Democracy First Responders - Ethiopia - Mesud Gebeyehu

Published: June 15, 2020, 12:02 p.m.

b'Over the past few years, Ethiopia has made significant democratic progress, but with coronavirus jeopardizing democracies across the globe, that progress is at risk. Ethiopia\\u2019s elections, once scheduled for the end of August, are now indefinitely delayed and many Ethiopians fear the government is manipulating the country\\u2019s state of emergency to restrict the free speech of its citizens. \\n\\nEnter Mesud Gebeyehu, the Executive Director of the Consortium of Ethiopian Human Rights Organizations. At the onset of the pandemic, Mesud\\u2019s consortium called for the Ethiopian government to implement prevention methods according to WHO standards and respect freedom of speech and freedom of the press. \\n\\nMesud spoke with host Travis Green about his own experiences in Ethiopia and his hopes for continued democratic progress in the country.'