Relationship dossier
Ethiopia
United Kingdom
Relationship assessment
Development and economic cooperation alongside UK concern over conflict and human rights in Ethiopia
Ethiopia toward United Kingdom
+30The Ethiopian government joined the bilateral partnership commitments on economic cooperation, security and migration announced during the UK prime minister’s 2018 visit. The scope and implementation of these commitments are unclear.
United Kingdom toward Ethiopia
+35The UK has provided development and humanitarian assistance to Ethiopia and pursued bilateral economic and migration cooperation. During the Tigray conflict, the UK also pressed for an end to hostilities and raised human-rights concerns.
Overall relationship
+35The relationship combines UK development and humanitarian engagement with bilateral economic and migration cooperation. These ties have persisted alongside disagreement over conflict and human-rights conditions in Ethiopia, especially during the Tigray war.
How to read these scores
Scores are rough judgments, not objective measurements or current verification. Directional scores describe government policy and conduct, not public opinion. The overall score is an independent estimate, never an average.
- −100
- Extreme sustained hostility
- −50
- Substantially adversarial
- 0
- Mixed or neutral, supported by knowledge
- +50
- Substantially cooperative
- +100
- Exceptionally close sustained partnership
“Not assessed” means there is no recorded score. Pair existence makes no claim about diplomatic recognition or established relations.
Relationship context
Overview
Ethiopia and the United Kingdom have pursued development, economic and migration cooperation, including a bilateral partnership announced during the UK prime minister’s 2018 visit to Ethiopia. The UK has also provided development and humanitarian assistance. Relations have faced friction over conflict and human-rights concerns in Ethiopia, particularly during the Tigray war.
Areas of tension
- UK concern over civilian harm and human-rights abuses during the Tigray conflict
- UK calls for an end to hostilities and improved humanitarian access during the Tigray war
Key developments
During a visit to Ethiopia, UK Prime Minister Theresa May announced a bilateral partnership involving economic cooperation, security and migration.
The UK raised concerns over the Tigray conflict and called for an end to hostilities and improved humanitarian access.
Major uncertainties
- The scope and implementation of bilateral commitments on migration, security and economic cooperation are unclear.
- The scale and continuity of UK development assistance and government-to-government cooperation are uncertain.