I welcomed & had constructive dialogue with @Lord_Collins of Highbury, the new UK Minister for Africa and @DarrenWelchFCDO in Mekelle today. We did exchange views on issues of far reaching importance for Tigray, Ethiopia and the region at large. The Africa Minister expressed his government’s support for Tigray’s efforts to deepen peace, to rehabilitate and recover and more importantly to play its rightful role in the stability of the region. Health, education and food security being the UK’s priority areas of interest, he reaffirmed his government’s commitment to contributing to Tigray’s quest to attaining a modicum of normalcy. He also took the opportunity to visit IDPs, war disabled veterans and pledged the UK government’s support for demobilization & reintegration efforts in the region. It was a very productive engagement indeed. I had an earful on the need to resolve our internal differences peacefully and to always focus on the bigger picture if we are to extricate our people from the crisis they currently find themselves in.