Sylvia Macbean
The Leader-Post
Monday, September 29, 2008
MARYFIELD -- Farmers from the Crossborders Community Project in Maryfield in southeastern Saskatchewan and Kola, Man., came together recently to harvest fields of wheat to be shipped to Ethiopia -- before harvesting their own crops.
"These farmers that were harvesting were doing so with their own crops out on the field,'' said Jan Neufeld of the Kola area of southwestern Manitoba. "As soon as they get these fields finished, they will be going back to finish their own harvest.
"My husband Don and my son Miles put the crop in," she said.
Other farmers helped to sow the crop last spring for the Canadian Foodgrains Bank. All the farm work was donated by farmers.
The crop recently received heavy rains and was downgraded to feed. The wheat was sold to a livestock producer and was being ground into feed after it was delivered to the Kola, Man., mill.
Proceeds from crops are used to provide food for the hungry in developing countries around the world.
This year, crops are being grown by many volunteers groups across Saskatchewan.
Cameron Wiebe and his neighbour, Neil Mehrer, grew Canadian Prairie Spring (CPS) white wheat in the Churchbridge area. The CPS wheat will be sold for either ethanol production or to make flour.
"One neighbour provides the land and one neighbour provides the work. We grew 160 acres in the Churchbridge area. We try and get as much support for the fertilizer and inputs as we can. Some of it will go to an ethanol plant and there are local markets at the elevator as well for this wheat. When you deliver it locally, they just take care of it," Wiebe said. Wiebe plans to harvest their crop next week.
The Wiwi Growing Project in the Gravelbourg-Shamrock area has 10 growers who have signed up to grow and designate several acres of their crops for the Canadian Foodgrains Bank.
"We had asked growers in the area to commit some acres to the project. It should amount to a good donation for the Canadian Foodgrains bank this year," said Mervin Costley, with the Wiwi Growing Project.
"Farmers wanting to donate grain for the Canadian Foodgrains Bank can do so at their local elevator or grain terminal," said Janelle Peterson, resource officer with the Canadian Foodgrains Bank.
A Canadian Foodgrains Bank shipment of 6,400 metric tonnes of Canadian wheat arrived in Ethiopia in August and is being distributed to people impacted by the growing food crisis in Africa.
According to the Famine Early Warning System Network, nearly nine million people in the Horn of Africa need immediate humanitarian assistance in the next three to six months. About four million of those people live in Ethiopia.
Monday, September 29, 2008
Seboka smashes record in win
JAMES CHRISTIE
September 29, 2008
TORONTO -- Mulu Seboka didn't listen to the advice from the master of the marathon, Haile Gebrselassie, but both wound up champions and record-setters on the same day.
The 22-year-old Ethiopian woman set a course record of 2 hours 29 minutes 5 seconds, smashing the previous best for the Scotiabank Waterfront Marathon yesterday morning in a romp across the shores of Lake Ontario. Her time was more than four minutes better than the mark set last year by fellow Ethiopian Asha Gigi, this year's third-place finisher. Olena Shurkhno of Ukraine finished second in the women's race.
"Haile always watches us train in Addis Ababa and he tells me don't practise a lot," said Seboka, who puts in a phenomenal load of roadwork at 280 kilometres a week. Each of her five training days in a week starts with 40 km in the morning, then she runs for another hour in the afternoon.
"He's a father figure to us. He told me to reduce the work level."
Print Edition - Section Front
Enlarge Image
More Stories
Bosh expands his horizons
Brewers wild about first playoff trip in 26 years
Winning the West no easy task
Canadian fans will be able to watch the entire playoffs this year
Gathering momentum, Montreal rolls to second lopsided win in a row
Seboka smashes record in win
Go to the section
But Seboka thrives on the high volume. She never has run any distance but the marathon, following her sister into the sport. She said it's the way of women's sport in Ethiopia to take up after a family member. The Olympic 5,000- and 10,000-metre gold medalist, Tirunesh Dibaba, 23, followed a sister, who had followed an aunt in distance running.
Dubbed the "baby-faced destroyer," Dibaba's Olympic prowess has paid of for her with a promotion to the rank of superintendent on her prison police club. She actually outranks the legendary Gebrselassie, who is a major with another police unit.
The winner of the Mumbai Marathon in India earlier this year, Seboka said she runs only two or three competitive races in a season, but the daily workload is the equivalent of more than a marathon.
Her course record and personal best time yesterday was the highlight of the Toronto race. She won by almost a minute over Shurkhno's 2:30:12. Seboka, from the town of Sululta, near Addis Ababa, figures she has more left in her, aiming to take her time down to the 2:22 or 2:23 range by the year's end. She said she came to Toronto because she heard about a flat, fast course where she could post her best time.
Gebrselassie, Ethiopia's 35-year-old running machine, knows about the wear and tear on the body from running.
The multiple Olympic gold medalist at 10,000 metres worked his way up gradually to the classic distance of the marathon (41.195 km) and, hours before the Toronto race, lowered his own world record for the men's race to 2:03:59 for his third consecutive Berlin Marathon win.
Gebrselassie has set 26 world records in his lifetime, "and seeing him break the record today on television was an inspiration just before we went out," Seboka said.
Toronto Waterfront race director Alan Brookes had hoped to see the men's course record fall for the second consecutive year. Organizers invested about $35,000 of the $350,000 budget in rabbits who kept the race at a record pace through the first half. However, hard winds slowed the field coming up the Leslie Street spit in the second half of the race. No one came close to the 2:09:30 notched last year when John Kelai of Kenya ran the fastest marathon ever run in Canada.
This year Kelai finished fifth, while fellow Kenyan Kenneth Mungara won in 2:11:09. "I tried to go for a 2:09, but I didn't make it," Mungara said.
"At around 30 kilometres the wind was so strong we couldn't keep the time," said second-place finisher Peter Kiprotich of Kenya, who clocked 2:11:02, holding a lead twice but losing touch on the final sprint to Nathan Phillips Square. Ethiopia's Amersisa Ketema was third in 2:11:51.
The top Canadian finishers were Suzanne Evans of New Westminster, B.C., ninth among the women in 2:44:22, her first sub-2:45 run, and Dylan Wykes of Kingston, Ont., who placed 11th among the men at 2:16:20.
Wykes said his goal is to get to next year's world championship marathon in Berlin.
"It would be my next big step ... If I am selected, I'd stay away from marathons for the next year and get back to 10 km and half marathons."
September 29, 2008
TORONTO -- Mulu Seboka didn't listen to the advice from the master of the marathon, Haile Gebrselassie, but both wound up champions and record-setters on the same day.
The 22-year-old Ethiopian woman set a course record of 2 hours 29 minutes 5 seconds, smashing the previous best for the Scotiabank Waterfront Marathon yesterday morning in a romp across the shores of Lake Ontario. Her time was more than four minutes better than the mark set last year by fellow Ethiopian Asha Gigi, this year's third-place finisher. Olena Shurkhno of Ukraine finished second in the women's race.
"Haile always watches us train in Addis Ababa and he tells me don't practise a lot," said Seboka, who puts in a phenomenal load of roadwork at 280 kilometres a week. Each of her five training days in a week starts with 40 km in the morning, then she runs for another hour in the afternoon.
"He's a father figure to us. He told me to reduce the work level."
Print Edition - Section Front
Enlarge Image
More Stories
Bosh expands his horizons
Brewers wild about first playoff trip in 26 years
Winning the West no easy task
Canadian fans will be able to watch the entire playoffs this year
Gathering momentum, Montreal rolls to second lopsided win in a row
Seboka smashes record in win
Go to the section
But Seboka thrives on the high volume. She never has run any distance but the marathon, following her sister into the sport. She said it's the way of women's sport in Ethiopia to take up after a family member. The Olympic 5,000- and 10,000-metre gold medalist, Tirunesh Dibaba, 23, followed a sister, who had followed an aunt in distance running.
Dubbed the "baby-faced destroyer," Dibaba's Olympic prowess has paid of for her with a promotion to the rank of superintendent on her prison police club. She actually outranks the legendary Gebrselassie, who is a major with another police unit.
The winner of the Mumbai Marathon in India earlier this year, Seboka said she runs only two or three competitive races in a season, but the daily workload is the equivalent of more than a marathon.
Her course record and personal best time yesterday was the highlight of the Toronto race. She won by almost a minute over Shurkhno's 2:30:12. Seboka, from the town of Sululta, near Addis Ababa, figures she has more left in her, aiming to take her time down to the 2:22 or 2:23 range by the year's end. She said she came to Toronto because she heard about a flat, fast course where she could post her best time.
Gebrselassie, Ethiopia's 35-year-old running machine, knows about the wear and tear on the body from running.
The multiple Olympic gold medalist at 10,000 metres worked his way up gradually to the classic distance of the marathon (41.195 km) and, hours before the Toronto race, lowered his own world record for the men's race to 2:03:59 for his third consecutive Berlin Marathon win.
Gebrselassie has set 26 world records in his lifetime, "and seeing him break the record today on television was an inspiration just before we went out," Seboka said.
Toronto Waterfront race director Alan Brookes had hoped to see the men's course record fall for the second consecutive year. Organizers invested about $35,000 of the $350,000 budget in rabbits who kept the race at a record pace through the first half. However, hard winds slowed the field coming up the Leslie Street spit in the second half of the race. No one came close to the 2:09:30 notched last year when John Kelai of Kenya ran the fastest marathon ever run in Canada.
This year Kelai finished fifth, while fellow Kenyan Kenneth Mungara won in 2:11:09. "I tried to go for a 2:09, but I didn't make it," Mungara said.
"At around 30 kilometres the wind was so strong we couldn't keep the time," said second-place finisher Peter Kiprotich of Kenya, who clocked 2:11:02, holding a lead twice but losing touch on the final sprint to Nathan Phillips Square. Ethiopia's Amersisa Ketema was third in 2:11:51.
The top Canadian finishers were Suzanne Evans of New Westminster, B.C., ninth among the women in 2:44:22, her first sub-2:45 run, and Dylan Wykes of Kingston, Ont., who placed 11th among the men at 2:16:20.
Wykes said his goal is to get to next year's world championship marathon in Berlin.
"It would be my next big step ... If I am selected, I'd stay away from marathons for the next year and get back to 10 km and half marathons."
Ethiopia blames Islamist group for weekend blast
ADDIS ABABA (AFP) — Ethiopian police on Monday blamed an Islamist rebel group for a weekend explosion that killed four people and wounded 22 others in the country's eastern region.
The police chief of the Somali province in eastern Ethiopian, where the incident occurred, said a suspect had confessed to being a member of the Al-Ittihad Al-Islamiya operating in the region.
"We are in the process of hunting down two other suspects identified by the individual in charge of the blast who is already under our custody," Yusuf Mahmoud Mussai told AFP.
"He has confessed that he is a member of al-Ittihad al-Islamiya."
Al-Ittihad al-Islamiya was formed in 1984 in northern Somalia which borders Ethiopia's restive eastern region, where another rebel group -- also formed the in same year -- operates.
The government has also repeatedly blamed the Islamist group for earlier attacks in the capital, Addis Ababa.
The Somali province has been hit by a series of attacks attributed to separatist rebels in recent years.
Last year, the army launched an offensive against the Ogaden Nation Liberation Front after they attacked a Chinese-run oil venture and killed 77 people.
The police chief of the Somali province in eastern Ethiopian, where the incident occurred, said a suspect had confessed to being a member of the Al-Ittihad Al-Islamiya operating in the region.
"We are in the process of hunting down two other suspects identified by the individual in charge of the blast who is already under our custody," Yusuf Mahmoud Mussai told AFP.
"He has confessed that he is a member of al-Ittihad al-Islamiya."
Al-Ittihad al-Islamiya was formed in 1984 in northern Somalia which borders Ethiopia's restive eastern region, where another rebel group -- also formed the in same year -- operates.
The government has also repeatedly blamed the Islamist group for earlier attacks in the capital, Addis Ababa.
The Somali province has been hit by a series of attacks attributed to separatist rebels in recent years.
Last year, the army launched an offensive against the Ogaden Nation Liberation Front after they attacked a Chinese-run oil venture and killed 77 people.
Ethiopian breaks own world marathon mark
Haile Gebrselassie smashed his marathon world record by 27 seconds, winning the Berlin Marathon in a city where he has had so much success. Gebrselassie, 35, of Ethiopia, took advantage of excellent conditions on a flat course to finish in 2hours, 3minutes, 59seconds. Despite an ailing calf, he shattered the mark he set in Berlin last year and became the first man to win this race three times. Gebrselassie thanked the crowd of about 1 million for helping him set his 26th world record. Gebrselassie first ran in Berlin in 2006 and clocked 2:05:56 before breaking the world record last year. In three years, he has improved nearly two minutes on his time. "Berlin is my lucky city," Gebrselassie said.
Sunday, September 14, 2008
Zethiopia: The Ethiopian Newspaper to Believe In
Zethiopia: The Ethiopian Newspaper to Believe In
New America Media, Media Profile, Uzo Nnabuihe, Posted: May 14, 2008
WASHINGTON -- When Dereje Desta left Ethiopia seven years ago, he hoped the United States would afford him the press freedom he lacked as a journalist in his country. Today as the publisher, editor, marketing manager and reporter for Zethiopia, he does have that freedom, but it has come at a price.
Sitting in the Mocha Hut on 14th street with his coffee in one hand and a muffin in the other, Desta stares at his computer screen waiting to get connected to the coffee shop’s wireless Internet service. As blues music blasts in the background, he talks about his life as a one-man production show. He says he has a newfound respect for the news industry. Since he launched Zethiopia six years ago, he has had to become a jack of all trades: he is not just focused solely on the stories, but also on the production, marketing and visual appearance of the paper.
Zethiopia publisher Dereje Desta speaks before congressional
staffers at a NAM briefing on reaching ethnic audiences.
Once again he stares at his computer screen and frowns; he still can’t get connected to the Internet. Even though he now has the freedom to write the stories he cares about, he finds a lot of difficulties in running the newspaper on his own. Desta says too many Ethiopians and Africans, who have migrated to the United States due to political unrest and economic reasons, say being a journalist does not fit in with the American dream because it is not profitable.
“It’s very, very hard to convince people; it’s hard to convince yourself.”
Unfortunately, because it has been hard to convince people of the merits and importance of journalism, it has been hard for Desta to get investors and business partners. Zethiopia is free, so he depends on advertisements to fund the everyday running of the paper. Desta says because he focuses more on the stories, the business side of running the paper suffers.
“Sometimes I’m busy with the stories and not too bothered with the business side, and advertisers are mad at me because they feel I don’t do my job.”
Unlike other Ethiopian newspapers, Zethiopia caters to the community and not advertisers, according to its publisher. The paper is filled with stories about life and the economic climate in Ethiopia and the issues that the Ethiopian community in America faces. Readers appreciate it.
Tigi Abebe, a cashier at an Ethiopian-owned dollar store on U Street, says she likes Zethiopia and reads it occasionally.
“I like how they write about everything -- about love, comedy, Ethiopian culture and life in America and Ethiopia.”
Desta says his main concern right now is getting the visibility and attention that will attract investors and bring in more revenue for the paper. He puts the paper’s circulation at 10,000 a month; he says it is available in most Ethiopian stores, restaurants and travel agencies. The paper is supposed to be in circulation and easily accessible to anyone interested in reading it, yet there are some Ethiopians who are unaware of the paper’s existence.
Bekele Hemancho, an Ethiopian immigrant and Maryland resident, has never heard of or seen Zethiopia.
“Zethiopia? Is it like a newspaper with many advertisements? I had never known about it. Thank you for telling me, I will look for it.”
Hemancho later said he searched for the paper in more than four Ethiopian stores and restaurants, but could not find it. At two of the Ethiopian restaurants on U Street, neither the servers nor the manager of the restaurants had heard of or seen the paper either.
This is why Desta is focused on building a name for Zethiopia. He says that since his paper is the only bilingual paper serving the Ethiopian community -- the paper is published in English and Amharic -- it is important to expand its circulation.
However, expanding the circulation is only the beginning. Desta wants to build a media institution that will better serve the Ethiopian community.
“I’m not done yet; I’m not even started. I’m still trying to convince people to start believing. That’s my goal, but in order to do that you have to start somewhere.”
For Desta, this job goes beyond reporting stories, but helps him keep in touch with his community. It goes beyond being part of a profession and extends to using the profession as an avenue to achieve objectives. Zethiopia, he says, is a way for Ethiopians to take pride in their language, culture and heritage, especially in a different country.
New America Media, Media Profile, Uzo Nnabuihe, Posted: May 14, 2008
WASHINGTON -- When Dereje Desta left Ethiopia seven years ago, he hoped the United States would afford him the press freedom he lacked as a journalist in his country. Today as the publisher, editor, marketing manager and reporter for Zethiopia, he does have that freedom, but it has come at a price.
Sitting in the Mocha Hut on 14th street with his coffee in one hand and a muffin in the other, Desta stares at his computer screen waiting to get connected to the coffee shop’s wireless Internet service. As blues music blasts in the background, he talks about his life as a one-man production show. He says he has a newfound respect for the news industry. Since he launched Zethiopia six years ago, he has had to become a jack of all trades: he is not just focused solely on the stories, but also on the production, marketing and visual appearance of the paper.
Zethiopia publisher Dereje Desta speaks before congressional
staffers at a NAM briefing on reaching ethnic audiences.
Once again he stares at his computer screen and frowns; he still can’t get connected to the Internet. Even though he now has the freedom to write the stories he cares about, he finds a lot of difficulties in running the newspaper on his own. Desta says too many Ethiopians and Africans, who have migrated to the United States due to political unrest and economic reasons, say being a journalist does not fit in with the American dream because it is not profitable.
“It’s very, very hard to convince people; it’s hard to convince yourself.”
Unfortunately, because it has been hard to convince people of the merits and importance of journalism, it has been hard for Desta to get investors and business partners. Zethiopia is free, so he depends on advertisements to fund the everyday running of the paper. Desta says because he focuses more on the stories, the business side of running the paper suffers.
“Sometimes I’m busy with the stories and not too bothered with the business side, and advertisers are mad at me because they feel I don’t do my job.”
Unlike other Ethiopian newspapers, Zethiopia caters to the community and not advertisers, according to its publisher. The paper is filled with stories about life and the economic climate in Ethiopia and the issues that the Ethiopian community in America faces. Readers appreciate it.
Tigi Abebe, a cashier at an Ethiopian-owned dollar store on U Street, says she likes Zethiopia and reads it occasionally.
“I like how they write about everything -- about love, comedy, Ethiopian culture and life in America and Ethiopia.”
Desta says his main concern right now is getting the visibility and attention that will attract investors and bring in more revenue for the paper. He puts the paper’s circulation at 10,000 a month; he says it is available in most Ethiopian stores, restaurants and travel agencies. The paper is supposed to be in circulation and easily accessible to anyone interested in reading it, yet there are some Ethiopians who are unaware of the paper’s existence.
Bekele Hemancho, an Ethiopian immigrant and Maryland resident, has never heard of or seen Zethiopia.
“Zethiopia? Is it like a newspaper with many advertisements? I had never known about it. Thank you for telling me, I will look for it.”
Hemancho later said he searched for the paper in more than four Ethiopian stores and restaurants, but could not find it. At two of the Ethiopian restaurants on U Street, neither the servers nor the manager of the restaurants had heard of or seen the paper either.
This is why Desta is focused on building a name for Zethiopia. He says that since his paper is the only bilingual paper serving the Ethiopian community -- the paper is published in English and Amharic -- it is important to expand its circulation.
However, expanding the circulation is only the beginning. Desta wants to build a media institution that will better serve the Ethiopian community.
“I’m not done yet; I’m not even started. I’m still trying to convince people to start believing. That’s my goal, but in order to do that you have to start somewhere.”
For Desta, this job goes beyond reporting stories, but helps him keep in touch with his community. It goes beyond being part of a profession and extends to using the profession as an avenue to achieve objectives. Zethiopia, he says, is a way for Ethiopians to take pride in their language, culture and heritage, especially in a different country.
Hope for Children US - Event in Washington, DC
Please Join Us For
"A Night in Ethiopia"
To Support Hope for Children's
Youth Learning Center
Friday, September 26, 7 PM
The Ethiopian Embassy, 3506 International Drive, NW, Washington, DC
Hosted by Carol Rhees, Bonnie Harkness, Freda and Gary Temple,
Ruthann Bates, Catie Dupont
Please bring your friends and family!
RSVP carhees@aol.com / 301.229.9591
For more information, go to www.hopeforchildrenus.org
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
We hope that you can join us on September 26 for a fun-filled and informative evening. If you are unable to attend but wish to make a tax-deductible contribution, checks should be made payable to Hope for Children US and should be mailed to 5801 Searl Terrace, Bethesda, MD 20816. You can also donate on-line at our website, www.hopeforchildrenus.org.
Parking: Parking in the evening is available in any of the reserved Embassy spots along International Drive. There is also a parking garage on Van Ness where you turn onto International Drive.
We hope to see you on the 26th!
"A Night in Ethiopia"
To Support Hope for Children's
Youth Learning Center
Friday, September 26, 7 PM
The Ethiopian Embassy, 3506 International Drive, NW, Washington, DC
Hosted by Carol Rhees, Bonnie Harkness, Freda and Gary Temple,
Ruthann Bates, Catie Dupont
Please bring your friends and family!
RSVP carhees@aol.com / 301.229.9591
For more information, go to www.hopeforchildrenus.org
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
We hope that you can join us on September 26 for a fun-filled and informative evening. If you are unable to attend but wish to make a tax-deductible contribution, checks should be made payable to Hope for Children US and should be mailed to 5801 Searl Terrace, Bethesda, MD 20816. You can also donate on-line at our website, www.hopeforchildrenus.org.
Parking: Parking in the evening is available in any of the reserved Embassy spots along International Drive. There is also a parking garage on Van Ness where you turn onto International Drive.
We hope to see you on the 26th!
Sunday, August 17, 2008
Olympics: Dibaba's pace leaves Pavey dismayed with best 10,000m
Tirunesh Dibaba after winning gold in the women's 10,000m at the "Bird's Nest" National Stadium, Beijing. Photograph: Valery Hache/AFP
Britain's women were left frustrated last night after the Ethiopian Tirunesh Dibaba powered her way to gold in the 10,000 metres. Dibaba added the Olympic crown to her two world titles with a stirring performance in 29min 54.66sec, beating Turkey's Elvan Abeylegesse, second in 29:56.54, with Shalane Flanagan, of the United States, third in 30:22.22. Britain's Jo Pavey was 12th in a personal best time of 31:12.30.
But back in 23rd place in 32:26.69 another Briton, Kate Reed, claimed she had been made to run a 2,000m time-trial 24 hours before this Olympic final. Reed said: "I have been having troubles with my fitness and pain in my calf - at one point I had my flight home booked - but I was all set to race and then last night the team booked a time-trial for me to test my fitness. I don't understand why they made me do it. I am new to international athletics, so I just gritted my teeth and got on with it. But it took so much out of me and today there was nothing in my legs."
But a Team GB spokesman said: "The athlete was given a pain-killing injection and asked to run 2,000m, at a reasonable pace, agreed with her coach, yesterday. This was to confirm that she could perform in the race and that the injections would work."
Even Pavey's personal best did nothing to lift her own spirits. She said: "It's very tough and it's easy to feel like I've made a fool of myself. I feel so disappointed, even though I ran a personal best, but it was just such a blistering pace. I have probably got to learn a bit, I wasn't ready for that."
Andy Baddeley progressed into the semi-finals of the 1500m and will not let go of his belief that he can win a medal in a wide-open competition. The British No1, who won The Dream Mile in Oslo earlier this year, ran a superbly controlled race in the first-round heats. He timed his performance perfectly, staying at the back of the pack before moving through to qualify in third place in 3:36.47 as Juan van Deventer won in 3:36.32.
"There is no outright favourite but at the moment I am only in the semis and there is a long way to go," said Baddeley. "It felt good and I'm really pleased with that. There has been a lot of waiting and that has been quite nerve-racking but once I got out there I felt really good." His British team-mate Tom Lancashire is out after he finished 11th in his heat in 3:43.40.
Britain's women were left frustrated last night after the Ethiopian Tirunesh Dibaba powered her way to gold in the 10,000 metres. Dibaba added the Olympic crown to her two world titles with a stirring performance in 29min 54.66sec, beating Turkey's Elvan Abeylegesse, second in 29:56.54, with Shalane Flanagan, of the United States, third in 30:22.22. Britain's Jo Pavey was 12th in a personal best time of 31:12.30.
But back in 23rd place in 32:26.69 another Briton, Kate Reed, claimed she had been made to run a 2,000m time-trial 24 hours before this Olympic final. Reed said: "I have been having troubles with my fitness and pain in my calf - at one point I had my flight home booked - but I was all set to race and then last night the team booked a time-trial for me to test my fitness. I don't understand why they made me do it. I am new to international athletics, so I just gritted my teeth and got on with it. But it took so much out of me and today there was nothing in my legs."
But a Team GB spokesman said: "The athlete was given a pain-killing injection and asked to run 2,000m, at a reasonable pace, agreed with her coach, yesterday. This was to confirm that she could perform in the race and that the injections would work."
Even Pavey's personal best did nothing to lift her own spirits. She said: "It's very tough and it's easy to feel like I've made a fool of myself. I feel so disappointed, even though I ran a personal best, but it was just such a blistering pace. I have probably got to learn a bit, I wasn't ready for that."
Andy Baddeley progressed into the semi-finals of the 1500m and will not let go of his belief that he can win a medal in a wide-open competition. The British No1, who won The Dream Mile in Oslo earlier this year, ran a superbly controlled race in the first-round heats. He timed his performance perfectly, staying at the back of the pack before moving through to qualify in third place in 3:36.47 as Juan van Deventer won in 3:36.32.
"There is no outright favourite but at the moment I am only in the semis and there is a long way to go," said Baddeley. "It felt good and I'm really pleased with that. There has been a lot of waiting and that has been quite nerve-racking but once I got out there I felt really good." His British team-mate Tom Lancashire is out after he finished 11th in his heat in 3:43.40.
Bekele storms to 10,000m victory
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Video - Bekele storms to 10,000m gold
Ethiopia's Kenenisa Bekele won the men's 10,000m gold, creating an Olympic record of 27 minutes 1.17 seconds, as compatriot Sileshi Sihine took silver.
Micah Kogo of Kenya secured bronze, but Ethiopian veteran Haile Gebrselassie could only finish sixth, ending his dream of a third Olympic gold medal.
Bekele, 26, controlled the last lap before powering home by a distance to clinch his second Olympic gold medal.
It is the fourth successive major title for the three-times world champion.
Bekele is also considering an appearance in the 5,000m but will decide after Sunday's race.
"It's was a very big goal for me to win this title - my dreams have come true to win tonight," said Bekele.
"The race was fantastic, there was no pacemaker and everyone was pushing. No-one could push any harder.
"It is a big gift. I will now try to run the 5,000 metres. It is not easy to run the two events. It will be a strong race."
Video - Bekele storms to 10,000m gold
Ethiopia's Kenenisa Bekele won the men's 10,000m gold, creating an Olympic record of 27 minutes 1.17 seconds, as compatriot Sileshi Sihine took silver.
Micah Kogo of Kenya secured bronze, but Ethiopian veteran Haile Gebrselassie could only finish sixth, ending his dream of a third Olympic gold medal.
Bekele, 26, controlled the last lap before powering home by a distance to clinch his second Olympic gold medal.
It is the fourth successive major title for the three-times world champion.
Bekele is also considering an appearance in the 5,000m but will decide after Sunday's race.
"It's was a very big goal for me to win this title - my dreams have come true to win tonight," said Bekele.
"The race was fantastic, there was no pacemaker and everyone was pushing. No-one could push any harder.
"It is a big gift. I will now try to run the 5,000 metres. It is not easy to run the two events. It will be a strong race."
Sunday, March 9, 2008
Ethiopia marks International Women’s Day
Ethiopian News Agency
President Girma Woldegiorgis said the government is committed to empower women and enable them become self sufficient and confident citizens.
The International Women’s Day (IWD) was colorfully marked at a national level at the Millennium Hall here on Saturday under the theme ‘Women ensure Ethiopia’s renaissance participating in and benefiting from development and good governance’.
Speaking at the occasion, President Girma said the envisaged renaissance of Ethiopia and democracy can only be ensured with the active participation of women in the new Ethiopian millennium.
The development polices and strategies designed by the government have not only helped to ensure the participation and benefit of women but also producing several development heroines.
Making use of the prevailing conducive environment, women are registering encouraging results in development activities, the president said, adding, women had a significant contribution in the country’s economic growth registered over the past consecutive years.
He called upon citizens, governmental and non-governmental organizations to attach due attention to gender related issues. He also called on women to organize in associations and stand for their constitutional rights.
Minister of Women’s Affairs, Hirut Delebo on her part said this year’s IWD is special as it coincides with the new Ethiopian Millennium.
She said a lot has been done on part of the government to end gender disparity and gender based violence, which had been prominent not only in Ethiopia but in the world at large.
She said a lot is expected from women, who constitute half of the population, to ensure Ethiopia’s renaissance in the new millennium.
Successful women farmers pastoralists, athletes and business persons , among others, have received medals and awards from President Girma on the occasion.
As part of the occasion, Millennium 2000 Vision of Women, a photographic exhibition was organized by the Ministry of Women's Affairs and the Ministry of Information.
Ambassadors, representatives of international organizations, religious leaders and women from different walks of life attended the occasion.
Ethiopia is marking IWD for 32nd time.
President Girma Woldegiorgis said the government is committed to empower women and enable them become self sufficient and confident citizens.
The International Women’s Day (IWD) was colorfully marked at a national level at the Millennium Hall here on Saturday under the theme ‘Women ensure Ethiopia’s renaissance participating in and benefiting from development and good governance’.
Speaking at the occasion, President Girma said the envisaged renaissance of Ethiopia and democracy can only be ensured with the active participation of women in the new Ethiopian millennium.
The development polices and strategies designed by the government have not only helped to ensure the participation and benefit of women but also producing several development heroines.
Making use of the prevailing conducive environment, women are registering encouraging results in development activities, the president said, adding, women had a significant contribution in the country’s economic growth registered over the past consecutive years.
He called upon citizens, governmental and non-governmental organizations to attach due attention to gender related issues. He also called on women to organize in associations and stand for their constitutional rights.
Minister of Women’s Affairs, Hirut Delebo on her part said this year’s IWD is special as it coincides with the new Ethiopian Millennium.
She said a lot has been done on part of the government to end gender disparity and gender based violence, which had been prominent not only in Ethiopia but in the world at large.
She said a lot is expected from women, who constitute half of the population, to ensure Ethiopia’s renaissance in the new millennium.
Successful women farmers pastoralists, athletes and business persons , among others, have received medals and awards from President Girma on the occasion.
As part of the occasion, Millennium 2000 Vision of Women, a photographic exhibition was organized by the Ministry of Women's Affairs and the Ministry of Information.
Ambassadors, representatives of international organizations, religious leaders and women from different walks of life attended the occasion.
Ethiopia is marking IWD for 32nd time.
British teacher avoids jail in Ethiopia
ADDIS ABABA, March 7 (Reuters) - A British teacher avoided a prison term in Ethiopia on Friday despite refusing to comply with a court order to apologise to a Swiss charity for accusing it of covering up sex abuse at a children's home.
Jill Campbell was convicted of defamation in 2001 and ordered to apologise to Terre Des Hommes-Lausanne (TdH) or face jail. But lawyers for the charity said it had dropped the demand for an apology, noting that her husband Gary, also convicted for defamation in the same case, had said sorry.
The couple had compiled evidence that helped convict David Christie, the British director of an orphanage run by Terre Des Hommes-Lausanne, of abusing several young boys. He was sentenced in 2003 to nine years of hard labour.
The charity admitted the abuse had happened but rejected the couple's accusations of a cover-up.
Emerging from a small courthouse in the capital Addis Ababa, Campbell was met with hugs, kisses and cheers from a group of supporters, both foreigners and locals.
"This case is not about me," she said. "It's about the victims who have been left behind."
Gary Campbell had apologised to the charity but later said this was so someone would be free to look after the couple's two adopted Ethiopian children. Jill Campbell had faced a possible six months in prison for refusing to apologise.
Surrounded by friends, family and well-wishers at her home, Campbell told Reuters that she didn't feel like celebrating until the victims of abuse were treated fairly.
"I have two children so it would have been tough to go to jail," she said.
"But going to prison would have highlighted this case again. TdH have never apologised to the children who've been abused or offered them any compensation or psychological help."
Among those at Campbell's home was a 26-year-old man who said he had been a victim of abuse in the orphanage when 14 years old. He did not want to be named.
The Campbells have lived in Addis Ababa for 14 years and are known locally for their charity work. (For full Reuters Africa coverage and to have your say on the top issues, visit: http://africa.reuters.com/ ) (Editing by Katie Nguyen)
Jill Campbell was convicted of defamation in 2001 and ordered to apologise to Terre Des Hommes-Lausanne (TdH) or face jail. But lawyers for the charity said it had dropped the demand for an apology, noting that her husband Gary, also convicted for defamation in the same case, had said sorry.
The couple had compiled evidence that helped convict David Christie, the British director of an orphanage run by Terre Des Hommes-Lausanne, of abusing several young boys. He was sentenced in 2003 to nine years of hard labour.
The charity admitted the abuse had happened but rejected the couple's accusations of a cover-up.
Emerging from a small courthouse in the capital Addis Ababa, Campbell was met with hugs, kisses and cheers from a group of supporters, both foreigners and locals.
"This case is not about me," she said. "It's about the victims who have been left behind."
Gary Campbell had apologised to the charity but later said this was so someone would be free to look after the couple's two adopted Ethiopian children. Jill Campbell had faced a possible six months in prison for refusing to apologise.
Surrounded by friends, family and well-wishers at her home, Campbell told Reuters that she didn't feel like celebrating until the victims of abuse were treated fairly.
"I have two children so it would have been tough to go to jail," she said.
"But going to prison would have highlighted this case again. TdH have never apologised to the children who've been abused or offered them any compensation or psychological help."
Among those at Campbell's home was a 26-year-old man who said he had been a victim of abuse in the orphanage when 14 years old. He did not want to be named.
The Campbells have lived in Addis Ababa for 14 years and are known locally for their charity work. (For full Reuters Africa coverage and to have your say on the top issues, visit: http://africa.reuters.com/ ) (Editing by Katie Nguyen)
Thursday, March 6, 2008
Friday, February 29, 2008
Ethiopian doubles exports to US under trade pact
ADDIS ABABA (AFP) — Ethiopian exports to the
"Since the project's inauguration two years ago, Ethiopian exports under AGOA/General System of Preference (GSP) have increased by almost 100 percent to 8.9 million dollars (5.9 million euros) in 2007, much higher than the average national exports growth rate over the past five years," the US embassy said in the statement sent to AFP.
"We are on the verge of a major breakthrough where companies in the US and elsewhere are starting to recognize Ethiopia as a place to do business and our exporters are starting to open their eyes to the world of opportunities that exist in the export sector," project director for Ethiopia Addis Alemayehu was quoted as saying in the statement.
Ethiopia's total exports to the United States, which include leading export items such as coffee and spices, have also risen from 61 million dollars (40.4 million euros) in 2005 to 81 million (58.2 million euros) in 2007, an increase of almost 30 percent, according to the statement
Thursday, February 28, 2008
Zethiopia - Frequently Asked Questions
Frequently Asked Questions
How often is Zethiopia Newspaper published?
The Newspaper is published bi-monthly. In addition to the newspaper, one-page newsflash editions are published for special events.
Zethiopia has a number of blogs that are updated regularly with community events and news.
Zethiopia also has a weekly radio program – Sundays from 5:00-6:00p.m. Tune in to 1390 AM.
How many Ethiopian languages is Zethiopia published in?
At this time, Zethiopia is only published in Amharic and English.
Who is Zethiopia’s Audience?
Zethiopia Newspaper has a readership in excess of 10, 000 and ever growing. Zethiopia is distributed to over 40 retail locations in the Greater DC Metro area and is mailed to US and International subscribers.
The estimated radio audience is in excess of 20,000 listeners.
Our audience includes Ethiopian Americans, the adoptive community, the non-profit community and others interested in the welfare of Ethiopia and Ethiopians.
What are your advertising rates?
For current rates, please contact Dereje@Zethiopia.com or call 202-518-0245.
Do you offer advertising packages?
We do! Zethiopia has a number of package options to include newspaper, radio and blog uploads.
What is your distribution program?
Zethiopia will distribute flyers/brochures/coupons to our audience – please contact Dereje for more information. Dereje@Zethiopia.com or call 202-518-0245.
What is Zethiopia Club?
Zethiopia Club is a group that was formed to promote sharing ideas and nurture learning in the community. It is based in the Washington D.C. area and there are monthly meetings. For more information, please visit www.zethiopia-club.blogspot.com or contact Dereje.
What is the Zethiopia Annual Gala Event?
Historically held in November in the DC area, this event unites the community for an evening of entertainment and camaraderie.
How often is Zethiopia Newspaper published?
The Newspaper is published bi-monthly. In addition to the newspaper, one-page newsflash editions are published for special events.
Zethiopia has a number of blogs that are updated regularly with community events and news.
Zethiopia also has a weekly radio program – Sundays from 5:00-6:00p.m. Tune in to 1390 AM.
How many Ethiopian languages is Zethiopia published in?
At this time, Zethiopia is only published in Amharic and English.
Who is Zethiopia’s Audience?
Zethiopia Newspaper has a readership in excess of 10, 000 and ever growing. Zethiopia is distributed to over 40 retail locations in the Greater DC Metro area and is mailed to US and International subscribers.
The estimated radio audience is in excess of 20,000 listeners.
Our audience includes Ethiopian Americans, the adoptive community, the non-profit community and others interested in the welfare of Ethiopia and Ethiopians.
What are your advertising rates?
For current rates, please contact Dereje@Zethiopia.com or call 202-518-0245.
Do you offer advertising packages?
We do! Zethiopia has a number of package options to include newspaper, radio and blog uploads.
What is your distribution program?
Zethiopia will distribute flyers/brochures/coupons to our audience – please contact Dereje for more information. Dereje@Zethiopia.com or call 202-518-0245.
What is Zethiopia Club?
Zethiopia Club is a group that was formed to promote sharing ideas and nurture learning in the community. It is based in the Washington D.C. area and there are monthly meetings. For more information, please visit www.zethiopia-club.blogspot.com or contact Dereje.
What is the Zethiopia Annual Gala Event?
Historically held in November in the DC area, this event unites the community for an evening of entertainment and camaraderie.
Tuesday, February 26, 2008
Zethiopia Distribution Services
Zethiopia Distribution Services
Does your organization have flyers or brochures that need to be distributed?
For more information or a copy of the distribution contract, please contact Dereje at dereje@zethiopia.com.
Ze Ethiopia Corporation
Zethiopia Newspaper & Radio
P.O. Box 2049
Fairfax, Virginia
22031
Does your organization have flyers or brochures that need to be distributed?
For more information or a copy of the distribution contract, please contact Dereje at dereje@zethiopia.com.
Ze Ethiopia Corporation
Zethiopia Newspaper & Radio
P.O. Box 2049
Fairfax, Virginia
22031
Saturday, February 23, 2008
Subscribe to Zethiopia! (newspaper, radio & club)
Do you want to subscribe to Zethiopia? Click HERE to be taken to an on-line checkout system that you can use to place your subscription order.
Friday, February 22, 2008
Locust Swarms in Ethiopia, Yemen Threaten Neighboring Countries
By Jason McLure
Feb. 19 (Bloomberg) -- Locust swarms are invading parts of south-central Ethiopia's Oromia region, threatening crops and the livelihoods of farmers and herders, the United Nations Food and Agriculture Agency said.
The swarms, as large as five square-kilometers (two square- miles), may also threaten Kenya, Eritrea, Djibouti and western Yemen, the agency said on its Web site today
``Survey and control operations are difficult because of the mountainous terrain and because the swarms are highly mobile,'' it said.
Locust swarms in Ethiopia's eastern Somali region devastated grazing lands earlier this year, contributing to continuing humanitarian problems in the region, according to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs.
Separate swarms have been reported in eastern Yemen and Oman, where they have bred near the Marmul oil fields.
``There is an increasing risk that a few swarms could reach the Batinah coastal plains in northern Oman and perhaps cross the Gulf to the Baluchistan coast in southeastern Iran and western Pakistan,'' the agency said.
To contact the reporter on this story: Jason McLure in Addis Ababa via Johannesburg at pmrichardson@bloomberg.net.
Feb. 19 (Bloomberg) -- Locust swarms are invading parts of south-central Ethiopia's Oromia region, threatening crops and the livelihoods of farmers and herders, the United Nations Food and Agriculture Agency said.
The swarms, as large as five square-kilometers (two square- miles), may also threaten Kenya, Eritrea, Djibouti and western Yemen, the agency said on its Web site today
``Survey and control operations are difficult because of the mountainous terrain and because the swarms are highly mobile,'' it said.
Locust swarms in Ethiopia's eastern Somali region devastated grazing lands earlier this year, contributing to continuing humanitarian problems in the region, according to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs.
Separate swarms have been reported in eastern Yemen and Oman, where they have bred near the Marmul oil fields.
``There is an increasing risk that a few swarms could reach the Batinah coastal plains in northern Oman and perhaps cross the Gulf to the Baluchistan coast in southeastern Iran and western Pakistan,'' the agency said.
To contact the reporter on this story: Jason McLure in Addis Ababa via Johannesburg at pmrichardson@bloomberg.net.
Athletics: Meseret leads Ethiopia world indoor squad
23 February, 2008
PARIS: Ethiopia's double women's world 3,000 metres indoor champion Meseret Defar leads a seven-strong squad for the World Indoor Championships at Valencia on March 7-9. However, the men's reigning world 3,000m champion Kenenisa Bekele will not be defending his title in Spain, though, his brother Tariku will be at the championships and compete in the 3,000m.
Bekele, the 10,000m Olympic champion and triple world title-holder, is in good form, having run the world's fastest ever two-miles race in 8:4.34s in Birmingham, England, on Saturday.
Tariku, who was fifth at the outdoor World Championships in Japan last year over 5,000m, has posted the best time over 3,000m this winter (7:31.09s).
The women's 3,000m runners in Valencia will be Meseret, who holds the world record of 8:23.72s and the best time in the world this year of 8:27.93.
* NAIROBI: Kenya's rising 800m star Richard Kiplagat will partner reigning champion Wilfred Bungei at next month's World Indoor Championships in Valencia, Spain, it was announced here on Monday.
The 26-year-old US university graduate, Kiplagat showed his credentials when he ran the third fastest 800m time in the world this year by clocking 1:46.33 at the Norwich Union Indoor Grand Prix at Birmingham last Saturday. -- AFP
PARIS: Ethiopia's double women's world 3,000 metres indoor champion Meseret Defar leads a seven-strong squad for the World Indoor Championships at Valencia on March 7-9. However, the men's reigning world 3,000m champion Kenenisa Bekele will not be defending his title in Spain, though, his brother Tariku will be at the championships and compete in the 3,000m.
Bekele, the 10,000m Olympic champion and triple world title-holder, is in good form, having run the world's fastest ever two-miles race in 8:4.34s in Birmingham, England, on Saturday.
Tariku, who was fifth at the outdoor World Championships in Japan last year over 5,000m, has posted the best time over 3,000m this winter (7:31.09s).
The women's 3,000m runners in Valencia will be Meseret, who holds the world record of 8:23.72s and the best time in the world this year of 8:27.93.
* NAIROBI: Kenya's rising 800m star Richard Kiplagat will partner reigning champion Wilfred Bungei at next month's World Indoor Championships in Valencia, Spain, it was announced here on Monday.
The 26-year-old US university graduate, Kiplagat showed his credentials when he ran the third fastest 800m time in the world this year by clocking 1:46.33 at the Norwich Union Indoor Grand Prix at Birmingham last Saturday. -- AFP
UK Coffee Roaster Shows Support for Ethiopian Coffee Farmers
Since commencing a program of trademarking Ethiopia's fine coffee designations in 2004, support for the Ethiopian sector has continued to grow worldwide. Building on its unique coffee heritage and established reputation for producing some of the finest coffee in the world Ethiopia continues to welcome new coffee roasters to its network of licensed distributors.
This month sees the addition to the network of UK based roaster Shropshire Coffee. Established in 1958, Shropshire Coffee prides itself on its record of active support for initiatives that recognize the need to fairly reward coffee growers. Their policies of supporting fairly traded coffee, community coffee farming projects and Rainforest Alliance sources have built a reputation of which owner Guiseppe D’Anna is rightfully proud.
"We have a strong belief in continuing a sustainable, just and ethical way of trading, coupled with giving our customers the best coffee the world has to offer. The Ethiopian Fine Coffee designations trademarking and licensing initiative gives us an excellent opportunity to continue with this policy whilst helping Ethiopia to protect and further develop its exceptional coffees. We at Shropshire Coffee are extremely pleased to be joining the network of licensed distributors."
Getachew Mengistie, Director General of the Ethiopian Intellectual Property Office which is spearheading the effort in Ethiopia commented, "We warmly welcome Shropshire Coffee to our network. As our latest partners in the UK we look forward to working with the company to further develop awareness and appreciation of the most valuable Ethiopian Fine Coffee and satisfy the needs of its customers".
Shropshire Coffee joins nine companies in the United Kingdom who currently partner Ethiopia in their network of licensed distributors. Worldwide there are now about seventy licensed distributors of Ethiopia's Fine coffees. Ethiopia's aim to reach out to 150-200 companies involved in the specialty coffee sector looks set to take a further great step forward in May 2008, when Ethiopia will be the portrait country at the Specialty Coffee Association of America annual conference. (CSR NEWS)
CSR News
This month sees the addition to the network of UK based roaster Shropshire Coffee. Established in 1958, Shropshire Coffee prides itself on its record of active support for initiatives that recognize the need to fairly reward coffee growers. Their policies of supporting fairly traded coffee, community coffee farming projects and Rainforest Alliance sources have built a reputation of which owner Guiseppe D’Anna is rightfully proud.
"We have a strong belief in continuing a sustainable, just and ethical way of trading, coupled with giving our customers the best coffee the world has to offer. The Ethiopian Fine Coffee designations trademarking and licensing initiative gives us an excellent opportunity to continue with this policy whilst helping Ethiopia to protect and further develop its exceptional coffees. We at Shropshire Coffee are extremely pleased to be joining the network of licensed distributors."
Getachew Mengistie, Director General of the Ethiopian Intellectual Property Office which is spearheading the effort in Ethiopia commented, "We warmly welcome Shropshire Coffee to our network. As our latest partners in the UK we look forward to working with the company to further develop awareness and appreciation of the most valuable Ethiopian Fine Coffee and satisfy the needs of its customers".
Shropshire Coffee joins nine companies in the United Kingdom who currently partner Ethiopia in their network of licensed distributors. Worldwide there are now about seventy licensed distributors of Ethiopia's Fine coffees. Ethiopia's aim to reach out to 150-200 companies involved in the specialty coffee sector looks set to take a further great step forward in May 2008, when Ethiopia will be the portrait country at the Specialty Coffee Association of America annual conference. (CSR NEWS)
CSR News
Interview with the Minister of Trade and Industry of the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia Girma Birru
Birru was in Moscow to take part in the Russian-Ethiopian Joint Intergovernmental commission held on 12-14 of February.
The year 2008 marks the 110th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between our countries. Could you speak about the dynamics of relations between Russia and Ethiopia?
In terms of diplomatic relations the relationship between Ethiopia and Russia is among the oldest in the world. This also relates to trade relations. The first trade agreement signed between Ethiopia and the Soviet Union goes back to 1959, when nearly all the African countries were under colonial rule. The 1959 trade agreement was further reviewed and signed in 1977. The last agreement to have been signed between our two countries was in 1999 after both countries had gone through a restructuring of their economy. I see today that relations are improving, and in the years you have mentioned there has never been any conflict of interests between our two countries.
How is economic and trade cooperation between our countries developing? What are the priorities in the development of bilateral economic relations?
Primarily, in terms of economic relations, trade would stand among the top priorities with investment relations next.
How do things stand in these spheres? Is there any progress in these areas?
There is. This time I came here basically to co-chair with the Russian side the Ethiopian-Russian joint commission meeting which normally takes place every two years. This is our third joint commission meeting.
Were the present talks a success?
They were very much a success. They were satisfactory for both sides.
Is there potential for cooperation in the energy sector? In 2002, Russia and Ethiopia discussed the possibility of collaboration in gas and electricity production.
How do things stand in these spheres?
It was with the former Soviet Union that we started cooperation in gas and petroleum developments. As a result of changes in government in both countries there was a short break and some of the projects that had been started with the former Soviet Union were given to other countries, but presently we are working on new projects where explorations can be carried out. I think the potential for both countries to work together is very great.
During a meeting between Anatoly Kvashnin and Samora Yenus, the Russian and Ethiopian Army Chiefs of Staff, in the summer of 2002, several documents were signed on military technical cooperation between our countries. There was a lot of talk about purchasing Russian modern military equipment and about the modernization of the Ethiopian army. What is happening in this sphere at present?
The armaments of the Ethiopian army are largely from the former Soviet Union. So when the present government took office we decided not to change our armaments. It would be of no benefit for us to change our armaments and go for new purchases and we decided to stick to the Russian armaments and in this area we have a very good cooperation in terms of technical assistance and also in purchasing equipment according to international practice. So our relationship is going very well. And we have no serious complaints about this.
Tourism is an important industry for Ethiopia. Where do tourists to Ethiopia come from? What are the prospects for the Russian sector in Ethiopian tourism?
A large amount of tourists come from Europe and from the United States. And we'd like very much to attract Russian tourists, mainly for two reasons. The first reason is that the tourist sites of Ethiopia are historical and religious sites. And I think Russian tourists would be interested in seeing these historical and religious sites because the religion of both countries is Islamic-Christian and the large majority of the population is Christian and, primarily, Orthodox Christian. We have very old churches that might be as old as Christianity itself in Ethiopia which would be of interest to Russian tourists. So this is the first reason why we'd like to see Russian tourists coming. The second has to do with the good relations between the two countries and our friendly attitude of toward Russians. All Russian tourists would feel safe in Ethiopia because in terms of culture they won't feel alien and in terms of person-to-person relationships, Ethiopian people are very friendly towards the Russians because we have been closely working with them for many years, and we have over 20 or 25 thousand students who have studied in Russia.
Is Ethiopia going to undertake any practical steps to attract Russian tourists?
One thing we would be looking into is try to extend Ethiopian Airlines flights to Moscow. As you may know, Ethiopian Airlines currently flies to over 50 destinations in the world.
What would you say about today's relations between Russia and African countries?
Firstly, in historic terms the relationship between Russia and Africa has been very constructive and positive. Russia was not been part of colonialism in Africa, so there are no bad feelings between Russia and African countries in general. Even in the Cold War days when Russia was in Africa, basically Russia was not there to take any benefit from Africa. If there was any benefit it was for Africa. Russia has also been generous enough to write off debts owed by African countries. Russians are experts in mining, and also in the exploration of petroleum and excavation which African countries need, and also Russia has very good potential markets for the agricultural products that Africa is producing. So there is a mutual relationship between the two countries and I see many positive prospects for the relationship between our continent and Russia.
There has been a lot of talk about Ethiopia becoming one of the major flower exporters to Russia. Could you comment on this? If this information is true, do you think Ethiopia is ready to ensure stable direct supplies of flowers to the Russian market and to withstand competition from such major suppliers as, say, the Netherlands or Ecuador?
Very much so. First of all Ethiopia has only begun producing flowers during the last five years. We have about 1200 hectares of greenhouses covered with flowers. Our flowers are exported to 60 countries in the world. So maybe they are working more than our own ambassadors in terms of promoting the Ethiopian image. In terms of quality, the flowers that come from Ethiopia, are among the most beautiful in the world.
Gayaneh Seiranyan, RIA Novosti
The year 2008 marks the 110th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between our countries. Could you speak about the dynamics of relations between Russia and Ethiopia?
In terms of diplomatic relations the relationship between Ethiopia and Russia is among the oldest in the world. This also relates to trade relations. The first trade agreement signed between Ethiopia and the Soviet Union goes back to 1959, when nearly all the African countries were under colonial rule. The 1959 trade agreement was further reviewed and signed in 1977. The last agreement to have been signed between our two countries was in 1999 after both countries had gone through a restructuring of their economy. I see today that relations are improving, and in the years you have mentioned there has never been any conflict of interests between our two countries.
How is economic and trade cooperation between our countries developing? What are the priorities in the development of bilateral economic relations?
Primarily, in terms of economic relations, trade would stand among the top priorities with investment relations next.
How do things stand in these spheres? Is there any progress in these areas?
There is. This time I came here basically to co-chair with the Russian side the Ethiopian-Russian joint commission meeting which normally takes place every two years. This is our third joint commission meeting.
Were the present talks a success?
They were very much a success. They were satisfactory for both sides.
Is there potential for cooperation in the energy sector? In 2002, Russia and Ethiopia discussed the possibility of collaboration in gas and electricity production.
How do things stand in these spheres?
It was with the former Soviet Union that we started cooperation in gas and petroleum developments. As a result of changes in government in both countries there was a short break and some of the projects that had been started with the former Soviet Union were given to other countries, but presently we are working on new projects where explorations can be carried out. I think the potential for both countries to work together is very great.
During a meeting between Anatoly Kvashnin and Samora Yenus, the Russian and Ethiopian Army Chiefs of Staff, in the summer of 2002, several documents were signed on military technical cooperation between our countries. There was a lot of talk about purchasing Russian modern military equipment and about the modernization of the Ethiopian army. What is happening in this sphere at present?
The armaments of the Ethiopian army are largely from the former Soviet Union. So when the present government took office we decided not to change our armaments. It would be of no benefit for us to change our armaments and go for new purchases and we decided to stick to the Russian armaments and in this area we have a very good cooperation in terms of technical assistance and also in purchasing equipment according to international practice. So our relationship is going very well. And we have no serious complaints about this.
Tourism is an important industry for Ethiopia. Where do tourists to Ethiopia come from? What are the prospects for the Russian sector in Ethiopian tourism?
A large amount of tourists come from Europe and from the United States. And we'd like very much to attract Russian tourists, mainly for two reasons. The first reason is that the tourist sites of Ethiopia are historical and religious sites. And I think Russian tourists would be interested in seeing these historical and religious sites because the religion of both countries is Islamic-Christian and the large majority of the population is Christian and, primarily, Orthodox Christian. We have very old churches that might be as old as Christianity itself in Ethiopia which would be of interest to Russian tourists. So this is the first reason why we'd like to see Russian tourists coming. The second has to do with the good relations between the two countries and our friendly attitude of toward Russians. All Russian tourists would feel safe in Ethiopia because in terms of culture they won't feel alien and in terms of person-to-person relationships, Ethiopian people are very friendly towards the Russians because we have been closely working with them for many years, and we have over 20 or 25 thousand students who have studied in Russia.
Is Ethiopia going to undertake any practical steps to attract Russian tourists?
One thing we would be looking into is try to extend Ethiopian Airlines flights to Moscow. As you may know, Ethiopian Airlines currently flies to over 50 destinations in the world.
What would you say about today's relations between Russia and African countries?
Firstly, in historic terms the relationship between Russia and Africa has been very constructive and positive. Russia was not been part of colonialism in Africa, so there are no bad feelings between Russia and African countries in general. Even in the Cold War days when Russia was in Africa, basically Russia was not there to take any benefit from Africa. If there was any benefit it was for Africa. Russia has also been generous enough to write off debts owed by African countries. Russians are experts in mining, and also in the exploration of petroleum and excavation which African countries need, and also Russia has very good potential markets for the agricultural products that Africa is producing. So there is a mutual relationship between the two countries and I see many positive prospects for the relationship between our continent and Russia.
There has been a lot of talk about Ethiopia becoming one of the major flower exporters to Russia. Could you comment on this? If this information is true, do you think Ethiopia is ready to ensure stable direct supplies of flowers to the Russian market and to withstand competition from such major suppliers as, say, the Netherlands or Ecuador?
Very much so. First of all Ethiopia has only begun producing flowers during the last five years. We have about 1200 hectares of greenhouses covered with flowers. Our flowers are exported to 60 countries in the world. So maybe they are working more than our own ambassadors in terms of promoting the Ethiopian image. In terms of quality, the flowers that come from Ethiopia, are among the most beautiful in the world.
Gayaneh Seiranyan, RIA Novosti
Doctor provides Charitable service in Ethiopia
Helping the world, one smile at a time
By Marian Schinske
Special to the Advance
Wednesday, February 20, 2008
Those of us with teeth are lucky to have Dr. Mahr Elder in town. As an oral and maxillofacial surgeon, he can repair jaw-related problems, relieve pain, and restore smiles.
“I’m definitely here to help,” Dr. Elder said. “I try to look at patients’ problems objectively and find solutions. At the same time, I try to be kind and understanding.”
Patients say they’re pleasantly surprised. He’s calm and unhurried, yet he works swiftly. And despite his use of hefty surgical tools, he’s got a light touch.
“He’s an excellent surgeon,” said Dr. Eric Tyler, a dentist at Perry & Perry Family Dental Practice in Novato. “He’s up to date with the latest surgical techniques, he’s got good rapport with his patients and staff, and he communicates well with everybody.”
At his Novato office, Dr. Elder performs tooth extractions, installs implants, and mends broken jaws, among other surgeries. Patients with more serious facial problems — such as tumors or traumatic wounds — receive his care at Novato Community Hospital and Marin General Hospital.
When he’s not serving Marin County patients, Dr. Elder packs his toolkit and flies around the world to volunteer his help.
Children awaited his visit to Cuernavaca, Mexico, at the Craniofacial Surgery Clinic within the Hospital del Niño Morelense. He examined about 60 children “with major facial deformities,” he said, adding that most suffered from cleft lip and palate. During his week-long stay, he operated on 15 of these kids, enabling them to eat and speak normally for the first time in their lives.
During a three-week visit to Ethiopia, he performed 25 surgeries on patients of all ages, from babies to adults. “These were people with major tumors and cancers who had absolutely no one to treat them,” he said. “All of them were waiting for us at the hospital when we arrived.”
Dr. Elder was part of a healthcare team assembled by the Ethiopian North American Health Professionals Association (www. enahpa.org), a nonprofit that seeks to improve medical access and delivery to families in Ethiopia, where doctors are scarce.
According to the nonprofit’s website, “The average life expectancy in Ethiopia is only 40, with the HIV/AIDS pandemic claiming millions of lives annually. There is also a generalized lack of access to health care—the ratio of physicians to patients is 1:100,000. Hospitals and clinics function with outdated medical equipment.” The country’s list of problems goes on from there.
Happily, a host of surgeons like Dr. Elder respond to that corner of Africa. People there suffer deeply, as shown in Dr. Elder’s collection of patient photos.
In one photo, a young girl’s face is overtaken by a flesh-eating infection. In another, an expansive mole occupies about one-third of a girl’s face. Young men and women struggle with jaws swollen by tumors. These aggressive lesions grow without boundaries, as they twist and turn around bone, teeth, and gums.
“Several of these cases were very complicated,” Dr. Elder said, adding that his biggest challenge was helping a 20-year-old Ethiopian man with a “very aggressive” jaw tumor that erupted in three parts of his face.
The operation on this man was difficult and complex, Dr. Elder said. “The surgery took seven hours to complete. I just tried to be calm and patient, always relying on good surgical principles, especially when things became challenging. It’s always better to do things that way, so you don’t have any second thoughts when it’s all over.”
To his relief, the operation went well, he said. “The patient walked away without any remaining tumor or significant problems.”
Dr. Elder said he wishes to give a positive experience to all of his patients. “You want them to feel happy that they came to you,” he said. “You want to do better than ‘Do No Harm.’ You want to do good.”
By Marian Schinske
Special to the Advance
Wednesday, February 20, 2008
Those of us with teeth are lucky to have Dr. Mahr Elder in town. As an oral and maxillofacial surgeon, he can repair jaw-related problems, relieve pain, and restore smiles.
“I’m definitely here to help,” Dr. Elder said. “I try to look at patients’ problems objectively and find solutions. At the same time, I try to be kind and understanding.”
Patients say they’re pleasantly surprised. He’s calm and unhurried, yet he works swiftly. And despite his use of hefty surgical tools, he’s got a light touch.
“He’s an excellent surgeon,” said Dr. Eric Tyler, a dentist at Perry & Perry Family Dental Practice in Novato. “He’s up to date with the latest surgical techniques, he’s got good rapport with his patients and staff, and he communicates well with everybody.”
At his Novato office, Dr. Elder performs tooth extractions, installs implants, and mends broken jaws, among other surgeries. Patients with more serious facial problems — such as tumors or traumatic wounds — receive his care at Novato Community Hospital and Marin General Hospital.
When he’s not serving Marin County patients, Dr. Elder packs his toolkit and flies around the world to volunteer his help.
Children awaited his visit to Cuernavaca, Mexico, at the Craniofacial Surgery Clinic within the Hospital del Niño Morelense. He examined about 60 children “with major facial deformities,” he said, adding that most suffered from cleft lip and palate. During his week-long stay, he operated on 15 of these kids, enabling them to eat and speak normally for the first time in their lives.
During a three-week visit to Ethiopia, he performed 25 surgeries on patients of all ages, from babies to adults. “These were people with major tumors and cancers who had absolutely no one to treat them,” he said. “All of them were waiting for us at the hospital when we arrived.”
Dr. Elder was part of a healthcare team assembled by the Ethiopian North American Health Professionals Association (www. enahpa.org), a nonprofit that seeks to improve medical access and delivery to families in Ethiopia, where doctors are scarce.
According to the nonprofit’s website, “The average life expectancy in Ethiopia is only 40, with the HIV/AIDS pandemic claiming millions of lives annually. There is also a generalized lack of access to health care—the ratio of physicians to patients is 1:100,000. Hospitals and clinics function with outdated medical equipment.” The country’s list of problems goes on from there.
Happily, a host of surgeons like Dr. Elder respond to that corner of Africa. People there suffer deeply, as shown in Dr. Elder’s collection of patient photos.
In one photo, a young girl’s face is overtaken by a flesh-eating infection. In another, an expansive mole occupies about one-third of a girl’s face. Young men and women struggle with jaws swollen by tumors. These aggressive lesions grow without boundaries, as they twist and turn around bone, teeth, and gums.
“Several of these cases were very complicated,” Dr. Elder said, adding that his biggest challenge was helping a 20-year-old Ethiopian man with a “very aggressive” jaw tumor that erupted in three parts of his face.
The operation on this man was difficult and complex, Dr. Elder said. “The surgery took seven hours to complete. I just tried to be calm and patient, always relying on good surgical principles, especially when things became challenging. It’s always better to do things that way, so you don’t have any second thoughts when it’s all over.”
To his relief, the operation went well, he said. “The patient walked away without any remaining tumor or significant problems.”
Dr. Elder said he wishes to give a positive experience to all of his patients. “You want them to feel happy that they came to you,” he said. “You want to do better than ‘Do No Harm.’ You want to do good.”
Decaffeinated Agreement - Starbucks and Ethiopia
Wondwossen Mezlekia
Wondwossen Mezlekia is the Seattle-based publisher of www.CoffeeMonitor.com
The trademark dispute between Ethiopia and Starbucks is deemed “resolved” to the satisfaction of both Starbucks’ executives and the Ethiopian Government. In November 2006, Oxfam, the international development and relief agency, launched the unprecedented global campaign in support of Ethiopia’s coffee trademark initiative against Starbucks, the specialty coffee giant. “For every cup of Ethiopian coffee Starbucks sells, Ethiopian farmers earn 3¢. Tell Starbucks: Honor your commitments to coffee farmers.” goes the campaign’s leading caption.
In June 2007, the parties announced that they have signed a confidential agreement and, in November 2007, they “turned the page of the misunderstandings, for a new beginning,” as put by Starbucks’ Chairman Howard Schultz, after his meeting with Prime Minister Meles Zenawi in Addis Ababa.
However, some questions still remain unanswered to the satisfaction of Ethiopian coffee farmers and their supporters, those activists around the globe who have been instrumental in forcing the multinational giant to par with one of the poorest nations in the world. Whether the reported agreement benefits the poor coffee farmers still remains an unanswered question. Whether or not Ethiopia has made the best out of Oxfam’s campaign also remains open to question.
Missed Opportunities
The catchphrase “For every cup of Ethiopian coffee Starbucks sells, Ethiopian farmers earn 3¢” contrasts the power and wealth of multinational coffee companies and the plight of poor coffee farmers across the globe.
Oxfam, a co-sponsor of the award winning documentary Black Gold, sought for years to create awareness of the injustices that exist in the global coffee trade. The organization has always been calling for a coffee market structure that will work for the poor as well as the rich. “Oxfam seeks to correct the imbalances of power at the root of unfair trade,” says Seth Petchers, Oxfam America’s coffee program manager. By highlighting the disparity that exists between coffee farmers’ struggle for barely hand-to-mouth living standards and multinationals’ huge profits, Oxfam hopes to create awareness among consumers. The Starbucks-Ethiopia dispute was one such opportunity for Oxfam but a threat for Starbucks.
Starbucks buys only less than 2 percent of the world’s coffee but it was targeted as a symbol of globalization along the lines of the world’s largest coffee companies Kraft, Nestle, Procter and Gamble, Sara Lee, and German’s giant Tchibo. The ubiquitous brand, which was generally perceived by the public, until the much publicized trademark campaign, as a new breed of socially responsible multinational was depicted as arrogant, exploitative, and insensitive to societal issues.
This left Starbucks rapt with quagmires opening ample opportunities for Ethiopia to negotiate a deal worth its forgone benefits.
Oxfam succeeded in bringing company executives to the table to negotiate with the Ethiopian Government towards terms that may be acceptable to both. Starbucks had no other choice but to give in. This is not surprising considering the gravity of the charges against the company. Unfortunately, Ethiopia’s Government has failed to see these opportunities.
Unfair Settlement
The age long exploitation of the farmers and the fact that Starbucks had worked to block Ethiopia’s efforts to register Sidamo as a trademark in the United States merit a meaningful compensation. But, the Government of Ethiopia and Starbucks’ executives have settled short of expectation even at standards of ordinary trademark disputes.
Ethiopia’s advisors managed to protest USPTO’s (United States Patent and Trademark Office) decision against the Sidamo trademark and the application has once again been pending as of October, 2007. It is not clear whether Starbucks’ agreement to sign a marketing and distribution partnership has so far played anything more than a public relations role. For instance, there is no sign of Starbucks promoting the coffee marks anywhere in its stores. Ten months after the hype, the farmers are still anxiously waiting to see what the agreement would bring for them.
During the 2007 Annual Meeting of Starbucks Shareholders that was held in Seattle on March 21, 2007, Chairman Howard Schultz said: “…I can only tell you that as we stand here before you, we are highly conscious and sensitive of the issues, and we will do the right thing that most importantly, at the end of the day, that will be pro-farmer....” Schultz’s message soothed investors who have been expressing their concerns over the company’s handling of Ethiopia’s trademark issues although whether that meant a change of heart or not remains to be seen. Schultz repeated his promise when he announced that Starbucks will open a farmers’ support center in Addis Ababa but details, including whether the center would be auxiliary to the one that is going to be built in Rwanda or a standalone regional center, are not disclosed.
As part of the negotiated settlement, and perhaps the only tangible outcome of the dispute, Starbucks also promised to cooperate in the country’s economic development efforts. Interestingly, the first of such economic cooperation benefits neither the coffee sector nor the impoverished coffee farmers: Starbucks is currently in talks with an Ethiopian apparel factory to manufacture the black apron worn by its coffee experts.
Lacking the competence or the resolve to stand up to the multinationals’ business acumen and public relations machinery is one thing; selling out the farmers’ interests is, however, unacceptable. Ethiopia could – and should - use any market based support to its development efforts. But, trading the coffee farmers’ interests for promises to benefit a non-coffee sector is unfair. The farmers have every right to ask whether the coffee trademark dispute was worth the fight in their name and what, if anything, has been achieved. And, all actors that have taken part in the coffee trademark conundrum ought to account for the burden of proof of an equitable settlement of the dispute.
_______________
Source: Washington Post, US
Wondwossen Mezlekia is the Seattle-based publisher of www.CoffeeMonitor.com
The trademark dispute between Ethiopia and Starbucks is deemed “resolved” to the satisfaction of both Starbucks’ executives and the Ethiopian Government. In November 2006, Oxfam, the international development and relief agency, launched the unprecedented global campaign in support of Ethiopia’s coffee trademark initiative against Starbucks, the specialty coffee giant. “For every cup of Ethiopian coffee Starbucks sells, Ethiopian farmers earn 3¢. Tell Starbucks: Honor your commitments to coffee farmers.” goes the campaign’s leading caption.
In June 2007, the parties announced that they have signed a confidential agreement and, in November 2007, they “turned the page of the misunderstandings, for a new beginning,” as put by Starbucks’ Chairman Howard Schultz, after his meeting with Prime Minister Meles Zenawi in Addis Ababa.
However, some questions still remain unanswered to the satisfaction of Ethiopian coffee farmers and their supporters, those activists around the globe who have been instrumental in forcing the multinational giant to par with one of the poorest nations in the world. Whether the reported agreement benefits the poor coffee farmers still remains an unanswered question. Whether or not Ethiopia has made the best out of Oxfam’s campaign also remains open to question.
Missed Opportunities
The catchphrase “For every cup of Ethiopian coffee Starbucks sells, Ethiopian farmers earn 3¢” contrasts the power and wealth of multinational coffee companies and the plight of poor coffee farmers across the globe.
Oxfam, a co-sponsor of the award winning documentary Black Gold, sought for years to create awareness of the injustices that exist in the global coffee trade. The organization has always been calling for a coffee market structure that will work for the poor as well as the rich. “Oxfam seeks to correct the imbalances of power at the root of unfair trade,” says Seth Petchers, Oxfam America’s coffee program manager. By highlighting the disparity that exists between coffee farmers’ struggle for barely hand-to-mouth living standards and multinationals’ huge profits, Oxfam hopes to create awareness among consumers. The Starbucks-Ethiopia dispute was one such opportunity for Oxfam but a threat for Starbucks.
Starbucks buys only less than 2 percent of the world’s coffee but it was targeted as a symbol of globalization along the lines of the world’s largest coffee companies Kraft, Nestle, Procter and Gamble, Sara Lee, and German’s giant Tchibo. The ubiquitous brand, which was generally perceived by the public, until the much publicized trademark campaign, as a new breed of socially responsible multinational was depicted as arrogant, exploitative, and insensitive to societal issues.
This left Starbucks rapt with quagmires opening ample opportunities for Ethiopia to negotiate a deal worth its forgone benefits.
Oxfam succeeded in bringing company executives to the table to negotiate with the Ethiopian Government towards terms that may be acceptable to both. Starbucks had no other choice but to give in. This is not surprising considering the gravity of the charges against the company. Unfortunately, Ethiopia’s Government has failed to see these opportunities.
Unfair Settlement
The age long exploitation of the farmers and the fact that Starbucks had worked to block Ethiopia’s efforts to register Sidamo as a trademark in the United States merit a meaningful compensation. But, the Government of Ethiopia and Starbucks’ executives have settled short of expectation even at standards of ordinary trademark disputes.
Ethiopia’s advisors managed to protest USPTO’s (United States Patent and Trademark Office) decision against the Sidamo trademark and the application has once again been pending as of October, 2007. It is not clear whether Starbucks’ agreement to sign a marketing and distribution partnership has so far played anything more than a public relations role. For instance, there is no sign of Starbucks promoting the coffee marks anywhere in its stores. Ten months after the hype, the farmers are still anxiously waiting to see what the agreement would bring for them.
During the 2007 Annual Meeting of Starbucks Shareholders that was held in Seattle on March 21, 2007, Chairman Howard Schultz said: “…I can only tell you that as we stand here before you, we are highly conscious and sensitive of the issues, and we will do the right thing that most importantly, at the end of the day, that will be pro-farmer....” Schultz’s message soothed investors who have been expressing their concerns over the company’s handling of Ethiopia’s trademark issues although whether that meant a change of heart or not remains to be seen. Schultz repeated his promise when he announced that Starbucks will open a farmers’ support center in Addis Ababa but details, including whether the center would be auxiliary to the one that is going to be built in Rwanda or a standalone regional center, are not disclosed.
As part of the negotiated settlement, and perhaps the only tangible outcome of the dispute, Starbucks also promised to cooperate in the country’s economic development efforts. Interestingly, the first of such economic cooperation benefits neither the coffee sector nor the impoverished coffee farmers: Starbucks is currently in talks with an Ethiopian apparel factory to manufacture the black apron worn by its coffee experts.
Lacking the competence or the resolve to stand up to the multinationals’ business acumen and public relations machinery is one thing; selling out the farmers’ interests is, however, unacceptable. Ethiopia could – and should - use any market based support to its development efforts. But, trading the coffee farmers’ interests for promises to benefit a non-coffee sector is unfair. The farmers have every right to ask whether the coffee trademark dispute was worth the fight in their name and what, if anything, has been achieved. And, all actors that have taken part in the coffee trademark conundrum ought to account for the burden of proof of an equitable settlement of the dispute.
_______________
Source: Washington Post, US
Ancient Caves Discovered in Ethiopia
Nine ancient caves discovered in Keffa zone
February 21, 2008
Nine ancient caves were discovered recently in Telo Woreda, Keffa Zone of the South Ethiopia Peoples’ State, the woreda information office said.
Professionals of the office uncovered the ancient caves in the area locally called ‘Shimari’ while trying to register relics that exist in the woreda, an information expert with the office, Melese Woldie told ENA on Wednesday.
Five of the newly discovered caves, which are located in dense forest, have 40-m length, 25-m width, and 3-m height and can hold up to 600 persons at a time, the expert said. Ancient tools made of stone and ashes were also discovered inside the caves indicating human habitation.
The woreda has already registered 37 ancient caves, he said, especially one of the ancient caves in the woreda has 44-m length, 40-m width, and 5-m height.
A cornerstone was laid in the woreda for the construction a museum around the cemetery of 13 prominent personalities of the Keffa dynasty. (ENA)
February 21, 2008
Nine ancient caves were discovered recently in Telo Woreda, Keffa Zone of the South Ethiopia Peoples’ State, the woreda information office said.
Professionals of the office uncovered the ancient caves in the area locally called ‘Shimari’ while trying to register relics that exist in the woreda, an information expert with the office, Melese Woldie told ENA on Wednesday.
Five of the newly discovered caves, which are located in dense forest, have 40-m length, 25-m width, and 3-m height and can hold up to 600 persons at a time, the expert said. Ancient tools made of stone and ashes were also discovered inside the caves indicating human habitation.
The woreda has already registered 37 ancient caves, he said, especially one of the ancient caves in the woreda has 44-m length, 40-m width, and 5-m height.
A cornerstone was laid in the woreda for the construction a museum around the cemetery of 13 prominent personalities of the Keffa dynasty. (ENA)
Tuesday, February 19, 2008
First exclusive life insurance company founded
By Muluken Yewondwossen (capital)
The first exclusive life insurance company, Ethio-Life Insurance was founded on February 9, 2008 with a paid up capital of over Br 6 million. It has 130 shareholders.
The legal capital requirement to establish an insurance company is Br 4 million and the company is due to start operations with a capital exceeding the minimum requirement.
Ethio-Life Insurance Company will be a specialized long term insurance company engaging in life insurance, health insurance and annuity cover it was announced at the founding meeting held at the Ghion Hotel.
One of the business motives for the promoters to establish an exclusive life insurance company, after 34 years of hiatus, was noted as the fact that the potential for long term insurance in Ethiopia is untapped. Low penetration of long term insurance was explained more by low intensity of business promotion and awareness creation than by cultural barriers and low disposable income.
The promoters believe that there will be an increasing demand and, hence, steady growth in returns. Currently, the contribution of life insurance is a mere slice of the total insurance sales in the country, which is 5 to 6 percent.
According to the company’s release document the new company plans to change this state of affairs around and undertake long term insurance as a self-sustaining and independent business entity. Together with other actors in the industry, Ethio-Life will do its best to promote long term insurance and hopes to upgrade the share of long term insurance in the country to 15 percent in five years time.
The company believes that life insurance appeals to all members of the society irrespective of economic or social status. As the experiences of other countries show, the demand for life insurance is not fully correlated with the per capita income of citizens, according to the company realized document.
The document said that in countries such as Costa Rica and India, the per capita spending on long term insurance is Birr 63 and Birr 168 respectively as opposed to Birr 0.5 in Ethiopia. The penetration of long term insurance in these countries is 126 and 336 time larger than that in Ethiopia respectively. The shareholders, therefore, rallied around the strong theme that long term insurance will have a niche in the shipping basket of the families and would gradually be introduced to the homes of millions.
Essentially, Ethio-life commits itself to tailoring life insurance products to society’s need by introducing suitable insurance products.
The noticeable changes in the structure of our society such as ‘extended family’ gradually becoming ‘less extended’ and the force of the market increasingly putting pressure on families to be economically independent and plan for the future are some of the factors that the new company considers as opportunities in the years ahead. The global and national business trend, expansion of private employments and growing parental concern for children are also equally propitious developments conducive to the business.
The founding meeting has elected a board of directors comprising seven members including three body corporate: Teshome Beyene, Yoseph Endeshaw, Zikre Negatu, Ayate S.C, Ethiopia Machinery Lease plc, Abate Digafe and Ethiopian Air lines Employee’s Savings and Credit Association. The members were praised to have a strong and diversified business experience and credential.
The company plans to start operations in three months and would soon apply to the regulatory authority for a license.
India to announce duty free import
By Groum Abate (Capital)
India is likely to announce duty free import of selected items from African countries at its first-ever summit with 14 African countries in April. The April 8 summit will come out with an action plan for reinvigorating India-Africa ties and a political declaration that will encapsulate broad directions of this partnership in the 21st century. The action plan will include a broad spectrum of areas, including trade, investment, education, agriculture, mining, infrastructure and culture. It is said that the Indian government is working on a package of duty concessions that may cover some agricultural items for least developed countries of Africa.
Total trade with Africa for 2006-07 was estimated at around 20 billion dollars with exports to Africa growing by more than 180%. The duty-free and quota-free regime for certain African countries will be a big step to energize trade ties between India and Africa. Algeria, Burkina Faso, Democratic Republic of Congo, Egypt, Ethiopia, Ghana, Libya, Nigeria, Senegal, South Africa, Uganda and Zambia are among the countries to attend the summit. The participating countries have been chosen by the African Union. The summit has been structured as a three-tier interaction between senior officials (April 4), foreign ministers (April 7) and 17 heads of states/government of the two sides (April 8) participating in this exercise. A gala multicultural concert and a multimedia show will kick off the summit and will provide a more contemporary character to their ties.
Although some see the move to have been inspired by a similar summit China held with African states, Indian officials are keen to distinguish their approach, of capacity building and empowerment towards Africa, as different from the trade-driven Chinese approach.
India sees its partnership with Africa as one of empowerment and meeting genuine African needs.
Nearly 15,000 African students study in India every year. “The summit will showcase the brand image of India in Africa. The continent has changed and so has India. The forum will be appropriate to give a new direction to the partnership between the two sides,” said an official. The summit will also be attended by heads of sub-regional groupings like the Southern African Development Community (SADC), Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA) and the Economic Community for West African States (ECOWAS).
India’s help in setting up the Pan-Africa e-network that will electronically link 53 countries of Africa and bring them benefits of tele-education and tele-medicine, highlights the new thrust of Indian diplomacy in Africa. India has also given generous lines of credit to assist the New Partnership for Africa’s Development (NEPAD) and written off the debt owed by the African countries under the HIPC (Heavily Indebted Poor Countries) Paris Initiative. India has spent more than $1 billion on providing training to more than 1,000 officials from sub-Saharan Africa, under the Indian Technical and Economic Cooperation Program (ITEC).
India is likely to announce duty free import of selected items from African countries at its first-ever summit with 14 African countries in April. The April 8 summit will come out with an action plan for reinvigorating India-Africa ties and a political declaration that will encapsulate broad directions of this partnership in the 21st century. The action plan will include a broad spectrum of areas, including trade, investment, education, agriculture, mining, infrastructure and culture. It is said that the Indian government is working on a package of duty concessions that may cover some agricultural items for least developed countries of Africa.
Total trade with Africa for 2006-07 was estimated at around 20 billion dollars with exports to Africa growing by more than 180%. The duty-free and quota-free regime for certain African countries will be a big step to energize trade ties between India and Africa. Algeria, Burkina Faso, Democratic Republic of Congo, Egypt, Ethiopia, Ghana, Libya, Nigeria, Senegal, South Africa, Uganda and Zambia are among the countries to attend the summit. The participating countries have been chosen by the African Union. The summit has been structured as a three-tier interaction between senior officials (April 4), foreign ministers (April 7) and 17 heads of states/government of the two sides (April 8) participating in this exercise. A gala multicultural concert and a multimedia show will kick off the summit and will provide a more contemporary character to their ties.
Although some see the move to have been inspired by a similar summit China held with African states, Indian officials are keen to distinguish their approach, of capacity building and empowerment towards Africa, as different from the trade-driven Chinese approach.
India sees its partnership with Africa as one of empowerment and meeting genuine African needs.
Nearly 15,000 African students study in India every year. “The summit will showcase the brand image of India in Africa. The continent has changed and so has India. The forum will be appropriate to give a new direction to the partnership between the two sides,” said an official. The summit will also be attended by heads of sub-regional groupings like the Southern African Development Community (SADC), Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA) and the Economic Community for West African States (ECOWAS).
India’s help in setting up the Pan-Africa e-network that will electronically link 53 countries of Africa and bring them benefits of tele-education and tele-medicine, highlights the new thrust of Indian diplomacy in Africa. India has also given generous lines of credit to assist the New Partnership for Africa’s Development (NEPAD) and written off the debt owed by the African countries under the HIPC (Heavily Indebted Poor Countries) Paris Initiative. India has spent more than $1 billion on providing training to more than 1,000 officials from sub-Saharan Africa, under the Indian Technical and Economic Cooperation Program (ITEC).
Ethiopian sells B 737 aircraft - Boeing
Saturday, 02 February 2008
The national carrier Ethiopian Airlines has sold a Boeing 737 aircraft to a company called Star Equatorial Airline based in Equatorial Guinea, it has been learnt.
Ethiopian and Star Equatorial signed the letter of intent on November 16,2007. In a written response to The Reporter, Ethiopian said the aircraft has been in service since its delivery in July 1988 until October 2007. Ethiopian declined to disclose the selling price of the aircraft. “The selling price of the aircraft is part of the contractual deal between the buyer and the seller. There is a contractual non-disclosure pact which both parties have signed and which binds them legally not to disclose it [the price]," it said.
The aircraft is currently undergoing maintenance at the hangar of Ethiopian. The airline revealed that the cost of the maintenance depended on the work package and man-hour it consumes. It added that the total maintenance cost can only be determined once the job was completed.
Ethiopian will deliver the aircraft upon completion of the maintenance work and after the definitive agreement is finalized by both parties. As part of the ongoing fleet modernization program launched in 2003, Ethiopian has been renewing its fleet. Previously, it sold a B767-200 aircraft to the US based company Aviation Capital Leasing (ACL). The aircraft is currently under maintenance and will be delivered after completion of the maintenance work.
Ethiopian has about 20 jet aircrafts. In February 2005, the airline placed firm orders for the purchase of ten B787 Dreamliner aircrafts with a total list price of 1.3 billion dollars.
The national carrier Ethiopian Airlines has sold a Boeing 737 aircraft to a company called Star Equatorial Airline based in Equatorial Guinea, it has been learnt.
Ethiopian and Star Equatorial signed the letter of intent on November 16,2007. In a written response to The Reporter, Ethiopian said the aircraft has been in service since its delivery in July 1988 until October 2007. Ethiopian declined to disclose the selling price of the aircraft. “The selling price of the aircraft is part of the contractual deal between the buyer and the seller. There is a contractual non-disclosure pact which both parties have signed and which binds them legally not to disclose it [the price]," it said.
The aircraft is currently undergoing maintenance at the hangar of Ethiopian. The airline revealed that the cost of the maintenance depended on the work package and man-hour it consumes. It added that the total maintenance cost can only be determined once the job was completed.
Ethiopian will deliver the aircraft upon completion of the maintenance work and after the definitive agreement is finalized by both parties. As part of the ongoing fleet modernization program launched in 2003, Ethiopian has been renewing its fleet. Previously, it sold a B767-200 aircraft to the US based company Aviation Capital Leasing (ACL). The aircraft is currently under maintenance and will be delivered after completion of the maintenance work.
Ethiopian has about 20 jet aircrafts. In February 2005, the airline placed firm orders for the purchase of ten B787 Dreamliner aircrafts with a total list price of 1.3 billion dollars.
National Palace calls original architect for remodeling
By Kirubel Tadesse (Capital)
Francesco Saverio Antilici, Italian Architectural and Interior Designer, who created the Palace's interior and supervised the construction of the Jubilee Palace in 1972, is in Addis Ababa for a renovation project. The whereabouts of Francesco Saverio Antilici was traced by chance by the Palace Administration through the Internet and he was invited to come to Addis Ababa to help in the study for the renovation and the interior designs of his thirty-five year old work as well as the original wing of the palace which was built in 1955.
Antilici told Capital that he has spent months preparing the survey of both the two wings of the Palace starting from the end of October 2007. "We looked everywhere for the designs of the Palace," explained Antilici," finally, I found some of the designs in my archive and those are what we are referring to now. For the 1955 wing, which was designed by another person, no plans were found so I had to draw and study it thoroughly for months."
He has now submitted the results of the survey and a renovation program to the Palace Administration and is optimistic about the approval of a budget for the projects, which is estimated to last two years. "I was told that the news of an approval of a budget should come in quite a short time," Antilici told Capital. "We will first start to renovate one of the wings, leaving the other to resume service and move to the other wing," Antilici added.
Going back to the first time when he was called in for the job, Antilici said "I can say it was by chance I got the job. Back in 1969, I was talking to my uncle, an engineer, and acquainted with the people who were looking for an architect. That's how I came to spend three years working on the Palace. I was 27 at that time and it was a great experience for any young architect."
According to Antilici's recollection the interior designs and finish of Jubilee Palace cost USD 5 million, a budget made available by an export credit by the Italian government. He added he was put in charge of the project after the foundation and basement were completed. Most of the materials were imported from Italy but now Antilici believes that many of them should be available locally.
"The condition of the palace is really amazing; the Palace Administration accomplished a miracle in preserving it. The 1955 palace is also in fair good condition. However, every house needs maintenance after thirty five years of service, particularly in what concerns the technical installations, i.e. electrical, plumbing and ventilation systems, the restoration of wooden floors and the general interior decoration" explained Antilici. Even if the current state of the palace is quite satisfactory, Antilici comments that for unknown reasons, the exterior of the Jubilee Palace has been repainted and has a different look and color." Now we have to undo that and correct it. I don't know why it was made to look like limestone but it was redecorated and now we will change it back to its original look," Antilici added.
Antilici told Capital that he has met some old friends who still work at the palace. "I heard that Engineer Mekonnen Mulat has passed, he was the one I was working with mostly," said Antilici referring to the then Vice Minister of Public Works. "The Emperor too was closely following the palace construction. We were working like mad and eager for the completion day. At the end of the project, the Emperor was satisfied."
Renowned architect, Francesco Saverio Antilici, was born in Rome, Italy, in a family of Italian and German descent. He took the final examinations both at the State Art School and at the Technical School in Rome getting the architectural designer certificate. He also studied architecture at the La Sapienza University in Rome.
He started practicing in Tunisia as assistant architect at the Ministry of Public Works. He set up his own Architectural and Town planning practice on authorization by the Tunisian Government. He completed successfully a number of projects, as designer and project manager in North Africa, Middle East and Europe sometimes in collaboration with major Italian and foreign offices, or on his own. His portfolio includes clients like Dr G.-R. Flick, the heir of the Daimler-Benz fortune, two daughters of President Bongo of Gabon, Prince Mansour b. Meteib b. Abdulaziz, a nephew of former King Fahad of Saudi Arabia, Mr. C.-J. Tourres of Adidas and many more important private clients and institutions. His experience going from town planning to architecture, interior design, restoration of antique buildings and garden and landscape design. "It is a special moment for me; it isn't always that you are called to do a project you did 35 years ago," said Antilici," the budget required isn't that high since the Palace is just old and not an antique which usually costs a huge amount of money."
Francesco Saverio Antilici, Italian Architectural and Interior Designer, who created the Palace's interior and supervised the construction of the Jubilee Palace in 1972, is in Addis Ababa for a renovation project. The whereabouts of Francesco Saverio Antilici was traced by chance by the Palace Administration through the Internet and he was invited to come to Addis Ababa to help in the study for the renovation and the interior designs of his thirty-five year old work as well as the original wing of the palace which was built in 1955.
Antilici told Capital that he has spent months preparing the survey of both the two wings of the Palace starting from the end of October 2007. "We looked everywhere for the designs of the Palace," explained Antilici," finally, I found some of the designs in my archive and those are what we are referring to now. For the 1955 wing, which was designed by another person, no plans were found so I had to draw and study it thoroughly for months."
He has now submitted the results of the survey and a renovation program to the Palace Administration and is optimistic about the approval of a budget for the projects, which is estimated to last two years. "I was told that the news of an approval of a budget should come in quite a short time," Antilici told Capital. "We will first start to renovate one of the wings, leaving the other to resume service and move to the other wing," Antilici added.
Going back to the first time when he was called in for the job, Antilici said "I can say it was by chance I got the job. Back in 1969, I was talking to my uncle, an engineer, and acquainted with the people who were looking for an architect. That's how I came to spend three years working on the Palace. I was 27 at that time and it was a great experience for any young architect."
According to Antilici's recollection the interior designs and finish of Jubilee Palace cost USD 5 million, a budget made available by an export credit by the Italian government. He added he was put in charge of the project after the foundation and basement were completed. Most of the materials were imported from Italy but now Antilici believes that many of them should be available locally.
"The condition of the palace is really amazing; the Palace Administration accomplished a miracle in preserving it. The 1955 palace is also in fair good condition. However, every house needs maintenance after thirty five years of service, particularly in what concerns the technical installations, i.e. electrical, plumbing and ventilation systems, the restoration of wooden floors and the general interior decoration" explained Antilici. Even if the current state of the palace is quite satisfactory, Antilici comments that for unknown reasons, the exterior of the Jubilee Palace has been repainted and has a different look and color." Now we have to undo that and correct it. I don't know why it was made to look like limestone but it was redecorated and now we will change it back to its original look," Antilici added.
Antilici told Capital that he has met some old friends who still work at the palace. "I heard that Engineer Mekonnen Mulat has passed, he was the one I was working with mostly," said Antilici referring to the then Vice Minister of Public Works. "The Emperor too was closely following the palace construction. We were working like mad and eager for the completion day. At the end of the project, the Emperor was satisfied."
Renowned architect, Francesco Saverio Antilici, was born in Rome, Italy, in a family of Italian and German descent. He took the final examinations both at the State Art School and at the Technical School in Rome getting the architectural designer certificate. He also studied architecture at the La Sapienza University in Rome.
He started practicing in Tunisia as assistant architect at the Ministry of Public Works. He set up his own Architectural and Town planning practice on authorization by the Tunisian Government. He completed successfully a number of projects, as designer and project manager in North Africa, Middle East and Europe sometimes in collaboration with major Italian and foreign offices, or on his own. His portfolio includes clients like Dr G.-R. Flick, the heir of the Daimler-Benz fortune, two daughters of President Bongo of Gabon, Prince Mansour b. Meteib b. Abdulaziz, a nephew of former King Fahad of Saudi Arabia, Mr. C.-J. Tourres of Adidas and many more important private clients and institutions. His experience going from town planning to architecture, interior design, restoration of antique buildings and garden and landscape design. "It is a special moment for me; it isn't always that you are called to do a project you did 35 years ago," said Antilici," the budget required isn't that high since the Palace is just old and not an antique which usually costs a huge amount of money."
Ethiopia launches Sustainable Land Management Platform
By Kirubel Tadesse (Capital)
The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MoARD) together with a number of partner organizations, has launched a Sustainable Land Management (SLM) platform that targets to alleviate land degradation and food insecurity problems of the nation.
Stating land as a critical resource in Ethiopia with agriculture production accounting for about 50% of the GDP, 90% of export revenues and 80% employment, Ahmed Nasir, State Minister of MoARD, said that the resource faces critical environmental problems such as soil erosion, deforestation and land degradation.
“About 85% of our land surface is considered prone to moderate to very severe soil degradation, about 28% severe or very severe,” explained Ahmed, “it is estimated that about 30, 000 ha are annually lost from water erosion with more than two million already severely damaged, one billion ton of topsoil is lost each year from soil erosion, and 62,000 ha of forest and woodland are cleared annually.”
According to the State Minister, past efforts have failed to comprehensively address the problem and a more programmatic approach is a must. “The government has formalized the decision to develop and implement a National Programmatic Framework for sustainable land management in a program-based approach,” added Ahmed, at the press conference held at German House on February13, 2008 to launch the platform.
The World Bank, German Development Cooperation, FAO, World Food Program, USAID, and UNDP are some of the partner organizations behind the platform. Dr. Andrea Bahm, GTZ Director of the Ethio-German Program for Sustainable Utilization of Natural Resources for Improved Food Security (SUN), stated that the national SLM framework is paving the way to direct efforts and resources, the public, government and donor organizations in an efficient and timely manner.
At the platform launching ceremony, Seleshi Getahun, MoARD head of Forest, Land use, Soils Development and Conservation, explained that the first step of the action plan will be the establishment of regional platforms which will be responsible for the establishment for Woreda watershed development technical committees. “The Woreda technical committees will further establish Kebele watershed development committees,” explains Seleshi, “at the initial stage of program implementation, more attention will be given to awareness raising campaigns on SLM.”
In connection with launching the SLM platform, a documentary film entitled “The Lessons of the Loess Plateau, China” was shown. The opening was marked with the presence of President Girma Wolde-Giorgis and senior government officials.
The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MoARD) together with a number of partner organizations, has launched a Sustainable Land Management (SLM) platform that targets to alleviate land degradation and food insecurity problems of the nation.
Stating land as a critical resource in Ethiopia with agriculture production accounting for about 50% of the GDP, 90% of export revenues and 80% employment, Ahmed Nasir, State Minister of MoARD, said that the resource faces critical environmental problems such as soil erosion, deforestation and land degradation.
“About 85% of our land surface is considered prone to moderate to very severe soil degradation, about 28% severe or very severe,” explained Ahmed, “it is estimated that about 30, 000 ha are annually lost from water erosion with more than two million already severely damaged, one billion ton of topsoil is lost each year from soil erosion, and 62,000 ha of forest and woodland are cleared annually.”
According to the State Minister, past efforts have failed to comprehensively address the problem and a more programmatic approach is a must. “The government has formalized the decision to develop and implement a National Programmatic Framework for sustainable land management in a program-based approach,” added Ahmed, at the press conference held at German House on February13, 2008 to launch the platform.
The World Bank, German Development Cooperation, FAO, World Food Program, USAID, and UNDP are some of the partner organizations behind the platform. Dr. Andrea Bahm, GTZ Director of the Ethio-German Program for Sustainable Utilization of Natural Resources for Improved Food Security (SUN), stated that the national SLM framework is paving the way to direct efforts and resources, the public, government and donor organizations in an efficient and timely manner.
At the platform launching ceremony, Seleshi Getahun, MoARD head of Forest, Land use, Soils Development and Conservation, explained that the first step of the action plan will be the establishment of regional platforms which will be responsible for the establishment for Woreda watershed development technical committees. “The Woreda technical committees will further establish Kebele watershed development committees,” explains Seleshi, “at the initial stage of program implementation, more attention will be given to awareness raising campaigns on SLM.”
In connection with launching the SLM platform, a documentary film entitled “The Lessons of the Loess Plateau, China” was shown. The opening was marked with the presence of President Girma Wolde-Giorgis and senior government officials.
Export Revenues Ethiopia
Ethiopia netted 552.7 million dollars in export revenues in the first six months of the 2007/08 fiscal year, missing its target by 11.2pc. The Ministry of Trade and Industry (MoTI) had targeted to generate 622.3 million dollars.
The performance is merely a third of what the country envisaged to collect from exports this fiscal year (1.7 billion dollars).
However, both the first quarter and mid-year performances have fallen short of the targets. Setting a 296.1 million dollar revenue target for the first quarter of the fiscal year, it only secured 270.8 million dollars.
To meet the target within the remaining time, the country has to surpass targets and earn over a billion additional dollars.
The federal government would like to see the export sector grow from its 1.2 billion dollars the previous year so that the imbalance between the value of imports and exports gets narrower as the currency continues to tumble.
The five-year strategic plan for Accelerated and Sustained Development to End Poverty (PASDEP) focuses government support on those sectors that add value to agricultural exports like textiles, leather and leather products, and agro-processing.
Leather and leather products, a sector the government has placed high priority on holding a trade fair and granting investment support, fetched 50.4 million dollars in the past six months, meeting 90pc of its target. This represents a boost from the first quarter when the country grossed 20.8 million dollars, just 82.7pc of its target.
According to sources in the sector, exports increased because exporters sent huge volumes of pickled and wet blue in December.
MoTI had instructed exporters two years ago to increase value-added goods’ exports, jumping from semi-processed leather to finished leather products. To discourage them from exporting semi-processed leather, the country has imposed a higher tax rate on exports as of January 2008. According to an expert, the exporters sent huge volumes of semi-processed leather in December to avoid the extra cost they would incur from the increase in taxation.
From the textile sector, only 7.5 million dollars was generated though the target was 16.5 million dollars. According to a textile expert this is because most the new textile factories have not gone operational and those under operation focus on the local market.
The agro-processing sector, on the other hand remarkably outshined the 8.3 million dollar target by over 200pc, earning 16.7 million dollars.
Flowers were also a disappointment. The sector only met 72.3pc of its target fetching 43.8 million dollars. Khat brought 55.3 million Br to the country, meeting 93.3pc of its target.
Chairman of the National Export Commodity Committee, Prime Minister Meles Zenawi, who follows reports of the sector’s performance every month is expected to convene with stakeholders concerning the six months performance in the coming two weeks, sources disclosed to Fortune.
The performance is merely a third of what the country envisaged to collect from exports this fiscal year (1.7 billion dollars).
However, both the first quarter and mid-year performances have fallen short of the targets. Setting a 296.1 million dollar revenue target for the first quarter of the fiscal year, it only secured 270.8 million dollars.
To meet the target within the remaining time, the country has to surpass targets and earn over a billion additional dollars.
The federal government would like to see the export sector grow from its 1.2 billion dollars the previous year so that the imbalance between the value of imports and exports gets narrower as the currency continues to tumble.
The five-year strategic plan for Accelerated and Sustained Development to End Poverty (PASDEP) focuses government support on those sectors that add value to agricultural exports like textiles, leather and leather products, and agro-processing.
Leather and leather products, a sector the government has placed high priority on holding a trade fair and granting investment support, fetched 50.4 million dollars in the past six months, meeting 90pc of its target. This represents a boost from the first quarter when the country grossed 20.8 million dollars, just 82.7pc of its target.
According to sources in the sector, exports increased because exporters sent huge volumes of pickled and wet blue in December.
MoTI had instructed exporters two years ago to increase value-added goods’ exports, jumping from semi-processed leather to finished leather products. To discourage them from exporting semi-processed leather, the country has imposed a higher tax rate on exports as of January 2008. According to an expert, the exporters sent huge volumes of semi-processed leather in December to avoid the extra cost they would incur from the increase in taxation.
From the textile sector, only 7.5 million dollars was generated though the target was 16.5 million dollars. According to a textile expert this is because most the new textile factories have not gone operational and those under operation focus on the local market.
The agro-processing sector, on the other hand remarkably outshined the 8.3 million dollar target by over 200pc, earning 16.7 million dollars.
Flowers were also a disappointment. The sector only met 72.3pc of its target fetching 43.8 million dollars. Khat brought 55.3 million Br to the country, meeting 93.3pc of its target.
Chairman of the National Export Commodity Committee, Prime Minister Meles Zenawi, who follows reports of the sector’s performance every month is expected to convene with stakeholders concerning the six months performance in the coming two weeks, sources disclosed to Fortune.
Thriving Flower Business in Ethiopia? What is the Cost?
Tilahun Kinfe, 38, was astonished on February 15, 2008, when comparing the way he saw Valentines Day celebrated the day before and experiences some 10 years ago just after he returned from Nairobi after a five-year stay. A supervisor in Cloud 9 Café and Restaurant, he cannot help but imagine the way things have changed through the years.
“I remember when I tried hard to get a red flower for my girlfriend back then to no avail. In every shop I visited, there was no such gift,” Tilahun told Fortune.
A returnee from a country more adapted to the western holidays, he was hoping to get some gifts for his loved one when he realised that it was a different story here in Ethiopia. But those days have passed, according to the man who has spent over 16 years in the hospitality business.
“But now I am really perplexed. What I saw last night was amazing. There were about 27 couples that came to our restaurant and we were even unable to accommodate those arriving at the last hour without booking,” he explained.
The Valentine’s season was a time of business for many. But the exponentially expanding flower exporter, that earned 63.5 million dollars in exports last fiscal year and are high on the government priority list, along with freight service providers, made the most out of it.
Tsegaye Abebe, chairman of the Ethiopian Horticulture Producers and Exporters Association and owner and director of ET-Highland Flora, told Fortune that the Valentine’s season is one of the peak seasons for flower exports.
“Red flowers are in high demand throughout the world for this season so that every flower exporting company enjoys huge revenues,” Tsegaye, who opened his flower farm three years ago and now owns 23 greenhouses that employ more than 400 people, told Fortune.
According to him, Ethiopia has exported from 1.5 to two million flower stems daily to The Netherlands, Germany, Japan, England, and Brussels amongst others in the week leading up to Valentines Day.
Ethiopian Airlines was also busy transporting the exporters’ products to their varied destinations. Presently serving 68 flower exporters, the national carrier has recently increased its fleet by leasing B747F aircraft that increased its cargo capacity from 63 to 88tns per flight during the month of January 2008.
“The flower export volume increases during winter months, peaking around Valentines Day,” Leul T. Medhin, manager of Public Relations and Publications at the Airline, told Fortune.
All flower exporters contacted by Fortune contend that they are experiencing high demand for their products as the quality and cheap price is appealing to the many distributors, especially those in Amsterdam who supply flowers to the rest of the European continent.
“In addition to the six flights that exporters have every day, there was a two-flight increase everyday for the Valentines season that roughly amounts to 120tns of cargo,” Tsegaye disclosed.
Solomon Sebhatu, owner and manager of Menagesha Flower, told the same rosy story to Fortune, citing rising prices as a boon to the industry.
“There is a 30 to 40pc increase in price at this time beginning around February 10. Accordingly, a single stem that is normally sold for 10 euro cents (1.35 Br) brings from 0.60 to 0.80 cents (from eight to 11 Br) around Valentines Day,” said Solomon.
In the service sector local hotels, bars and restaurants were busy last week preparing events to accommodate couples for the lovers’ day. Realising the population’s demand for special events, they have offered candle-lit dinners, live music and shows.
“The price tag for couples for the night was 250 Br while singles paid 150 Br for food, wine, a flower gift, different awards for couples winners and music that has fascinated many of our predominately young customers,” Tilahun told Fortune. “No one has complained of the price because of the extensive programme.”
His assertion seems to go in line with what Biruk G. Hiwot, an employee of Awash Insurance SC, told Fortune. He said that though the price seems to have elevated through roof, it is not worrisome for a once a year event in which someone expresses his deepest love.
“It is fine by me but others who could not afford it may miss the chance to celebrate the day,” he sympathised.
Flower retailers were also overjoyed to be selling flower at this time of year.
“We have sold around 2,000 flowers on Valentines Day and from 1,000 to 1,500 stems on the days preceding the holiday,” Fasika Ketsela, owner of California Flower, a shop that has been in business for more than 12 years, told Fortune. “This is a far cry from the mere 800 or so stems that we sold last year at the same time.”
According to her, a single stem that used to be sold from 2.5 to three Birr has been sold for up to 10 Br on Valentines Day, mirroring the equivalent increase on the international market.
Valentines Day is named after two among the numerous early Christian martyrs. The day is most closely associated with the mutual exchange of love notes in the form of “valentines”. Modern valentine symbols include the heart-shaped outline and the figure of the winged cupid.
“Though not an Ethiopian tradition originally, Valentines Day is gaining popularity in the country. I see this as one just instance where our culture is undergoing continuous revolution, but for good this time,” Zemach Mandefro, a restaurant owner around the National Stadium, told Fortune. “It allows lovers to express their feelings on a special occasion and boosts businesses.”
Spending on Valentines Day is not peculiar to Ethiopia, though. The United States (US) Greeting Card Association estimates that approximately one billion Valentine cards are sent each year worldwide, making the day the second largest card-sending holiday of the year behind Christmas. Furthermore, the Association estimates that women purchase approximately 85pc of all Valentine cards.
The holiday has not stopped on February 14, though. According to DJ Same, who is the main event organiser at Blue Star Club in Olympia, it will be celebrated the whole week, as customers want to feel the love in the air for a while.
“As a result, we held a ‘love concert’ on Saturday, more convenient and still appealing to those who wanted to continue or begin celebrations a afresh,” he told Fortune.
It is certainly peak season for flower exporters who envision fetching 166 million dollars in revenue for the next year. Currently, Ethiopia exports more than 80 million stems a month to 40 countries. While 70pc go to the Alsammeer Flower Auction in The Netherlands, the rest goes to Germany, Britain, Russia and, in smaller amounts, to the US and the Middle East.
“I was envying the couples who come to celebrate as I was working. I hope I will be able to partake next year and enjoy it with my beloved wife,” Tilahun concluded.
“I remember when I tried hard to get a red flower for my girlfriend back then to no avail. In every shop I visited, there was no such gift,” Tilahun told Fortune.
A returnee from a country more adapted to the western holidays, he was hoping to get some gifts for his loved one when he realised that it was a different story here in Ethiopia. But those days have passed, according to the man who has spent over 16 years in the hospitality business.
“But now I am really perplexed. What I saw last night was amazing. There were about 27 couples that came to our restaurant and we were even unable to accommodate those arriving at the last hour without booking,” he explained.
The Valentine’s season was a time of business for many. But the exponentially expanding flower exporter, that earned 63.5 million dollars in exports last fiscal year and are high on the government priority list, along with freight service providers, made the most out of it.
Tsegaye Abebe, chairman of the Ethiopian Horticulture Producers and Exporters Association and owner and director of ET-Highland Flora, told Fortune that the Valentine’s season is one of the peak seasons for flower exports.
“Red flowers are in high demand throughout the world for this season so that every flower exporting company enjoys huge revenues,” Tsegaye, who opened his flower farm three years ago and now owns 23 greenhouses that employ more than 400 people, told Fortune.
According to him, Ethiopia has exported from 1.5 to two million flower stems daily to The Netherlands, Germany, Japan, England, and Brussels amongst others in the week leading up to Valentines Day.
Ethiopian Airlines was also busy transporting the exporters’ products to their varied destinations. Presently serving 68 flower exporters, the national carrier has recently increased its fleet by leasing B747F aircraft that increased its cargo capacity from 63 to 88tns per flight during the month of January 2008.
“The flower export volume increases during winter months, peaking around Valentines Day,” Leul T. Medhin, manager of Public Relations and Publications at the Airline, told Fortune.
All flower exporters contacted by Fortune contend that they are experiencing high demand for their products as the quality and cheap price is appealing to the many distributors, especially those in Amsterdam who supply flowers to the rest of the European continent.
“In addition to the six flights that exporters have every day, there was a two-flight increase everyday for the Valentines season that roughly amounts to 120tns of cargo,” Tsegaye disclosed.
Solomon Sebhatu, owner and manager of Menagesha Flower, told the same rosy story to Fortune, citing rising prices as a boon to the industry.
“There is a 30 to 40pc increase in price at this time beginning around February 10. Accordingly, a single stem that is normally sold for 10 euro cents (1.35 Br) brings from 0.60 to 0.80 cents (from eight to 11 Br) around Valentines Day,” said Solomon.
In the service sector local hotels, bars and restaurants were busy last week preparing events to accommodate couples for the lovers’ day. Realising the population’s demand for special events, they have offered candle-lit dinners, live music and shows.
“The price tag for couples for the night was 250 Br while singles paid 150 Br for food, wine, a flower gift, different awards for couples winners and music that has fascinated many of our predominately young customers,” Tilahun told Fortune. “No one has complained of the price because of the extensive programme.”
His assertion seems to go in line with what Biruk G. Hiwot, an employee of Awash Insurance SC, told Fortune. He said that though the price seems to have elevated through roof, it is not worrisome for a once a year event in which someone expresses his deepest love.
“It is fine by me but others who could not afford it may miss the chance to celebrate the day,” he sympathised.
Flower retailers were also overjoyed to be selling flower at this time of year.
“We have sold around 2,000 flowers on Valentines Day and from 1,000 to 1,500 stems on the days preceding the holiday,” Fasika Ketsela, owner of California Flower, a shop that has been in business for more than 12 years, told Fortune. “This is a far cry from the mere 800 or so stems that we sold last year at the same time.”
According to her, a single stem that used to be sold from 2.5 to three Birr has been sold for up to 10 Br on Valentines Day, mirroring the equivalent increase on the international market.
Valentines Day is named after two among the numerous early Christian martyrs. The day is most closely associated with the mutual exchange of love notes in the form of “valentines”. Modern valentine symbols include the heart-shaped outline and the figure of the winged cupid.
“Though not an Ethiopian tradition originally, Valentines Day is gaining popularity in the country. I see this as one just instance where our culture is undergoing continuous revolution, but for good this time,” Zemach Mandefro, a restaurant owner around the National Stadium, told Fortune. “It allows lovers to express their feelings on a special occasion and boosts businesses.”
Spending on Valentines Day is not peculiar to Ethiopia, though. The United States (US) Greeting Card Association estimates that approximately one billion Valentine cards are sent each year worldwide, making the day the second largest card-sending holiday of the year behind Christmas. Furthermore, the Association estimates that women purchase approximately 85pc of all Valentine cards.
The holiday has not stopped on February 14, though. According to DJ Same, who is the main event organiser at Blue Star Club in Olympia, it will be celebrated the whole week, as customers want to feel the love in the air for a while.
“As a result, we held a ‘love concert’ on Saturday, more convenient and still appealing to those who wanted to continue or begin celebrations a afresh,” he told Fortune.
It is certainly peak season for flower exporters who envision fetching 166 million dollars in revenue for the next year. Currently, Ethiopia exports more than 80 million stems a month to 40 countries. While 70pc go to the Alsammeer Flower Auction in The Netherlands, the rest goes to Germany, Britain, Russia and, in smaller amounts, to the US and the Middle East.
“I was envying the couples who come to celebrate as I was working. I hope I will be able to partake next year and enjoy it with my beloved wife,” Tilahun concluded.
EEPCo to fully replace postpaid electric meters in March
By Groum Abate (Capital)
The Ethiopian Electric Power Corporation (EEPCo) has struck a deal with an Egyptian company to replace the existing postpaid meters with pre paid meters in Addis Ababa and major towns across the country, with an outlay of 88.2 million birr.
The corporation signed the deal on Thursday February 14, with El Sewedy, an Egyptian electronic meters manufacturer.
Moges Belachew, Distribution and Customer Service head with EEPCo told Capital that the Egyptian company has won over two other competitors from China and South Africa for the supply.
According to him the replacement work is to be started by next month and it is planned to replace 120,000 postpaid electricity meters.
EEPCo has at present over 1.3 million customers.
Founded in Egypt more than 60 years ago, El Sewedy Group has also plans to open a manufacturing plant in the electricity field here in Ethiopia.
El Sewedy will manufacture electricity meters and other electric products in the country.
The Egyptian company will supply EEPCo new generation of electronic meters with the latest technologies of prepaid meters.
The corporation some time ago started a pilot project to test the meters and has installed them around Gerji area for the first time. According to Moges the pilot project has been successfully completed and it has already started to give out prepaid meters to its new customers.
Installation of the pre-paid meters would mean that consumers use the exact amount of electricity they paid for. It would also be the answer to customers’ billing problems.
The project that would evaluate the viability of replacing the post-paid meters with pre-paid ones has been completed and the corporation awarded the project of replacing the post paid meters.
Although EEPCo has about 1.3 million clients, almost all of them have been receiving monthly estimated bills, an issue which has caused considerable public outcry.
Prepaid metering in its simplest form refers to paying for electricity before it is used. The consumer purchases credit and then uses the resource until the credit expires.
Studies show that there are a number of reasons why a utility could consider installing a prepaid metering system. They include improved cash flow, no need for account posting or additional billing systems (1-2% savings), elimination of bad debts (5-12% average, with up to 40% in some developing countries), elimination of disconnection and reconnection fees, ease of installation, no need to access consumers’ property (particularly for split meter installations) and elimination of inaccurate meter readings.
There are also advantages to the customer, including budget management, control of energy usage, no cost for disconnection/reconnection and no waiting for reconnection, no deposits.
A prepaid metering system replaces the billing system, the reading of meters and the administration of revenue collection. Implementing such a system means a change of mindset, a change in the way the revenue collection is managed, a change in IT procedures, a change in customer service, a change in metering and a change in consumer behavior.
The Ethiopian Electric Power Corporation (EEPCo) has struck a deal with an Egyptian company to replace the existing postpaid meters with pre paid meters in Addis Ababa and major towns across the country, with an outlay of 88.2 million birr.
The corporation signed the deal on Thursday February 14, with El Sewedy, an Egyptian electronic meters manufacturer.
Moges Belachew, Distribution and Customer Service head with EEPCo told Capital that the Egyptian company has won over two other competitors from China and South Africa for the supply.
According to him the replacement work is to be started by next month and it is planned to replace 120,000 postpaid electricity meters.
EEPCo has at present over 1.3 million customers.
Founded in Egypt more than 60 years ago, El Sewedy Group has also plans to open a manufacturing plant in the electricity field here in Ethiopia.
El Sewedy will manufacture electricity meters and other electric products in the country.
The Egyptian company will supply EEPCo new generation of electronic meters with the latest technologies of prepaid meters.
The corporation some time ago started a pilot project to test the meters and has installed them around Gerji area for the first time. According to Moges the pilot project has been successfully completed and it has already started to give out prepaid meters to its new customers.
Installation of the pre-paid meters would mean that consumers use the exact amount of electricity they paid for. It would also be the answer to customers’ billing problems.
The project that would evaluate the viability of replacing the post-paid meters with pre-paid ones has been completed and the corporation awarded the project of replacing the post paid meters.
Although EEPCo has about 1.3 million clients, almost all of them have been receiving monthly estimated bills, an issue which has caused considerable public outcry.
Prepaid metering in its simplest form refers to paying for electricity before it is used. The consumer purchases credit and then uses the resource until the credit expires.
Studies show that there are a number of reasons why a utility could consider installing a prepaid metering system. They include improved cash flow, no need for account posting or additional billing systems (1-2% savings), elimination of bad debts (5-12% average, with up to 40% in some developing countries), elimination of disconnection and reconnection fees, ease of installation, no need to access consumers’ property (particularly for split meter installations) and elimination of inaccurate meter readings.
There are also advantages to the customer, including budget management, control of energy usage, no cost for disconnection/reconnection and no waiting for reconnection, no deposits.
A prepaid metering system replaces the billing system, the reading of meters and the administration of revenue collection. Implementing such a system means a change of mindset, a change in the way the revenue collection is managed, a change in IT procedures, a change in customer service, a change in metering and a change in consumer behavior.
2008 Report:Despots Masquerading as Democrats, Events of 2007
Feb 1, 2008
Ethiopia
Events of 2007
The Ethiopian government's human rights record remains poor, both within the country and in neighboring Somalia, where since early 2007 thousands of Ethiopian troops have been fighting an insurgency alongside the Transitional Federal Government of Somalia.
Government forces committed serious human rights violations, including rape, torture, and village burnings, during a campaign against Ethiopian rebels in eastern Somali Region (Region 5). Abuses also took place in other parts of the country, notably in Oromia State where local officials carried out mass arrests, extra-judicial killings and economic sanctions.
In March and April 2007 in Mogadishu, Somalia, the Ethiopian military used heavy artillery and rockets indiscriminately, in violation of international humanitarian law, killing hundreds of civilians and displacing up to 400,000 people, as they fought an escalating insurgency.
In Addis Ababa, the government pardoned and released dozens of opposition leaders and journalists detained since the post-election crackdown in 2005. However, the press remains hobbled and local human rights organizations operate with great difficulty.
Abuses in Somali and Oromia States
In June, the Ethiopian military launched a major offensive in Somali region, the eastern third of the country inhabited by ethnic Somalis. The offensive was a response to increasing attacks by the Ogaden National Liberation Front (ONLF), a longstanding armed opposition movement demanding self determination for the region. In April the ONLF attacked an oil exploration site killing nine Chinese oil workers, 50 armed guards, and 28 nearby villagers; the group was also allegedly responsible for two bombings in May that indiscriminately killed 17 people, mostly civilians, and wounded dozens in Dhagabur and Jigjiga, the state capital.
In the five zones affected by the conflict, the Ethiopian military retaliated by razing entire villages, carrying out public executions, raping and harassing women and girls, arbitrarily arresting, torturing and sometimes killing suspects in military custody; and forcing thousands to flee their homes. They also imposed a commercial blockade on the affected region and confiscated livestock�the main asset in this largely pastoralist region�exacerbating food shortages.
In July, the government expelled the International Committee of the Red Cross and restricted access to the affected region by other international humanitarian agencies. Restrictions on humanitarian agencies were slightly eased in September and October, when the government permitted the UN to conduct an assessment and open regional offices in the affected area.
In Oromia, Ethiopia's most populous state, government authorities have used the fact of a long-standing insurgency by the Oromo Liberation Front (OLF) to imprison, harass, and physically abuse critics, including school children. Victims are informally accused of supporting the OLF, an outlawed rebel group, but supporters of the Oromo National Congress (ONC) and the Oromo Federalist Democratic Movement (OFDM), registered opposition political parties, suffer similar treatment. In early January, more than thirty students were arrested and at least one, a tenth-grader, died as a result of police beatings in Dembi Dollo, western Oromia. Other students were severely injured and hospitalized. Also in January, local police and militia members in Ghimbi shot two high school students dead, one as he and others were walking peacefully along, the other as he covered the body of the first with his own in order to protect him from further harm. In March security officials allegedly executed 19 men and a 14-year-old girl near Mieso in northeastern Oromia. Starting in August, federal and state security forces arrested well over 200 people in western Oromia, including three members of the executive committee of the Nekemte chapter of the Ethiopian Human Rights Council and OFDM members, on suspicion of links to the OLF. Some, including the EHRCO officials, were released under court order after the police failed to provide evidence against them but most were still detained as of early November. At least 25 were being held in defiance of court orders to release them.
Farmers in Oromia who fail to support the governing political party are denied fertilizer and other agricultural aids over which the government exercises monopoly control.
Abuses Relating to the Conflict in Somalia
Thousands of Ethiopian troops were deployed in Mogadishu and other parts of Somalia in late 2006 as part of the military campaign to oust the Islamic Courts Union (ICU) and install the Transitional Federal Government. In March and April 2007, the Ethiopian military indiscriminately bombarded large residential areas of Mogadishu with mortar shells, artillery, and Katyusha rockets, killing hundreds of people and causing up to 400,000 people to flee the city. Ethiopian forces made no apparent effort to distinguish between civilian and insurgent targets, and they shelled and occupied several key hospitals located in the frontline areas. (See Somalia chapter)
In collaboration with TFG forces, Ethiopian troops detained and sometimes beat hundreds of men in mass arrests in Mogadishu in June and July. Dozens of suspected ICU supporters who fled Mogadishu in December 2006 were detained by Ethiopian forces in Somalia or by Kenyan officials at the border, and rendered to Ethiopia in January and February, where they were held in incommunicado detention for months of interrogations, by US security agents, among others. At least 40 of the detainees were released in April and May including more than a dozen women and children under the age of fifteen but scores of others have disappeared.
Suppression of Free Expression and Attacks on Civil Society
An unknown number of people remain imprisoned without trial after election-related violence following events in June and November 2005, although in July 2007 the government finally released the leadership of the leading opposition party, the Coalition for Unity and Democracy (CUD) and six newspaper publishers.
In proceedings that became popularly known as �the treason trial, the government had accused the CUD leadership, journalists and others of using unlawful means to change the constitutional order, obstruct the exercise of constitutional powers, promote armed rebellion, and impair the defensive power of the state, as well as treason and genocide. In April 2007, the treason and genocide charges were dismissed, but some defendants were convicted of the other charges. The court also ordered three newspapers to be closed. Shortly after sentencing, most of the defendants were released and all charges against them were dropped after they submitted letters accepting some responsibility for the 2005 unrest. However, two civil society representatives, Daniel Bekele and Netsanet Demissie, who acted as mediators between the EPRDF and the CUD after the 2005 elections, refused to sign letters of regret and insisted on judicial exoneration. Despite flimsy government evidence against them, they remained incarcerated as of early December 2007, two years after their arrest, because of repeated court recesses.
Following the 2005 elections, the government has sharply reversed a liberalizing trend and subjected independent newspapers and their editors, publishers, and reporters to renewed harassment, intimidation, and criminal charges. Three journalists acquitted during the treason trial fled the country after their release from jail, citing multiple death threats from government security agents. The government and its allies own all electronic media. It blocks access to internet sites critical of its policies. In October, the government began jamming Deutsche Welle and Voice of America Amharic and Oromomifa language broadcasts, the principal source of news for the rural population.
The government has long tried unsuccessfully to outlaw the Ethiopian Teachers Association (ETA), the largest independent membership organization in the country. ETA�s president, released from six years in prison in 2002, was tried in absentia in the treason trial; the chair of ETA�s Addis Ababa branch was acquitted. Four ETA members were arrested in December 26, 2006, severely beaten, and otherwise tortured to coerce confessions that they were members of an armed opposition group, the Ethiopian People�s Patriotic Front. Released in March 2007, they were rearrested in late May and early June.
Lack of Judicial Independence
The judicial system remains unable to assert independence in prominent cases. In the treason trial, for example, the trial judges showed little concern for defendants� procedural and constitutional rights and ignored claims of serious mistreatment by prison authorities. With exceptions, courts generally allow police protracted periods to investigate for evidence that might support the charges brought by prosecutors; in the meantime, defendants remain jailed without an opportunity for release on bail.
In January 2007 a court convicted Mengistu Haile Mariam of genocide in absentia, and sentenced him to life imprisonment. Mengistu, the leader of the former military government, lives in Zimbabwe under the protection of the Zimbabwe government. Several hundred former officials remain jailed awaiting trial, sixteen years after Mengistu�s overthrow.
Mistreatment of Human Rights Defenders and Civil Society
The staff of Ethiopia�s only nationwide human rights organization, EHRCO, is regularly subjected to government harassment and intimidation. One investigator who fled the country in 2005 was charged in absentia in the treason trial. Three members of the Nekemte executive committee were arrested and imprisoned for fifteen days (see above.)
The Oromo focused Human Rights League, allowed to register in 2005 after years of litigation, remains inactive. Leaders of the traditional Oromo self help organization Mecha Tulama, arrested in 2004, were released without trial in early 2007.
Key International Actors
Ethiopia remains deadlocked over a boundary dispute with Eritrea dating from the 1998-2000 war. The war in Somalia is another source of tension between the two countries.
International criticism of the Ethiopian government�s human rights performance is muted. The United States and major European donor states view the government as an important ally in an unstable region. Ethiopia remains the largest beneficiary of US military and development aid in sub Saharan Africa. The US provided logistical and possibly financial support for Ethiopia�s invasion of Somalia in December 2006 and has not pressured Ethiopia to accede to the Eritrea boundary decision.
Ethiopia is also among the top African recipients of European Union aid. After the 2005 election violence, the UK suspended direct budget support to Ethiopia, but has since increased its aid to an annual GBP 130 million in 2007-2008.
China is an increasingly important trading partner. Chinese-Ethiopian trade has increased 17 percent since 2006, to US$660 million, and Chinese investment has reached $345 million from just $10 million four years ago, according to official figures.
In August 2007 the government expelled two thirds of the diplomatic staff of Norway, apparently for criticizing its human rights record and pressing too aggressively for acceptance of the Eritrea boundary commission decision.
Ethiopia
Events of 2007
The Ethiopian government's human rights record remains poor, both within the country and in neighboring Somalia, where since early 2007 thousands of Ethiopian troops have been fighting an insurgency alongside the Transitional Federal Government of Somalia.
Government forces committed serious human rights violations, including rape, torture, and village burnings, during a campaign against Ethiopian rebels in eastern Somali Region (Region 5). Abuses also took place in other parts of the country, notably in Oromia State where local officials carried out mass arrests, extra-judicial killings and economic sanctions.
In March and April 2007 in Mogadishu, Somalia, the Ethiopian military used heavy artillery and rockets indiscriminately, in violation of international humanitarian law, killing hundreds of civilians and displacing up to 400,000 people, as they fought an escalating insurgency.
In Addis Ababa, the government pardoned and released dozens of opposition leaders and journalists detained since the post-election crackdown in 2005. However, the press remains hobbled and local human rights organizations operate with great difficulty.
Abuses in Somali and Oromia States
In June, the Ethiopian military launched a major offensive in Somali region, the eastern third of the country inhabited by ethnic Somalis. The offensive was a response to increasing attacks by the Ogaden National Liberation Front (ONLF), a longstanding armed opposition movement demanding self determination for the region. In April the ONLF attacked an oil exploration site killing nine Chinese oil workers, 50 armed guards, and 28 nearby villagers; the group was also allegedly responsible for two bombings in May that indiscriminately killed 17 people, mostly civilians, and wounded dozens in Dhagabur and Jigjiga, the state capital.
In the five zones affected by the conflict, the Ethiopian military retaliated by razing entire villages, carrying out public executions, raping and harassing women and girls, arbitrarily arresting, torturing and sometimes killing suspects in military custody; and forcing thousands to flee their homes. They also imposed a commercial blockade on the affected region and confiscated livestock�the main asset in this largely pastoralist region�exacerbating food shortages.
In July, the government expelled the International Committee of the Red Cross and restricted access to the affected region by other international humanitarian agencies. Restrictions on humanitarian agencies were slightly eased in September and October, when the government permitted the UN to conduct an assessment and open regional offices in the affected area.
In Oromia, Ethiopia's most populous state, government authorities have used the fact of a long-standing insurgency by the Oromo Liberation Front (OLF) to imprison, harass, and physically abuse critics, including school children. Victims are informally accused of supporting the OLF, an outlawed rebel group, but supporters of the Oromo National Congress (ONC) and the Oromo Federalist Democratic Movement (OFDM), registered opposition political parties, suffer similar treatment. In early January, more than thirty students were arrested and at least one, a tenth-grader, died as a result of police beatings in Dembi Dollo, western Oromia. Other students were severely injured and hospitalized. Also in January, local police and militia members in Ghimbi shot two high school students dead, one as he and others were walking peacefully along, the other as he covered the body of the first with his own in order to protect him from further harm. In March security officials allegedly executed 19 men and a 14-year-old girl near Mieso in northeastern Oromia. Starting in August, federal and state security forces arrested well over 200 people in western Oromia, including three members of the executive committee of the Nekemte chapter of the Ethiopian Human Rights Council and OFDM members, on suspicion of links to the OLF. Some, including the EHRCO officials, were released under court order after the police failed to provide evidence against them but most were still detained as of early November. At least 25 were being held in defiance of court orders to release them.
Farmers in Oromia who fail to support the governing political party are denied fertilizer and other agricultural aids over which the government exercises monopoly control.
Abuses Relating to the Conflict in Somalia
Thousands of Ethiopian troops were deployed in Mogadishu and other parts of Somalia in late 2006 as part of the military campaign to oust the Islamic Courts Union (ICU) and install the Transitional Federal Government. In March and April 2007, the Ethiopian military indiscriminately bombarded large residential areas of Mogadishu with mortar shells, artillery, and Katyusha rockets, killing hundreds of people and causing up to 400,000 people to flee the city. Ethiopian forces made no apparent effort to distinguish between civilian and insurgent targets, and they shelled and occupied several key hospitals located in the frontline areas. (See Somalia chapter)
In collaboration with TFG forces, Ethiopian troops detained and sometimes beat hundreds of men in mass arrests in Mogadishu in June and July. Dozens of suspected ICU supporters who fled Mogadishu in December 2006 were detained by Ethiopian forces in Somalia or by Kenyan officials at the border, and rendered to Ethiopia in January and February, where they were held in incommunicado detention for months of interrogations, by US security agents, among others. At least 40 of the detainees were released in April and May including more than a dozen women and children under the age of fifteen but scores of others have disappeared.
Suppression of Free Expression and Attacks on Civil Society
An unknown number of people remain imprisoned without trial after election-related violence following events in June and November 2005, although in July 2007 the government finally released the leadership of the leading opposition party, the Coalition for Unity and Democracy (CUD) and six newspaper publishers.
In proceedings that became popularly known as �the treason trial, the government had accused the CUD leadership, journalists and others of using unlawful means to change the constitutional order, obstruct the exercise of constitutional powers, promote armed rebellion, and impair the defensive power of the state, as well as treason and genocide. In April 2007, the treason and genocide charges were dismissed, but some defendants were convicted of the other charges. The court also ordered three newspapers to be closed. Shortly after sentencing, most of the defendants were released and all charges against them were dropped after they submitted letters accepting some responsibility for the 2005 unrest. However, two civil society representatives, Daniel Bekele and Netsanet Demissie, who acted as mediators between the EPRDF and the CUD after the 2005 elections, refused to sign letters of regret and insisted on judicial exoneration. Despite flimsy government evidence against them, they remained incarcerated as of early December 2007, two years after their arrest, because of repeated court recesses.
Following the 2005 elections, the government has sharply reversed a liberalizing trend and subjected independent newspapers and their editors, publishers, and reporters to renewed harassment, intimidation, and criminal charges. Three journalists acquitted during the treason trial fled the country after their release from jail, citing multiple death threats from government security agents. The government and its allies own all electronic media. It blocks access to internet sites critical of its policies. In October, the government began jamming Deutsche Welle and Voice of America Amharic and Oromomifa language broadcasts, the principal source of news for the rural population.
The government has long tried unsuccessfully to outlaw the Ethiopian Teachers Association (ETA), the largest independent membership organization in the country. ETA�s president, released from six years in prison in 2002, was tried in absentia in the treason trial; the chair of ETA�s Addis Ababa branch was acquitted. Four ETA members were arrested in December 26, 2006, severely beaten, and otherwise tortured to coerce confessions that they were members of an armed opposition group, the Ethiopian People�s Patriotic Front. Released in March 2007, they were rearrested in late May and early June.
Lack of Judicial Independence
The judicial system remains unable to assert independence in prominent cases. In the treason trial, for example, the trial judges showed little concern for defendants� procedural and constitutional rights and ignored claims of serious mistreatment by prison authorities. With exceptions, courts generally allow police protracted periods to investigate for evidence that might support the charges brought by prosecutors; in the meantime, defendants remain jailed without an opportunity for release on bail.
In January 2007 a court convicted Mengistu Haile Mariam of genocide in absentia, and sentenced him to life imprisonment. Mengistu, the leader of the former military government, lives in Zimbabwe under the protection of the Zimbabwe government. Several hundred former officials remain jailed awaiting trial, sixteen years after Mengistu�s overthrow.
Mistreatment of Human Rights Defenders and Civil Society
The staff of Ethiopia�s only nationwide human rights organization, EHRCO, is regularly subjected to government harassment and intimidation. One investigator who fled the country in 2005 was charged in absentia in the treason trial. Three members of the Nekemte executive committee were arrested and imprisoned for fifteen days (see above.)
The Oromo focused Human Rights League, allowed to register in 2005 after years of litigation, remains inactive. Leaders of the traditional Oromo self help organization Mecha Tulama, arrested in 2004, were released without trial in early 2007.
Key International Actors
Ethiopia remains deadlocked over a boundary dispute with Eritrea dating from the 1998-2000 war. The war in Somalia is another source of tension between the two countries.
International criticism of the Ethiopian government�s human rights performance is muted. The United States and major European donor states view the government as an important ally in an unstable region. Ethiopia remains the largest beneficiary of US military and development aid in sub Saharan Africa. The US provided logistical and possibly financial support for Ethiopia�s invasion of Somalia in December 2006 and has not pressured Ethiopia to accede to the Eritrea boundary decision.
Ethiopia is also among the top African recipients of European Union aid. After the 2005 election violence, the UK suspended direct budget support to Ethiopia, but has since increased its aid to an annual GBP 130 million in 2007-2008.
China is an increasingly important trading partner. Chinese-Ethiopian trade has increased 17 percent since 2006, to US$660 million, and Chinese investment has reached $345 million from just $10 million four years ago, according to official figures.
In August 2007 the government expelled two thirds of the diplomatic staff of Norway, apparently for criticizing its human rights record and pressing too aggressively for acceptance of the Eritrea boundary commission decision.
Friday, February 15, 2008
US Engagement in Ethiopia, the Horn of Africa
US Engagement in Ethiopia, the Horn of Africa
(By Lahra Smith)
A reassessment of U.S. policy toward Ethiopia is very much in order. A year has passed since Ethiopia intervened in Somalia, and its troops are bogged down there in an ongoing low-intensity conflict that has created a grave humanitarian crisis. The invasion appears deeply unpopular with the Somali people, and the tide of battle could yet turn decisively against the Ethiopians. Meanwhile, the December 1, 2007 deadline set by the Ethiopia-Eritrea Boundary Commission (EEBC) for demarcation of the border between the two countries has passed without implementation by either party. Troops are massing on both sides of the border, and a renewal of the 1998-2000 border war is entirely possible.
Finally, the human rights situation within Ethiopia remains poor, and the country’s long-term political stability is uncertain – prompting the U.S. House of Representatives to pass legislation intended to strengthen U.S. democracy programs in Ethiopia and ban “nonessential assistance” to the Ethiopian government.
The United States must remain engaged with Ethiopia, and with all the countries of the Horn of Africa region not only for humanitarian reasons, but also because of the well-grounded concern that the region will be a breeding ground for terrorism unless it is stabilized. But the United States should be intentional and strategic in its interventions, and should not let short term counter-terrorism objectives blind it to the need for a broader vision of regional development and democratization. The United States should be careful not to narrow its alliances in the region to those who claim to be friends, to the neglect of other strategic relationships – however challenging they may be. And the United States must seek regional solutions to the Horn of Africa’s conflicts as the best means of protecting local communities from violence.
U.S. policy in the Horn necessarily focuses on Ethiopia, which is clearly the regional hegemony. It has a powerful and disciplined military, and after the suppression of dissent following the disputed 2005 parliamentary elections, a tightly-controlled and consolidated regime in the capital at Addis Ababa. At the same time, the Ethiopian government has a number of enemies, both internally and in the region. Many of these enemies pose no particular threat to U.S. interests, at least at present. Ethiopia’s regional rivals, however, have sheltered rebel movements opposed to the regime of Prime Minister Meles Zenawi and his Ethiopian People’s Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF) political party. The Union of Islamic Courts (UIC), which controlled Mogadishu and much of southern Somalia from June until December 2006, hosted insurgent groups such as the Oromo Liberation Front (OLF) and the Ogaden National Liberation Front (ONLF). All three of these groups now find sanctuary in Ethiopia’s arch rival, Eritrea.
In Ethiopia itself, high-level leaders of the main opposition were imprisoned for nearly two years after the 2005 election, before being released in July 2007 by a presidential pardon. Thousands of ordinary Ethiopian citizens also spent considerable time in jails across the country, many only to be released with no charges ever filed. Untold numbers remain imprisoned throughout the country, as documented by Human Rights Watch, including prominent civil society activists and ordinary citizens. Members of marginalized ethnic communities, particularly the Oromo and increasingly the Ethiopian-Somali communities, face political repression and harassment by security forces. Opposition political parties have been restricted from establishing and staffing regional party offices and preparing for upcoming local elections.
The October passage of the Ethiopia Democracy Act of 2007 (H.R. 2003, available at http://www.thomas.gov) by the U.S. House of Representatives is a signal that pressure for a change in U.S. policy toward Ethiopia is rising. The bill is unlikely to obtain the votes it needs for passage in the Senate, but the new Senate taking office in 2009 may well be more willing to criticize Ethiopia and could agree to a similar bill. The focus of the legislation is on financial and technical support for fostering human rights and democratization in Ethiopia – and programs such as these should be the backbone of U.S. policy in that country and in the region. Other sections of the legislation would limit security assistance to Ethiopia, impose travel restrictions on officials of the Ethiopian government found to have violated human rights, and require certification by the President to the Congress that Ethiopia is moving forward on eleven domestic democracy measures. These include the release of political prisoners, ensuring freedom of the judiciary, and allowing human rights organizations to work freely. The legislation would not prevent peacekeeping assistance, counter-terrorism assistance, or international military training assistance to Ethiopia. The Ethiopian government, through its ambassador in Washington, has condemned the bill as a violation of Ethiopia’s sovereignty, but this is a shortsighted view. Over the long term, a solid U.S.-Ethiopia relationship will depend on Ethiopian progress in building democracy, strengthening the rule of law, ensuring human rights, and promoting economic development.
Recent developments in the Horn of Africa indicate that Ethiopia is flexing its military muscle to the detriment of regional stability and local communities. This is a threat to U.S. security interests. In April 2007, members of the Ogaden National Liberation Front (ONLF), attacked a Chinese-run oil site in eastern Ethiopia, killing 77. The attack required a response, but the ruthless campaign of repression launched by the Ethiopian military in Somali Regional State of Ethiopia seems likely only to make the situation worse. There are reports of targeted violence against the Somali inhabitants in the area, including civilian communities (also called the Ogaden). Despite promises by the regime in Addis, access to the region has been denied, making it difficult for aid agencies to reach needy recipients and nearly impossible for media outlets and human rights organizations to investigate the serious allegations of human rights violations.
Ethiopia’s December 2006 intervention in Somalia provided the necessary military force to allow the Transitional Federal Government of Somalia (TFG) to drive out the Union of Islamic Courts (UIC) and other related militias that had controlled Mogadishu and much of southern Somalia for at least six months before. Since that time, however, the TFG has been unable to consolidate its hold militarily or politically and has suffered from in-fighting, a lack of serious efforts at reconciliation, and increasingly, insurgent violence by anti-Ethiopian and anti-TFG forces. Ethiopia’s stated intention was to defend the TFG from the forces of the UIC until such time as an African Union (AU) peacekeeping force could be deployed. Throughout the fall and winter of 2006, AU countries reluctantly pledged troops, but none were deployed until about 1,300 Ugandan troops arrived in Somalia in March 2007 as the African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM). Nine months later the Ugandans remain the only members of AMISOM in Somalia.
While the Ethiopian government has repeatedly stated its desire to leave the country, and has said periodically that it is withdrawing its forces, no figures are given. Most accounts suggest that the numbers of Ethiopian troops inside southern Somalia are substantial, at least in the thousands. No drawdown of forces has occurred. There is little chance that they will be reduced any time soon, as AU reinforcements are slow to be promised or arrive. On her recent trip to Ethiopia, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice urged the TFG to “renew and revitalize efforts toward a lasting political solution,” including an immediate ceasefire. Meanwhile, the situation has been called the worst humanitarian crisis in Africa, with at least one million Somalis displaced by the violence. The response of the international community to the political and military causes of this humanitarian crisis has been woefully inadequate.
The situation on Ethiopia’s northern border is equally alarming, and the possibility of a return to war with Eritrea has been raised by credible sources, such as the International Crisis Group report. Even if it is not in the interests of either side to instigate the war unilaterally, the possibility of a small incident provoking a conflict are high given the number of troops and the stalemate in negotiations. The UN monitoring force (UNMEE) has faced increasing restrictions of its troop movements and aerial surveillance inside the Temporary Monitoring Zone (TMZ) by the Eritrean government, leading the Security Council to extend UNMEE’s mandate in six-month intervals, with reductions in troop levels from 3,200 to 2,000 in January of 2007. For its part, Ethiopia insists that it continues to accept the EEBC ruling “in principle” but demands further dialogue on crucial issues, such as its claim to the town of Badme, which was awarded to Eritrea by the EEBC. Tens of thousands of troops (some estimates put the numbers much closer to 100,000 on each side near the border) have been deployed to the border and military exercises are ongoing. Eritrea regards any encouragement of dialogue as a sign of a lack of international will to enforce the EEBC ruling.
Whither U.S. Policy?
Most agree that the United States should remain engaged in Ethiopia and the Horn. There is general agreement, even among critics of the Meles regime, that partial or complete disengagement would likely reduce the prospects for democratization and stability in Ethiopia. Ethiopians express an interest in more US engagement rather than less. The politically active and financially powerful Ethiopian diaspora in the United States and Europe has continued to invest in Ethiopia, despite their own frustrations with the Meles government’s backsliding on democratization. If the diaspora has hope for Ethiopia’s future, so too should the international community. The challenge for the United States is to find avenues of interaction and assistance without condoning violence and human rights violations. This will require more than diplomatic persuasion or military assistance, including long-term, practical, and targeted development interventions in rural and urban communities throughout the country as well as a willingness to criticize the Meles regime for repressive legislation and political violence by its security forces.
Regionally, U.S. engagement must involve robust support for the African Union mission in Somalia, AMISOM. The aim should be to quickly end the Ethiopian military intervention and create the conditions for security and political dialogue among Somali groups. The Ethiopian presence is an incitement to violence by various Somali nationalist groups, and a deterrent to meaningful reconciliation processes by the TFG. If AMISOM is no longer viable, the United States should support rapid and decisive action by the UN Security Council to assure the speedy deployment of an effective peacekeeping force.
At the same time, the United States must soften its rhetoric on Eritrea, particularly with regard to the border issue, while continuing to insist on unrestricted access for UNMEE peacekeepers in the TMZ. The Administration has suggested that Eritrea might be designated a state sponsor of terrorism for its support of rebel groups from Somalia. Unfortunately, threats do not work well with Asmara and are inappropriate in light of Ethiopian intransigence on the Border Commission decision and its military engagement in Somalia. A more even-handed approach is required. In her recent visit to the region, Secretary Rice urged Ethiopia to “avoid any acts that might heighten friction between Eritrea and Ethiopia and to take concrete steps to lessen tension on the border.” This was helpful, but the United States should be clear that existing agreements, including the Algiers Agreement creating the EEBC and binding the parties to accept its decision, must be honored by all.
With respect to political issues inside Ethiopia, the United States must remain engaged, but in ways that signal its concern for democracy and human rights. This means not turning a blind eye to human rights abuses by the Ethiopian military in remote areas of the country and in occupied areas of Somalia. The United States cannot afford to receive its intelligence on these areas from the Ethiopian government alone, but must insist that independent observers be given free access throughout Ethiopia. In addition, there is a need for specific humanitarian and development interventions focused on practical concerns, such as food security, education, and health care. These programs should target marginalized communities, including ethnic and religious minorities, Muslim communities, and others who have suffered at the hands of the Ethiopian state and military for decades. Such humanitarian and development work would send the right signals to these communities of America’s commitment to shared goals of peace and economic opportunity.
U.S. policymakers should pay special attention to elections expected to be held in Ethiopia in the first months of 2008. By-elections are to be conducted for all seats in the parliament now being boycotted by the opposition. In addition, the long-delayed woreda and kebelle elections are to be held. These are local elections originally slated for late 2005, but repeatedly delayed. All indications suggest that the ruling party is using the disciplinary mechanisms already in place at the community level to ensure an EPRDF victory, while harassing and intimidating members of opposition political parties, including the Oromo Federalist Democratic Movement (OFDM), the United Ethiopian Democratic Forces (UEDF), and the Coalition for Unity and Democracy Party (CUDP). Many of the opposition parties, and particularly the CUD groupings, will struggle to field candidates owing to divisive internal power struggles. But there is little doubt that EPRDF activities in rural areas are also hindering the opposition from playing a meaningful role in the elections. The United States should insist that independent elections observers be allowed into Ethiopia to monitor the 2008 elections at an early date, and strenuously object if they are interfered with in any way or if opposition parties and local communities are prevented from participating freely and fairly in the vote.
(Lahra Smith is Assistant Professor in the Edmund A. Walsh School of Foreign Service at Georgetown University and the author of several recent reports and articles on Ethiopia. Saturday, 26 January 2008 )
(By Lahra Smith)
A reassessment of U.S. policy toward Ethiopia is very much in order. A year has passed since Ethiopia intervened in Somalia, and its troops are bogged down there in an ongoing low-intensity conflict that has created a grave humanitarian crisis. The invasion appears deeply unpopular with the Somali people, and the tide of battle could yet turn decisively against the Ethiopians. Meanwhile, the December 1, 2007 deadline set by the Ethiopia-Eritrea Boundary Commission (EEBC) for demarcation of the border between the two countries has passed without implementation by either party. Troops are massing on both sides of the border, and a renewal of the 1998-2000 border war is entirely possible.
Finally, the human rights situation within Ethiopia remains poor, and the country’s long-term political stability is uncertain – prompting the U.S. House of Representatives to pass legislation intended to strengthen U.S. democracy programs in Ethiopia and ban “nonessential assistance” to the Ethiopian government.
The United States must remain engaged with Ethiopia, and with all the countries of the Horn of Africa region not only for humanitarian reasons, but also because of the well-grounded concern that the region will be a breeding ground for terrorism unless it is stabilized. But the United States should be intentional and strategic in its interventions, and should not let short term counter-terrorism objectives blind it to the need for a broader vision of regional development and democratization. The United States should be careful not to narrow its alliances in the region to those who claim to be friends, to the neglect of other strategic relationships – however challenging they may be. And the United States must seek regional solutions to the Horn of Africa’s conflicts as the best means of protecting local communities from violence.
U.S. policy in the Horn necessarily focuses on Ethiopia, which is clearly the regional hegemony. It has a powerful and disciplined military, and after the suppression of dissent following the disputed 2005 parliamentary elections, a tightly-controlled and consolidated regime in the capital at Addis Ababa. At the same time, the Ethiopian government has a number of enemies, both internally and in the region. Many of these enemies pose no particular threat to U.S. interests, at least at present. Ethiopia’s regional rivals, however, have sheltered rebel movements opposed to the regime of Prime Minister Meles Zenawi and his Ethiopian People’s Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF) political party. The Union of Islamic Courts (UIC), which controlled Mogadishu and much of southern Somalia from June until December 2006, hosted insurgent groups such as the Oromo Liberation Front (OLF) and the Ogaden National Liberation Front (ONLF). All three of these groups now find sanctuary in Ethiopia’s arch rival, Eritrea.
In Ethiopia itself, high-level leaders of the main opposition were imprisoned for nearly two years after the 2005 election, before being released in July 2007 by a presidential pardon. Thousands of ordinary Ethiopian citizens also spent considerable time in jails across the country, many only to be released with no charges ever filed. Untold numbers remain imprisoned throughout the country, as documented by Human Rights Watch, including prominent civil society activists and ordinary citizens. Members of marginalized ethnic communities, particularly the Oromo and increasingly the Ethiopian-Somali communities, face political repression and harassment by security forces. Opposition political parties have been restricted from establishing and staffing regional party offices and preparing for upcoming local elections.
The October passage of the Ethiopia Democracy Act of 2007 (H.R. 2003, available at http://www.thomas.gov) by the U.S. House of Representatives is a signal that pressure for a change in U.S. policy toward Ethiopia is rising. The bill is unlikely to obtain the votes it needs for passage in the Senate, but the new Senate taking office in 2009 may well be more willing to criticize Ethiopia and could agree to a similar bill. The focus of the legislation is on financial and technical support for fostering human rights and democratization in Ethiopia – and programs such as these should be the backbone of U.S. policy in that country and in the region. Other sections of the legislation would limit security assistance to Ethiopia, impose travel restrictions on officials of the Ethiopian government found to have violated human rights, and require certification by the President to the Congress that Ethiopia is moving forward on eleven domestic democracy measures. These include the release of political prisoners, ensuring freedom of the judiciary, and allowing human rights organizations to work freely. The legislation would not prevent peacekeeping assistance, counter-terrorism assistance, or international military training assistance to Ethiopia. The Ethiopian government, through its ambassador in Washington, has condemned the bill as a violation of Ethiopia’s sovereignty, but this is a shortsighted view. Over the long term, a solid U.S.-Ethiopia relationship will depend on Ethiopian progress in building democracy, strengthening the rule of law, ensuring human rights, and promoting economic development.
Recent developments in the Horn of Africa indicate that Ethiopia is flexing its military muscle to the detriment of regional stability and local communities. This is a threat to U.S. security interests. In April 2007, members of the Ogaden National Liberation Front (ONLF), attacked a Chinese-run oil site in eastern Ethiopia, killing 77. The attack required a response, but the ruthless campaign of repression launched by the Ethiopian military in Somali Regional State of Ethiopia seems likely only to make the situation worse. There are reports of targeted violence against the Somali inhabitants in the area, including civilian communities (also called the Ogaden). Despite promises by the regime in Addis, access to the region has been denied, making it difficult for aid agencies to reach needy recipients and nearly impossible for media outlets and human rights organizations to investigate the serious allegations of human rights violations.
Ethiopia’s December 2006 intervention in Somalia provided the necessary military force to allow the Transitional Federal Government of Somalia (TFG) to drive out the Union of Islamic Courts (UIC) and other related militias that had controlled Mogadishu and much of southern Somalia for at least six months before. Since that time, however, the TFG has been unable to consolidate its hold militarily or politically and has suffered from in-fighting, a lack of serious efforts at reconciliation, and increasingly, insurgent violence by anti-Ethiopian and anti-TFG forces. Ethiopia’s stated intention was to defend the TFG from the forces of the UIC until such time as an African Union (AU) peacekeeping force could be deployed. Throughout the fall and winter of 2006, AU countries reluctantly pledged troops, but none were deployed until about 1,300 Ugandan troops arrived in Somalia in March 2007 as the African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM). Nine months later the Ugandans remain the only members of AMISOM in Somalia.
While the Ethiopian government has repeatedly stated its desire to leave the country, and has said periodically that it is withdrawing its forces, no figures are given. Most accounts suggest that the numbers of Ethiopian troops inside southern Somalia are substantial, at least in the thousands. No drawdown of forces has occurred. There is little chance that they will be reduced any time soon, as AU reinforcements are slow to be promised or arrive. On her recent trip to Ethiopia, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice urged the TFG to “renew and revitalize efforts toward a lasting political solution,” including an immediate ceasefire. Meanwhile, the situation has been called the worst humanitarian crisis in Africa, with at least one million Somalis displaced by the violence. The response of the international community to the political and military causes of this humanitarian crisis has been woefully inadequate.
The situation on Ethiopia’s northern border is equally alarming, and the possibility of a return to war with Eritrea has been raised by credible sources, such as the International Crisis Group report. Even if it is not in the interests of either side to instigate the war unilaterally, the possibility of a small incident provoking a conflict are high given the number of troops and the stalemate in negotiations. The UN monitoring force (UNMEE) has faced increasing restrictions of its troop movements and aerial surveillance inside the Temporary Monitoring Zone (TMZ) by the Eritrean government, leading the Security Council to extend UNMEE’s mandate in six-month intervals, with reductions in troop levels from 3,200 to 2,000 in January of 2007. For its part, Ethiopia insists that it continues to accept the EEBC ruling “in principle” but demands further dialogue on crucial issues, such as its claim to the town of Badme, which was awarded to Eritrea by the EEBC. Tens of thousands of troops (some estimates put the numbers much closer to 100,000 on each side near the border) have been deployed to the border and military exercises are ongoing. Eritrea regards any encouragement of dialogue as a sign of a lack of international will to enforce the EEBC ruling.
Whither U.S. Policy?
Most agree that the United States should remain engaged in Ethiopia and the Horn. There is general agreement, even among critics of the Meles regime, that partial or complete disengagement would likely reduce the prospects for democratization and stability in Ethiopia. Ethiopians express an interest in more US engagement rather than less. The politically active and financially powerful Ethiopian diaspora in the United States and Europe has continued to invest in Ethiopia, despite their own frustrations with the Meles government’s backsliding on democratization. If the diaspora has hope for Ethiopia’s future, so too should the international community. The challenge for the United States is to find avenues of interaction and assistance without condoning violence and human rights violations. This will require more than diplomatic persuasion or military assistance, including long-term, practical, and targeted development interventions in rural and urban communities throughout the country as well as a willingness to criticize the Meles regime for repressive legislation and political violence by its security forces.
Regionally, U.S. engagement must involve robust support for the African Union mission in Somalia, AMISOM. The aim should be to quickly end the Ethiopian military intervention and create the conditions for security and political dialogue among Somali groups. The Ethiopian presence is an incitement to violence by various Somali nationalist groups, and a deterrent to meaningful reconciliation processes by the TFG. If AMISOM is no longer viable, the United States should support rapid and decisive action by the UN Security Council to assure the speedy deployment of an effective peacekeeping force.
At the same time, the United States must soften its rhetoric on Eritrea, particularly with regard to the border issue, while continuing to insist on unrestricted access for UNMEE peacekeepers in the TMZ. The Administration has suggested that Eritrea might be designated a state sponsor of terrorism for its support of rebel groups from Somalia. Unfortunately, threats do not work well with Asmara and are inappropriate in light of Ethiopian intransigence on the Border Commission decision and its military engagement in Somalia. A more even-handed approach is required. In her recent visit to the region, Secretary Rice urged Ethiopia to “avoid any acts that might heighten friction between Eritrea and Ethiopia and to take concrete steps to lessen tension on the border.” This was helpful, but the United States should be clear that existing agreements, including the Algiers Agreement creating the EEBC and binding the parties to accept its decision, must be honored by all.
With respect to political issues inside Ethiopia, the United States must remain engaged, but in ways that signal its concern for democracy and human rights. This means not turning a blind eye to human rights abuses by the Ethiopian military in remote areas of the country and in occupied areas of Somalia. The United States cannot afford to receive its intelligence on these areas from the Ethiopian government alone, but must insist that independent observers be given free access throughout Ethiopia. In addition, there is a need for specific humanitarian and development interventions focused on practical concerns, such as food security, education, and health care. These programs should target marginalized communities, including ethnic and religious minorities, Muslim communities, and others who have suffered at the hands of the Ethiopian state and military for decades. Such humanitarian and development work would send the right signals to these communities of America’s commitment to shared goals of peace and economic opportunity.
U.S. policymakers should pay special attention to elections expected to be held in Ethiopia in the first months of 2008. By-elections are to be conducted for all seats in the parliament now being boycotted by the opposition. In addition, the long-delayed woreda and kebelle elections are to be held. These are local elections originally slated for late 2005, but repeatedly delayed. All indications suggest that the ruling party is using the disciplinary mechanisms already in place at the community level to ensure an EPRDF victory, while harassing and intimidating members of opposition political parties, including the Oromo Federalist Democratic Movement (OFDM), the United Ethiopian Democratic Forces (UEDF), and the Coalition for Unity and Democracy Party (CUDP). Many of the opposition parties, and particularly the CUD groupings, will struggle to field candidates owing to divisive internal power struggles. But there is little doubt that EPRDF activities in rural areas are also hindering the opposition from playing a meaningful role in the elections. The United States should insist that independent elections observers be allowed into Ethiopia to monitor the 2008 elections at an early date, and strenuously object if they are interfered with in any way or if opposition parties and local communities are prevented from participating freely and fairly in the vote.
(Lahra Smith is Assistant Professor in the Edmund A. Walsh School of Foreign Service at Georgetown University and the author of several recent reports and articles on Ethiopia. Saturday, 26 January 2008 )
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