PI-SF Crucial for Strengthening Governance, Int’l Security Cooperation: House Speaker

Addis Ababa, July 10, 2026 (ENA) —House of People’s Representative (HPR) Speaker, Tagesse Chaffo, said the two-day Parliamentary Intelligence-Security forum underway in Addis Ababa is timely and crucial for strengthening democratic governance, accountability and international security cooperation.

Lawmakers, intelligence officials, cybersecurity experts, and policymakers from 36 countries are in Addis Ababa for the Parliamentary Intelligence-Security Forum (PI-SF).

The Parliamentary Intelligence-Security Forum hosts regular fora for international parliamentarians and government officials to learn from preeminent experts regarding counter-terrorism financing, cyber security, predatory foreign investments, intelligence sharing, 5G, AI, and other relevant topics.

Opening the forum, HPR Speaker Tagesse emphasized a shift in the way intelligence and security are governed globally—away from models that treat intelligence as an exclusively executive function, and toward systems that recognize the role of elected representatives, public trust, accountability, democratic legitimacy, and effective security governance.

 

Addressing the broader security environment, he stated that today’s threats are increasingly complex, interconnected and transnational, including terrorism, human trafficking and migrant smuggling, public health vulnerabilities, and cybercrime targeting critical infrastructure.

He noted that the Horn of Africa in particular continues to face multidimensional challenges such as violent extremism, protracted conflicts, irregular migration and climate-related pressures, warning that non-state armed groups exploit governance gaps and threaten regional peace and development.

African solutions and stronger regional cooperation are essential, and sustainable peace requires progress across security, development and governance—not security measures alone, the Speaker added.

In this respect, Ethiopia is intensifying efforts to combat trafficking and irregular migration through stronger governance frameworks and enhanced regional cooperation, while promoting safe, orderly and regular migration and dismantling criminal networks.

 

He linked health security to national stability, citing lessons from recent pandemics that show resilient health systems are strategic assets.

Furthermore, the House Speaker highlighted Ethiopia’s investment in future-shaping technologies, including artificial intelligence, digital infrastructure, innovation ecosystems and human capital development—guided by responsible and human-centered Artificial intelligence principles.

Tagesse said Ethiopia is advancing its Digital Ethiopia 2030 agenda to strengthen cybersecurity and build a secure, trusted digital ecosystem.

The House Speaker added that energy security and critical minerals are emerging as key issues of the 21st century, urging governance guided by equity, transparency and sustainability; and partnerships that ensure resources translate into shared prosperity rather than competition.

The U.S Ambassador to Ethiopia, Ervin Massinga, said security threats are increasingly global, interconnected and rapidly evolving, making international cooperation indispensable.

 

According to him, parliamentarians can strengthen security by shaping laws, allocating resources and promoting cross-border cooperation. Information sharing is critical to counter transnational cybercrime and trafficking in this regard.

Ambassador Massinga cautioned that opaque agreements and surveillance-related arrangements can carry risks for governance and sovereignty, urging harmonized legal frameworks, stronger law enforcement cooperation and enhanced cross-border data sharing.

He reaffirmed the United States’ commitment to deepening partnership with Ethiopia on shared security challenges.

For his part, U.S. Congressman Robert Pittenger told journalists that the forum offers Ethiopia an opportunity to present the direction and priorities of its leadership to the world.

He pledged support through technology tools and legislative insight, framing democracy as a driver of opportunity, job creation and long-term stability.

 

The Parliamentary Intelligence-Security Forum is a leading international security forum providing expertise and collaboration among parliamentarians and government officials to increase the United States’ allies understanding of the current global security threats posed by adversarial nation states and terrorists, while creating actionable solutions that counter these threats.

Parliamentarians, who write the legislation and fund the government, are a critical player in this mission, it believes.