By RAYMOND BONNER
LONDON, March 22
A 24-year old American who told the F.B.I. that he went to Somalia last December to help build an Islamic state there is now being held in an Ethiopian prison, where he was sent after being detained in Kenya.
The American, Amir Mohamed Meshal, from Tinton Falls, N.J., who had fled to Kenya after fighting broke out in Somalia, was interviewed in Kenya several times by F.B.I. agents, who concluded that he had no terrorist connections, American officials said.
Nevertheless, in February the Kenyan government deported Mr. Meshal to Somalia, which was then essentially controlled by Ethiopian troops, and he was quickly sent to Ethiopia, where he was seen for the first time by an American consular official on Wednesday, the State Department said.
In a report to be released Friday, two human rights organizations, relying on flight logs and interviews, say that Mr. Meshal was one of 63 people whom Kenya deported to Somalia without any judicial proceedings, and that all but four were then sent to Ethiopia.
Those sent to Ethiopia included nine women and five children, and were from more than a dozen countries, including Canada, Sweden, Syria, Saudi Arabia and France, according to the organizations, Reprieve and Cageprisoners, which says it serves the needs of the prisoners held by the United States at Guantánamo Bay.
The American government says it had no role in the deportation of Mr. Meshal from Kenya, and had protested to the Kenyans.
Mr. Meshal was “deported from Kenya without prior notification to the embassy, despite requests that any Americans be deported to the United States,” a State Department spokesman, Tom Casey, said in response to questions.
A Kenyan spokesman, Alfred Mutua, said in a telephone interview from Nairobi that the deportations were legitimate because the detainees had been “engaged in a guerrilla war against a democratically elected government,” referring to Somalia.
At the time Mr. Meshal went to Somalia, Ethiopian troops, with backing from the United States, were massing on the border preparing to invade, and the Islamist administration in Somalia was calling for Muslims to come to fight a jihad.
Human rights groups and Mr. Meshal’s lawyer say they find it hard to accept that the United States was not complicit in his deportations.
“What we have learned so far about the plight of Mr. Meshal raises grave questions about the United States’ involvement in the illegal rendition and possible torture of an American citizen,” said Jonathan Hafetz, a lawyer at the Brennan Center for Justice at the New York University School of Law, who is representing the family. “It is simply implausible that an American citizen was secretly rendered from Kenya to Somalia without the United States’ knowledge and approval.”
During interrogations by American officials in Kenya, Mr. Meshal, who was born in the United States, said he had gone to Somalia because he wanted to help rebuild that country as an Islamic state, an American official said.
Mr. Meshal fled after the fighting broke out, and reached Kenya in late January, American officials and Reprieve and Cageprisoners said. He was seized and put in a Nairobi jail.
The F.B.I. interrogated him several times.
He was usually taken from his cell and interviewed for few hours, but the last time, he was gone for nearly 10 hours, said Mohammed Ezzoueck, a British citizen who had also fled Somalia and had been picked up in Kenya. He shared a cell with Mr. Meshal. Mr. Ezzoueck said he too had been fingerprinted and photographed by the F.B.I., but not questioned.
In an interview here on Thursday, Mr. Ezzoueck said Mr. Meshal had told him that there were two F.B.I. agents at the interviews, one tough, the other more friendly. Mr. Meshal did not complain of physical abuse, Mr. Ezzoueck said.
Mr. Meshal’s family in New Jersey was notified by the State Department and the F.B.I. that he was being held, and was told that after it sent an airline ticket, he would be released, an American official and Mr. Meshal’s lawyer said.
Then something went awry. Mr. Meshal was shackled and blindfolded and put on a plane and sent to Somalia, according to a flight log obtained by Reprieve.org.uk. Mr. Ezzoueck said he was also on the flight.
Through efforts of the British Government, Mr. Ezzoueck and three other British citizens were released in mid-February. Mr. Meshal was taken to Ethiopia in late February.
The American Embassy in Addis Ababa did not see Mr. Meshal until Wednesday, Mr. Casey said. He did not complain of any mistreatment, Mr. Casey added.
Jeffrey Gettleman contributed reporting from Kenya.
Wednesday, March 28, 2007
Thursday, March 22, 2007
PEPFAR Supports Major Renovation at St. Peter’s Tuberculosis (TB) Specialized Hospital
March 13, 2007
Addis Ababa (U.S. Embassy) – The U.S. President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief, or PEPFAR, in partnership with the Ministry of Health and HIV/AIDS Prevention and Control Office (HAPCO), officially launched today newly renovated sections of St. Peter’s TB Specialized Hospital to better serve Ethiopians. Renovated areas include HIV counseling and testing units, TB/HIV and Antiretroviral Therapy (ART) clinics, an Antiretroviral (ARV) drugs dispensary unit and pharmacy store. The renovation is a collaborative effort between partners funded by Centers for Disease Prevention and Control (CDC) and the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), the major implementers of PEPFAR in Ethiopia.
The Minister of Health Dr. Tedros Adhanom and U.S. Embassy Deputy Chief of Mission Janet Wilgus delivered remarks at the event, and inaugurated the renovated sections of the hospital.
With funding through CDC, Johns Hopkins University renovated and furnished the client waiting area, TB/HIV and ART clinics of St. Peter’s. Rational Pharmaceutical Management Plus, funded by USAID, renovated and furnished the ARV drugs dispensary unit and pharmacy store. The newly renovated facilities will improve the chronic space problem faced by the hospital.
The PEPFAR partners have trained hospital staff in TB/HIV co-management, ART service delivery, and ARV drug supply management system. Standard Operating Procedures and recording and reporting formats have been developed. Computers for data entry and analysis have also been donated through the PEPFAR program. Clinical mentors and supportive supervision have also been an important part of the renovation to improve services.
The hospital has provided HIV counseling and testing service for all TB patients since September 2005, through support provided by PEPFAR. So far, 3,338 newly diagnosed TB patients have been counseled and tested for HIV, out of which over 50% were found to be HIV positive. There are 1,210 patients currently on ARV drugs and the clinic has handled a total of 7,177 clinic visits. There is sufficient stock of ARV drugs for over 1,000 patients for the next six months.
For more information, contact Jason Hefner, PEPFAR Country Coordinator at 011-5174101.
Addis Ababa (U.S. Embassy) – The U.S. President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief, or PEPFAR, in partnership with the Ministry of Health and HIV/AIDS Prevention and Control Office (HAPCO), officially launched today newly renovated sections of St. Peter’s TB Specialized Hospital to better serve Ethiopians. Renovated areas include HIV counseling and testing units, TB/HIV and Antiretroviral Therapy (ART) clinics, an Antiretroviral (ARV) drugs dispensary unit and pharmacy store. The renovation is a collaborative effort between partners funded by Centers for Disease Prevention and Control (CDC) and the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), the major implementers of PEPFAR in Ethiopia.
The Minister of Health Dr. Tedros Adhanom and U.S. Embassy Deputy Chief of Mission Janet Wilgus delivered remarks at the event, and inaugurated the renovated sections of the hospital.
With funding through CDC, Johns Hopkins University renovated and furnished the client waiting area, TB/HIV and ART clinics of St. Peter’s. Rational Pharmaceutical Management Plus, funded by USAID, renovated and furnished the ARV drugs dispensary unit and pharmacy store. The newly renovated facilities will improve the chronic space problem faced by the hospital.
The PEPFAR partners have trained hospital staff in TB/HIV co-management, ART service delivery, and ARV drug supply management system. Standard Operating Procedures and recording and reporting formats have been developed. Computers for data entry and analysis have also been donated through the PEPFAR program. Clinical mentors and supportive supervision have also been an important part of the renovation to improve services.
The hospital has provided HIV counseling and testing service for all TB patients since September 2005, through support provided by PEPFAR. So far, 3,338 newly diagnosed TB patients have been counseled and tested for HIV, out of which over 50% were found to be HIV positive. There are 1,210 patients currently on ARV drugs and the clinic has handled a total of 7,177 clinic visits. There is sufficient stock of ARV drugs for over 1,000 patients for the next six months.
For more information, contact Jason Hefner, PEPFAR Country Coordinator at 011-5174101.
Saturday, March 3, 2007
Former U.S. President Jimmy Carter Speaks to Journalists
Addis Ababa (U.S. Embassy) -- Former U.S. President Jimmy Carter held a press conference with Minister of Health Tewodros Adhanom on Tuesday, February 13 in Addis Ababa. President Carter had just returned from a visit to Afeta, a community of 7,500 people in the Jimma Zone, where he distributed long-lasting insecticide-impregnated bed nets. The symbolic action was part of a new malaria control initiative in Ethiopia by the Carter Center. Malaria is Ethiopia’s single largest cause of death.
“Malaria preys on Ethiopia’s youth, destroying lives and jeopardizing the country’s future,” said President Carter. “It is our goal to help provide long-lasting insecticide-treated bed nets, free of charge, to all members of at-risk communities to help put a stop to the needless deaths caused by this mosquito-transmitted disease.”
To help the Ethiopia Ministry of Health in its goal to protect 50 million Ethiopians at risk for malaria with long-lasting insecticide-treated nets by July 2007, The Carter Center purchased 3 million bed nets to contribute to the total 20 million bed nets that are needed to accomplish this goal. The Carter Center will assist in the distribution of nets and in health education programs to help protect 18 million men, women, and children in more than 100 districts (woredas) and several hundred Kebeles in malaria-prone areas. Distribution of these long-lasting insecticide-treated bed nets began in January 2007. The same community-based networks which were established for river blindness and trachoma control programs in Ethiopia funded through The Carter Center are being used for the malaria control initiative.
The Carter Center’s work in Ethiopia has been extremely diverse, involving disease control and eradication programs for river blindness and trachoma, agriculture and food security development programs, conflict mediation, health education and training, elections monitoring, and the promotion of human rights. During his visit, to Ethiopia President Carter also attended a conference of the Ethiopian Public Health Training Initiative in Addis Ababa. This conference was held to illustrate the outstanding effect the program has had in helping Ethiopia meet its growing need for trained health care workers.
The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) in Ethiopia has supported the Carter Center with $12 million in funding for the Ethiopian Public Health Training Initiative, which has trained health care professionals such as Health Extension Workers, laboratory technicians, nurses, and environmental sanitation experts. USAID also worked with the Carter Center in their response to the 2006 flood emergency in Ethiopia.
Friday, March 2, 2007
Mark Your Calendar! Children's Festival - April 21, 2007
The excitement is building around the Ethiopian Children's Festival that will be held on Saturday, April 21, 2007 in Washington, D.C.
Mark your Calendar and plan for a day of fun.
Music, games, contests, food, entertainment: it will all be there in one location! It will be exciting!
Look for more information regarding this event on the Zethiopia Blog Site and the Zethiopia Newspaper.
Take One Book: Literacy Campaign for Ethiopia
There has been an overwhelmingly positive response to the literacy campaign that has been launched by EthiopiaReads.org and Zethiopia for the year 2007.
Ethiopia Reads, founded in 2003, has a mission to improve literacy and create a culture of reading in Ethiopia. Ethiopia Reads does this by planting libraries and publishing books in local languages. To reinforce the core program of Ethiopia Reads, they are offering continuing education programs to help educators in Ethiopia nurture a love of reading.
Since Ethiopia Reads opened Ethiopia’s first free children’s library in 2003, thousands of children have experienced the joy of reading, they logged 60,000 visits to the library in 2006. Ethiopia Reads sees first hand the difference that one library, one book, and one story can make in the life of a child.
The commitment of the volunteers and supporters of Ethiopia Reads, and the vision of it's founder, Yohannes Gebregiorgis, has created a new level of excitement about learning, reading, and empowerment through education in Ethiopia.
Ethiopia Reads and Zethiopia are now partnered in challenging the community to stand behind Ethiopia Reads projects and to support their goals and mission.
If you or someone you know is traveling to Ethiopia during 2007, Zethiopia and Ethiopia Reads challenge you to TAKE ONE BOOK with you, because we believe that education is hope and books can change lives. Books can be dropped off at Shola Children’s Library in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. Shola Library is located in Beklo-bet, behind the Dashen Bank off of Debre Zeit road.
If you aren't traveling and would like to donate books to Ethiopia Reads in the U.S., there are currently two book drives taking place in the Greater Washington D.C. Metro area.
For more information on the TAKE ONE BOOK campaign, please contact Catie Dupont at ethiopiareads@aol.com. For additional information regarding Ethiopia Reads and how you can help their mission, please visit www.ethiopiareads.org.
(Would you like to donate books, but are unsure what is best? Any books, fiction or non, with African or Ethiopian themes are greatly appreciated. Non-fiction books, such as the DK books, that have specific themes like the Ocean, Dinosaurs, the Human Body, Animals, are favorites of the children who visit the libraries.)
WILL YOU TAKE ONE BOOK?
A special note of thanks to the SEED Public Charter School students who have spear headed the book drive in the D.C. Metro area.
Ethiopia Reads, founded in 2003, has a mission to improve literacy and create a culture of reading in Ethiopia. Ethiopia Reads does this by planting libraries and publishing books in local languages. To reinforce the core program of Ethiopia Reads, they are offering continuing education programs to help educators in Ethiopia nurture a love of reading.
Since Ethiopia Reads opened Ethiopia’s first free children’s library in 2003, thousands of children have experienced the joy of reading, they logged 60,000 visits to the library in 2006. Ethiopia Reads sees first hand the difference that one library, one book, and one story can make in the life of a child.
The commitment of the volunteers and supporters of Ethiopia Reads, and the vision of it's founder, Yohannes Gebregiorgis, has created a new level of excitement about learning, reading, and empowerment through education in Ethiopia.
Ethiopia Reads and Zethiopia are now partnered in challenging the community to stand behind Ethiopia Reads projects and to support their goals and mission.
If you or someone you know is traveling to Ethiopia during 2007, Zethiopia and Ethiopia Reads challenge you to TAKE ONE BOOK with you, because we believe that education is hope and books can change lives. Books can be dropped off at Shola Children’s Library in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. Shola Library is located in Beklo-bet, behind the Dashen Bank off of Debre Zeit road.
If you aren't traveling and would like to donate books to Ethiopia Reads in the U.S., there are currently two book drives taking place in the Greater Washington D.C. Metro area.
For more information on the TAKE ONE BOOK campaign, please contact Catie Dupont at ethiopiareads@aol.com. For additional information regarding Ethiopia Reads and how you can help their mission, please visit www.ethiopiareads.org.
(Would you like to donate books, but are unsure what is best? Any books, fiction or non, with African or Ethiopian themes are greatly appreciated. Non-fiction books, such as the DK books, that have specific themes like the Ocean, Dinosaurs, the Human Body, Animals, are favorites of the children who visit the libraries.)
WILL YOU TAKE ONE BOOK?
A special note of thanks to the SEED Public Charter School students who have spear headed the book drive in the D.C. Metro area.
Five Britons kidnapped in Ethiopia's 'land of death'
By Cahal Milmo
3 March 2007
Five Britons including diplomats and embassy staff were among 15 Western tourists being held by kidnappers in a remote corner of Ethiopia dubbed the "land of death" because of its extreme climate.
The Britons, who have links to the British embassy in the Ethiopian capital, Addis Ababa, were in one of two convoys intercepted on Wednesday in the barren Afar region close to the border with Eritrea, which is roamed by separatist rebels and bandits.
Whitehall sources said last night that there was a "national security dimension" to the kidnappings and that the government's emergency committee, Cobra, had met over the incident.
The second group, comprising between seven and 12 French citizens, was believed to be being held by the same kidnap gang after both convoys were stopped in the Danakil Depression, a spectacular desert bowl that contains the lowest point in Africa more than 500 metres below sea level.
A television crew working in the area which had been out of touch for more than 24 hours last night returned to safety, leading to incorrect reports that the French group had been released unharmed.
The Foreign Office said it was investigating the disappearance of the Britons but said the details still remained sketchy around the circumstances of how they were taken. Under Ethiopian government rules for tourists, all groups of visitors to Afar, in the north east of the country, have to be accompanied by at least two armed guards.
Margaret Beckett, the Foreign Secretary, said the British group consisted of embassy staff and their relatives and an emergency team had been sent from London to handle the crisis. She said Britain was working with the Ethiopian authorities who are "doing all they can to ensure that the situation is resolved peacefully". Whitehall sources underlined that situation was uncertain and potentially perilous. Dalol, the village where the kidnappings took place, is on the border with Eritrea, which has a fraught relationship with Ethiopia. The border is frequently the scene of clashes between armed groups and security forces.
One of those kidnapped was named as Rossanna Moore, the Italian-born wife of Michael Moore, the director of the British Council in Addis Ababa, which deals with cultural relations. The others are thought to be middle-ranking officials with the diplomatic service and the Department for International Development.
The British group was on a long-planned trekking trip to the spectacular salt mines in Dalol, which have become an increasing attraction for intrepid travellers in recent years. Several tour organisations have sprung up offering guided visits to the Danakil Depression in off-road vehicles. The region, which is of huge geological and archaeological significance after three-million-year-old fossils of human ancestors' remains were found in, is one of the most hostile environments on the planet.
The average temperature is 34C and the daytime heat can reach 45C. It is often wracked by volcanic eruptions and earth tremors. The renowned 20th century British explorer Wilfred Thesiger described it as a "veritable land of death".
It was unclear whether the tourists had fallen foul of a criminal kidnap group or Afar separatists who have been fighting a low-level campaign against the Ethiopian government for an autonomous state straddling territory in Ethiopia, Eritrea and Djibouti.
The two groups are thought to have travelled on Sunday by road to Makele, the principal town in Afar, some 500 miles north east of Addis Ababa. They then travelled with their tour agency, Origins Ethiopia, to Hamedali, a remote village that was to act as a base. Each group was travelling in two off-road vehicles, accompanied by a guide, a cook and two armed guards.
According to reports, one of the tourists in the French group managed to escape the kidnappers and flagged down another tourist party and used a satellite phone to alert the authorities.
Stephane Gompertz, the French ambassador in Addis Ababa, said: "A kidnapping or kidnappings did take place. It seems that the incident or incidents happened two days ago. We don't know which group may be involved or why they have done this."
The crisis is a blow to the Ethiopian government's attempts to boost tourism. The Foreign Office said yesterday it was advising against all travel to Afar.
3 March 2007
Five Britons including diplomats and embassy staff were among 15 Western tourists being held by kidnappers in a remote corner of Ethiopia dubbed the "land of death" because of its extreme climate.
The Britons, who have links to the British embassy in the Ethiopian capital, Addis Ababa, were in one of two convoys intercepted on Wednesday in the barren Afar region close to the border with Eritrea, which is roamed by separatist rebels and bandits.
Whitehall sources said last night that there was a "national security dimension" to the kidnappings and that the government's emergency committee, Cobra, had met over the incident.
The second group, comprising between seven and 12 French citizens, was believed to be being held by the same kidnap gang after both convoys were stopped in the Danakil Depression, a spectacular desert bowl that contains the lowest point in Africa more than 500 metres below sea level.
A television crew working in the area which had been out of touch for more than 24 hours last night returned to safety, leading to incorrect reports that the French group had been released unharmed.
The Foreign Office said it was investigating the disappearance of the Britons but said the details still remained sketchy around the circumstances of how they were taken. Under Ethiopian government rules for tourists, all groups of visitors to Afar, in the north east of the country, have to be accompanied by at least two armed guards.
Margaret Beckett, the Foreign Secretary, said the British group consisted of embassy staff and their relatives and an emergency team had been sent from London to handle the crisis. She said Britain was working with the Ethiopian authorities who are "doing all they can to ensure that the situation is resolved peacefully". Whitehall sources underlined that situation was uncertain and potentially perilous. Dalol, the village where the kidnappings took place, is on the border with Eritrea, which has a fraught relationship with Ethiopia. The border is frequently the scene of clashes between armed groups and security forces.
One of those kidnapped was named as Rossanna Moore, the Italian-born wife of Michael Moore, the director of the British Council in Addis Ababa, which deals with cultural relations. The others are thought to be middle-ranking officials with the diplomatic service and the Department for International Development.
The British group was on a long-planned trekking trip to the spectacular salt mines in Dalol, which have become an increasing attraction for intrepid travellers in recent years. Several tour organisations have sprung up offering guided visits to the Danakil Depression in off-road vehicles. The region, which is of huge geological and archaeological significance after three-million-year-old fossils of human ancestors' remains were found in, is one of the most hostile environments on the planet.
The average temperature is 34C and the daytime heat can reach 45C. It is often wracked by volcanic eruptions and earth tremors. The renowned 20th century British explorer Wilfred Thesiger described it as a "veritable land of death".
It was unclear whether the tourists had fallen foul of a criminal kidnap group or Afar separatists who have been fighting a low-level campaign against the Ethiopian government for an autonomous state straddling territory in Ethiopia, Eritrea and Djibouti.
The two groups are thought to have travelled on Sunday by road to Makele, the principal town in Afar, some 500 miles north east of Addis Ababa. They then travelled with their tour agency, Origins Ethiopia, to Hamedali, a remote village that was to act as a base. Each group was travelling in two off-road vehicles, accompanied by a guide, a cook and two armed guards.
According to reports, one of the tourists in the French group managed to escape the kidnappers and flagged down another tourist party and used a satellite phone to alert the authorities.
Stephane Gompertz, the French ambassador in Addis Ababa, said: "A kidnapping or kidnappings did take place. It seems that the incident or incidents happened two days ago. We don't know which group may be involved or why they have done this."
The crisis is a blow to the Ethiopian government's attempts to boost tourism. The Foreign Office said yesterday it was advising against all travel to Afar.
Now Available at Zethiopia - Silly Mammo
Silly Mammo is the retelling of a traditional Ethiopian folk tale written by Yohannes Gebregeorgis and published by African Sun Publishing. The text of the picture book is in Amharic and English.
Silly Mammo is the first bilingual English/Amharic children's book. The illustrations are done by Bogale Belachew, an Ethiopian artist.
Silly Mammo is available for $10.00 + $4.95 Shipping and Handling.
A portion of the sale of this book will benefit EthiopiaReads.org.
Now Available at Zethiopia - Water Hole Waiting by Jane and Chris Kurtz
Water Hole Waiting, Hardcover Book, New, by Jane Kurtz and Christopher Kurtz
From the bookflap: "It's a hot day on the savanna. The sun sizzles, bristles, and bakes. A young monkey wants to drink at the water hole. But wait! Blocking the way are irritable hippos, sharp-hoofed zebras, a toothy lion, huge elephants, and a lurking crocodile. Will Monkey ever get to taste cool water? Why is waiting so hard?"
Annotation from the publisher: "Waiting is hard. And if you are a small vervet monkey with a big thirst, it's even harder. But wait you must, because snap! go Crocodile's jaws; slip, slap go Lion's powerful paws; thrum, thrum go the rumbling elephants...Water holes on the African savanna are popular places. Will Monkey and his family ever get to drink? Take this unforgettable (and noisy!) armchair safari and find out! It's the perfect book for animal lovers, and Lee Christiansen's lush and expressive pastel portraits of the animals take you right to the water hole. Also includes an informative authors' note on the facts behind the fiction.
Available through Zethiopia for $16.00 plus $4.95 shipping and handling. A portion of the sale of this book will benefit EthiopiaReads.org.
Available through Zethiopia for $16.00 plus $4.95 shipping and handling. A portion of the sale of this book will benefit EthiopiaReads.org.
Now Available from Zethiopia - Only a Pigeon, by Chris and Jane Kurtz.
Only a Pigeon, by Christopher Kurtz and Jane Kurtz - Hardcover
Only a Pigeon was awarded the Parents' Choice Gold Award -- the award is "a distinguished and coveted award" and a "wonderful honor." Parents' Choice is a nonprofit consumer guide to children's toys, books, software, video, and magazines that has been dedicated to helping parents select great products for their children since 1978. In 1997, about 1000 publishers and companies participated in the Parents' Choice awards competition.
A reviewer wrote that the book was, "A low-key, compelling story about an Ethiopian boy who raises homing pigeons. Readers accompany the 12 or 13-year-old Andualem as he tends his brood, protecting them from attack by a mongoose or stray cat. His is a circumscribed life, but we enter it willingly, sharing its perils and triumphs. E.B. Lewis's tender watercolors transport us to Addis Ababa, with its tin-roofed houses; and muddy streets. Both authors grew up in Ethiopia, and the artist traveled there to assure the authentic flavor of his pictures.
A reviewer wrote that the book was, "A low-key, compelling story about an Ethiopian boy who raises homing pigeons. Readers accompany the 12 or 13-year-old Andualem as he tends his brood, protecting them from attack by a mongoose or stray cat. His is a circumscribed life, but we enter it willingly, sharing its perils and triumphs. E.B. Lewis's tender watercolors transport us to Addis Ababa, with its tin-roofed houses; and muddy streets. Both authors grew up in Ethiopia, and the artist traveled there to assure the authentic flavor of his pictures.
Available for $16.00 + $4.95 Shipping and Handling. Order your copy now, this book is no longer in print and we have limited copies.
A portion of the sale of this book will benefit EthiopiaReads.org.
Now available from Zethiopia - Saba, Under the Hyena's Foot by Jane Kurtz
Saba, Under the Hyena's Foot, by Jane Kurtz - Soft cover book - BRAND NEW
Quoted from the book flap: "When twelve-year-old Saba and her older brother are kidnapped and taken from their rural home to the royal palace at Gondar, Saba finally learns about her long-lost parents--and her own royal past. With Ethiopia's rulers in the midst of a fierce strugle for control of the throne, what can the King of Kings--Emperor Yohannes II--possibly want with her."
Available from Zethiopia $7.00 + $4.95 shipping and handling. A portion of the sale of this book will benefit EthiopiaReads.org.
Contact dereje@zethiopia.com for more information.
Clever Mimi - Children's Book by Alem Bantayehu
Clever Mimi, by Alem Bantayehu, is a light-hearted story based on the Ethiopian folktale, Silly Mammo. This a warm story about Clever Mimi, who convinces her mother that she needs keremela.
The illustrations are bright, eye-catching, and sure to entertain the young reader. This 28 page book is published in English and is for an audience age 4-8, although this 36 year old enjoyed the story.
The author, Alem Bantayehu, was born in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. As a young child she lived in Mexico, Kenya, and Zimbabwe. Ms. Bantayehu received her higher education in the United States, attending college in Virginia and obtaining an MBA from prestigious Georgetown University. She now resides in the United States with her husband and two small children.
This book is available for purchase on Amazon.com.
Wednesday, February 21, 2007
680 dead in Ethiopia in suspected cholera outbreak, say aid groups
By LES NEUHAUS - AP
ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia
More than 680 people in Ethiopia have died in a suspected cholera outbreak that has also affected neighboring countries, officials said Wednesday.
Some 60,000 people have been infected, but the country's Health Ministry is resisting pressure to declare an emergency despite a U.N. warning that the disease is an epidemic.
"The fact that it is spreading to new areas in the country is cause for serious concern," said Paul Hebert, head of the U.N.'s Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs in Ethiopia. "The full extent of this needs to be addressed."
The U.N. has not officially declared the outbreak, which began nearly a year ago, to be cholera. But U.N. officials speaking privately because of the sensitivity of the issue are saying it is cholera, something local officials continue to deny.
Eight of Ethiopia's 11 regions have already been affected by the outbreak, according to Ethiopia's Health Ministry and the U.N. The remote eastern region of Afar has recorded more than 1,000 new cases in the last week alone.
The outbreak started in April 2006 after heavy rains in the country. Neighboring Somalia and Kenya have also been hit, and more than 1,000 people have been infected with suspected cholera in Uganda's capital since October. In Kenya, 17 people have died since October.
"Once a disease has been present for an extended period of time, then the likelihood of it being eliminated is quite difficult," Hebert said.
"I don't think we are addressing this issue on the scale that is needed and it needs to be targeted to have an impact."
Ethiopian health officials, who say the disease is not cholera, are describing the outbreak as acute watery diarrhea, but they have not shared any of the test results that they have carried out.
Ethiopian Health Ministry spokesman Ahmed Emano said that contrary to U.N. concerns, the outbreak was being contained by the government.
Cholera is transmitted through contaminated water and is linked to poor hygiene, overcrowding and bad sanitation. Symptoms include diarrhea and vomiting and it is deadly if untreated. "It can kill someone in as little as five hours," said Kebba O. Jaiteh, emergency officer with the U.N.'s World Health Organization in Ethiopia.
Ethiopia's economy could suffer if the country declares a cholera emergency.
"The Ethiopian Health Ministry did not share the results of the lab tests since last April," Jaiteh said. "It can mean some serious economic losses, especially in terms of international trade and tourism.
"Many African countries don't declare a cholera emergency even when they know for a fact that it is in their country for these very economic reasons."
The U.N. in Ethiopia has said the disease is suspected of having entered Ethiopia from Sudan last year, where the disease was confirmed in early 2006.
U.N. officials in Ethiopia are unable to act on their own about the issue and are obligated to follow the lead of the country's Ministry of Health.
Only after a disease has been recorded as active in an area for one year can the WHO declare an emergency and label the disease as endemic to the country.
Fears are mounting that with the onset of next month's rainy season the outbreak could worsen.
"The rainy season is coming soon so it might get worse if we do not do something soon," said Dr. Patrick Mweki, head of the International Medical Corps in Somalia.
Government health officials say the situation in Uganda is now under control. "Now that the rains have disappeared, the cholera has really subsided, said Dr. Sam Okware, the commissioner for public health services at Uganda's Health Ministry.
ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia
More than 680 people in Ethiopia have died in a suspected cholera outbreak that has also affected neighboring countries, officials said Wednesday.
Some 60,000 people have been infected, but the country's Health Ministry is resisting pressure to declare an emergency despite a U.N. warning that the disease is an epidemic.
"The fact that it is spreading to new areas in the country is cause for serious concern," said Paul Hebert, head of the U.N.'s Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs in Ethiopia. "The full extent of this needs to be addressed."
The U.N. has not officially declared the outbreak, which began nearly a year ago, to be cholera. But U.N. officials speaking privately because of the sensitivity of the issue are saying it is cholera, something local officials continue to deny.
Eight of Ethiopia's 11 regions have already been affected by the outbreak, according to Ethiopia's Health Ministry and the U.N. The remote eastern region of Afar has recorded more than 1,000 new cases in the last week alone.
The outbreak started in April 2006 after heavy rains in the country. Neighboring Somalia and Kenya have also been hit, and more than 1,000 people have been infected with suspected cholera in Uganda's capital since October. In Kenya, 17 people have died since October.
"Once a disease has been present for an extended period of time, then the likelihood of it being eliminated is quite difficult," Hebert said.
"I don't think we are addressing this issue on the scale that is needed and it needs to be targeted to have an impact."
Ethiopian health officials, who say the disease is not cholera, are describing the outbreak as acute watery diarrhea, but they have not shared any of the test results that they have carried out.
Ethiopian Health Ministry spokesman Ahmed Emano said that contrary to U.N. concerns, the outbreak was being contained by the government.
Cholera is transmitted through contaminated water and is linked to poor hygiene, overcrowding and bad sanitation. Symptoms include diarrhea and vomiting and it is deadly if untreated. "It can kill someone in as little as five hours," said Kebba O. Jaiteh, emergency officer with the U.N.'s World Health Organization in Ethiopia.
Ethiopia's economy could suffer if the country declares a cholera emergency.
"The Ethiopian Health Ministry did not share the results of the lab tests since last April," Jaiteh said. "It can mean some serious economic losses, especially in terms of international trade and tourism.
"Many African countries don't declare a cholera emergency even when they know for a fact that it is in their country for these very economic reasons."
The U.N. in Ethiopia has said the disease is suspected of having entered Ethiopia from Sudan last year, where the disease was confirmed in early 2006.
U.N. officials in Ethiopia are unable to act on their own about the issue and are obligated to follow the lead of the country's Ministry of Health.
Only after a disease has been recorded as active in an area for one year can the WHO declare an emergency and label the disease as endemic to the country.
Fears are mounting that with the onset of next month's rainy season the outbreak could worsen.
"The rainy season is coming soon so it might get worse if we do not do something soon," said Dr. Patrick Mweki, head of the International Medical Corps in Somalia.
Government health officials say the situation in Uganda is now under control. "Now that the rains have disappeared, the cholera has really subsided, said Dr. Sam Okware, the commissioner for public health services at Uganda's Health Ministry.
Tuesday, February 20, 2007
Bekele sets world best in indoor 2,000; American Carter disqualified from 400
Updated 2/17/2007
BIRMINGHAM, England (AP)
Kenenisa Bekele of Ethiopia set a world record for the indoor 2,000 meters of four minutes, 49.99 seconds at the Norwich Union Grand Prix on Saturday, beating a nine-year-old mark of Haile Gebrselassie.
But there was disappointment for Olympic pole vault champion Yelena Isinbayeva and American sprinter Xavier Carter in the 400 meters, who had hoped to set new marks here.
After winning the men's 400, Carter was disqualified for stepping out of his lane before overtaking Robert Tobin of Britain just ahead of the line. Tobin won with 46.07.
"I have no idea why I was disqualified," Carter said. "It's a bit shocking to me because personally I think I ran the race how it was supposed to be ran. I never felt myself stepping on the line. I didn't feel myself breaking into it."
Isinbayeva failed to beat the world mark she set at the "Pole Vault Stars" in Ukraine last week, but a leap of 15 feet, 6¼ inches was enough to land the 24-year-old Russian her third successive victory.
"I had problems with my run-up," Isinbayeva said. "Sometimes I was quick, sometimes I was slower. It was all a bit inconsistent."
Bekele, the Olympic champion and world record holder for 5,000 meters, set the world record running at the same National Indoor Arena where Gebrselassie ran his 4:52.86 in February 1998.
"It makes me very happy after all the hard work," Bekele said. "The previous record was very difficult, but I knew I was in good shape to beat it."
Jason Gardener of Britain won the 60 meters in 6.57 to beat his training partner Craig Pickering by just 0.01.
Yaroslav Rybakov of Russia won the men's high jump with 7-7¾ meters and Irving Saladino of Panama was first in the long jump at 27-3¼.
Carter — also known as "X-Man" — is now focusing on beating Michael Johnson's 11-year-old world mark of 19.32 seconds for the 200.
"I feel this is my best race. I like it and I'm trying to break the world record," Carter said. "I believe it's in reach. I'm not going to say it's impossible."
American Reese Hoffa won the shot put after throwing 69-3½, beating Dan Taylor of the United States.
"There is a lot more to come this year. My goal was to keep it above 21 (meters, 68-10¾ feet) but I missed the board a couple of times," Hoffa said.
In the 60 hurdles, Ron Bramlett of the United States narrowly beat Cuba's Dayron Robles with a personal best of 7.52.
"Robles is always a tough man to beat and he's been ahead of me recently, so it was nice to get ahead of him for a change," Bramlett said.
Britain's Joanne Pavey won the women's 2-mile race in 9:32 while Kelly Sotherton of Britain won the long jump with a leap of 21.26 feet. Britons Nicola Sanders and Jenny Meadows won the 400 and 800 in 50.60 and 1:59.88 respectively.
Bernard Lagat won the 3,000 in 7:32.43 after fighting off a late challenge by Ethiopian Markos Geneti.
BIRMINGHAM, England (AP)
Kenenisa Bekele of Ethiopia set a world record for the indoor 2,000 meters of four minutes, 49.99 seconds at the Norwich Union Grand Prix on Saturday, beating a nine-year-old mark of Haile Gebrselassie.
But there was disappointment for Olympic pole vault champion Yelena Isinbayeva and American sprinter Xavier Carter in the 400 meters, who had hoped to set new marks here.
After winning the men's 400, Carter was disqualified for stepping out of his lane before overtaking Robert Tobin of Britain just ahead of the line. Tobin won with 46.07.
"I have no idea why I was disqualified," Carter said. "It's a bit shocking to me because personally I think I ran the race how it was supposed to be ran. I never felt myself stepping on the line. I didn't feel myself breaking into it."
Isinbayeva failed to beat the world mark she set at the "Pole Vault Stars" in Ukraine last week, but a leap of 15 feet, 6¼ inches was enough to land the 24-year-old Russian her third successive victory.
"I had problems with my run-up," Isinbayeva said. "Sometimes I was quick, sometimes I was slower. It was all a bit inconsistent."
Bekele, the Olympic champion and world record holder for 5,000 meters, set the world record running at the same National Indoor Arena where Gebrselassie ran his 4:52.86 in February 1998.
"It makes me very happy after all the hard work," Bekele said. "The previous record was very difficult, but I knew I was in good shape to beat it."
Jason Gardener of Britain won the 60 meters in 6.57 to beat his training partner Craig Pickering by just 0.01.
Yaroslav Rybakov of Russia won the men's high jump with 7-7¾ meters and Irving Saladino of Panama was first in the long jump at 27-3¼.
Carter — also known as "X-Man" — is now focusing on beating Michael Johnson's 11-year-old world mark of 19.32 seconds for the 200.
"I feel this is my best race. I like it and I'm trying to break the world record," Carter said. "I believe it's in reach. I'm not going to say it's impossible."
American Reese Hoffa won the shot put after throwing 69-3½, beating Dan Taylor of the United States.
"There is a lot more to come this year. My goal was to keep it above 21 (meters, 68-10¾ feet) but I missed the board a couple of times," Hoffa said.
In the 60 hurdles, Ron Bramlett of the United States narrowly beat Cuba's Dayron Robles with a personal best of 7.52.
"Robles is always a tough man to beat and he's been ahead of me recently, so it was nice to get ahead of him for a change," Bramlett said.
Britain's Joanne Pavey won the women's 2-mile race in 9:32 while Kelly Sotherton of Britain won the long jump with a leap of 21.26 feet. Britons Nicola Sanders and Jenny Meadows won the 400 and 800 in 50.60 and 1:59.88 respectively.
Bernard Lagat won the 3,000 in 7:32.43 after fighting off a late challenge by Ethiopian Markos Geneti.
Liberia No Match For Ethiopia
By Julu M. Johnson, Jr.
The female football national team of Liberia , Lone Star, put up a rather disappointing performance before home fans at the Antoinette Tubman Stadium (ATS) on Sunday, February 18, 2007.
The match, which the female Lone Star lost 3-0 against Ethiopia was a 2008 Olympic Games qualifiers.
Addis Felekis scored the visitors’ first goal after the home side became a victim of fast play in the 43rd minute.
Back from recess, few changes made by Lone Star coach Lucretia Tokpa yielded no fruit as the Ethiopians, having dominated proceedings, made it 2-0 through Birtukan Gebrekistos, who was probably the match’s best player due to her splendid displays.
Second half substitute Helen Seifu dribbled the Liberian goalkeeper to finally dash any hope of the female Lone Star attempting to make a comeback.
In two weeks’ time, the return leg of the match is scheduled to be held in Addis Ababa .
The female football national team of Liberia , Lone Star, put up a rather disappointing performance before home fans at the Antoinette Tubman Stadium (ATS) on Sunday, February 18, 2007.
The match, which the female Lone Star lost 3-0 against Ethiopia was a 2008 Olympic Games qualifiers.
Addis Felekis scored the visitors’ first goal after the home side became a victim of fast play in the 43rd minute.
Back from recess, few changes made by Lone Star coach Lucretia Tokpa yielded no fruit as the Ethiopians, having dominated proceedings, made it 2-0 through Birtukan Gebrekistos, who was probably the match’s best player due to her splendid displays.
Second half substitute Helen Seifu dribbled the Liberian goalkeeper to finally dash any hope of the female Lone Star attempting to make a comeback.
In two weeks’ time, the return leg of the match is scheduled to be held in Addis Ababa .
U.S. Ambassador Don Yamamoto Launches PEPFAR Small Grants Program for Indigenous NGOs
February 8, 2007
No. 07/07
Addis Ababa (U.S. Embassy) – On Thursday, February 8, 2007, U.S. Ambassador Don Yamamoto visited Hope for Children, one of six community organizations chosen by PEPFAR/Ethiopia as the first recipients of the Small Grants to Community-Based Organizations Program under U.S. President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR).
A key activity of PEPFAR is the expansion of work with new partners, particularly nongovernmental, community-based and faith-based organizations in an effort to broaden services and foster sustainability. As part of this effort PEPFAR/Ethiopia created the Small Grants to Community-Based Organizations Program. This program funds communities and faith-based organizations to carry out small-scale projects to assist in HIV prevention or provide care and support to persons living with HIV/AIDS (PLWHA) and/or children orphaned or affected by AIDS. Grants range from ETB 8,500 to 260,000 (US $1,000-$30,000).
Hope for Children received a grant of USD 55,572 (ETB 491,000) (with a match contribution of 21,782 USD (ETB 192,500), for its Lafto Care and Support Project, located in Nefas Silk Lafto Subcity, Addis Ababa. This project will provide HIV/AIDS peer education through puppet shows and community volunteer educators, and will work with individuals and families affected by the HIV/AIDS by providing grief counseling and home-based care. Beneficiaries are 200 orphans and vulnerable children and 7,080 adults.
The President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief Small Grants Programs was created to make funds available for U.S. Ambassadors to support local projects developed with extensive community involvement, targeted at specific needs of the host country, and developed in coordination with local nongovernmental organizations and municipalities. This year’s group of grant recipients, which includes six indigenous NGOs in Addis Ababa and other parts of Ethiopia, is the first group to receive small grants under the PEPFAR/Ethiopia program.
The six grantees of PEPFAR’s 2006 Small Grants to Community-Based Organizations Program are Addis Hiwot Center for the Blind, Bahir Dar Medhanealem Orphans & Destitute Family Support and Training Center, Dorcas Aid International Ethiopia, Hope for Children Organization, Hope for the Blind and Handicapped Rehabilitating Association, and Mekdim Ethiopia National Association (Shashemene Branch). The six groups have received a total of 143,649 USD or 1,249,752 ETB in individual grants.
No. 07/07
Addis Ababa (U.S. Embassy) – On Thursday, February 8, 2007, U.S. Ambassador Don Yamamoto visited Hope for Children, one of six community organizations chosen by PEPFAR/Ethiopia as the first recipients of the Small Grants to Community-Based Organizations Program under U.S. President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR).
A key activity of PEPFAR is the expansion of work with new partners, particularly nongovernmental, community-based and faith-based organizations in an effort to broaden services and foster sustainability. As part of this effort PEPFAR/Ethiopia created the Small Grants to Community-Based Organizations Program. This program funds communities and faith-based organizations to carry out small-scale projects to assist in HIV prevention or provide care and support to persons living with HIV/AIDS (PLWHA) and/or children orphaned or affected by AIDS. Grants range from ETB 8,500 to 260,000 (US $1,000-$30,000).
Hope for Children received a grant of USD 55,572 (ETB 491,000) (with a match contribution of 21,782 USD (ETB 192,500), for its Lafto Care and Support Project, located in Nefas Silk Lafto Subcity, Addis Ababa. This project will provide HIV/AIDS peer education through puppet shows and community volunteer educators, and will work with individuals and families affected by the HIV/AIDS by providing grief counseling and home-based care. Beneficiaries are 200 orphans and vulnerable children and 7,080 adults.
The President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief Small Grants Programs was created to make funds available for U.S. Ambassadors to support local projects developed with extensive community involvement, targeted at specific needs of the host country, and developed in coordination with local nongovernmental organizations and municipalities. This year’s group of grant recipients, which includes six indigenous NGOs in Addis Ababa and other parts of Ethiopia, is the first group to receive small grants under the PEPFAR/Ethiopia program.
The six grantees of PEPFAR’s 2006 Small Grants to Community-Based Organizations Program are Addis Hiwot Center for the Blind, Bahir Dar Medhanealem Orphans & Destitute Family Support and Training Center, Dorcas Aid International Ethiopia, Hope for Children Organization, Hope for the Blind and Handicapped Rehabilitating Association, and Mekdim Ethiopia National Association (Shashemene Branch). The six groups have received a total of 143,649 USD or 1,249,752 ETB in individual grants.
Friday, February 16, 2007
Oxfam Sees Starbucks Position Change
The Ethiopian Herald (Addis Ababa)
February 15, 2007
Addis Ababa
Oxfam America expressed hope that Starbucks, an international coffee retailer and roaster company, would negotiate a solution with the Ethiopian government on the country's claim to its coffee trademarks as the company takes part in the 4th East African Fine Coffee Conference and Exhibition opening here today.
In an exclusive interview with The Ethiopian Herald earlier this week, Oxfam America Horn of Africa Regional Director Abera Tola and Coffee Programme Manager Seth Petchers said that Starbucks had to use the opportunity to change its position and recognize the interest of Ethiopia and its coffee farmers.
"We hope Starbucks to take the opportunity of being in Addis to sit down with the government and come to an agreement that works for both parties," Petchers said.
Alain Poncelet, Vice President and Managing Director of Starbucks Coffee Trading Company, is expected to deliver a keynote address at the conference.
It is the second Ethiopian working visit for Starbucks after Oxfam launched a campaign in October urging the company to honour its public commitments to its coffee growers by signing Ethiopia's licensing agreement to affirm the country's rights in the trademarks associated with some of its finest coffees.
Starbucks CEO Jim Donald met Prime Minister Meles Zenawi in Ethiopia in November, but the company has not yet changed its position regarding the trademark issue.
"This is another opportunity for Starbucks to do the right thing," Petchers said. "It would be very disappointing if the company goes back home without having some kinds of agreement with Ethiopia."
Starbucks has the opportunity to show leadership while other coffee companies are cooperating with Ethiopia's trademark bid, Abera said.
Green Mountain Coffee Roasters, a leading roaster and distributor of specialty coffees, is one of the companies signed a letter of intent with the Ethiopian government in January this year.
Ethiopian coffee growers selling their produce to Starbucks earned between 75 cents and 1.60 USD a pound on beans that Starbucks sold at up to 26 USD a pound.
Ethiopia wants win-win situation, Abera said. "If they Starbucks recognize the trademark, the Ethiopian government can go into the commitment to keep the quality of Ethiopian coffees."
Oxfam's initiative is drawing public reaction around the world as over 90,000 people through Oxfam website have sent fax to Starbucks urging the company to live up to its commitment to coffee farmers and sign the trademark of Ethiopia since the launch of the campaign in 2006.
February 15, 2007
Addis Ababa
Oxfam America expressed hope that Starbucks, an international coffee retailer and roaster company, would negotiate a solution with the Ethiopian government on the country's claim to its coffee trademarks as the company takes part in the 4th East African Fine Coffee Conference and Exhibition opening here today.
In an exclusive interview with The Ethiopian Herald earlier this week, Oxfam America Horn of Africa Regional Director Abera Tola and Coffee Programme Manager Seth Petchers said that Starbucks had to use the opportunity to change its position and recognize the interest of Ethiopia and its coffee farmers.
"We hope Starbucks to take the opportunity of being in Addis to sit down with the government and come to an agreement that works for both parties," Petchers said.
Alain Poncelet, Vice President and Managing Director of Starbucks Coffee Trading Company, is expected to deliver a keynote address at the conference.
It is the second Ethiopian working visit for Starbucks after Oxfam launched a campaign in October urging the company to honour its public commitments to its coffee growers by signing Ethiopia's licensing agreement to affirm the country's rights in the trademarks associated with some of its finest coffees.
Starbucks CEO Jim Donald met Prime Minister Meles Zenawi in Ethiopia in November, but the company has not yet changed its position regarding the trademark issue.
"This is another opportunity for Starbucks to do the right thing," Petchers said. "It would be very disappointing if the company goes back home without having some kinds of agreement with Ethiopia."
Starbucks has the opportunity to show leadership while other coffee companies are cooperating with Ethiopia's trademark bid, Abera said.
Green Mountain Coffee Roasters, a leading roaster and distributor of specialty coffees, is one of the companies signed a letter of intent with the Ethiopian government in January this year.
Ethiopian coffee growers selling their produce to Starbucks earned between 75 cents and 1.60 USD a pound on beans that Starbucks sold at up to 26 USD a pound.
Ethiopia wants win-win situation, Abera said. "If they Starbucks recognize the trademark, the Ethiopian government can go into the commitment to keep the quality of Ethiopian coffees."
Oxfam's initiative is drawing public reaction around the world as over 90,000 people through Oxfam website have sent fax to Starbucks urging the company to live up to its commitment to coffee farmers and sign the trademark of Ethiopia since the launch of the campaign in 2006.
Wednesday, February 14, 2007
CNN Int'l Launches Weekly Program Promoting Ethiopia
The Ethiopian Herald (Addis Ababa)
February 13, 2007
By WIC
Addis Ababa
CNN International has launched broadcasting a weekly TV programme that aims at promoting Ethiopia's tourist attractions and the culture and norms of its nations and nationalities.
The transmission that started yesterday is organized in accordance with the agreement reached between Walta Information Centre and CNN International to introduce to the world the positive images of the country in the spheres of culture and tourism.
Accordingly, one of the outstanding documentary productions of WIC entitled Artaale was aired yesterday.
CNN transmitted the abridged form of the documentary film which deals with depicting one of the active volcanoes in the world.
Artaale is located in Afar State 600-kms away fromAddis.
WIC has entered an agreement with CNN for the transmission of the programme with three of its five channels namely CNN international, CNN Espanola and CNN America in prime time or convenient time.
In the upcoming weeks of transmission CNN will air programmes that deal with Ethiopian Epiphany and Dire Sheikh Hussein shrine.
February 13, 2007
By WIC
Addis Ababa
CNN International has launched broadcasting a weekly TV programme that aims at promoting Ethiopia's tourist attractions and the culture and norms of its nations and nationalities.
The transmission that started yesterday is organized in accordance with the agreement reached between Walta Information Centre and CNN International to introduce to the world the positive images of the country in the spheres of culture and tourism.
Accordingly, one of the outstanding documentary productions of WIC entitled Artaale was aired yesterday.
CNN transmitted the abridged form of the documentary film which deals with depicting one of the active volcanoes in the world.
Artaale is located in Afar State 600-kms away fromAddis.
WIC has entered an agreement with CNN for the transmission of the programme with three of its five channels namely CNN international, CNN Espanola and CNN America in prime time or convenient time.
In the upcoming weeks of transmission CNN will air programmes that deal with Ethiopian Epiphany and Dire Sheikh Hussein shrine.
People Fleeing Clan Fights Cross Into Kenya
The East African Standard (Nairobi) NEWSFebruary 14, 2007
Posted to the web February 14, 2007 By Adow Jubat
Kenya will have to contend with another wave of refugees, this time from Ethiopia where renewed clan fighting has pushed thousands onto the road to Moyale District.
The victims, most of them women and children, have been crossing into Kenya with their livestock for the past four days. Two of the Ethiopians are admitted at Moyale District Hospital with gunshot wounds.
More than 40 people were reportedly killed in the clan fighting pitting the Borana against the Gabra.
Moyale Medical Officer of Health, Dr Benedett Macharia, said one of the injured, Mr Sora Adhi Guyo, 75, who sustained three gunshot wounds had his right leg amputated.
Another victim, Dida Halake, was injured in the thigh.
Area DC, Mr Victor Okioma, said the Government would do everything to ensure the clashes do not spill into Kenya. The warring clans live on the both sides of the border and such skirmishes often come with the potential to spill across the border.
Okioma urged the clan elders at the border to initiate dialogue, saying the fights might scuttle the cross-border peace meetings brokered by Kenyan and Ethiopian governments. The peace meetings have been ongoing for the last two years.
Posted to the web February 14, 2007 By Adow Jubat
Kenya will have to contend with another wave of refugees, this time from Ethiopia where renewed clan fighting has pushed thousands onto the road to Moyale District.
The victims, most of them women and children, have been crossing into Kenya with their livestock for the past four days. Two of the Ethiopians are admitted at Moyale District Hospital with gunshot wounds.
More than 40 people were reportedly killed in the clan fighting pitting the Borana against the Gabra.
Moyale Medical Officer of Health, Dr Benedett Macharia, said one of the injured, Mr Sora Adhi Guyo, 75, who sustained three gunshot wounds had his right leg amputated.
Another victim, Dida Halake, was injured in the thigh.
Area DC, Mr Victor Okioma, said the Government would do everything to ensure the clashes do not spill into Kenya. The warring clans live on the both sides of the border and such skirmishes often come with the potential to spill across the border.
Okioma urged the clan elders at the border to initiate dialogue, saying the fights might scuttle the cross-border peace meetings brokered by Kenyan and Ethiopian governments. The peace meetings have been ongoing for the last two years.
Sunday, February 4, 2007
Ethiopia will stay in Somalia longer
The Vatican's permanent observer to the United Nations in New York says that world peace is a collective responsibility and the Somalia security is Collective responsibly and the priority of the UN. This being the case, regional and international efforts are being exerted, more vigorously than ever before, to ensure peace and stability in every corner of the world. With regard to this, the international community, the African Union, the East African Inter-Governmental Authority on Development and the like are striving to ensure sustainable peace and stability in Somalia.
Ethiopia would further consolidate its efforts to ensure dependable peace and security in Somalia , the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said.
The Ethiopian foreign ministry spokesman told HAN & Geeska Afrika Online Edition reporter in Addis Ato Mulugeta Ababa that Ethiopia is pursuing this goal as instability in Somalia would directly affect the country and the region. Al-Itihad/ONLF has been masterminding and perpetrating terrorist acts in Ethiopia, Kenya, Djibouti and Somalia for the last decade in line with the directives it receives from al-Qaeda, The spokesman said.
Leaders of the African Union have failed to secure full numbers for a planned peacekeeping force in Somalia. The new AU chairman John Kufuor announced that the numbers of troops pledged were not enough. The Regional Director for international crises group gave us an insight into what this means for stability in Somalia.
Members of the African Union are beginning to offer peacekeepers to support the interim government of Somalia, but not nearly in the numbers needed or even any positive response from the African countries. We spoke to the Apostolic Administrator for the country, who told us that the entire international community must come to Somalia's aid
Somalia’s fate will likely be decided in the coming weeks, said the the Vatican’s apostolic administrator of Mogadishu, as the country now totters between a weak, propped-up transitional government and chaos since the Union of Islamic Courts was pushed from power last week.
“If Ethiopia withdraws its troops and there is no support mechanism put in place, the transitional government can’t stand on its own. It will collapse, therefore the Ethiopian government should stay to keep the peace” Bishop Giorgio Bertin of Dijbouti said.
The most difficult task will be piecing back together Somalia’s fragmented society, which has almost been completely destroyed, said Bishop Bertin.
“The presence of an international peacekeeping force could allow discussions to happen that bring into play Somalia’s traditional clan system. It has been weakened by the warlords, who are self-appointed men acting in their own interests, but it can be restored,” Bishop Bertin said.
“The international community too must avoid acting for hidden interests. We all need to act in interest of a true Somali nation, to ensure its success,” he said.
“In just this year alone, we’ve gone from drought, to flooding, to war,” Bishop Bertin said. “All the classical evils are there.”
Sources: the Ministry of Foreign Affairs - Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, Vatican radio, Geeskaafrika online Reporter, IGAD2020 Security Watch and HAN staff Reporter In Addis Ababa.
Ethiopia would further consolidate its efforts to ensure dependable peace and security in Somalia , the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said.
The Ethiopian foreign ministry spokesman told HAN & Geeska Afrika Online Edition reporter in Addis Ato Mulugeta Ababa that Ethiopia is pursuing this goal as instability in Somalia would directly affect the country and the region. Al-Itihad/ONLF has been masterminding and perpetrating terrorist acts in Ethiopia, Kenya, Djibouti and Somalia for the last decade in line with the directives it receives from al-Qaeda, The spokesman said.
Leaders of the African Union have failed to secure full numbers for a planned peacekeeping force in Somalia. The new AU chairman John Kufuor announced that the numbers of troops pledged were not enough. The Regional Director for international crises group gave us an insight into what this means for stability in Somalia.
Members of the African Union are beginning to offer peacekeepers to support the interim government of Somalia, but not nearly in the numbers needed or even any positive response from the African countries. We spoke to the Apostolic Administrator for the country, who told us that the entire international community must come to Somalia's aid
Somalia’s fate will likely be decided in the coming weeks, said the the Vatican’s apostolic administrator of Mogadishu, as the country now totters between a weak, propped-up transitional government and chaos since the Union of Islamic Courts was pushed from power last week.
“If Ethiopia withdraws its troops and there is no support mechanism put in place, the transitional government can’t stand on its own. It will collapse, therefore the Ethiopian government should stay to keep the peace” Bishop Giorgio Bertin of Dijbouti said.
The most difficult task will be piecing back together Somalia’s fragmented society, which has almost been completely destroyed, said Bishop Bertin.
“The presence of an international peacekeeping force could allow discussions to happen that bring into play Somalia’s traditional clan system. It has been weakened by the warlords, who are self-appointed men acting in their own interests, but it can be restored,” Bishop Bertin said.
“The international community too must avoid acting for hidden interests. We all need to act in interest of a true Somali nation, to ensure its success,” he said.
“In just this year alone, we’ve gone from drought, to flooding, to war,” Bishop Bertin said. “All the classical evils are there.”
Sources: the Ministry of Foreign Affairs - Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, Vatican radio, Geeskaafrika online Reporter, IGAD2020 Security Watch and HAN staff Reporter In Addis Ababa.
Tina's Ethiopian Cafe - Chandler, Arizona - Watt's Good For You
Watt's Good for You
By Stephen Lemons
Tina Tamrat Hildebrand laughs and smiles shyly when I play reporter rather than gentleman, and ask her age. This fetching little Ethiopian lady could pass for someone in her mid-to-late 20s, but curiosity has yet to kill the culinary critic, which is why I pose the question.
"You know, in Ethiopia, people do not think about age," she explains in her charming trill of an accent. "In Ethiopia, we don't celebrate birthdays. Most people are born at home, and may not even know their exact age."
Further complicating matters is the fact that Ethiopia uses a 13-month calendar that runs about seven to eight years behind our own Gregorian. But when Hildebrand came to the United States in 1991 as a refugee of war and government repression, she suddenly discovered that here, everyone must know his or her age. She finally determined that she must have been born in the year 1974 of the Western calendar, which will make her 31 this year.
Hildebrand communicates all this as we're seated in her cozy little Chandler eatery Tina's Ethiopian Cafe, and it suddenly strikes me how utterly different life must be in the city of her birth, Addis Ababa. I've eaten at the Valley's other Ethiopian restaurants, and at Ethiopian spots in New York and Los Angeles, but never has eating Ethiopian seemed so intimate as at Tina's.
Part of this has to do with the fact that Hildebrand acts not only as chef, but server. Also, I think it's because Hildebrand has made her cafe an extension of her home. In the front part of the main dining area, you can choose from either a Western-style table or one of the colorful messobs, the traditional dining tables of Ethiopia hand-woven from a special grass. Tempe's Cafe Lalibela and Blue Nile offer this, too, but toward the back of Tina's is an area set up like a den, with a couch and comfy chairs, a coffee table, and a TV set, which screens Ethiopian videos showing demonstrations of tribal dancing or maybe a drama. Hildebrand's hubby, Dan, and her children David, 6, and Daisy, less than a year, are often nearby, adding to the overall aura of domesticity.
The windows are shrouded by curtains in the red, green and yellow of the Ethiopian flag. African carvings, Ethiopian Orthodox crosses, and posters of beautiful Ethiopian women cover the walls. Ethiopian music plays on the stereo, and Ethiopian trinkets are for sale in a display case near the front, along with copies of Hildebrand's self-published cookbook Secrets From Tina's Ethiopian Cafe.
Though Hildebrand's family was prominent, with her father owning a candy factory before a Marxist junta took it and all of his money from him, her mother still taught each of her girls their way around a kitchen. Here in the States, Hildebrand trained to be a nurse, but her dream has always been to start her own restaurant. So when the space became available, she opened Tina's in March of last year, right beside a neighborhood bar called El Coyote.
It's at El Coyote that you can purchase some beer to have with the various watt, or stews, that you'll be eating. Tina's only offers sodas, water, and Ethiopian tea and coffee, the latter flavored with roasted cloves. But Hildebrand allows customers to brown-bag something in from next door, which is helpful because beer does go quite well with Ethiopian food. Hopefully, with time, Hildebrand will get her own liquor license or come to some arrangement with El Coyote, because it would be a real treat to have Ethiopian Harar beer with dinner.
Tina's menu may not be as extensive as at a more established spot like Cafe Lalibela, but what it lacks in length, it makes up for in quality. This is Ethiopian soul food, though much more healthful than the American version, especially since Hildebrand says she eschews the use of Ethiopian butter in her recipes, sticking instead to extra-virgin olive oil.
Hildebrand's enjera, or spongy Ethiopian flatbread made with flour from the native grain teff, is perhaps the thickest and the tastiest I've ever had. Of course, those of you familiar with Abyssinian fare will know that watt is served on a round pancake of enjera, and you can eat either with pieces of enjera torn from this pancake or from a side of enjera accompanying the meal. Hildebrand gives you a whole basket full of the bread, each portion rolled tightly into soft, pale cylinders. By itself, enjera tastes slightly sour, but it really soaks up the juices of the different watt, so you can see why the Ethiopians have not forsaken eating like this for the use of spoons and forks.
Indeed, the watt at Tina's is so savory that you'll be glad there are no utensils to delay its progress to your munch-hole. On the vegetarian side, there's shiro watt, a brownish, souplike substance made from chickpea powder; yemiser watt, or mildly spiced lentils; and fosolia watt, or simmered green beans and carrots. But those I enjoyed the most were the spinach watt, the kik watt, and the yatkilt watt. The spinach is made with onions and olive oil, the kik with yellow split peas and herbs, and the yatkilt with cabbage, carrots and potatoes. The kik is almost like a warm split-pea purée, and the yatkilt reminds me of similar Indian dishes, probably because of the inclusion of yellow curry powder.
Tina's house salad, made with tomatoes, cranberries and sunflower seeds, is also a standout, but I'm a carnivore at heart (or, should I say, at stomach), and that's why I'm such a fan of Hildebrand's meat dishes, which include yedoro watt (chicken), key watt (quarter-inch bits of beef), and beef tibbs, larger pieces of grilled beef with onions and green peppers. Both the yedoro and key watt are slightly spicy from the addition of an Ethiopian red-pepper-based seasoning referred to as berbere, as well as garlic and ginger. But the tibbs is not spicy at all.
For an appetizer, sometimes Hildebrand will bring an Indian-style samosa, or a cup full of dabbo qolo, little bits of fried corn muffin mix, which are habit-forming, they're so scrumptious. I do wish lamb were part of Hildebrand's bill of fare, but she says not enough customers order it. Maybe if I phone ahead, she can make it special for me next time I go.
By Stephen Lemons
Tina Tamrat Hildebrand laughs and smiles shyly when I play reporter rather than gentleman, and ask her age. This fetching little Ethiopian lady could pass for someone in her mid-to-late 20s, but curiosity has yet to kill the culinary critic, which is why I pose the question.
"You know, in Ethiopia, people do not think about age," she explains in her charming trill of an accent. "In Ethiopia, we don't celebrate birthdays. Most people are born at home, and may not even know their exact age."
Further complicating matters is the fact that Ethiopia uses a 13-month calendar that runs about seven to eight years behind our own Gregorian. But when Hildebrand came to the United States in 1991 as a refugee of war and government repression, she suddenly discovered that here, everyone must know his or her age. She finally determined that she must have been born in the year 1974 of the Western calendar, which will make her 31 this year.
Hildebrand communicates all this as we're seated in her cozy little Chandler eatery Tina's Ethiopian Cafe, and it suddenly strikes me how utterly different life must be in the city of her birth, Addis Ababa. I've eaten at the Valley's other Ethiopian restaurants, and at Ethiopian spots in New York and Los Angeles, but never has eating Ethiopian seemed so intimate as at Tina's.
Part of this has to do with the fact that Hildebrand acts not only as chef, but server. Also, I think it's because Hildebrand has made her cafe an extension of her home. In the front part of the main dining area, you can choose from either a Western-style table or one of the colorful messobs, the traditional dining tables of Ethiopia hand-woven from a special grass. Tempe's Cafe Lalibela and Blue Nile offer this, too, but toward the back of Tina's is an area set up like a den, with a couch and comfy chairs, a coffee table, and a TV set, which screens Ethiopian videos showing demonstrations of tribal dancing or maybe a drama. Hildebrand's hubby, Dan, and her children David, 6, and Daisy, less than a year, are often nearby, adding to the overall aura of domesticity.
The windows are shrouded by curtains in the red, green and yellow of the Ethiopian flag. African carvings, Ethiopian Orthodox crosses, and posters of beautiful Ethiopian women cover the walls. Ethiopian music plays on the stereo, and Ethiopian trinkets are for sale in a display case near the front, along with copies of Hildebrand's self-published cookbook Secrets From Tina's Ethiopian Cafe.
Though Hildebrand's family was prominent, with her father owning a candy factory before a Marxist junta took it and all of his money from him, her mother still taught each of her girls their way around a kitchen. Here in the States, Hildebrand trained to be a nurse, but her dream has always been to start her own restaurant. So when the space became available, she opened Tina's in March of last year, right beside a neighborhood bar called El Coyote.
It's at El Coyote that you can purchase some beer to have with the various watt, or stews, that you'll be eating. Tina's only offers sodas, water, and Ethiopian tea and coffee, the latter flavored with roasted cloves. But Hildebrand allows customers to brown-bag something in from next door, which is helpful because beer does go quite well with Ethiopian food. Hopefully, with time, Hildebrand will get her own liquor license or come to some arrangement with El Coyote, because it would be a real treat to have Ethiopian Harar beer with dinner.
Tina's menu may not be as extensive as at a more established spot like Cafe Lalibela, but what it lacks in length, it makes up for in quality. This is Ethiopian soul food, though much more healthful than the American version, especially since Hildebrand says she eschews the use of Ethiopian butter in her recipes, sticking instead to extra-virgin olive oil.
Hildebrand's enjera, or spongy Ethiopian flatbread made with flour from the native grain teff, is perhaps the thickest and the tastiest I've ever had. Of course, those of you familiar with Abyssinian fare will know that watt is served on a round pancake of enjera, and you can eat either with pieces of enjera torn from this pancake or from a side of enjera accompanying the meal. Hildebrand gives you a whole basket full of the bread, each portion rolled tightly into soft, pale cylinders. By itself, enjera tastes slightly sour, but it really soaks up the juices of the different watt, so you can see why the Ethiopians have not forsaken eating like this for the use of spoons and forks.
Indeed, the watt at Tina's is so savory that you'll be glad there are no utensils to delay its progress to your munch-hole. On the vegetarian side, there's shiro watt, a brownish, souplike substance made from chickpea powder; yemiser watt, or mildly spiced lentils; and fosolia watt, or simmered green beans and carrots. But those I enjoyed the most were the spinach watt, the kik watt, and the yatkilt watt. The spinach is made with onions and olive oil, the kik with yellow split peas and herbs, and the yatkilt with cabbage, carrots and potatoes. The kik is almost like a warm split-pea purée, and the yatkilt reminds me of similar Indian dishes, probably because of the inclusion of yellow curry powder.
Tina's house salad, made with tomatoes, cranberries and sunflower seeds, is also a standout, but I'm a carnivore at heart (or, should I say, at stomach), and that's why I'm such a fan of Hildebrand's meat dishes, which include yedoro watt (chicken), key watt (quarter-inch bits of beef), and beef tibbs, larger pieces of grilled beef with onions and green peppers. Both the yedoro and key watt are slightly spicy from the addition of an Ethiopian red-pepper-based seasoning referred to as berbere, as well as garlic and ginger. But the tibbs is not spicy at all.
For an appetizer, sometimes Hildebrand will bring an Indian-style samosa, or a cup full of dabbo qolo, little bits of fried corn muffin mix, which are habit-forming, they're so scrumptious. I do wish lamb were part of Hildebrand's bill of fare, but she says not enough customers order it. Maybe if I phone ahead, she can make it special for me next time I go.
9th Ethio-Sudan Joint Border Commission Meet due to be held soon
Addis Ababa, February 2, 2007
The ninth Ethio-Sudan Joint Border Commission Meeting would be held in the Sudanese town of Gedearif from 6 to 7 February 2007, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said. In a statement it sent to Ethiopian News Agency on Friday, the ministry said the Joint Border Commission is expected to discuss on issues of security as well as border trade and customs, among others.
The meeting would also hear reports on disease control and surveillance activities across the border and seek ways of solving possible health problems that may occur in the areas, the statement added.
The statement said Gambella, Benishangul-Gumuz, Amhara and Tigray state administrations would attend the meeting, while Sudan would be represented by officials of its border towns and states.
Traditional music shows, trade fair and soccer matches would be held simultaneously with the Joint Border Commission meeting.
The ninth Ethio-Sudan Joint Border Commission Meeting would be held in the Sudanese town of Gedearif from 6 to 7 February 2007, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said. In a statement it sent to Ethiopian News Agency on Friday, the ministry said the Joint Border Commission is expected to discuss on issues of security as well as border trade and customs, among others.
The meeting would also hear reports on disease control and surveillance activities across the border and seek ways of solving possible health problems that may occur in the areas, the statement added.
The statement said Gambella, Benishangul-Gumuz, Amhara and Tigray state administrations would attend the meeting, while Sudan would be represented by officials of its border towns and states.
Traditional music shows, trade fair and soccer matches would be held simultaneously with the Joint Border Commission meeting.
Saturday, February 3, 2007
Ethiopia: Summit Calls On African Countries to Join Country in Millennium Celebrations
The Ethiopian Herald
The 8th African Union (AU) Summit has called upon African countries to join Ethiopia in celebrating the upcoming New Millennium, Foreign Minister Seyoum Mesfin said.
Briefing journalists at the conclusion of the Summit Tuesday, Seyoum said that Africa has accepted the Ethiopian Millennium as an African one as well.
Ethiopia is the only country in the world that has not yet celebrated its millennium, Seyoum said, adding this unique event should be celebrated colourfully not only in Ethiopia but also across Africa.
The celebration of the Ethiopian Millennium would begin as of September 12, 2007.
The government has already established a Millennium Festival National Council Secretariat for the colourful celebration of the Millennium.
Meanwhile, the Ethiopian Millennium Festival National Council Secretariat said that the resolution adopted by the Summit to celebrate the Ethiopian Millennium as African Millennium is a great diplomatic and moral victory to all Ethiopians.
The Secretariat told ENA yesterday that the inclusion of the Ethiopian Millennium celebration as one of the Summit agenda indicates the attention the Summit paid to all Africans.
Ethiopia's calendar is among the national features that makes it unique among African countries, it said.
The fact that Addis is the second city of all Africans and the headquarters of the AU are among the reasons that give the Ethiopian Millennium an African face, the Secretariat added.
The fact that the decision was taken in the presence of several African Heads of State and Government, representatives of various international organizations, and the new UN Secretary General will add imputs for the colourful celebration of the Millennium.
Though other Africans and Europeans celebrated their millennium seven years back, the decision passed by the AU Summit to celebrate the Ethiopian Millennium as an African Millennium provided them as another opportunity to be part of this once-in-a-lifetime experience.
The opportunity the millennium festival offers to promote the good images of Ethiopia would also favour Africa, it said.
The Secretariat said the Summit decision can be taken as a satisfactory response to the call made by the Secretariat to friends of Ethiopia across the world to name the period between September 2000 E.C and September 2001 E.C. (equivalent to Sept. 11, 2007 through September 11 , 2008) "Ethiopian Year."
According to the Secretariat, the decision of the Summit would strengthen the efforts Ethiopia is exerting for development, democratization and good governance as well as to promote its good images.
The decision passed by the African Heads of State and Government to make the Ethiopian Millennium an African Millennium is an indication of the value they attached with and their sense of ownership towards Ethiopian Millennium festival, the Secretariat added.
The 8th African Union (AU) Summit has called upon African countries to join Ethiopia in celebrating the upcoming New Millennium, Foreign Minister Seyoum Mesfin said.
Briefing journalists at the conclusion of the Summit Tuesday, Seyoum said that Africa has accepted the Ethiopian Millennium as an African one as well.
Ethiopia is the only country in the world that has not yet celebrated its millennium, Seyoum said, adding this unique event should be celebrated colourfully not only in Ethiopia but also across Africa.
The celebration of the Ethiopian Millennium would begin as of September 12, 2007.
The government has already established a Millennium Festival National Council Secretariat for the colourful celebration of the Millennium.
Meanwhile, the Ethiopian Millennium Festival National Council Secretariat said that the resolution adopted by the Summit to celebrate the Ethiopian Millennium as African Millennium is a great diplomatic and moral victory to all Ethiopians.
The Secretariat told ENA yesterday that the inclusion of the Ethiopian Millennium celebration as one of the Summit agenda indicates the attention the Summit paid to all Africans.
Ethiopia's calendar is among the national features that makes it unique among African countries, it said.
The fact that Addis is the second city of all Africans and the headquarters of the AU are among the reasons that give the Ethiopian Millennium an African face, the Secretariat added.
The fact that the decision was taken in the presence of several African Heads of State and Government, representatives of various international organizations, and the new UN Secretary General will add imputs for the colourful celebration of the Millennium.
Though other Africans and Europeans celebrated their millennium seven years back, the decision passed by the AU Summit to celebrate the Ethiopian Millennium as an African Millennium provided them as another opportunity to be part of this once-in-a-lifetime experience.
The opportunity the millennium festival offers to promote the good images of Ethiopia would also favour Africa, it said.
The Secretariat said the Summit decision can be taken as a satisfactory response to the call made by the Secretariat to friends of Ethiopia across the world to name the period between September 2000 E.C and September 2001 E.C. (equivalent to Sept. 11, 2007 through September 11 , 2008) "Ethiopian Year."
According to the Secretariat, the decision of the Summit would strengthen the efforts Ethiopia is exerting for development, democratization and good governance as well as to promote its good images.
The decision passed by the African Heads of State and Government to make the Ethiopian Millennium an African Millennium is an indication of the value they attached with and their sense of ownership towards Ethiopian Millennium festival, the Secretariat added.
Friday, February 2, 2007
Ethiopia: Foundation Runs Project in Konso
The Ethiopian Herald (Addis Ababa)
February 2, 2007
Amanuel Hadera
The Sustainable Tourism for Eliminating of Poverty Foundation (ST-EP), a non-governmental organization under the United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO), has made significant progress in poverty elimination programme in Konso area.
In a joint press conference she gave at the Ghion Hotel yesterday, Ambassador Dho Yong-Shim Chairperson Board of Directors of ST-EP, Ambassador Mohammed Dirir Minister of Culture and Tourism said that the ST-EP in Ethiopia is a new project focusing on the Konso people who were marginalized and forgotten community.
Ambassador Mohammed also said that ST-EP project that has been established at the headquarter of South Korea, Seoul, has touching base with a very marginalized community in Ethiopia like the Konso people. The ST-EP has so far solicited 8,000 USD for the execution of the project, he added.
Ambassador Dho on her part said that state of poverty in Ethiopia now is a reflection of what she had seen at here early childhood in Korea when the per capita was 100 USD. However, Korea is now enjoying a 20,000 USD per capita, she added .
February 2, 2007
Amanuel Hadera
The Sustainable Tourism for Eliminating of Poverty Foundation (ST-EP), a non-governmental organization under the United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO), has made significant progress in poverty elimination programme in Konso area.
In a joint press conference she gave at the Ghion Hotel yesterday, Ambassador Dho Yong-Shim Chairperson Board of Directors of ST-EP, Ambassador Mohammed Dirir Minister of Culture and Tourism said that the ST-EP in Ethiopia is a new project focusing on the Konso people who were marginalized and forgotten community.
Ambassador Mohammed also said that ST-EP project that has been established at the headquarter of South Korea, Seoul, has touching base with a very marginalized community in Ethiopia like the Konso people. The ST-EP has so far solicited 8,000 USD for the execution of the project, he added.
Ambassador Dho on her part said that state of poverty in Ethiopia now is a reflection of what she had seen at here early childhood in Korea when the per capita was 100 USD. However, Korea is now enjoying a 20,000 USD per capita, she added .
Ethiopia says foiled Eritrean-backed attack
Fri 2 Feb 2007 5:00 AM ET
ADDIS ABABA, Feb 2 (Reuters)
Ethiopia foiled an Eritrean-backed attack that had targeted the African Union summit attended by some 40 heads of states in Addis Ababa this week, an Ethiopian police statement said on Friday.
The two Horn of Africa neighbours are embroiled in a dispute over a border ruling by an independent boundary commission that sets out their common 1,000 km (620 mile) frontier.
Relations between the two deteriorated further when Ethiopia sent troops and weaponry to help Somalia's interim government rout rival Islamists, who Washington and the United Nations say were backed by Eritrea.
Asmara denies the accusation.
"An attempt to launch a series of of terrorist attacks masterminded by senior officials of the Asmara regime and Eritrean explosive experts have successfully been aborted," a police statement said.
"Ethiopia's anti-terrorist task force apprehended all perpetrators of the intended terrorist acts with their explosives and other accessories just ahead of the summit," it added without giving more information.
Eritrean officials were not immediately available for comment.
Ethiopian police said they would make public details of the alleged attempted attack once an investigation was completed.
"The Eritrean regime resorted to such evil attempts when it became alienated from the international community owing to its role in backing and supporting terrorist groups in Somalia," the statement said.
U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for Africa Jendayi Frazer earlier this week described Eritrea as a "source of regional instability".
One of the issues dominating the two-day AU summit held in the Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa was the question of a peacekeeping force for Somalia to replace Ethiopian soldiers.
ADDIS ABABA, Feb 2 (Reuters)
Ethiopia foiled an Eritrean-backed attack that had targeted the African Union summit attended by some 40 heads of states in Addis Ababa this week, an Ethiopian police statement said on Friday.
The two Horn of Africa neighbours are embroiled in a dispute over a border ruling by an independent boundary commission that sets out their common 1,000 km (620 mile) frontier.
Relations between the two deteriorated further when Ethiopia sent troops and weaponry to help Somalia's interim government rout rival Islamists, who Washington and the United Nations say were backed by Eritrea.
Asmara denies the accusation.
"An attempt to launch a series of of terrorist attacks masterminded by senior officials of the Asmara regime and Eritrean explosive experts have successfully been aborted," a police statement said.
"Ethiopia's anti-terrorist task force apprehended all perpetrators of the intended terrorist acts with their explosives and other accessories just ahead of the summit," it added without giving more information.
Eritrean officials were not immediately available for comment.
Ethiopian police said they would make public details of the alleged attempted attack once an investigation was completed.
"The Eritrean regime resorted to such evil attempts when it became alienated from the international community owing to its role in backing and supporting terrorist groups in Somalia," the statement said.
U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for Africa Jendayi Frazer earlier this week described Eritrea as a "source of regional instability".
One of the issues dominating the two-day AU summit held in the Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa was the question of a peacekeeping force for Somalia to replace Ethiopian soldiers.
Luncheon with Jane Kurtz - Benefit Event
Please join us for a Luncheon
To benefit Ethiopia Reads
(www.ethiopiareads.org)
Presentation by renowned Children’s Author
Jane Kurtz
February 17, 2007
1:30 p.m.
Etete Restaurant
1942 9th Street NW
Washington, D.C.
Limited Seating – Tickets are $50 per person. Price includes a traditional Ethiopian Meal and a book by Jane. Proceeds to benefit EthiopiaReads.org , a registered 501 (c) 3 organization. Your contribution is tax-deductible as allowed by law.
For tickets or more information about this event, please contact:
Catie Dupont 571-243-1411
E-mail ethiopiareads@aol.com
Raffles & Door Prizes
Books will be available for purchase.
To benefit Ethiopia Reads
(www.ethiopiareads.org)
Presentation by renowned Children’s Author
Jane Kurtz
February 17, 2007
1:30 p.m.
Etete Restaurant
1942 9th Street NW
Washington, D.C.
Limited Seating – Tickets are $50 per person. Price includes a traditional Ethiopian Meal and a book by Jane. Proceeds to benefit EthiopiaReads.org , a registered 501 (c) 3 organization. Your contribution is tax-deductible as allowed by law.
For tickets or more information about this event, please contact:
Catie Dupont 571-243-1411
E-mail ethiopiareads@aol.com
Raffles & Door Prizes
Books will be available for purchase.
Thursday, February 1, 2007
Travels in Ethiopia - Part One
Travels in Ethiopia is an ongoing series written by Katie Douglas - look for a continuation of this story in the next issue of Zethiopia.
Zethiopia - January 2007 - Issue 47
The rain is streaming down in sheets reminding me of Africa. A big heavy rain that makes you feels cozy as you sit inside in a sweatshirt with a cup of tea. It’s the perfect time to write. African rain almost always takes you by surprise. The big dark clouds roll in and the slate of a sunny day is wiped clean within a matter of minutes before the sky opens up and buckets of big fat raindrops come pouring down. Sometimes it is only for a few minutes and sometimes it lasts all day. Either way, it is a welcome relief from the sun that somehow feels closer to the earth in that part of the world. The sky is so big in Africa that as you stand and look up it feels like freedom. The rain always makes me think of Africa. It’s much more of a sensory experience there. The smell of fresh earth awakened from a new rain, the feeling of sharp water pelting your skin as you’re caught in a downpour on your walk home, looking out onto a sea of big brightly colored golf umbrellas, and my favorite part, the sound of rain tap dancing on the tin roofs. I have been rained on in Kenya, drenched in Cameroon, and spellbound by the rain beading off my porch roof in Ethiopia and as I sit in my fifth grade classroom in Washington, DC and watch the rain cloud our windows I think of Africa.
It was raining the day I arrived in Ethiopia. After too many hours of flying and wandering foreign airport corridors I had arrived into the maze of Bole International Airport. It was almost midnight when I passed through the last checkpoint into the waiting crowds scanning for a card with my name on it. It only took me a moment to notice the tall, thin, smiling Ethiopian man and short, blond, Australian waiting to meet me. Sisay worked at the children’s library I was here to volunteer with and Seth was a fellow volunteer and housemate. I was too tired for more than brief introductions and as we wound our way through the streets of the city on our way home I gazed out the window at the shadow of my new life for the next six months.
Ethiopia was my third trip to Africa. The trip was inspired by a newspaper article tucked inside one of my grandmother’s letters. The article told the story of an Ethiopian man named Yohannes Gebregiorgis who, after working as a children’s librarian in San Francisco for thirty years, had returned to his home country to create Ethiopia’s first free public children’s library. As soon as I read the article I knew I wanted to be a part of his project. I am always inspired by people who drop everything to follow their dreams and this was my chance to be a part of that. I had no idea what I was stepping into when I stepped off that plane and would soon find Ethiopia to be a fascinating place full of contradictions that would stick with me forever. There are so many things I would like to tell you about Ethiopia and my time there but it’s the small moments in life that always make the biggest impression on me so that’s what I plan on sharing with you here. The little moments that made me smile or cry and inevitably changed my life forever.
Zethiopia - January 2007 - Issue 47
The rain is streaming down in sheets reminding me of Africa. A big heavy rain that makes you feels cozy as you sit inside in a sweatshirt with a cup of tea. It’s the perfect time to write. African rain almost always takes you by surprise. The big dark clouds roll in and the slate of a sunny day is wiped clean within a matter of minutes before the sky opens up and buckets of big fat raindrops come pouring down. Sometimes it is only for a few minutes and sometimes it lasts all day. Either way, it is a welcome relief from the sun that somehow feels closer to the earth in that part of the world. The sky is so big in Africa that as you stand and look up it feels like freedom. The rain always makes me think of Africa. It’s much more of a sensory experience there. The smell of fresh earth awakened from a new rain, the feeling of sharp water pelting your skin as you’re caught in a downpour on your walk home, looking out onto a sea of big brightly colored golf umbrellas, and my favorite part, the sound of rain tap dancing on the tin roofs. I have been rained on in Kenya, drenched in Cameroon, and spellbound by the rain beading off my porch roof in Ethiopia and as I sit in my fifth grade classroom in Washington, DC and watch the rain cloud our windows I think of Africa.
It was raining the day I arrived in Ethiopia. After too many hours of flying and wandering foreign airport corridors I had arrived into the maze of Bole International Airport. It was almost midnight when I passed through the last checkpoint into the waiting crowds scanning for a card with my name on it. It only took me a moment to notice the tall, thin, smiling Ethiopian man and short, blond, Australian waiting to meet me. Sisay worked at the children’s library I was here to volunteer with and Seth was a fellow volunteer and housemate. I was too tired for more than brief introductions and as we wound our way through the streets of the city on our way home I gazed out the window at the shadow of my new life for the next six months.
Ethiopia was my third trip to Africa. The trip was inspired by a newspaper article tucked inside one of my grandmother’s letters. The article told the story of an Ethiopian man named Yohannes Gebregiorgis who, after working as a children’s librarian in San Francisco for thirty years, had returned to his home country to create Ethiopia’s first free public children’s library. As soon as I read the article I knew I wanted to be a part of his project. I am always inspired by people who drop everything to follow their dreams and this was my chance to be a part of that. I had no idea what I was stepping into when I stepped off that plane and would soon find Ethiopia to be a fascinating place full of contradictions that would stick with me forever. There are so many things I would like to tell you about Ethiopia and my time there but it’s the small moments in life that always make the biggest impression on me so that’s what I plan on sharing with you here. The little moments that made me smile or cry and inevitably changed my life forever.
Wednesday, January 31, 2007
Aregash Lodge – An Oasis in Yirgalem
Part One of an Ongoing Travel Series
Zethiopia - Issue 47
As you plan your trip to Ethiopia for the upcoming Millennium celebration, consider a trip to Yirgalem for a relaxing and inspiring visit to the countryside. Aregash Lodge, located in Yirgalem Town, is a haven from the hustle and bustle of Addis Ababa.
Upon arrival you will be met by the owners, Dmitri Missailidis and Aregash Tarkenj, fabulous hosts who will make you feel more than welcome. While there you will stay in a fully modernized Sidama-style tukul that is set in the rolling countryside and surrounded by lush vegetation.
Meals, a delicious combination of local and European recipes, are served family style in the restaurant, which was also built in the traditional Sidama style using bamboo. If the weather permits, there is a lovely terrace where you can take your meals and soak in the view.
When we visited Yirgalem, we took our small children, then aged 2 and 7, and they fell in love with the landscape, the flora and the animals. Family-friendly staff and a world of adventure await you.
A highlight for my children was after the evening coffee ceremony when Dmitri called to the resident hyenas who, upon hearing him, sauntered up the hill to near where we were for a meal provided by our host. Smaller than the hyenas seen in Addis, it was very exciting for them to be so close.
On a walk through a nearby village, led by a Sidama speaking guide, the children loved the Gureza (Amharic for Colobus monkeys) swinging from the trees. They loved hiking through the forested hills and visiting with the local children.
Aregash Lodge is the ideal retreat spot. There are board games and books available if you would like to relax at the lodge without hiking or adventure. It would be a wonderful location for a group meeting or retreat; the restaurant can accommodate fifty people and can be used for conferences. The sleeping tukuls have a variety of options for group sleeping arrangements.
We recommend taking your time en route, a stop in Shashamene or at Langano for lunch on the way will break up the 300+ kilometer drive. Once beyond Debra Zeit, the scenery becomes peaceful and the trip smooth. Aregash Lodge is approximately 30 minutes beyond Awassa.
For reservations or more information, contact All Tour Operations in Addis Ababa at 251-11-551-254. When we visited we had to make our reservations and pay in Addis prior to our arrival at the Lodge.
www.Aregashlodge.com
Zethiopia - Issue 47
As you plan your trip to Ethiopia for the upcoming Millennium celebration, consider a trip to Yirgalem for a relaxing and inspiring visit to the countryside. Aregash Lodge, located in Yirgalem Town, is a haven from the hustle and bustle of Addis Ababa.
Upon arrival you will be met by the owners, Dmitri Missailidis and Aregash Tarkenj, fabulous hosts who will make you feel more than welcome. While there you will stay in a fully modernized Sidama-style tukul that is set in the rolling countryside and surrounded by lush vegetation.
Meals, a delicious combination of local and European recipes, are served family style in the restaurant, which was also built in the traditional Sidama style using bamboo. If the weather permits, there is a lovely terrace where you can take your meals and soak in the view.
When we visited Yirgalem, we took our small children, then aged 2 and 7, and they fell in love with the landscape, the flora and the animals. Family-friendly staff and a world of adventure await you.
A highlight for my children was after the evening coffee ceremony when Dmitri called to the resident hyenas who, upon hearing him, sauntered up the hill to near where we were for a meal provided by our host. Smaller than the hyenas seen in Addis, it was very exciting for them to be so close.
On a walk through a nearby village, led by a Sidama speaking guide, the children loved the Gureza (Amharic for Colobus monkeys) swinging from the trees. They loved hiking through the forested hills and visiting with the local children.
Aregash Lodge is the ideal retreat spot. There are board games and books available if you would like to relax at the lodge without hiking or adventure. It would be a wonderful location for a group meeting or retreat; the restaurant can accommodate fifty people and can be used for conferences. The sleeping tukuls have a variety of options for group sleeping arrangements.
We recommend taking your time en route, a stop in Shashamene or at Langano for lunch on the way will break up the 300+ kilometer drive. Once beyond Debra Zeit, the scenery becomes peaceful and the trip smooth. Aregash Lodge is approximately 30 minutes beyond Awassa.
For reservations or more information, contact All Tour Operations in Addis Ababa at 251-11-551-254. When we visited we had to make our reservations and pay in Addis prior to our arrival at the Lodge.
www.Aregashlodge.com
Parenting - Dr. Laura S. Anderson - Article One
Part 1 in an Ongoing series of Parenting & Lifestyle Articles - look for the next article in Zethiopia - February
January - Zethiopia Issue 47
The task of talking about parenting in a concise and helpful way is a daunting one. Raising children is a mammoth 24-hour-a-day, life-long, job that cannot be neatly described, any more than the “cures” for parenting challenges can be easily prescribed.
Furthermore, raising children in a “new” cultural setting, or when they are surrounded by values and lifestyles that are different from the ones you knew in your youth adds other dimensions of richness and difficulty.
However, within the realm of child psychology, there are consistent themes in the factors that lead to raising happy, healthy, kind children who successfully navigate life’s demands. I often tell parents in my practice that they are the experts on their own children’s daily functioning (who could possibly know them better than you do?) but that I am an expert in theories on raising secure children and shaping their behavior as they grow. By “raising secure children” I mean guiding your children to be confident (but not arrogant), respectful, trustworthy, caring children who believe in their abilities to make their dreams come true. By “shaping their behavior” I mean that I provide parents with the strategies for giving children
what kids need so that they will do what parents want them to do. I will offer some information about recognized child development themes so that you can apply them with your specific knowledge of your family’s personalities and strengths.
This column will follow two themes: 1) how to meet the loftier long-term goal of raising “good kids” with whom you have good relationships by developing their self-esteem, instilling confidence, establishing moral values, and creating healthy communication with your child, and 2) how to develop effective coping strategies for daily challenges such as toileting, sibling rivalry, handling teasing, coping with family stressors, getting through morning routines before school and homework routines after school with no “meltdowns”, disciplinary strategies that work, and many more.
In summary, effective parenting is hard work and there is no magic wand to make the tough spots disappear. I hope that information shared here will help make parenting easier. The good news is that when you start with love for your children and the desire to learn more about how you can influence their development, you are well on your way to being the best parent you can be.
Dr. Laura Anderson is a licensed clinical psychologist who is currently living and practicing psychology on the island of Kauai in Hawaii. She specializes in the provision of psychological services to children and families and in the delivery of competent cross-cultural services. She loves children and appreciates the challenges related to parenting them. Dr. Anderson has also lived and/or traveled extensively in Southern, Central and Northern Africa and feels blessed to have had opportunities to learn from Africa’s marvelous, complex and diverse teachings.
January - Zethiopia Issue 47
The task of talking about parenting in a concise and helpful way is a daunting one. Raising children is a mammoth 24-hour-a-day, life-long, job that cannot be neatly described, any more than the “cures” for parenting challenges can be easily prescribed.
Furthermore, raising children in a “new” cultural setting, or when they are surrounded by values and lifestyles that are different from the ones you knew in your youth adds other dimensions of richness and difficulty.
However, within the realm of child psychology, there are consistent themes in the factors that lead to raising happy, healthy, kind children who successfully navigate life’s demands. I often tell parents in my practice that they are the experts on their own children’s daily functioning (who could possibly know them better than you do?) but that I am an expert in theories on raising secure children and shaping their behavior as they grow. By “raising secure children” I mean guiding your children to be confident (but not arrogant), respectful, trustworthy, caring children who believe in their abilities to make their dreams come true. By “shaping their behavior” I mean that I provide parents with the strategies for giving children
what kids need so that they will do what parents want them to do. I will offer some information about recognized child development themes so that you can apply them with your specific knowledge of your family’s personalities and strengths.
This column will follow two themes: 1) how to meet the loftier long-term goal of raising “good kids” with whom you have good relationships by developing their self-esteem, instilling confidence, establishing moral values, and creating healthy communication with your child, and 2) how to develop effective coping strategies for daily challenges such as toileting, sibling rivalry, handling teasing, coping with family stressors, getting through morning routines before school and homework routines after school with no “meltdowns”, disciplinary strategies that work, and many more.
In summary, effective parenting is hard work and there is no magic wand to make the tough spots disappear. I hope that information shared here will help make parenting easier. The good news is that when you start with love for your children and the desire to learn more about how you can influence their development, you are well on your way to being the best parent you can be.
Dr. Laura Anderson is a licensed clinical psychologist who is currently living and practicing psychology on the island of Kauai in Hawaii. She specializes in the provision of psychological services to children and families and in the delivery of competent cross-cultural services. She loves children and appreciates the challenges related to parenting them. Dr. Anderson has also lived and/or traveled extensively in Southern, Central and Northern Africa and feels blessed to have had opportunities to learn from Africa’s marvelous, complex and diverse teachings.
U.S. Official Issues Upbeat Assessment of African Union Summit
State’s Frazer says watchword was cooperation on Somalia, Sudan issues
By Jim Fisher-Thompson
USINFO Staff Writer
U.S. Assistant Secretary of State Jendayi Frazer wrapped up a busy schedule of meetings at a summit of the African Union (AU) in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, by highlighting cooperative efforts on nettlesome issues like conflict in Sudan and Somalia.
Speaking at a January 30 press conference in the Ethiopian capital, Frazer said she had "excellent consultations" on Somalia and Sudan, as well as on a range of other issues important to achieving stability on the continent.
"We have also had good consultations on our partnership on regional peacekeeping, on economic development and on elections support," she said. The last was important, the official added, because West Africa alone has 11 elections coming up this next year.
On Sudan, Frazer said the focus of her consultations was on speeding up the three phases of the “Addis Ababa package” of peacekeeping and reconstruction efforts -- "the light assistance package, the heavy package of enabling forces, and the AU-U.N. hybrid force."
The United Nations has mandated a larger peacekeeping force to augment the 7,000 AU forces that are overstretched in Sudan trying to maintain peace in Darfur while monitoring parts of the North-South Comprehensive Peace Agreement.
The United States has a lot at stake in trying to speed up the deployment of this hybrid force, she told journalists, because "we spend about $1.3 billion annually in Sudan -- half in Darfur, half in Southern Sudan."
SOMALIA
Turning to Somalia, where a radical Islamist force was defeated recently with the help of the Ethiopian military, Frazer said the United States is "very happy" with AU members Ghana, Nigeria, Malawi, Burundi and Uganda, who have volunteered peacekeepers to replace the Ethiopians with an AU-mandated force called the African Union Mission in Somalia.
She again mentioned the U.S. decision to provide $40 million for the reconstruction of war-torn Somalia, noting that $14 million will go to support the new AU peacekeeping force. She also reiterated that $10 million would go for development assistance "to build the capacity of the Transitional Federal Government [TFG]."
Asked if she supported talks between Somalia's transitional government and the radical Islamist Council of Islamic Courts (CIC), Frazer emphasized that "the U.S. government has never asked the TFG to negotiate with terrorists. That is not our position. What we have said is that there are individuals who were members of the Council of Islamic Courts … who come out of the organic Islamic courts, who should be part of an inclusive dialogue as individuals. But we do not support the reconstitution of the Council of Islamic Courts."
Commenting on the report of a jihadist Web site threatening to attack any peacekeepers that enter Somalia, Frazer said: "It doesn’t surprise me that you would find that type of extremist message on a Web site. It’s been there throughout. Clearly, the Council of Islamic Courts made such threats against the Ethiopians and against the Transitional Federal Government.
"That very same Council of Islamic Courts was thoroughly defeated militarily. The real message behind it is to try to intimidate the African Union and the international community not to assist the people of Somalia," she added.
Frazer said the U.S. commitment to Somalia is "long-term," in part "to prevent Somalia from becoming a threat to its neighbors in terms of regional stability, and from becoming a safe haven for terrorists."
Commenting on Eritrean support for the CIC, Frazer said, "The government of Eritrea was providing arms and providing fighters and training the al Shabaab militia of the CIC, which was the most extremist arm of the CIC."
In the future, she said, "we would hope that the government of Eritrea would play a constructive role in terms of trying to support the Transitional Federal Government and not continue to support remnants of the CIC that are bent on terror or insurgency."
Frazer also complimented the new AU chairman, President John Kufuor of Ghana, noting, "He is a man of great experience, great standing on this continent, and we are looking forward to the year ahead working with the AU."
(USINFO is produced by the Bureau of International Information Programs, U.S. Department of State. Web site: http://usinfo.state.gov)
By Jim Fisher-Thompson
USINFO Staff Writer
U.S. Assistant Secretary of State Jendayi Frazer wrapped up a busy schedule of meetings at a summit of the African Union (AU) in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, by highlighting cooperative efforts on nettlesome issues like conflict in Sudan and Somalia.
Speaking at a January 30 press conference in the Ethiopian capital, Frazer said she had "excellent consultations" on Somalia and Sudan, as well as on a range of other issues important to achieving stability on the continent.
"We have also had good consultations on our partnership on regional peacekeeping, on economic development and on elections support," she said. The last was important, the official added, because West Africa alone has 11 elections coming up this next year.
On Sudan, Frazer said the focus of her consultations was on speeding up the three phases of the “Addis Ababa package” of peacekeeping and reconstruction efforts -- "the light assistance package, the heavy package of enabling forces, and the AU-U.N. hybrid force."
The United Nations has mandated a larger peacekeeping force to augment the 7,000 AU forces that are overstretched in Sudan trying to maintain peace in Darfur while monitoring parts of the North-South Comprehensive Peace Agreement.
The United States has a lot at stake in trying to speed up the deployment of this hybrid force, she told journalists, because "we spend about $1.3 billion annually in Sudan -- half in Darfur, half in Southern Sudan."
SOMALIA
Turning to Somalia, where a radical Islamist force was defeated recently with the help of the Ethiopian military, Frazer said the United States is "very happy" with AU members Ghana, Nigeria, Malawi, Burundi and Uganda, who have volunteered peacekeepers to replace the Ethiopians with an AU-mandated force called the African Union Mission in Somalia.
She again mentioned the U.S. decision to provide $40 million for the reconstruction of war-torn Somalia, noting that $14 million will go to support the new AU peacekeeping force. She also reiterated that $10 million would go for development assistance "to build the capacity of the Transitional Federal Government [TFG]."
Asked if she supported talks between Somalia's transitional government and the radical Islamist Council of Islamic Courts (CIC), Frazer emphasized that "the U.S. government has never asked the TFG to negotiate with terrorists. That is not our position. What we have said is that there are individuals who were members of the Council of Islamic Courts … who come out of the organic Islamic courts, who should be part of an inclusive dialogue as individuals. But we do not support the reconstitution of the Council of Islamic Courts."
Commenting on the report of a jihadist Web site threatening to attack any peacekeepers that enter Somalia, Frazer said: "It doesn’t surprise me that you would find that type of extremist message on a Web site. It’s been there throughout. Clearly, the Council of Islamic Courts made such threats against the Ethiopians and against the Transitional Federal Government.
"That very same Council of Islamic Courts was thoroughly defeated militarily. The real message behind it is to try to intimidate the African Union and the international community not to assist the people of Somalia," she added.
Frazer said the U.S. commitment to Somalia is "long-term," in part "to prevent Somalia from becoming a threat to its neighbors in terms of regional stability, and from becoming a safe haven for terrorists."
Commenting on Eritrean support for the CIC, Frazer said, "The government of Eritrea was providing arms and providing fighters and training the al Shabaab militia of the CIC, which was the most extremist arm of the CIC."
In the future, she said, "we would hope that the government of Eritrea would play a constructive role in terms of trying to support the Transitional Federal Government and not continue to support remnants of the CIC that are bent on terror or insurgency."
Frazer also complimented the new AU chairman, President John Kufuor of Ghana, noting, "He is a man of great experience, great standing on this continent, and we are looking forward to the year ahead working with the AU."
(USINFO is produced by the Bureau of International Information Programs, U.S. Department of State. Web site: http://usinfo.state.gov)
Tuesday, January 30, 2007
Spain to provide seven million Euros to Ethiopia
Addis Ababa, January 30, 2007 (Addis Ababa)
The government of Spain would provide a development assistance amounting seven million Euros to Ethiopia, senior Spanish government officials said.
State Minister for International Cooperation Ms. Leire Pajin and State Minister for Political Affairs of Spain Bernardino Leon Gross said the Spanish government has decided to open a new office in Ethiopia with in a month to facilitate the development assistance.
The officials made the statement here on Tuesday while holding talks with Prime Minister Meles Zenawi at the United Nations Conference Center.
Ethiopia and Spain have signed a development and cultural cooperation agreement on the same day.
The officials said Ethiopia is one of the four countries that are given special attention by the Kingdom of Spain.
Prime Minister Meles Zenawi on his part said the existing cooperation between Ethiopia and Spain was encouraging.
Meles called on the Spanish government to provide necessary assistance to Spanish investors with a view to enabling them engage in various investment sectors in Ethiopia to strengthen the ties between the two countries.
The officials said the Spanish government would do its level best to enable Spanish investors invest in Ethiopia.
Two separate Spanish delegations would come to Ethiopia in the near future to conduct a study on investment situations and other sectors in Ethiopia.
The officials also expressed Spain’s readiness to work jointly in economic and other sectors with Ethiopia.
The officials on the occasion invited Prime Minister Meles Zenawi to visit the Kingdom of Spain.
The government of Spain would provide a development assistance amounting seven million Euros to Ethiopia, senior Spanish government officials said.
State Minister for International Cooperation Ms. Leire Pajin and State Minister for Political Affairs of Spain Bernardino Leon Gross said the Spanish government has decided to open a new office in Ethiopia with in a month to facilitate the development assistance.
The officials made the statement here on Tuesday while holding talks with Prime Minister Meles Zenawi at the United Nations Conference Center.
Ethiopia and Spain have signed a development and cultural cooperation agreement on the same day.
The officials said Ethiopia is one of the four countries that are given special attention by the Kingdom of Spain.
Prime Minister Meles Zenawi on his part said the existing cooperation between Ethiopia and Spain was encouraging.
Meles called on the Spanish government to provide necessary assistance to Spanish investors with a view to enabling them engage in various investment sectors in Ethiopia to strengthen the ties between the two countries.
The officials said the Spanish government would do its level best to enable Spanish investors invest in Ethiopia.
Two separate Spanish delegations would come to Ethiopia in the near future to conduct a study on investment situations and other sectors in Ethiopia.
The officials also expressed Spain’s readiness to work jointly in economic and other sectors with Ethiopia.
The officials on the occasion invited Prime Minister Meles Zenawi to visit the Kingdom of Spain.
Court sends journalist Abraham Reta back to jail
Alem Asrat
Ethiopian Review Correspondent
Jan 27, 2007
Addis Ababa - The harassment and jailing of journalists and members of opposition parties continue unabated. The latest victim is Ato Abraham Reta of Ruh newspaper.
Abraham was charged with defamation, but he was released on 2,000 birr bail 10 months ago after spending 4 months in jail.
The defamation charge against Abraham states that he wrote in Ruh newspaper that a certain report by the state-run Ethiopian News Agency (ENA) was unsubstantiated.
The court yesterday made a mockery out of justice by ruling that Abraham has defamed the ENA and sentenced him to six months in jail.
Ruh newspaper has been shut down since November 2005 along with all the other independent newspapers. The editors and reporters are currently either in jail, or in hiding.
Ethiopian Review Correspondent
Jan 27, 2007
Addis Ababa - The harassment and jailing of journalists and members of opposition parties continue unabated. The latest victim is Ato Abraham Reta of Ruh newspaper.
Abraham was charged with defamation, but he was released on 2,000 birr bail 10 months ago after spending 4 months in jail.
The defamation charge against Abraham states that he wrote in Ruh newspaper that a certain report by the state-run Ethiopian News Agency (ENA) was unsubstantiated.
The court yesterday made a mockery out of justice by ruling that Abraham has defamed the ENA and sentenced him to six months in jail.
Ruh newspaper has been shut down since November 2005 along with all the other independent newspapers. The editors and reporters are currently either in jail, or in hiding.
The Other War in Ethiopia
from the Ethopian Media Forum
By Dave Kopel, Paul Gallant & Joanne D. Eisen
The world is watching Ethiopia's war with the totalitarian Islamist regime in Somalia. The world should also start paying attention to the campaign of genocide which the Ethiopian government has been waging against its own people, in southwestern Ethiopia, in the state of Gambella.
Today, the Anuak are being exterminated, while the central government of Ethiopia tells the world to ignore the violence, claiming that it is merely an inter-tribal conflict.
Gambella is in southwestern Ethiopia, bordering Sudan. It is been the home of five ethnic groups: the Anuak, Nuer, Majangir, Opo and Komo. The Anuaks and the Nuer are the largest groups and have long feuded over the land and its resources. The Anuaks, who live atop gold and oil reserves, number approximately 150,000.
A mainly agricultural people, the majority of Anuak inhabit Gambella, although some live in eastern Sudan, and some have recently been displaced to Kenya and the US. Gambella also hosts UN refugee camps, for people who have fled the decades-long genocide in south Sudan.
The central government, in Ethiopia's capital Addis Ababa, has disarmed most of the Anuak, and even disarmed Anuak police officers. Ethiopia is among the East African nations which have promised to conduct campaigns against civilian gun ownership, as part of the United Nations-sponsored Nairobi Protocol. Like several other signers of the Nairobi Protocol (Rwanda, Uganda, Congo, Sudan), Ethiopia already had a well-established record of genocide against disarmed victims.
On December 13, 2003, eight UN workers were ambushed and killed. Although the perpetrators were never caught, the blame for their deaths fell on the Anuaks; the subsequent massacre of Anuaks was blamed on the Nuer.
The Ethiopian government vehemently and persistently denies its participation in the violence against the Anuaks. But consider the following:
With the expectation of the discovery of oil in the state of Gambella, the government in Addis Ababa has developed a keen interest in exploiting the region.
After the massacre of the UN workers, an Anuak police officer, Ojo Akway, observed tracks leading from the crime scene, yet he was not permitted to investigate. Instead, he was arrested and then shot dead.
Seven months later, another investigator was also shot and killed. The humanitarian group Genocide Watch wonders why the UN has not investigated the deaths of its own personnel. Who benefits the most from this cover-up? Have UN workers been warned that if they speak up, they will expelled?
According to a report by Genocide Watch, at an Ethiopian cabinet meeting in September 2003, government officials and military officers discussed ethnic cleansing of the Anuak, and the benefits of destroying Anuak leadership. A military official told Genocide Watch that he was present at a subsequent meeting on December 11, 2003, just two days prior to the murders of the UN personnel. At that meeting, government officials discussed eliminating Anuaks in a military campaign in Gambella, code-named "Operation Sunny Mountain."
Subsequent behavior of the Ethiopian army is consistent with a plan to destroy the Anuak. As detailed in a statement by an Anuak representative that was delivered to the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, the Ethiopian army is perpetrating extrajudicial killings, beatings, torture, rape, sexual slavery and the destruction of Anuak properties. As a result, 50% of the Anuak population has been displaced.
The pattern of rape described by the victims appears to be systematic, and designed to create pregnancies that would produce non-Anuak children; such use of rape deliberately destroy an ethnic group is considered, under international law, to be a type of genocide.
And, of course, directly killing people is also a method of genocide. An anonymous Anuak spokesperson told the UN's OHCHR that from 2003-2005, up to "15,000 Anywa [Anuak] people have been killed in different villages by the Ethiopian national defence force militaries in trying to clear the area from the indigenous Anywa people and to facilitate the ongoing oil exploration in the land of the indigenous Anywa people ...."
Government guilt became especially evident in April 2006, when there was an attempt to capture eighteen Anuak resistance leaders who had fled to a refugee camp in south Sudan. These leaders could render potentially damaging eye-witness accounts of the 2003 massacre of Anuak by the Nuer. The Ethiopian army, under the guise of a disarmament exercise (that is, gun confiscation), rampaged through numerous villages on both sides of the Ethiopia-Sudan border. The "disarmament" campaign was accompanied by rape, pillaging, and murder.
As the Ethiopian army advanced towards the Alari Refugee Camp in Pochalla, Sudan, surviving Anuak villagers warned the refugees in the camp. Then, the tribal leader of the Anuak in Sudan, King Adonga, vowed that the Sudan Anuak would protect the refugees "with whatever it takes, even spears." The refugees moved the vulnerable in their camp to a safer location, while they and King Adonga's forces prepared for a violent confrontation.
The Anuaks contacted several people in the international community and alerted them to the imminent slaughter. With the plan exposed to potential donor governments, the Ethiopian regime aborted the invasion, and denied any hostile intention.
But in August 2006, over a dozen villages in Gambella were ethnically cleansed. The villagers were suddenly ordered to leave, to just go away, by the Ethiopian National Defense Forces. The Anuak Justice Council claims that there is extreme hardship for these new refugees because of a lack of clean water, food, and shelter, and that Anuaks are killed with impunity almost daily.
Human Rights Watch accuses the Ethiopian government of "human rights abuses so severe that they may rise to the level of crimes against humanity...."
It's not surprising that hardly anyone has heard of what the Ethiopian government has been doing to the Anuak. The world has barely paid attention even to the human rights atrocities perpetrated in Ethiopia's capital of Addis Ababa and other cities, after the disputed elections of May 2005. A recently-leaked report revealed that police killed 193 protesters, injured 763, and arrested over 100 others. These opposition leaders and journalists are now on trial for treason. And oh, what else? Attempted genocide!
Ana Gomes, the European Union observer at the 2005 elections, said that European leaders remain silent because "they want to continue dealing as usual with the Ethiopian regime."
One journalist, Qeerransoo Biyyaa, who writes only under his pseudonym because of fear of retribution, told us the government has created so many enemies that he predicts the current regime will be overthrown within 3-5 years. Biyyaa added: "I am living in a country where millions live in fear and their mouths are gagged."
By Dave Kopel, Paul Gallant & Joanne D. Eisen
The world is watching Ethiopia's war with the totalitarian Islamist regime in Somalia. The world should also start paying attention to the campaign of genocide which the Ethiopian government has been waging against its own people, in southwestern Ethiopia, in the state of Gambella.
Today, the Anuak are being exterminated, while the central government of Ethiopia tells the world to ignore the violence, claiming that it is merely an inter-tribal conflict.
Gambella is in southwestern Ethiopia, bordering Sudan. It is been the home of five ethnic groups: the Anuak, Nuer, Majangir, Opo and Komo. The Anuaks and the Nuer are the largest groups and have long feuded over the land and its resources. The Anuaks, who live atop gold and oil reserves, number approximately 150,000.
A mainly agricultural people, the majority of Anuak inhabit Gambella, although some live in eastern Sudan, and some have recently been displaced to Kenya and the US. Gambella also hosts UN refugee camps, for people who have fled the decades-long genocide in south Sudan.
The central government, in Ethiopia's capital Addis Ababa, has disarmed most of the Anuak, and even disarmed Anuak police officers. Ethiopia is among the East African nations which have promised to conduct campaigns against civilian gun ownership, as part of the United Nations-sponsored Nairobi Protocol. Like several other signers of the Nairobi Protocol (Rwanda, Uganda, Congo, Sudan), Ethiopia already had a well-established record of genocide against disarmed victims.
On December 13, 2003, eight UN workers were ambushed and killed. Although the perpetrators were never caught, the blame for their deaths fell on the Anuaks; the subsequent massacre of Anuaks was blamed on the Nuer.
The Ethiopian government vehemently and persistently denies its participation in the violence against the Anuaks. But consider the following:
With the expectation of the discovery of oil in the state of Gambella, the government in Addis Ababa has developed a keen interest in exploiting the region.
After the massacre of the UN workers, an Anuak police officer, Ojo Akway, observed tracks leading from the crime scene, yet he was not permitted to investigate. Instead, he was arrested and then shot dead.
Seven months later, another investigator was also shot and killed. The humanitarian group Genocide Watch wonders why the UN has not investigated the deaths of its own personnel. Who benefits the most from this cover-up? Have UN workers been warned that if they speak up, they will expelled?
According to a report by Genocide Watch, at an Ethiopian cabinet meeting in September 2003, government officials and military officers discussed ethnic cleansing of the Anuak, and the benefits of destroying Anuak leadership. A military official told Genocide Watch that he was present at a subsequent meeting on December 11, 2003, just two days prior to the murders of the UN personnel. At that meeting, government officials discussed eliminating Anuaks in a military campaign in Gambella, code-named "Operation Sunny Mountain."
Subsequent behavior of the Ethiopian army is consistent with a plan to destroy the Anuak. As detailed in a statement by an Anuak representative that was delivered to the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, the Ethiopian army is perpetrating extrajudicial killings, beatings, torture, rape, sexual slavery and the destruction of Anuak properties. As a result, 50% of the Anuak population has been displaced.
The pattern of rape described by the victims appears to be systematic, and designed to create pregnancies that would produce non-Anuak children; such use of rape deliberately destroy an ethnic group is considered, under international law, to be a type of genocide.
And, of course, directly killing people is also a method of genocide. An anonymous Anuak spokesperson told the UN's OHCHR that from 2003-2005, up to "15,000 Anywa [Anuak] people have been killed in different villages by the Ethiopian national defence force militaries in trying to clear the area from the indigenous Anywa people and to facilitate the ongoing oil exploration in the land of the indigenous Anywa people ...."
Government guilt became especially evident in April 2006, when there was an attempt to capture eighteen Anuak resistance leaders who had fled to a refugee camp in south Sudan. These leaders could render potentially damaging eye-witness accounts of the 2003 massacre of Anuak by the Nuer. The Ethiopian army, under the guise of a disarmament exercise (that is, gun confiscation), rampaged through numerous villages on both sides of the Ethiopia-Sudan border. The "disarmament" campaign was accompanied by rape, pillaging, and murder.
As the Ethiopian army advanced towards the Alari Refugee Camp in Pochalla, Sudan, surviving Anuak villagers warned the refugees in the camp. Then, the tribal leader of the Anuak in Sudan, King Adonga, vowed that the Sudan Anuak would protect the refugees "with whatever it takes, even spears." The refugees moved the vulnerable in their camp to a safer location, while they and King Adonga's forces prepared for a violent confrontation.
The Anuaks contacted several people in the international community and alerted them to the imminent slaughter. With the plan exposed to potential donor governments, the Ethiopian regime aborted the invasion, and denied any hostile intention.
But in August 2006, over a dozen villages in Gambella were ethnically cleansed. The villagers were suddenly ordered to leave, to just go away, by the Ethiopian National Defense Forces. The Anuak Justice Council claims that there is extreme hardship for these new refugees because of a lack of clean water, food, and shelter, and that Anuaks are killed with impunity almost daily.
Human Rights Watch accuses the Ethiopian government of "human rights abuses so severe that they may rise to the level of crimes against humanity...."
It's not surprising that hardly anyone has heard of what the Ethiopian government has been doing to the Anuak. The world has barely paid attention even to the human rights atrocities perpetrated in Ethiopia's capital of Addis Ababa and other cities, after the disputed elections of May 2005. A recently-leaked report revealed that police killed 193 protesters, injured 763, and arrested over 100 others. These opposition leaders and journalists are now on trial for treason. And oh, what else? Attempted genocide!
Ana Gomes, the European Union observer at the 2005 elections, said that European leaders remain silent because "they want to continue dealing as usual with the Ethiopian regime."
One journalist, Qeerransoo Biyyaa, who writes only under his pseudonym because of fear of retribution, told us the government has created so many enemies that he predicts the current regime will be overthrown within 3-5 years. Biyyaa added: "I am living in a country where millions live in fear and their mouths are gagged."
Sunday, January 28, 2007
Endelkachew Girma Art Show in Portland, Oregon
Ethiopia Reads and Sohbet Cafe invite you to celebrate the work of renowned Ethiopian artist Endelkachew Girma.
Opening Reception and Sale - Friday, February 2, 2007 - 6 p.m.
SohBet Cafe - 2710 N. Killingsworth Avenue, Portland, Oregon 503-735-3446
Light refreshments provided by Queen of Sheba.
A portion of proceeds benefit Ethiopia Reads, which works to build a reading culture in Ethiopia. For more information regarding Ethiopia Reads visit www.ethiopiareads.org.
Hope to see you there!
T. Dibaba breaks her own 5,000-meter indoor record
Associated Press
Track and Field News Wire
BOSTON -- Olympic bronze medalist Tirunesh Dibaba broke her
own world record in the 5,000 meters at the Boston Indoor Games on
Saturday to claim a $25,000 bonus and family bragging rights over
big sister Ejegayehu.
The younger Dibaba, who was third in the 5,000 at the Athens
Games, finished in 14 minutes, 27.42 seconds -- 5.5 seconds less than
she needed to set the world mark at the Reggie Lewis track two
years ago. Ejegayehu Dibaba, who won silver in Athens in the
10,000, was second, 42 seconds behind.
"I'm happy to run with my sister because she helps me a lot,"
said Tirunesh Dibaba, who in 2005 was the first athlete ever to win
the world championships at both 5,000 meters and 10,000 meters.
"Today, she was really under the weather, but she did her best."
Fellow Ethiopian Meseret Defar, the reigning outdoor world
record holder and Olympic champion at 5,000 meters, was also sick
Saturday. But it didn't stop her from outkicking local favorite
Shalane Flanagan to win the 3,000 in 8:30.31.
Flanagan, who was running for just the second time since
undergoing foot surgery following the 2005 world championships, ran
on Defar's heels before the Ethiopian started putting some distance
between them in the last two laps. Flanagan finished in 8:33.25 to
break the American record by almost 6 seconds.
"I knew I had the potential to break the American record. I'm
very happy to see it fall," said Flanagan, who had surgery to
remove an extra bone in her left foot and didn't run for 15 months
before winning the Manchester (Conn.) Road Race in November. "I'll
take that, for today. But who knows what I could have done."
Defar lay on the track floor after the race, while a race
official covered her with windbreakers. After about 10 minutes, she
rolled over to cough violently, while Flanagan spoke to reporters
nearby.
"Defar is really sick," said Flanagan, a Massachusetts high
school champion from Marblehead. "She really helped me today. I
have to say, if it weren't for her I don't think I would have
broken the record because I wouldn't have run so aggressively."
Alan Webb, who broke Jim Ryun's schoolboy record in 2001, won
the mile in 3:55.18, taking the lead early and never relinquishing
it.
"Everybody knew the pace was going to go fast. I mean, we
talked about it beforehand," Webb said. "So I don't know how I
surprised anybody by going out fast. By the time I got to 250
meters, I was alone already. So I was kind of like, 'all right."
American Shawn Crawford, the Olympic gold medalist in the 200
meters in Athens, won the 60 in 6.55 seconds despite being critical
of his own performance.
"My legs were behind me the whole race," he said. "I guess if
you train hard and you focus, you can do good with mistakes."
Dan Taylor topped an all-U.S. field in the shot put with a throw
of 70 feet, 9\ inches, beating four-time world champion John
Godina, 2006 world indoor champion Reese Hoffa and '04 world indoor
champ Christian Cantwell.
Track and Field News Wire
BOSTON -- Olympic bronze medalist Tirunesh Dibaba broke her
own world record in the 5,000 meters at the Boston Indoor Games on
Saturday to claim a $25,000 bonus and family bragging rights over
big sister Ejegayehu.
The younger Dibaba, who was third in the 5,000 at the Athens
Games, finished in 14 minutes, 27.42 seconds -- 5.5 seconds less than
she needed to set the world mark at the Reggie Lewis track two
years ago. Ejegayehu Dibaba, who won silver in Athens in the
10,000, was second, 42 seconds behind.
"I'm happy to run with my sister because she helps me a lot,"
said Tirunesh Dibaba, who in 2005 was the first athlete ever to win
the world championships at both 5,000 meters and 10,000 meters.
"Today, she was really under the weather, but she did her best."
Fellow Ethiopian Meseret Defar, the reigning outdoor world
record holder and Olympic champion at 5,000 meters, was also sick
Saturday. But it didn't stop her from outkicking local favorite
Shalane Flanagan to win the 3,000 in 8:30.31.
Flanagan, who was running for just the second time since
undergoing foot surgery following the 2005 world championships, ran
on Defar's heels before the Ethiopian started putting some distance
between them in the last two laps. Flanagan finished in 8:33.25 to
break the American record by almost 6 seconds.
"I knew I had the potential to break the American record. I'm
very happy to see it fall," said Flanagan, who had surgery to
remove an extra bone in her left foot and didn't run for 15 months
before winning the Manchester (Conn.) Road Race in November. "I'll
take that, for today. But who knows what I could have done."
Defar lay on the track floor after the race, while a race
official covered her with windbreakers. After about 10 minutes, she
rolled over to cough violently, while Flanagan spoke to reporters
nearby.
"Defar is really sick," said Flanagan, a Massachusetts high
school champion from Marblehead. "She really helped me today. I
have to say, if it weren't for her I don't think I would have
broken the record because I wouldn't have run so aggressively."
Alan Webb, who broke Jim Ryun's schoolboy record in 2001, won
the mile in 3:55.18, taking the lead early and never relinquishing
it.
"Everybody knew the pace was going to go fast. I mean, we
talked about it beforehand," Webb said. "So I don't know how I
surprised anybody by going out fast. By the time I got to 250
meters, I was alone already. So I was kind of like, 'all right."
American Shawn Crawford, the Olympic gold medalist in the 200
meters in Athens, won the 60 in 6.55 seconds despite being critical
of his own performance.
"My legs were behind me the whole race," he said. "I guess if
you train hard and you focus, you can do good with mistakes."
Dan Taylor topped an all-U.S. field in the shot put with a throw
of 70 feet, 9\ inches, beating four-time world champion John
Godina, 2006 world indoor champion Reese Hoffa and '04 world indoor
champ Christian Cantwell.
Wubet Announces Newest Ethiopian Textile Collection
Your are cordially invited to view,
The new WUBET Winter 2007 08 collection "No. 7"
February 1 - 4, 2007 at Première Classe
Porte de Versailles, Hall 4 #816
Paris
March 2 - 5, 2007 at Première Classe
Jardin des Tuileries
Paris
WUBET is an exclusive collection of individually hand made accessories.
Each piece is a unique work of art made from the finest quality raw materials,
inspired by the original crafts and traditions of Ethiopian and African tribes.
Contact for WUBET:
Arnold Haas, P.O. Box 613, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
T +251.11.661.1740 F +251.11.661.3375
Email: info@wubet.com, www.wubet.com
The new WUBET Winter 2007 08 collection "No. 7"
February 1 - 4, 2007 at Première Classe
Porte de Versailles, Hall 4 #816
Paris
March 2 - 5, 2007 at Première Classe
Jardin des Tuileries
Paris
WUBET is an exclusive collection of individually hand made accessories.
Each piece is a unique work of art made from the finest quality raw materials,
inspired by the original crafts and traditions of Ethiopian and African tribes.
Contact for WUBET:
Arnold Haas, P.O. Box 613, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
T +251.11.661.1740 F +251.11.661.3375
Email: info@wubet.com, www.wubet.com
USAID Donates 30,000 Books to Teacher Education Institutions
US Embassy Addis Ababa - Press Release
January 23, 2004
No. 04/07
The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) in Ethiopia donated nearly 30,000 books to the Ministry of Education today as part of its Basic Education Program on Tuesday January 23, 2007. The reference books, worth more than US $1million, will be distributed to the 22 Teacher Education Institutions throughout the country.
“The American people, through USAID, have helped support the education system in Ethiopia since 1995. The thousands of books we are donating today will help enhance the quality of basic education by improving the classrooms of future teachers,” USAID/Ethiopia Mission Director Glenn Anders said. During the ceremony, Mr. Anders handed over a sample book to His Excellency Dr. Sintayehu Woldemichael, Minister of Education. The ceremony took place at the Ministry of Education office in Addis Ababa.
Through its Basic Education Program, USAID has helped strengthen the pre-service teacher training program in all Teacher Education Institutions. In the last five years alone, USAID technical and financial assistance provided to these institutions has exceeded US$2.3 million, or Birr 20 million.
USAID contributions to improve the quality and equity of Ethiopian primary schools also include expanding alternative basic primary education for out-of-school children and functional literacy education for adults in remote areas of the country. The program has helped develop and install computerized personnel and material management systems that are now being used in regional state education bureaus. Another accomplishment of the USAID Basic Education Program has been the strengthening of Parent Teacher Associations (PTAs) and Kebele Education and Training Boards, making family and community members an integral part of basic education.
January 23, 2004
No. 04/07
The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) in Ethiopia donated nearly 30,000 books to the Ministry of Education today as part of its Basic Education Program on Tuesday January 23, 2007. The reference books, worth more than US $1million, will be distributed to the 22 Teacher Education Institutions throughout the country.
“The American people, through USAID, have helped support the education system in Ethiopia since 1995. The thousands of books we are donating today will help enhance the quality of basic education by improving the classrooms of future teachers,” USAID/Ethiopia Mission Director Glenn Anders said. During the ceremony, Mr. Anders handed over a sample book to His Excellency Dr. Sintayehu Woldemichael, Minister of Education. The ceremony took place at the Ministry of Education office in Addis Ababa.
Through its Basic Education Program, USAID has helped strengthen the pre-service teacher training program in all Teacher Education Institutions. In the last five years alone, USAID technical and financial assistance provided to these institutions has exceeded US$2.3 million, or Birr 20 million.
USAID contributions to improve the quality and equity of Ethiopian primary schools also include expanding alternative basic primary education for out-of-school children and functional literacy education for adults in remote areas of the country. The program has helped develop and install computerized personnel and material management systems that are now being used in regional state education bureaus. Another accomplishment of the USAID Basic Education Program has been the strengthening of Parent Teacher Associations (PTAs) and Kebele Education and Training Boards, making family and community members an integral part of basic education.
U.S. Citizens Killed in Kenya
New York Times
NAIROBI, Kenya, Jan. 27
Two Americans, including an elderly woman, were shot to death on Saturday afternoon by carjackers in Nairobi, the capital, according to American and Kenyan officials.
The two victims, relatives of an American Embassy employee, were traveling in an embassy car with three other Americans when a truck cut them off, police officials said. Four men jumped out with Kalashnikov assault rifles and ordered the occupants out of their car.
“Apparently, the driver and an elderly woman sitting in front did not move fast enough,” a police spokesman said. “So the bandits shot them.”
Nairobi has been plagued by violent crime, and American officials said they did not believe the attack was related to terrorism.
NAIROBI, Kenya, Jan. 27
Two Americans, including an elderly woman, were shot to death on Saturday afternoon by carjackers in Nairobi, the capital, according to American and Kenyan officials.
The two victims, relatives of an American Embassy employee, were traveling in an embassy car with three other Americans when a truck cut them off, police officials said. Four men jumped out with Kalashnikov assault rifles and ordered the occupants out of their car.
“Apparently, the driver and an elderly woman sitting in front did not move fast enough,” a police spokesman said. “So the bandits shot them.”
Nairobi has been plagued by violent crime, and American officials said they did not believe the attack was related to terrorism.
No danger of Ethiopia-Eritrea war-Meles
28 Jan 2007 12:24:56 GMT
By Barry Moody
ADDIS ABABA, Jan 28 (Reuters) - Ethiopia and Eritrea are not close to war, despite a U.N. report saying tensions could erupt into a new conflict in the Horn of Africa, Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi said.
U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon said in a report last week that stalemate over a border dispute and recent worsening of the situation were a major threat that could trigger war.
Asked about the report in a Reuters interview late on Saturday, Meles said: "There is always the risk of war but I doubt we are on the brink of war."
He accused the Asmara government of spurning dialogue over the dispute but "military options are not attractive," so the stalemate was likely to continue.
"We have no intention of engaging the Eritreans in any military action. The Eritreans, I believe, (also) know better," he said.
Before the recent Somalia war in which Ethiopian military power helped the transitional government there to oust Islamists, many analysts had suggested Eritrea might exploit the conflict to try to make gains on the border, unleashing a regional conflict. Meles said: "Nothing happened along the border. Nothing new happened. The usual infiltrations here, skirmishes there."
But he repeated accusations Eritrea had moved troops into a border buffer zone before the Somalia war, saying there were "tens of thousands" of Eritrean troops there.
"There is no temporary security zone any more. It has been occupied by the Eritrean army," Meles said.
Eritrea has said it has moved people into the border area for agricultural work like harvesting but has given no numbers.
Ban issued his warning ahead of a Security Council vote at the end of January expected to cut the U.N. peacekeeping mission on the border from 2,300 troops to 1,700.
The U.N. troops were first sent to the area in 2000 to enforce a ceasefire ending a 1998-2000 border conflict that killed 70,000 people in trench warfare likened to the First World War. Ban also accused Eritrea of sending troops into the buffer zone.
By Barry Moody
ADDIS ABABA, Jan 28 (Reuters) - Ethiopia and Eritrea are not close to war, despite a U.N. report saying tensions could erupt into a new conflict in the Horn of Africa, Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi said.
U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon said in a report last week that stalemate over a border dispute and recent worsening of the situation were a major threat that could trigger war.
Asked about the report in a Reuters interview late on Saturday, Meles said: "There is always the risk of war but I doubt we are on the brink of war."
He accused the Asmara government of spurning dialogue over the dispute but "military options are not attractive," so the stalemate was likely to continue.
"We have no intention of engaging the Eritreans in any military action. The Eritreans, I believe, (also) know better," he said.
Before the recent Somalia war in which Ethiopian military power helped the transitional government there to oust Islamists, many analysts had suggested Eritrea might exploit the conflict to try to make gains on the border, unleashing a regional conflict. Meles said: "Nothing happened along the border. Nothing new happened. The usual infiltrations here, skirmishes there."
But he repeated accusations Eritrea had moved troops into a border buffer zone before the Somalia war, saying there were "tens of thousands" of Eritrean troops there.
"There is no temporary security zone any more. It has been occupied by the Eritrean army," Meles said.
Eritrea has said it has moved people into the border area for agricultural work like harvesting but has given no numbers.
Ban issued his warning ahead of a Security Council vote at the end of January expected to cut the U.N. peacekeeping mission on the border from 2,300 troops to 1,700.
The U.N. troops were first sent to the area in 2000 to enforce a ceasefire ending a 1998-2000 border conflict that killed 70,000 people in trench warfare likened to the First World War. Ban also accused Eritrea of sending troops into the buffer zone.
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