Ethiopia: Charge or Free Ethnic Oromo Terrorism Suspects via
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Sixty corpses wash onto Yemen beach via Poverty News Blog
Some people trying to flee the war and poverty in Somalia and Ethiopia did not make it out with their lives. The aid agency Medicins Sans Frontieres say 60 corpses have washed onto a Yemen beach in recent days.The people who try to flee, sell all they have to smugglers to give them passage out of the country. If the smugglers fear that they are about to get caught, they spill the people overboard. As this Reuters story from News Australia reports, the smuggling route across the gulf of Arden is a very dangerous one. November 3rd, News AustraliaIn one of two incidents that caused the deaths, smugglers tipped the refugees into the sea at night after noticing lights on land and fearing they would be spotted by the coastguard, MSF quoted survivors as saying."They forced us into the sea, even... Ethiopia Parliament Drafts Proposal to make NGO Activities Illegal via Poverty News Blog
This sort of thing happens in volatile countries: An NGO gives aid to poor people who may or may not be associated with a rebel force. Then the government kicks the NGO out for aiding the enemy. Last Year, the International Red Cross was kicked out of Ethiopa for allegedly giving aid to rebel forces in the country.Now, the parliament is about to vote on a law that will make many NGO activities illegal. Peter Heinlein from theVoice of America details the proposal and reaction from Human Rights Watch.Ethiopian officials have told western diplomats that parliament will approve a proposed Charities and Societies Proclamation within weeks. The bill would give the government supervisory powers over non-governmental organizations that receive at least 10 percent foreign funding, including money... Ethiopia: Draft Law Threatens Civil Society via Human Rights Watch News Releases
Donor Governments Should Condemn Assault on Rights
Ethiopia’s parliament should reject a draft law that would criminalize human rights activity and seriously undermine civil society groups, Human Rights Watch said today. Human Rights Watch called on donor governments to speak out publicly against the bill, which is expected to be introduced in parliament this month....
Ethiopia/Kenya: Account for Missing Rendition Victims via Human Rights Watch News Releases
Secret Detainees Interrogated by US Officials Are Still in Custody
At least 10 victims of the 2007 Horn of Africa rendition program still languish in Ethiopian jails and the whereabouts of several others is unknown. Several of the detained men were interrogated by US officials in Addis Ababa soon after they were secretly transferred from Kenya to Somalia, and then to Ethiopia in early 2007....
G8, Other Rich Countries Need to Honor Commitments to Combat Global Poverty via Poverty News Blog
from All Africa Byline: Rose MestikaAddis Ababa,- The Poverty Action Network of Civil Society Organizations in Ethiopia (PANE) announced plans to campaign in support of the Millennium Development Goals (MDG) and against poverty and inequality from October 17-19.The organization called on the developed nations to respect the promises they pledged to fight poverty and help alleviate the suffering of poor people in developing countries.The three days will be marked by meeting with Ambassadors, government officials, civil society members and others, PANE, collection of over 90civil society organizations representing various sectors and spheres disclosed yesterday.The campaign will be having three main aims; to request for debt cancellation, to request for more and better aid and to have fair... Ethiopia’s new famine via Poverty News Blog
from USA Today I would highly recommend going to the page that has this full article. USA Today has several videos that I couldnt figure out to embed here, and a map showing the hardest hit regions. The combination of drought, rising food prices and AIDS has really hit Ethiopia hard. - Kale By Rick Hampson,KONSO, Ethiopia — Once, the farmers walked for hours to bring their sorghum and maize here to market. These days they trod the same paths, parched grass crunching under foot, to carry their starving children to a feeding clinic.Like crops, the children are weighed (in a nylon harness seat attached to a scale) and measured (with a tape to record arm circumference). The most severely malnourished are kept overnight for up to a month; the rest go home with a week's supply of Plumpy'nut,... Ethiopia faces a new food crisis via Poverty News Blog
from the Los Angeles Times Ethiopia is struggling with both drought and rising food prices. Even though agriculture has been good in the country. - KaleBy Edmund SandersAJEE, ETHIOPIA — They call it the green hunger.Four-foot cornstalks sprout from rain-soaked earth, and wind billows fields of teff, the staple Ethiopian grain. Goats and cattle are getting fat on lush grasses -- but the children are still dying."It's strange to see hunger when everything is so green," said Wariso Shete, 26, a southern Ethiopia farmer who recently buried his 3-year-old son. "But there is no food. The boy just starved."Once again, images of emaciated children are emerging from this Horn of Africa nation, rekindling memories of the 1984 famine that killed nearly 1 million people. This time Ethiopia has... India lags behind Ethiopia in child nourishment via Poverty News Blog
from the Gulf Times India has been booming, but children there are still hungry. A report from a top UN economist explains. - KaleFour in every 10 children in India are malnourished despite the country’s economy growing at an average rate of 9% a year, one of the world’s leading development economists warned.Kevin Watkins, who edited the UN’s human development report, said that despite growing prosperity brought on by a sustained boom, child malnourishment in India is higher than in Ethiopia and well above the African average of 28%.“India dominates the world hunger league,” he said. “Economists like to debate the factors behind India’s spectacular take-off. Perhaps they should be asking how a country can grow so fast with such a limited impact on child... Famine looming for 14m in Africa via Poverty News Blog
from the Financial Times Warnings of another famine in Ethiopia, this time due to the food crisis. - KaleBy Barney Jopson in Khartoum and Murithi Mutiga and Javier Blas in LondonHunger on a massive scale is looming across the Horn of Africa as a combination of drought and high food prices has left more than 14m people in five countries in need of emergency food aid, according to the United Nations.Ethiopia is the centre of the crisis, with 10.3m people, or 12 per cent of its population, in need of emergency aid in the next few months, the World Food Programme said. But the risk of starvation has spread in an arc that runs from Somalia and Djibouti through to Kenya and Uganda.The primary cause of the crisis is a prolonged drought across large parts of the Horn which has been exacerbated... Ethiopia: Government Prepares Assault on Civil Society via Human Rights Watch News Releases
Repressive New Legislation Should Be Amended or Scrapped
Ethiopia’s government should immediately abandon plans to impose strict government controls and draconian criminal penalties on nongovernmental organizations (NGOs), Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International said today. The two groups called on donor governments, whose behind-the-scenes efforts to see the bill reformed appear to have failed, to speak out publicly against the de facto criminalization of most of the human rights, rule of law and peace-building work currently being carried out in Ethiopia....
Ethiopia: Army Commits Executions, Torture, and Rape in Ogaden via Human Rights Watch News Releases
Donors Should Act to Stop Crimes Against Humanity
In its battle against rebels in eastern Ethiopia's Somali Region, Ethiopia's army has subjected civilians to executions, torture, and rape, Human Rights Watch said in a new report released today. The widespread violence, part of a vicious counterinsurgency campaign that amounts to war crimes and crimes against humanity, has contributed to a looming humanitarian crisis, threatening the survival of thousands of ethnic Somali nomads....
Ethiopia sees Africa’s fastest growth via Poverty News Blog
from AfrolEthiopia has recorded "impressive growth" during the past few years, according to a new IMF review, "the fastest for a non-oil exporting country in sub-Saharan Africa." This year, real GDP is expected to grow by an impressive 8.4 percent, slowing down to a strong 7.1 percent in 2009.A mission by the International Monetary Fund (IMF), led by Robert Corker, visited Ethiopia during the last fortnight to conduct discussions with authorities for the 2008 Article IV consultation. The IMF mission was impressed by the durable growth, which now is the highest in Africa, with exception of oil producing countries.According to the IMF, growth in Ethiopia had been "supported by structural reforms and infrastructure development, as well as favourable agricultural conditions, with the rapid... Africa seeks ways to address child poverty via Poverty News Blog
from AfriquenligneAddis Ababa, Ethiopia - Viewing child poverty as the outstanding obstacle to the fulfillment of rights in Africa, the third international policy conference on the African Child started here Monday, seeking to foster collaboration in policy-oriented research and practical action to tackle the issue.Ethiopian President Girma Woldegiorgis opened the two-day meeting, asserting that family poverty was at the root of child poverty in Africa."In order to eradicate child poverty, we have to begin with the family. We must first and foremost attack family poverty," the president said, noting that the scourge locked children into a continuing cycle of deprivation, exploitation and sometimes abuse.Among children, Woldegiorgis explained, poverty had many faces -- faces of millions... UK offers Ethiopia 133 million pounds to fight poverty via Poverty News Blog
from Reuters UK ADDIS ABABA (Reuters) - Britain said on Thursday it will give Ethiopia 2.5 billion birr (133 million pounds) this year to help the Horn of Africa country try to achieve the U.N. Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).Some of the money will be used to send 1 million children to school and buy three million mosquito nets to prevent the spread of malaria, one of sub-Saharan Africa's biggest killers.British High Commissioner (ambassador) to Ethiopia Norman Ling said the assistance was the biggest Britain has offered to any African country, adding the aid would be provided through the UK's Department for International Development."The UK is fully committed to helping Ethiopia achieve the MDGs as the assistance of the 2.5 billion birr for this year shows," Paul Ackroyd, the head... Food Crisis Erases Ethiopians’ Gains; Risks Health via Poverty News Blog
from BloombergBy Bill Varner and Jason McLure Shagay Shanko and her husband left a struggling family farm in southern Ethiopia 12 years ago to seek work in the nation's capital. The couple found construction jobs that paid $2 a day, enough to add meat to their diet.``It used to be good,'' Shanko, 25, said of their lives in Addis Ababa. Not any more. Soaring food prices mean they can't even afford injera, a nutritious, spongy bread that is a staple of Ethiopian cooking. Their three children eat only two meals a day, and the family relies on government-subsidized wheat to stave off hunger.Millions of people in Ethiopia and dozens of nations from Bolivia to Indonesia were on a path out of poverty before the food crisis. Now they are at risk of backsliding amid the surge in prices for wheat... Ethiopia: Repression Sets Stage for Non-Competitive Elections via Human Rights Watch News Releases
Opposition Candidates, Voters Silenced Ahead of Local Polls
The Ethiopian government’s repression of registered opposition parties and ordinary voters has largely prevented political competition ahead of local elections that begin on April 13, Human Rights Watch said today. These widespread acts of violence, arbitrary detention and intimidation mirror long-term patterns of abuse designed to suppress political dissent in Ethiopia....
Country Registered Remarkable Results on Health Sector - Ministry via Poverty News Blog
from All AfricaThe Daily Monitor (Addis Ababa)NEWS9 April 2008Posted to the web 9 April 2008By Fikremariam TesfayeAddis AbebaEthiopia has registered remarkable achievements in the health sector over the past 15 years and the possibilities of meeting the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) is high, the Ministry of Health declared on Monday.Meeting the press in his office to talk about the ministry's accomplishments over the stated period, Minister of Health Dr. Teodros Adhanom said many indicators exist that confirm the country's justified hope it will certainly attain the UN-set MDGs."Maternal mortality rate was 1,068 per 100,000 mothers 15 years ago, while the rate has now decreased to 67," the minister elaborated indicating there was more to be achieved in the next 15 years. "This... Conference Highlights Role of Knowledge, Innovation for Growth, Poverty Reduction via Poverty News Blog
from All AfricaBy Menase KifleAddis AbebaKnowledge and innovation must be integrated in developing countries' agricultural growth and poverty reduction strategies, an international conference being held in Addis Ababa underscored on Monday.The conference being held under the theme: "Advancing agriculture in developing countries through knowledge and innovation" will deliberate up on ways of strengthening and improving the use of knowledge and innovation in agriculture to reduce poverty and to promote sustainable and broad based rural development and agricultural growth.In his opening speech to the conference, Joachim Von Braun, Director General of International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) said that facilitation of sustainable productivity growth in agriculture through the... An Ethiopian Solution to Costly Food Aid via Poverty News Blog
from All AfricaUN Integrated Regional Information NetworksAs food prices hit record highs, analysts warn that a re-think of food aid strategies is needed - and Ethiopia, a traditionally food insecure country, could offer some answers.Globally, the World Food Programme's (WFP) operational budget for 2008 has now risen to $3.4 billion - "an increase of $500 billion to account for the increased price of food and transport alone," said WFP spokesman Robin Lodge. "This budget is just to cover our current assessed needs, and leaves nothing for unforeseen emergencies or the huge number of people who are now falling into the hunger trap as a result of the rising prices."Food prices are expected to continue to rise for the forseeable future as a result of surging global demand and reduced cereal... Ethiopia loses 50,000 infants every year via Poverty News Blog
from NazretThe first national nutrition strategy unveiledBy Abiy DemilewSource: CapitalFaced with a heavy disease burden caused by prevalent maternal and child undernourishment, Ethiopia Thursday launched its first-ever National Nutrition Strategy (NNS) to ensure its people live a healthy and productive life.“The time is now for us to focus our attention and endeavours to reverse one of the most serious health concerns facing our nation,” said Minister of Health Teodros Adhanom, at the launch of the integrated multi-sectoral effort aimed at alleviating the persistent problem of malnutrition in the East African country.“With this Strategy and other complementary strategies, we are once and for all ensuring that future generations can fulfill their potential and lead healthy and... Malnutrition to Cost Country in Billions - Minister Country to Launch the National Nutrition Strategy via Poverty News Blog
from All AfricaThe Daily Monitor (Addis Ababa)By Biniyam TameneAddis AbabaIf malnutrition situation continues unabated, it will prove to be a serious threat to the nation's economic development, thereby costing billions of birr, a senior government official said on Tuesday.According to State Minister of Health, Dr Shiferaw Teklemariam, the country, provided the current trend remains unchanged, will inure an estimated 144 billion birr due to stunting, Iodine Deficiency Disorders (IDD) and Iron Deficiency Anaemia (IDA) alone until 2015.He said the country's health strategy which considers malnutrition as a major public health problem, was reflective of government's commitment to invest in the sector to build healthy and productive citizens for the future."The Government of Ethiopia is... World Bank Funds Basic Services via Poverty News Blog
from All AfricaBuaNews (Tshwane)Addis AbabaEthiopia and the World Bank on Thursday signed two agreements for financing basic services such as healthcare and water, amounting to $256 million.The first agreement signed was for a grant amounting to $215 million meant to serve as an additional resource to Ethiopia's ongoing Protection of Basic Services programme aimed at protecting the delivery of basic services at local levels.The grant is meant to contribute to the deepening of transparency and accountability in service delivery.It is also meant to finance projects in the health, education, agriculture and water sectors and assist the country in meeting health sector Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).The second agreement signed was for the provision of a $41 million loan intended to... £75m loo aid ‘a lifesaver’ via Poverty News Blog
from The Times MirrorBy Tom Parry Ministers have pledged £75million to provide clean water and toilets to millions of poor families in Ethiopia.The massive aid donation - to be unveiled this week - will put Britain at the forefront of a global effort to stamp out deaths caused by waterborne diseases such as diarrhoea.International Development Secretary Douglas Alexander said: "Almost half of Ethiopia's people lack a safe water supply and the average Ethiopian has to survive on only 15 litres of water a day - compared to 220 litres in the UK."The project will pay to build 7,000 water points, as well as latrines in schools and health centres."This will mean thousands of lives saved - 15 per cent of all premature deaths in Ethiopia are as a result of diarrhoea."Today is World Toilet Day on...
In trademarking its coffee, Ethiopia seeks fair trade via Poverty News Blog
from Yahoo News By Matthew ClarkYirgacheffe, Ethiopia - Nestled in the hills of southern Ethiopia lies a resource that could catapult this nation forward: coffee.Connoisseurs worldwide savor the beans from Yirgacheffe for their distinctive flavor. And at a time when more consumers are targeting specialty brews, Ethiopia is poised to reap the rewards of a product that commands $10 per pound in the United States.But while upscale consumers are willing to pay top dollar for the beans, farmers in Ethiopia sell their product for a pittance – less than $1 per pound. "It's like growers of Dom Perignon Champagne getting the same price as growers of bulk wine," says Ron Layton, founder and chief executive of Light Years, IP, a Washington-based group that helps producers in poor countries get...
New Pubs. on ACHPR, Asylum, IDPs/Colombia, IDPs/Ethiopia, Legal Research, Refugees/Thailand, Stateless/Kuwait, Zimbabweans via Forced Migration Current Awareness Blog
About Being Without: Stories of Stateless in Kuwait (Refugees International, Oct. 2007) [text]
Asylum Rights Watch: Summary of responses June – September 2007 (Asylum Aid, Oct. 2007) [text]
Ethiopia: Addressing the rights and needs of people displaced by conflict (IDMC, Oct. 2007) [text]
A guide to the African Commission on human and peoples’ rights (Amnesty International, Nov. 2007) [text]...
World Bank Report Gives Weight to Agricultural-Led Dev’t via Poverty News Blog
from All AfricaAddis Fortune (Addis Ababa)By Tamrat G. GiorgisDuring most of their rule since the early 1990s, and to the dismay of their staunch critics, the Revolutionary Democrats in Ethiopia were fixated in their argument that the only way out of poverty for Ethiopia is their agricultural development-led industrialisation, a.k.a ADLI. It is an economic policy framework that puts much faith and emphasis by concentrating on the 84.2pc of the population that is agrarian.If there would be any time they should be vindicated of their otherwise controversial policy, it ought to have been last week, following news from Washington DC that they have been right all along. The World Bank, an authoritative multilateral development agency, said last Friday that basing economic policies on...
Gov’t, UN Stir to Stand Up Against Poverty via Poverty News Blog
from All AfricaDaily Monitor (Addis Ababa)NEWSBy Endale AssefaAddis AbebaA national Stand Up Day call against poverty aimed at awareness creation to ensure the nation's path towards achieving one of the MDGs through food security was marked yesterday.In a joint ceremony organized as part of the Millennium Celebration by the National Millennium Festival Council Secretariat and the United Nations at the Exhibition center, Addisu Legesse, Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development and President of the National Millennium Festival Council Secretariat addressed the people to stand up to eliminate poverty from Ethiopia.He pointed out the purpose gathering as to press hard the rights of people for sustainable food security by joining hands with the UN community and...
Investigative Report: Promises and poverty via Poverty News Blog
from the Sacramento BeeStarbucks calls its coffee worker-friendly -- but in Ethiopia, a day's pay is a dollarBy Tom Knudson - Bee Staff WriterGEMADRO, Ethiopia -- Tucked inside a fancy black box, the $26-a-pound Starbucks Black Apron Exclusives coffee promised to be more than just another bag of beans.Not only was the premium coffee from a remote plantation in Ethiopia "rare, exotic, cherished," according to Starbucks advertising, it was grown in ways that were good for the environment -- and for local people, too.Companies routinely boast about what they're doing for the planet, in part because guilt-ridden consumers expect as much -- and are willing to pay extra for it. But, in this case, Starbucks' eco-friendly sales pitch does not begin to reflect the complex story of coffee in East...
Ethiopia: Crackdown in East Punishes Civilians via Human Rights Watch News Releases
Warring Parties Must Respect Laws of War, Ensure Humanitarian Access
The Ethiopian military has forcibly displaced thousands of civilians in the country’s eastern Somali region in recent weeks while escalating its campaign against a separatist insurgency movement, Human Rights Watch said today. Both the government and rebel Ogaden National Liberation Front (ONLF) must protect civilians and ensure their access to humanitarian relief....