Researchers Urge Externally Mediated Talks to End Amhara Conflict

Researchers speaking at an Addis Ababa peace and security forum have urged Ethiopia’s federal government and Fano forces to enter third-party mediated negotiations over the conflict in the Amhara region.

The recommendation was presented during a July 31, 2026 panel organized by the Institute for Peace and Security Studies, The Reporter said. Yared Debebe, a researcher with the African Research Universities Alliance, argued that the fighting has produced continuing economic, social and humanitarian damage without a clear path to resolution.

Panelists said a durable process should address political grievances, governance problems, economic marginalization, livelihoods and youth unemployment alongside security concerns. They pointed to earlier externally hosted Ethiopian peace initiatives, including federal negotiations with the Tigray People’s Liberation Front in South Africa and the Oromo Liberation Army in Tanzania, as possible procedural precedents.

The researchers also described alleged conflict-financing practices, including household contributions, informal taxation, diversion of subsidized fertilizer and kidnapping for ransom. AddisMizan could not independently verify those specific claims, which are presented as findings discussed at the panel.

The forum heard that international attention has been diverted by wars elsewhere and that pressure from outside institutions could help bring the parties to talks. The event produced a policy recommendation, not an announced negotiation or agreement, and no response from the federal government or Fano representatives was included in the source report.