Addis Ababa, July 1, 2026 (FMC) — Ethiopia’s National Dialogue process is moving into a decisive phase, as the country prepares for a historic national consultation conference scheduled to begin on July 15, 2026, marking a transition from broad-based agenda collection to structured national deliberation on key questions of statehood, governance, and coexistence.
Established by proclamation, the Ethiopian National Dialogue Commission was mandated to facilitate an inclusive and nationally owned process designed to address long-standing political differences and contribute to sustainable peace and consensus-building.
Since its formation, the Commission has conducted extensive consultations across regions, institutions, and communities, gradually shaping a framework for national discussion drawn from diverse public inputs.
What is now emerging is the consolidation of that process into a structured national platform—one intended to bring together a wide spectrum of voices in a single, deliberative setting where competing perspectives can be examined within a shared national space.
At the center of this stage are eight major agenda areas that have been identified through successive rounds of consultation.
These include nation-building and the question of national identity, the structure and system of government, the status and governance of federal cities such as Addis Ababa and Dire Dawa, religious issues, institutional strengthening, the rule of law and human rights, socio-economic challenges, governance and corruption, and peace and security.
These themes are not emerging in isolation. According to the Commission’s process design, they reflect inputs gathered from political parties, civic associations, experts, researchers, community representatives, and individuals from federal, regional, and city administrations, as well as Ethiopians living abroad.
The inclusivity of the process has been a defining feature from the outset. Efforts were made to ensure that groups often underrepresented in national political processes were also brought into the conversation. These include internally displaced persons, communities affected by instability, and members of the diaspora, whose participation was facilitated through structured consultations and submissions.
As the process evolved, agenda proposals were reviewed, refined, and consolidated through successive rounds of engagement, moving from broad national consultations to a more focused set of themes intended to guide the upcoming conference deliberations.
Approximately 4,000 participants have been selected to take part in the National Consultation Conference, which is expected to serve as a structured platform for dialogue on Ethiopia’s most pressing national questions.
The conference represents a shift from gathering perspectives to actively engaging them in a formal national discussion framework.
The Commission has emphasized that dialogue remains one of the most important mechanisms for managing differences in diverse societies, particularly where political tensions and competing narratives require structured engagement rather than fragmentation.
In this context, the National Dialogue is designed to strengthen a culture of consultation and consensus-building as part of a broader national effort toward stability.
The upcoming conference is expected to engage with foundational questions that have shaped Ethiopia’s political discourse over time, including governance arrangements, institutional development, identity and coexistence, and pathways toward sustainable peace.
As Ethiopia approaches this milestone, the process reflects a broader national effort to create a shared platform where differences are not only acknowledged but systematically engaged through dialogue.
The emphasis is now shifting toward how these discussions will be conducted, how perspectives will be synthesized, and how outcomes may contribute to long-term national understanding.
While the complexity of such a process is widely recognized, the National Dialogue represents a structured attempt to move from fragmentation toward consensus through conversation—an effort that places dialogue itself at the center of nation-building.
With the July 15 conference approaching, Ethiopia stands at a significant juncture in its ongoing search for common ground, where the success of the process will depend on the ability to transform a “long table” of diverse voices into a coherent path forward for shared national futures.