Recognition
After the end of the Cold War, the United States played a facilitative role in the peace talks in Washington, D.C. during the months leading up to the May 1991 fall of the Mengistu regime. In mid-May, Mengistu resigned as head of the Ethiopian government and went into exile in Zimbabwe, leaving a caretaker government in Addis Ababa. A high-level U.S. delegation also was present in Addis Ababa for the 1–5 July 1991 conference that established a transitional government in Ethiopia. Having defeated the Ethiopian forces in Eritrea, the EPLF attended as an observer and held talks with the new transitional government regarding Eritrea's relationship to Ethiopia. The outcome of those talks was an agreement in which the Ethiopians recognized the right of the Eritreans to hold a referendum on independence. The referendum helped in April 1993 when the Eritrean people voted almost unanimously in favour of independence and this was verified by the UN Observer Mission to Verify the Referendum in Eritrea (UNOVER). On 28 May 1993, the United Nations formally admitted Eritrea to its membership. Below are the results from the referendum:
| Region | Do you want Eritrea to be an independent and sovereign country? | Total | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Yes | No | uncounted | ||
| Asmara | 128,443 | 144 | 33 | 128,620 |
| Barka | 4,425 | 47 | 0 | 4,472 |
| Denkalia | 25,907 | 91 | 29 | 26,027 |
| Gash-Setit | 73,236 | 270 | 0 | 73,506 |
| Hamasien | 76,654 | 59 | 3 | 76,716 |
| Akkele Guzay | 92,465 | 147 | 22 | 92,634 |
| Sahel | 51,015 | 141 | 31 | 51,187 |
| Semhar | 33,596 | 113 | 41 | 33,750 |
| Seraye | 124,725 | 72 | 12 | 124,809 |
| Senhit | 78,513 | 26 | 1 | 78,540 |
| Freedom fighters | 77,512 | 21 | 46 | 77,579 |
| Sudan | 153,706 | 352 | 0 | 154,058 |
| Ethiopia | 57,466 | 204 | 36 | 57,706 |
| Other | 82,597 | 135 | 74 | 82,806 |
| % | 99.79 | 0.17 | 0.03 | |
Read more about this topic: Eritrean War Of Independence
Famous quotes containing the word recognition:
“I waited and worked, and watched the inferior exalted for nearly thirty years; and when recognition came at last, it was too late to alter events, or to make a difference in living.”
—Ellen Glasgow (1873–1945)
“Admiration. Our polite recognition of another’s resemblance to ourselves.”
—Ambrose Bierce (1842–1914)
“Democracy and equality try to deny ... the mystic recognition of difference and innate priority, the joy of obedience and the sacred responsibility of authority.”
—D.H. (David Herbert)