Ethiopia Watch

Ethiopia Watch was a report produced for a pan-African group of organisations focussing on the Cessation of Hostilities Agreement, signed by warring factions in Ethiopia and specifically in Northern Tigray, in 2022. Its aim is to analyse six key areas of the agreement, whether or not they had been adhered to six months on, along with a range of recommendations for next steps.

The document is very detailed and text-heavy and so it was important to find ways to break this up into manageable and easily accessible sections. Tensions within the country remain high and as the report could potentially be read by opposing factions or regional governments, using photography – that might depict a contested region or a particular ethnic group – wasn’t an option. Instead a number of graphic devices were employed.

The agreement’s key areas (Humanitarian Access & Aid Provision, Protection of Civilians, The Situation of Internally Displaced Persons, Presence of Militaries, Restoration of Services and African Union Monitoring) were used as ways to break up the copy document. Muted colours, derived from traditional Ethiopian basket weaving, were assigned to each area and acted as a wayfinding tool throughout the document. The colours were also used for text box backdrops, headers and and icons. Running through the document was a ‘base line’ of facts and figures, used to support the main text. This was allocated its own thinner column, lending an editorial feel to the layout and alongside maps by the UN and BBC, two others were re-drawn compiling several data sources. The final long-form report was produced for print and digital use and in addition a two page summary document was created.