of casualties, with only minimal resolution. According to the ICC in the Hague, Eritrea broke international law and triggered the conflict by invading Ethiopia, and at the end of the war, Ethiopia held all disputed territory. Making it important to note the actions of Prime Minister Abiy back in June, handing over the disputed territories to Eritrea prior to signing the newly minted peace agreement.

While it remains undetermined what else may come from the newly formulated peace between Ethiopia and Eritrea, it is undisputed that this is an effort we can celebrate. According to Reuters, “Gulf neighbor The United Arab Emirates (UAE) has said it helped bring the countries together.” The two nations have a long and bloody history that goes back to the early 1990’s when Eritrea gained independence from Ethiopia, but now as the world watches, they have come together in order to better stabilize the region and ensure a higher level of security.