Horn of Africa daily

J'Accuse!

tadeth@gmail.com (Horn of Africa Daily) — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 19:03:00 +0000

By Alemayehu G. Mariam

"No alternative in the opposition," they whispered anonymously. What a disgusting phrase to use in justifying support for a ruthless dictatorship? That is apparently the scuttlebutt on Embassy Row in Addis Abeba. Reuters' Barry Malone reported last week, "Most Western governments want Meles to continue because there is no alternative in the opposition. As long as the elections are semi-democratic, they'll probably stay quiet, keep giving aid, hope for liberalisation of the economy and leave full democracy for later." Is this the ultimate proof of the triumph of Western moral relativism, hypocrisy and skullduggery in Ethiopia and Africa? Is this the new 21st Century Western paradigm of moral capitulation and appeasement of evil? Is the West going to a moral hellhole in a hand basket?

We now have a clear answer to a question that had puzzled us for the past two decades: Why do Western governments and their multilateral lending institutions support Zenawi's dictatorship with billions of dollars in loans and foreign aid? Answer: Because "there is no alternative in the opposition!" Why do they turn a blind eye to the gross violations of human rights in Ethiopia? Turn a deaf ear to the bootless cries of the thousands of Ethiopian political prisoners rotting in Zenawi's jail? Pretend to be mute on Birtukan Midekssa's unjust imprisonment? Prop up a regime that ruthlessly decimates its opposition, crushes the free press, chokes civil society organizations, squanders and defalcates...Read more

BlogCatalog - November Newsletter

tadeth@gmail.com (Horn of Africa Daily) — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 08:05:00 +0000


Hi Tade This month, we share what's new at BlogCatalog and all the good stuff we learned at BlogWorld Expo 2009. Since the holiday season - also known as the Season of Giving - is fast approaching, we've dedicated part of this issue to highlighting events that ask bloggers to use their blog to help others by raising awareness, raising money and motivating others to get involved. This Issue: New Tools Section • BloggersUnite Top Events • BlogWorld Expo 2009 Summary • Fight For Preemies • What We Learned From #Nestlefamily Have You Checked Out BlogCatalog's New Tool Section? Because we want to provide the best resources to bloggers, we recently rolled out a Tools Section that features information and user reviews of widgets, platforms, resources, services, and opportunities for bloggers. If you haven't checked it out yet, we hope you will swing by, browse the tools that have already been added, review any that you have used and add a few of your own favorites Visit the BlogCatalog Tools section Increase Reach, Revisits and Revenue with IngBoo – Make RSS Work for You Now! BlogCatalog's BlogWorld Expo 2009 Summary It seems like every time you plan for a big event you spend months preparing just to see it fly by in the blink of an eye. This year's BlogWorld Expo was no exception. Good thing we had the cameras along to record all of our great memories. View our BlogWorld pics During the expo, we also managed to seek out some great information and a few cool tools to share with the BlogCatalog community. We even managed to make a few new friends along the way too! Even the Tiniest Voices Need a Champion Do you know a baby that was born too soon, too small, unable to suck, unable to breathe on his own? Premature birth is a health crisis that jeopardizes the lives and health of nearly half-million babies each year. It is the #1 killer of newborns and can lead to lifelong disabilities. It can happen without warning and for no known reason. Until we have more answers, anyone's baby, could be born too soon. November 17 is dedicated to raising awareness of the crisis of premature birth. BlogCatalog and March of Dimes invite bloggers like you to get involved. We need to fight - because babies shouldn't have to. Learn More Follow Us Online! Upcoming Events Who Will Stand For Veterans? November 11. In honor of Veterans Day, independent filmmakers are using "Who Will Stand" to raise awareness for veterans on. A BloggersUnite.org event that asks bloggers to post and write about veterans on Veterans Day. View Event BloggersUnite: Brown Bag Project November 21. Help BC fight hunger this Thanksgiving by delivering food to hungry families in your area or donating to a local food bank. Use your blog to share your experience and motivate others to join in the fight against hunger. View Event BloggersUnite: World AIDS Day December 1. World AIDS Day is dedicated to raising awareness of the AIDS pandemic caused by the spread of HIV infection. This year's theme is leadership from all sectors. The question is not should you participate, but how can you? View Event What We Learned From #Nestlefamily For many of us, the September 30 twitterstorm that pitted bloggers, breastfeeding proponents, and social justice advocates against Nestle corporation, was an eye-opener. The company created a twitter hashtag (#nestlefamily) to help panelists tweet about the event and to enable the tracking of information related to their PR efforts. As the event began, bloggers concerned with Nestle's corporate practices in the developing world made their voices heard with numerous tweets under the same hashtag. They spoke specifically about nutrition concerns, Nestle's violation of World Health Organization guidelines for the marketing of infant formula, the company's ties to repressive regimes, and the use of child slave labor in cocoa production. Learn More
Unsubscribe from our emails. BlogCatalog.com · 7126 Eckhert Road · San Antonio, TX · 78238

Hi Tade

This month, we share what's new at BlogCatalog and all the good stuff we learned at BlogWorld Expo 2009. Since the holiday season - also known as the Season of Giving - is fast approaching, we've dedicated part of this issue to highlighting events that ask bloggers to use their blog to help others by raising awareness, raising money and motivating others to get involved.

This Issue: New Tools Section • BloggersUnite Top Events • BlogWorld Expo 2009 Summary • Fight For Preemies • What We Learned From #Nestlefamily

Have You Checked Out BlogCatalog's New Tool Section?

Because we want to provide the best resources to bloggers, we recently rolled out a Tools Section that features information and user reviews of widgets, platforms, resources, services, and opportunities for bloggers.

If you haven't checked it out yet, we hope you will swing by, browse the tools that have already been added, review any that you have used and add a few of your own favorites

Visit the BlogCatalog Tools section

Increase Reach, Revisits and Revenue with IngBoo – Make RSS Work for You Now!

BlogCatalog's BlogWorld Expo 2009 Summary

It seems like every time you plan for a big event you spend months preparing just to see it fly by in the blink of an eye. This year's BlogWorld Expo was no exception. Good thing we had the cameras along to record all of our great memories.

View our BlogWorld pics

During the expo, we also managed to seek out some great information and a few cool tools to share with the BlogCatalog community. We even managed to make a few new friends along the way too!

Even the Tiniest Voices Need a Champion

Do you know a baby that was born too soon, too small, unable to suck, unable to breathe on his own? Premature birth is a health crisis that jeopardizes the lives and health of nearly half-million babies each year. It is the #1 killer of newborns and can lead to lifelong disabilities. It can happen without warning and for no known reason. Until we have more answers, anyone's baby, could be born too soon. November 17 is dedicated to raising awareness of the crisis of premature birth. BlogCatalog and March of Dimes invite bloggers like you to get involved. We need to fight - because babies shouldn't have to.

Learn More

Upcoming Events

Who Will Stand For Veterans?
November 11. In honor of Veterans Day, independent filmmakers are using "Who Will Stand" to raise awareness for veterans on. A BloggersUnite.org event that asks bloggers to post and write about veterans on Veterans Day.
View Event

BloggersUnite: Brown Bag Project
November 21. Help BC fight hunger this Thanksgiving by delivering food to hungry families in your area or donating to a local food bank. Use your blog to share your experience and motivate others to join in the fight against hunger.
View Event

BloggersUnite: World AIDS Day
December 1. World AIDS Day is dedicated to raising awareness of the AIDS pandemic caused by the spread of HIV infection. This year's theme is leadership from all sectors. The question is not should you participate, but how can you?
View Event

What We Learned From #Nestlefamily

For many of us, the September 30 twitterstorm that pitted bloggers, breastfeeding proponents, and social justice advocates against Nestle corporation, was an eye-opener.

The company created a twitter hashtag (#nestlefamily) to help panelists tweet about the event and to enable the tracking of information related to their PR efforts. As the event began, bloggers concerned with Nestle's corporate practices in the developing world made their voices heard with numerous tweets under the same hashtag.

They spoke specifically about nutrition concerns, Nestle's violation of World Health Organization guidelines for the marketing of infant formula, the company's ties to repressive regimes, and the use of child slave labor in cocoa production.

Learn More

CBC News - Money - Economically speaking, it's time to invade Eritrea

tadeth@gmail.com (Horn of Africa Daily) — Sat, 07 Nov 2009 17:47:00 +0000

CBC News - Money - Economically speaking, it's time to invade Eritrea

Maybe it is time for the rest of the world to follow Canada's lead and pull out of Afghanistan. Then we can all invade some place equally needy like Eritrea. It only makes economic sense.

The idea struck me the other morning when I heard my old friend from Hong Kong days, Adrian Edwards, on the radio announcing that the UN was evacuating 600 of its foreign nationals from Kabul.

Adrian has worked in some the world's most exotic locations as a correspondent and then as a UN official. He is not easily moved...

Alemayehu G. Mariam: Famine and the Noisome Beast in Ethiopia

tadeth@gmail.com (Horn of Africa Daily) — Sat, 31 Oct 2009 23:21:00 +0000

Alemayehu G. Mariam: Famine and the Noisome Beast in Ethiopia

Posted using ShareThis

It is hard to talk about Ethiopia these days in non-apocalyptic terms. Millions of Ethiopians are facing their old enemy again for the third time in nearly forty years. The Black Horseman of famine is stalking that ancient land. A year ago, Meles Zenawi's regime denied there was any famine. Only "minor problems" of spot shortages of food which will "be soon brought under control," it said dismissively. The regime boldly predicted a 7-10 percent increase in the annual harvest over 2007. Simon Mechale, head of the country's Disaster Prevention and Preparedness Agency, proudly declared: "Ethiopia will soon fully ensure its food security." For several years, the regime has been touting its Productive Safety Net Programme would result in ending the "cycle of dependence on food aid" by bridging production deficits and protecting household and community assets. Famine and chronic food shortages were officially ostracized from Ethiopia...

Read more at: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/alemayehu-g-mariam/famine-and-the-noisome-be_b_339467.html

How to avert the effects of the recurring drought in Ethiopia

tadeth@gmail.com (Horn of Africa Daily) — Sun, 25 Oct 2009 00:08:00 +0000

One may say it is easier said than done but I believe my solution to this problem is doable. The famine has become a painstaking and morally demeaning phenomenon that haunts the country every season there is no sufficient rain. The sharp population growth can be claimed as one of the reasons for the easy surrender to the drought. The economic growth of 10% every year for the last half a dozen years hasn't shown results for the whole region of the country. These and other reasons play a major role in contributing to the famine related horror that is unacceptable at this stage of the century.

First thing to be done is to change the way the government and the elites of the country do things. I know there is a political tension from inside and surrounding neighboring countries that persuade the government to deplete its resources for national defense against eminent and potential threats in the region. In my view, there needs to be a protracted effort to secure the health of the state affairs first. The wellbeing of the citizens of the country plays a major role in establishing and expanding a firm defense mechanism. A malnourished and unhealthy youth cannot defend his/her country. When there is a 10% economic growth, it should be understood in terms of alleviating the poverty level of the whole country and not only few areas of the country, in which case there should be an effective mechanism to subsidize those that are not doing well. The next step should be examining why they are not doing well and step up new efforts to improve the situation.

If the government has fulfilled its obligations then why is famine inflicted by draught is becoming the usual breaking news on the TV screens of the world? I am witnessing people are getting tired of hearing this. An in depth look into what is really going on may need a thorough research from fellow experts in the field. I wouldn't say outright this hasn't been done so far, but in spite of all the creative think tank to solve famine related problems, it is not going away. Then there needs to be a look into the implementation of the solutions. My take is, the problem is in the implementation of the ideas that are already being adopted by the government and to a certain extent by the NGOs. So, what is in the way of reducing starvation to its lowest level once and for all? Are the people getting addicted to food aid, which is more damaging for the business and entrepreneurial reputation of the country? I don't think one will put him/herself in this kind of low self esteem just to get food aid.
There are things that need to be done urgently before we experience the same story in the coming 50th year anniversary of the 1984 famine.

1. The government need not do things to make them look good for the public consumption. It needs to deal with problems and keep statistics that reflect the whole country and not necessarily patches of successes. Some groups, especially the opposition may want to point fingers at the ethnic kililization policy of the EPRDF as the reason for many of the problems. The kilils are meant to facilitate the ethnic groups of the killil to take care of their affairs in a way that is feasible to them and not to cause balkanization that creates isolation from the rest of the country. If this is the case, the purpose of kilil is not properly implemented. This should be looked into and strictly denounced from being the norm. The federal government has the obligation to play a swift role in fixing this kind of mischaracterization of a federal system of government.

2. The tradition of depending on the occasionally scant rain is like playing with the Russian roulette. There are innovative measures that need to be taken to reduce dependence on rain. Some of them are digging wells, accumulating rain water, using electric dams for that purpose, irrigation, etc. They all need capital. Unfortunately the food aid is not meant to support these kinds of lasting solutions. There needs to be a way to finance all the measures that alleviate dependence on rain. It is doable with a conviction to break all the usual ways of doing things.

3. The government needs to add to its constitution the urgency of tackling famine as its national security matter. It is the core of all the deliverance of progress. Without eradicating poverty which is as frightening as Ethiopia's, there can't be any five year, ten year plan. So, it is crucial that something similar to a cultural revolution is practiced to get out of the recurring famine whose level could have easily been tackled in most other countries. There shouldn't be any reason Ethiopia can't accomplish this goal. One of the collective actions used for fighting the effects of draught should be forming an emergency task force to look into the early signs of malnutrition, especially in children. If it is because of the negligence of the parents, the children need to be taken away to a federally funded organization that can feed, nurture and educate the children until they manage to support themselves. This organization can easily gain international recognition if its efforts are fruitful.

4. Farming methods need to be totally reformed to create sufficient yield of crops and encourage large scale farming that transforms the subsistence farmers into productive citizens that can support their families. Many think the land lease method introduced by the government is the cause of the problem. We should learn from the fact that in countries like China this kind of land policy hasn't hampered the economic growth it is enjoying. There must be some element of the policy that may be causing it. It needs to be closely studied to identify the problem

Conclusion:
One may say those measures have more or less been introduced in the country. Well, the answer to this is simple. If it hasn’t shown results and the country is repeatedly confronted with begging for food aid every now and then, something may not be working right. Does anybody care to look into this? It is about time things are taken seriously without being too defensive about anything. The government needs to start a 25 year plan right now to avert another looming disaster; that will follow the nation to the 50thyear anniversary of the 1984 famine.

The Horn of Africa - Prologue to a Tumultuous Year

tadeth@gmail.com (Horn of Africa Daily) — Sat, 24 Oct 2009 05:40:00 +0000

By Kumsa Aba Gerba

The Horn of Africa is laden with many fundamental socio economic and political problems that are caused by the regional players themselves. There are however many non intrinsic problems, due to underhanded meddling of the so called “development partners”. The Hydro politics of the Nile and Egypt, the future of Southern Sudan, the situation in Somalia and the fate of Somaliland embed ticking time bombs, with little safety pins that are to set off in 2010 and forward.
These cataclysms, unless mitigated by political players of the region and the “development partners” ahead of time and in a responsible manner, may transcend borders and escalate to international conflicts from the Lake States of Africa to all the way to the Mediterranean Sea and the Persian Gulf.

Hydro politics of the Nile and Egypt

The nine riparian states Burundi, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Ethiopia, Kenya, Rwanda, Tanzania, Uganda Egypt and Sudan’s have long been actively negotiating about the uses and rights of the Nile waters. During all these negotiations, development partners represented by the World Bank and Eritrea, co-opted by none other than Egypt, have been observers.
In May 2009, seven of the riparian states, angry over the near veto powers Egypt and Sudan, adopted a draft pact that does not recognize Egypt and Sudan’s “historical rights and uses” of the Nile waters during the Nile Council of Ministers (Nile CoM) meeting in Kinshasa. They wanted to adopt a draft pact that provided for the establishment of a permanent Nile Basin Commission for fair use of the river’s riparian resources.
Subsequent to the pact of the seven riparian states, the “development partners” who are supposed to be impartial, issued a joint statement against the majority states who adopted a draft pact. The statement, issued by the 12 development partners convening under a trust fund hosted by the World Bank, seemed to favor Egypt and Sudan against the other seven countries.
The seven riparian states became angry at the intervention of the so called ‘development partners’ according to information from the very recent Nile CoM meeting in Alexandria in Egypt, in July 2009. Nonetheless the seven riparian states have decided to conclude the much-anticipated blueprint by early 2010 in what appears to be an ultimatum for Egypt and Sudan to accept a draft agreement that the other seven countries accepted, or risk isolation.
For more than a century Egypt has had a visceral hostility towards Ethiopia that is highly noxious. Despite that Ethiopia is one of the seven riparian states; it is also cautious of untimely Egyptian growl that is backed by USA and the ‘development partners’. Egypt is the biggest recipients of US aid (Since 2004 over $28 billion in economic assistance, including $2 billion in military aid) and has political clout over institutions such as the World Bank and the IMF.
Ethiopia is the main source of the Nile, which contributes 86% of the water to the basin and utilizes less than 1% of the potential for hydroelectric power or irrigation. Ethiopia is precautious because if the ‘development partners’ do not handle the use of Nile waters in an impartial, fair and prudent manner and when the seven riparian countries move along with their anticipated resolution and ultimatum in early 2010, Egypt may wreck havoc on Ethiopia through its historic proxies, Eritrean forces and terrorist networks based in Somalia.

The future of Southern Sudan

Even though Darfur has grabbed global attention for the last few years, Southern Sudan, an area containing abundant oil reserves, has been dealing with its own crisis. In 2005, a Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) ended the war between the ruling National Congress Party (NCP) and Sudan Peoples' Liberation Movement (SPLM) that had been raging for almost fifty years at the cost of more than 2 million lives. Part of the peace agreement calls for a referendum to be held in 2011 to give Southern Sudan an opportunity to secede or stay united.
There are very serious differences between the two parties on how to go about the referendum in 2011. The NCP says all southerners (including ones in the North) should participate, while the SPLM wants to limit it to the residents of southern Sudan only, afraid of the validity of the census. On the question of voting, the NCP says secession should be valid only if at least 75 percent of voters chose "Yes", while a simple majority of 51 percent should be enough for unity. The SPLM proposes a simple majority percentage for both choices.
In the past, the US had been working towards the secession of Southern Sudan. The Christian Rights and many neo-conservatives during the Bush administration have been actively engaged in preparing the oil rich south for independence. The US based Inside the Pentagon (ITP) newsletter had stated that the US administration was keen on assisting Sudan People Liberation Army (SPLA) transition from a guerilla force to one that can provide adequate defense capabilities for its people and territory. In not so distant past, some Washington policy makers had also been contemplating of boosting SPLA’s air defense capabilities to deter the North from attacking in an attempt to prevent the secession of South Sudan. This being the view from Washington, South Sudan had reportedly been building up its military arsenal, including a controversial shipment of Ukrainian tanks last year, in secrecy to prepare for such an event.
Recently the US is having a second thought about the eminent independence of the South. In a drastic turn of policy the US is now talking to both parties to make the 2005 Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) realistically implemented regardless of the outcome, in order to avoid another flare up of hostilities between the North and the South.
President Obama’s special envoy to Sudan, Scott Gration is making headways in the trilateral talks since it started in July 2009 in Washington. Gration is said to be a much seasoned diplomat and his military background might have helped him in obtaining more cooperation from the DOD and the State Department, unlike his predecessors.
Gration is advising the North that it should not be working on how to make independence unfeasible. On the other hand Gration is counseling the NCP to work hard on how unity can be viable. This US position has recently made SPLM very nervous.
The US realized that the secession of the south may not end up with a smooth separation with the North. The border of the two regions is not even defined, especially around the very contentious oil rich areas. The US also realized that the South is not that homogeneous with various ethnic and tribal make up and may not stay as one country that long after secession.
Either way the wind blows, at the prelude to the referendum in 2010 or the outcome in 2011, there is a high potential of deadly turbulence in Southern Sudan, much worse than that of Darfur. This commotion of heavily armed conflict in the south may adversely affect the peace and stability of neighboring Uganda, DRC, CAR, Kenya and Ethiopia.

Lawless Somalia and the fate of Somaliland

Somalia is such a mess because of the rivalries of various clan warlords and because of ascendance of terrorist networks. But there are many international players that have contributed to stir up disorder and lawlessness.
With regard to US policy on Somalia, it has been myopic either due to the ‘Black Hawk Down’ traumatic syndrome or due to lack of any economic incentive such as oil in the region. The theory that Hizbul Islam can be tamed in order to crash Al Shabaab is nothing but a repeat of the same failed policy in Afghanistan of playing nice with the Taliban in order to target Al Qaeda that resulted in the Taliban to become a menace to the very survival of a key US ally, Pakistan.
One of the architects of such US policy is Ken Menkhaus, with an effort to create a tailored policy by cajoling jihadists such as the Hizbul Islam coalition. Menkhaus has invested on such theorem and written some hypothesis such as “Somalia after the Ethiopian Occupation: First Steps to End the Conflict and Combat Extremism” and “Governance without Government in Somalia: Spoilers, State Building, and the Politics of Coping.”
One of the Hizbul Islam figures being cajoled is Sheikh Hassan "Turki" Abdullahi, the leader of Ras Kamboni Brigade, which is part of four factions that merged to form Hizbul Islam with Sheikh Hassan Dahir Aweys as chairman, with strong ties with Eritrea. Al-Turki fought alongside Al Shabaab to overthrow warlord Barre Hirale in Aug. 2008. In recent days, Sheikh Turki has publicly opposed Al Shabaab's declaration of an administration in Kismayo that excludes other groups. This position of Al-Turki has made US policy makers distortedly gleeful.
Al-Turki was designated, under US Presidential Executive Order 13224, for terrorist financing on June 3, 2004. Al-Turki was born in the Ogaden. It is believed that Al-Turki participated in the unsuccessful Ogaden War between Somalia and Ethiopia over control of the Ogaden region. He still has his eye on Ethiopia’s Ogaden and holds key influence and control over the leadership of Ogaden National Liberation Front (ONLF).
The UN has also become a paper tiger with regard to the Somali crisis. Sanction on Eritrea, which channels weapons to Al Shabaab and Hizbul Islam, is not going to happen. Eritrea already trades less with the outside world. The country's president is not interested in being a globe-trotting statesman who often skips AU summits and IGAD meetings. UN knows sanctions won't deter Eritrea’s less savory allies, Libya and Iran who provide Eritrea with aid.
The other potential trouble area in the Horn is seemingly peaceful Somaliland. Even though the international community does not recognize Somaliland as country, there has been so much foreign hand in respect to the upcoming election in Somaliland.
Like many elections in underdeveloped countries, there is a familiar indulgence of NGOs in the Somaliland election that has exasperated the contradiction between the incumbent and the opposition parties. Last summer, the head of Interpeace, an international peace building NGO was expelled after being accused of sharing incomplete voter information with officials from the opposition parties without consulting with the Somaliland election commission. Moreover, the ruling party has become intolerant of any push from external parties partly due to the pure malady of incumbency to linger in power.
Such an affray with NGOs has probably affected US policy makers towards Somaliland. Donald Payne (D-NJ), chairman of subcommittee on Africa and Global Health, invited Mohamed Omer, opposition Kulmiye party foreign officer, while Abdillahi Mohamed Duale, the foreign secretary of Somaliland government, who incidentally was in Washington, was told that the congressman wasn’t available to see him. Mr. Duale was received by President Obama’s advisor on Africa and met other officials from USAID, despite that Donald Payne refused to meet him.
According to VOA, Ted Dagne, an aide to Donald Payne said: “Donald Payne does not recognize Mr. Duale as the only one who represent the Somaliland people and will meet any other official from Somaliland”. Consequently, the humiliated President Dahir Rayale refused to attend and participate in recent congressional hearing about Somalia chaired by Donald Payne.
On the home front, Al-Shabaab has had keen interest in seemingly peaceful Somaliland and considers it as its home base. Many Al-Shabaab leaders come from Somaliland. Lately, Sheikh Mukhtar Abdurahman Abu Zubayr, the Amir (leader) of Al-Shabaab who comes from Somaliland, urged the people to rise against the government. He has accused, through a circulated voice message, the Somaliland authority of oppressing Muslims.
Somaliland is not an internationally recognized country and has no official diplomatic relations with the US, UN or any other country. With such a flawed US policy as advanced by Donald Payne and Ken Menkhaus as well as with Al-Shabaab sleepers all over Somaliland, the 2010 election may drag the country towards lawlessness ala the rest of Somalia, making the Horn of Africa, the Gulf of Eden and the western shores of the Indian Ocean a treacherous zone.
The author is an Ethiopian American graduate student and a researcher of International Relations in USA. He can be reached at abagerba@yahoo.com

Ethiopia: Drought Need Not Mean Hunger And Destitution - Oxfam

tadeth@gmail.com (Horn of Africa Daily) — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 04:51:00 +0000

Nairobi — With droughts becoming more common, donors and the Ethiopian government must look beyond the traditional "band aid" responses to disasters by using approaches that are more cost-effective, sustainable and better suited to the population, international aid agency Oxfam says in a new report.

"We cannot make the rains come, but there is much more that we can do to break the cycle of drought-driven disaster in Ethiopia and the Horn of Africa," Penny Lawrence, Oxfam's international director, states. "Food aid offers temporary relief and has kept people alive in countless situations, but does not tackle the underlying causes that continue to make people vulnerable to disaster year after year."

Oxfam issued the report, Band Aids and Beyond, on 22 October, the 25th anniversary of one of Ethiopia's worst famines when an estimated one million people died. The report looks at how aid has worked since 1984, arguing that the current donor trend of focusing on emergency food aid had to change.

Manoocher Deghati/IRIN
"Donors need to shift their approach, and help to give communities the tools to tackle disasters before they strike," Lawrence said. "Drought does not need to mean hunger and destitution. If communities have irrigation for crops, grain stores and wells to harvest rains then they can survive despite what the elements throw at them."

Calling for a radical shake-up in the way the world tackled food crises, Oxfam said it was essential that donors rise to the challenge and provide adequate funding for emergency assistance for this year's crisis, adding: "Current responses by international donors are far below requirements estimated by governments and UN agencies."

New approach

In the report, Oxfam argues that "it is equally essential that donors do more to back programmes that manage the risk of the disaster before it strikes, such as early warning systems, creating strategically positioned stockpiles of food, medicine and other items, and irrigation programmes.

"For instance, in Somali region, Oxfam is building birkhads, or protected wells, to enable communities to 'harvest' rain during the rainy season to make sure there is more water available nearby when the rains stop. These types of programmes receive just 0.14 percent of overseas aid."

Climate change threat

"Climate scientists predict that by 2034, the 50th anniversary of the 1984 Ethiopia famine, what are now droughts will become the norm, hitting the region three years out of every four," Oxfam said. "A shift of approach is needed to prevent climate shocks developing into disasters which will push more people into poverty."

Lawrence said: "Climate change makes the urgency of this approach greater than ever before. Ethiopians on the frontline of climate change cannot wait another 25 years for common sense to become common practice."

World hunger

On 16 October, another international aid agency, ActionAid, issued a report, Who's really fighting hunger, questioning why one billion people the world over were hungry.

"Over one billion people - a sixth of humanity - don't have enough to eat," ActionAid said. "Almost a third of the world's children are growing up malnourished. This is perhaps one of the most shameful achievements of recent history, since there is no good reason for anyone to go hungry in today's world. "

However, ActionAid said hunger was a choice man makes, "not a force of nature".

Sustainable Development
It added: "Hunger begins with inequality - between men and women, and between rich and poor. It grows because of perverse policies that treat food purely as a commodity, not a right. It is because of these policies that most developing countries no longer grow enough to feed themselves, and that their farmers are among the hungriest and poorest people in the world. Meanwhile, the rich world battles growing obesity."

Arguing that policies can be changed, ActionAid detailed the dramatic progress made when countries translated the right to food into concrete actions, "such as investing in poor farmers, and introducing basic measures to protect the vulnerable. Their success makes the inaction and apathy of other countries all the more inexcusable."

Ethiopia claims surrender of rebel Ogaden leader

tadeth@gmail.com (Horn of Africa Daily) — Sat, 17 Oct 2009 18:30:00 +0000

ADDIS ABABA (AFP) – Ethiopia announced on Saturday that a top rebel leader in the restive Ogaden region had surrendered, leading to the seizure of some four tonnes of explosive material.
"Over 37 quintals of chemicals, which the self-styled Ogaden National Liberation Front (ONLF) kept to produce explosives, were seized in Somali Regional State," the Ethiopian News Agency said.
The official agency said that the seizure came after "ONLF military affairs coordinator in Warder and Korahe zones, Abdi Mohammed Awhasen" surrendered on October 3....

Eritrea: Spoiler Exacerbates Crisis in the Horn of Africa and Beyond

tadeth@gmail.com (Horn of Africa Daily) — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 21:31:00 +0000

Eritrea: Spoiler Exacerbates Crisis in the Horn of Africa and Beyond

J.Peter Pham, PhD

One of the frustrations with which Africa’s friends have had to repeatedly cope over the years has been the seemingly utter incapacity of the African leaders to deal with their more problematic peers: witness the annual African Union (AU) summit’s literal embrace of Zimbabwean dictator Robert Mugabe last year on the very morrow of a farcical “reelection” criticized the pan-African organization’s own monitors or, with a few honorable exceptions, its circling of the wagons around Sudanese despot Umar Hassan al-Bashir earlier this year after the International Criminal Court indicted him for crimes against humanity and war crimes for his role in the humanitarian disaster in Darfur. Thus it is even more bitterly disappointing when, on the few rare occasions the continent’s leaders do manage to get their act together and turn against one of their own, as they did this year with Eritrea’s Isaias Afewerki – whose regime has not only supported a terrorist-led Islamist insurgency in Somalia, but been implicated in numerous efforts to destabilize countries throughout the Horn of Africa – that their efforts have been largely ignored, to the detriment of both the African states immediately bearing the brunt of the assaults from Asmara and the broader security interests of the international community.

To recall, it has been more than two years since I warned in this column space about the danger posed by “the rogue regime in Asmara which, for its own reasons, is fomenting a growing cycle of violence phenomenon that not only threatens the stability of its neighbors, but, because of its support of an al-Qaeda-linked Islamist insurgency, risks opening a broad terrorist front across the entire Horn of Africa.” Earlier this year, after a May emergency summit in Addis Ababa, the Council of Ministers of the subregional Inter-Governmental Authority on Development (IGAD) issued a statement asserting that “the government of Eritrea and its financiers continue to instigate, finance, recruit, train, fund and supply the criminal elements in and/or to Somalia” and calling on the United Nations Security Council to “impose sanctions on the government of Eritrea without any further delay.” The Peace and Security Council of the African Union concurred, issuing a communiqué expressing its “deep concern at the reports regarding the support provided to these armed groups [in Somalia], through training, provision of weapons and ammunitions and funding, by external actors, including Eritrea, in flagrant violation of the United Nations arms embargo” and likewise asking the Security Council to “impose sanctions against all those foreign actors, both within and outside the region, specially Eritrea, providing support to the armed groups engaged in destabilization activities in Somalia, attacks against the TFG, the civilian population and AMISOM, as well as against all the Somali individuals and entities working towards undermining the peace and reconciliation efforts and regional stability.”

Even the usually weak AU did not equivocate this time. In July, at the AU’s 13th annual Summit of Heads of State and Government, hosted this year by Libya’s Mu’ammar Qadhafi at his hometown of Sirte, issued a decision pleading with the Security Council “to take immediate measures, including the imposition of a no-fly zone and blockade of sea ports, to prevent the entry of foreign elements into Somalia, as well as flights and shipments carrying weapons and ammunitions to armed groups inside Somalia which are carrying out attacks against [the Transitional Federal Government, TFG], the civilian population and [the African Union Mission in Somalia, AMISOM], and also to impose sanctions against all those foreign actors, both within and outside the region, especially Eritrea, providing support to the armed groups engaged in destabilization activities in Somalia, attacks against the TFG, the civilian population and AMISOM, as well as against the Somali individuals and entities working towards undermining the peace and reconciliation efforts and regional stability.” Even more remarkably, the call for sanctions was virtually unanimous, with only Eritrea opposing the measure (whatever few friends Eritrea had in Africa evidently could no longer justify its continual intervention in Somali affairs since the withdrawal earlier this year of Ethiopian forces deprived Asmara of any Realpolitik justification of opposing a rival).

While, for the moment, the ongoing conflict in southern and central Somalia is perhaps the most urgent crisis in which Eritrea’s meddling has worsened the situation, it is by no means the only one in the subregion being stoked by Isaias Afewerki (for a sample of the Maoist-trained former guerrilla leader’s mindset, see the transcript released last month of a July interview with him conducted by Barney Jopson of the Financial Times; Jopson’s observations during and reflections about his journey to Asmara are also worth studying). In April 2008, Eritrean troops crossed the border into Djibouti and fortified positions near Ras Doumeira on the Red Sea. Two months later, Djiboutian forces came under fire from the Eritreans, sparking a brief conflict during which Djibouti received logistical support and intelligence from its former colonial power, France, which maintains a not insignificant military presence in the country as does the U.S. Combined Joint Task Force-Horn of Africa (CJTF-HOA), based at Camp Lemonier. An ultimatum from the UN Security Council, contained in Resolution 1862, passed in January of this year, gave Eritrea five weeks to withdraw its forces. Unfortunately, as the AU noted with “grave concern” in July, the deadline came and went with a “total absence of progress regarding the implementation by Eritrea of the successive decisions taken at the 11th and 12th Ordinary Sessions of the Assembly, held respectively in July 2008 and February 2009, as well as resolution 1862 of the UN Security Council regarding the border dispute between Djibouti and Eritrea.”

Of course, it should come as no surprise that Isaias Afewerki was willing to pick a fight with Djibouti, a tiny statelet the size of Massachusetts with a population of barely half a million. Just a decade ago, he was just as prepared to commence hostilities with Ethiopia, a country whose population of 85 million is 15 times the size of Eritrea’s and with a GDP is at least 20 times larger. The resulting two-year war – which an international panel at the Permanent Court of Arbitration at The Hague ruled in a 2005 decision to have been due to Eritrea’s violation of international law by “by resorting to armed force on May 12, 1998 and the immediately following days to attack and occupy the town of Badme, then under peaceful administration” by Ethiopia – left at least 100,000 dead and cost untold billions of dollars in damages.

Regrettably, it is not only that repeated appeals from African regional organizations have not only fallen on deaf ears, but there seems to be evidence that of a willful refusal to face the reality of the situation. Two weeks ago, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon submitted to the Security Council the semi-annual report on Somalia that he has been tasked with preparing. Astoundingly, in a 20-page document that is supposed to access the Somalia’s political and security situation, Eritrea is mentioned only once and then only to report without comment U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton’s August 6 admonishment that “with respect to Eritrea we are making it very clear that their actions are unacceptable their interference with the rights of the Somali people to determine their own future are the height of misplaced efforts and funding and we intend to take action if they do not cease.” The UN chief devoted more space in the document to expressing concern about illegal exports of livestock and charcoal from Somalia and bemoaning human and drug smuggling. No wonder on astute observer, Jacob Heilbrunn, in a hard-hitting analysis in the July/August issue of Foreign Policy, characterized Ban as “nowhere man,” “the world’s most dangerous Korean,” and “a dilettante on the international stage,” noting that, even in the undistinguished company of his immediately predecessors, Ban “appears to have set the standard for failure.”

Not surprisingly, with this type of “leadership,” the UN has yet to sanction the Asmara regime, notwithstanding efforts to move toward sanctions like those made last week by the British permanent representative, Ambassador Sir John Sawyers, and the U.S. alternate representative for special political affairs, Ambassador Rosemary DiCarlo, who told her Security Council colleagues that “it is time for the international community to consider ways to address Eritrea’s destabilizing impact on Somalia and the region.” Interestingly, it seems Eritrea’s own diplomats have apparently given up trying to defend their master’s troublemaking. During his recent appearance at the opening of the 64th session of the UN General Assembly in New York last month, Eritrean Foreign Minister Osman Saleh avoided any discussion of regional issues, devoting his entire address to histrionic denunciations of the “prevailing world order” and the “culture of ‘politics of fear’ and ‘management by crisis’” and criticisms of the United Nations as unable to “realistically cope with the exigencies of the 21st century.”

On the other hand, to be fair to the Ban and the UN, others are likewise guilty of burying their heads in the sand. In June, Representative Ed Royce, a California Republican who chaired the House Africa Subcommittee for eight years and is currently the ranking member on the Terrorism, Nonproliferation, and Trade Subcommittee, offered an amendment to the foreign operations bill that would urge the Secretary of State to declare Eritrea a “state sponsor of terrorism” on account of the country’s well-documented record in the matter in general and, more specifically, its support for al-Shabaab (“the youth”), an al Qaeda-linked Somali group that was already formally designated a “foreign terrorist organization” by the U.S. Department of State last year. As the congressman noted in his foreign policy blog, the proposal was rejected on a party-line vote of 245 to 183, with some of its opponents defending their stance by arguing that “Eritrean President Isaias Afewerki sent a letter to President Obama expressing the desire to engage on these issues” (!). The majority thus chose to ignore the May Senate testimony of Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs Johnnie Carson that “we have clear evidence that Eritrea is supporting these extremist elements, including credible reports that the Government of Eritrea continues to supply weapons and munitions to extremists and terrorist elements” including al-Shabaab and the Hisbul Islam (“Islamic party”) group of Sheikh Hassan Dahir ‘Aweys, a figure who appears personally on both United States and United Nations antiterrorism sanctions lists and who was based in Asmara from January 2007 until April of this year when he returned to Somalia to carry on the fight to turn the country into a militant Islamist state (for a look back at Eritrea’s sponsorship of ‘Awey’s activities, see my report two years ago on the establishment of the insurgent alliance in the Eritrean capital).

Nor is it the case that the charges of Eritrean support for Islamist extremists in Somalia is merely American propaganda, as the regime in Asmara and its dwindling band of apologists have been wont to claim. The most recent report of the UN Security Council’s Monitoring Group and Panel of Experts on Somalia was especially damning in its detailed chronicling of Eritrea’s critical role in enabling the insurgency:

The Eritrean Government continues to provide financial support to ARS/Asmara, to deliver occasional consignments of weapons to its forces and their allies inside Somalia, and to provide Eritrean travel documents for some of its senior leaders. At the same time, the Eritrean Government has begun to develop linkages with a more diverse array of armed groups inside Somalia.

The Monitoring Group has received numerous credible reports from governmental sources and Somali eyewitnesses that Eritrea provides military training to armed Somali opposition groups…

The Monitoring Group has continued to receive information indicating that deliveries of arms and ammunition by small boat, originating in Eritrea, continue to occur on a fairly regular basis. A far greater proportion of Eritrean assistance, however, now takes the form of contributions in cash or kind. The purpose of the new emphasis on cash contributions is not only to arm the opposition, but to also disarm Transitional Federal Government and Ethiopian forces by enticing them to sell their weapons, ammunitions and uniforms, or to defect entirely…

According to multiple sources, some with first-hand knowledge of the procedure, cash is either made available from an Eritrean embassy bank account in one of these locations or hand-carried by courier from Asmara to the destination. The cash may then be sent in small amounts via Western Union or Somali hawala agencies to Somalia. Increasingly, cash is handed over to sympathetic businessmen, who use it to procure foodstuffs, second-hand clothing or electronic goods for export to Somalia. Once in Somalia, the goods are then resold to finance the armed struggle.

The Monitoring Group believes that Eritrean arms embargo violations take place with the knowledge and authorization of senior officials within the Eritrean Government and the ruling People’s Front for Democracy and Justice (PFDJ). Operational responsibility, however, lies with the Eritrean intelligence services.

(Of course, Eritrea denies all of this. In fact, the Ministry of Information in Asmara recently even put out a statement shamelessly advocating “an end all the foreign interferences in Somalia” and declaring that “the sole solution…is to respect the wishes of the Somali people, and withdraw and stop any foreign involvement in Somalia.”)

If Eritrea’s support of the insurgency in Somalia were not bad enough from the point of view of the United States and other countries with interests in the Horn of Africa, there is also the worrisome evolution of Asmara’s relations with another pariah state with longstanding ties to international terrorism, the Islamic Republic of Iran. Last year, at about the same time he was drawing opprobrium for his aggression against the neighboring Djibouti, Eritrea’s Isaias Afewerki signed a series of trade and investment deals with Iran’s Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. These May 2008 accords were followed by an October 2008 memorandum of understanding to boost cultural, scientific, and educational exchanges cooperation between Asmara and Tehran. The relationship quickly became something of a whirlwind romance, its intensity quickly ratcheting up. On May 6, 2009, Radio France Internationale (RFI) published a report that, since last December, Iranian Revolutionary Guard units had been secretly deployed to the Eritrea port of Assab where they were strategically positioned astride the vital Bab-el-Mandab straits – 2-mile-wide Bab Iskender and 16-mile-wide Dact-el-Mayun, connecting the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden – through which nearly 10 percent of the world’s maritime commerce passes each day. RFI’s Olivier Rogez suggested that an anti-Western regional alliance of Eritrea, Iran, and Sudan was emerging “whose sole logic is to counter internal destabilization, real or imagined, by the major Western powers.” While a spokesman for the Eritrean regime denied the report, barely two weeks later Isaias Afewerki was calling on Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in the Iranian capital and the Tehran Times, the mullahs’ English-language mouthpiece, was headlined “No Limit for Iran-Eritrea Cooperation: President.”

Beyond the direct consequences of continued failure to deal with the multiple challenges presented by the Eritrean regime, one must consider the wider implications of the international community not responding to what have been rather unprecedented appeals from the subregional grouping of states as well as the African Union as a whole. At the very least, the United States and the other permanent members of the Security Council have to be perceived as giving serious consideration to the sanctions request lest an unintended “chilling effect” discourage African leaders from again assuming the initiative in reining in other spoilers among their homologues and taking ownership of the management of security and stability on the continent.

One month ago, I warned here that “the situation across the territory of the onetime Somali Democratic Republic remains precarious, continuing to pose a threat not only to Somalis and their neighbors, but to international security as a whole.” That assessment remains unchanged, especially when one notes incidents like the threats made just this week by al-Shabaab to launch attacks against Kenya and the arrest on Monday by Kenyan authorities of yet another U.S. citizen of Somali descent trying to make his way to join the extremists in southern Somalia. While the root causes of Somalia’s problems are internal – the fact that the current head of the TFG, Sheikh Sharif Sheikh Ahmed has been outside the country for a month (last week he was touring Somali diaspora communities in Minnesota, Illinois, and Ohio) hardly helps with expand governance on the ground, although one would be hard-pressed to blame the man for preferring a Midwestern idyll to war-ravaged Mogadishu – external meddling has certainly fueled the conflict. Isaias Afewerki effectively wagered that he could stoke the fires of Islamist extremism and yet maintain control of the flames, which he hoped to direct at his longtime Ethiopian rival, Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi. Before the entire neighborhood and areas beyond are consumed in the conflagration unleashed by the increasingly erratic Eritrean despot, the international community needs demonstrate in no uncertain terms that his dangerous gamble is a sure loser.

FamilySecurityMatters.org Contributing Editor J. Peter Pham is Senior Fellow and Director of the Africa Project at the National Committee on American Foreign Policy in New York City. He also hold academic appointments as Associate Professor of Justice Studies, Political Science, and African Studies at James Madison University in Harrisonburg, Virginia, and non-resident Senior Fellow at the Foundation for the Defense of Democracies in Washington, D.C. He currently serves as Vice President of the Association for the Study of the Middle East and Africa (ASMEA).

Somali rebels amputate hands and feet of accused robbers

tadeth@gmail.com (Horn of Africa Daily) — Sat, 10 Oct 2009 00:43:00 +0000

Somali rebels amputate hands and feet of accused robbers

NAIROBI - Somalia's hardline al Shabaab insurgents amputated a foot and a hand each from two young men accused of being robbers in southern Kismayu port on Friday.

A third local man who was sentenced to suffer the same punishment had only his foot cut off after the rebels realized one of his hands was disabled.

Al Shabaab, which Washington says is al-Qaida's proxy in the failed Horn of Africa state, has imposed its strict version of Islamic law on much of the south and parts of Mogadishu.

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REFILE-Three mine workers shot dead in Eritrea

tadeth@gmail.com (Horn of Africa Daily) — Wed, 07 Oct 2009 16:32:00 +0000

By Jeremy Clarke

ASMARA, Oct 7 (Reuters) - Three Eritreans working for Australian company Chalice Gold Mines Limited (CHN.AX) have been killed in a shooting incident in the Red Sea state, the company said in a statement on Wednesday.

Such violent deaths, uncommon in Eritrea, are likely to raise concerns among foreign investors in an industry many see as a lifeline to its agriculture-based economy, weakened by the global economic downturn and at the mercy of irregular rainfall.

"(The incident) on a public road 110 km south of its Zara Gold Project earlier this week has resulted in the tragic death of one of its Eritrean employees and two of its Eritrean contractors," a statement said.

"Based on the information available, the incident was an isolated event unrelated to the company and its operations at the Zara Gold Project," it added.

The Zara project is one of the largest in the country and is believed to hold 1 million ounces of gold. The company is still undertaking a study and does not expect to start production before 2011.

The deaths come only days after another Australian mining company, Gippsland Limited (GIPq.L), was granted three prospecting licences in the country. [ID:nL5109053]

More than a dozen foreign companies are now exploring or about to explore in the Red Sea state, a nation seen on the threshold of a minerals boom that could boost its economy.

Mining officials are adamant the deaths will not destabilise the industry.

"This is very uncommon in Eritrea. It has nothing to do with the project," said Alem Kibreab, director general of mines for the Energy and Mines Ministry.

"This will not destabilise (the industry) because it is such an isolated incident. It is distressful but it will not have a big impact," he said.

Eritrea's mineral potential is largely unexploited, apart from small-scale artisan mining and some minor extraction by Italians during the colonial era. Some bigger miners were scared off by the 1998-2000 border war with Ethiopia.

Eritrea's most advanced project is Bisha, run by Canada's Nevsun Resources Ltd (NSU.TO), and in which the state holds a 40 percent stake. Its 27 million tonnes of ore are believed to contain 1 million ounces of gold, 700-800 million lb of copper and 1 billion lb of zinc. (Editing by Simon Jessop)

Editor calls out to Eritreans

tadeth@gmail.com (Horn of Africa Daily) — Mon, 05 Oct 2009 19:15:00 +0000

Editor calls out to Eritreans
For the past five years, Aaron Berhane has been rebuilding his life in Toronto after fleeing arrest in Eritrea. Today, he is the publisher and editor-in-chief of Meftih, a monthly community newspaper for the 20,000-strong Eritrean community in Toronto. His goal: to help Eritreans, who are scattered across the GTA, integrate and make a contribution to Canadian life.
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A Domino Effect in the Horn of Africa?

tadeth@gmail.com (Horn of Africa Daily) — Fri, 02 Oct 2009 19:11:00 +0000

Somalia's civil war, pitting the Transitional Federal Government against al Shabab and other Islamist rebel groups, has been destabilizing Kenya and Ethiopia for some time now. Al Shabab recruits fighters from Kenya, and conflict on the Somali-Ethiopian border has provoked Ethiopian military interventions in Somalia even after the 2008 withdrawal of Ethiopian forces from the country. How far will chaos spread, and what is the appropriate US policy response?
At the United Nations General Assembly meeting last week, leaders from Kenya and Ethiopia openly warned of the consequences Somalia's instability could have for the region. Kenyan Prime Minister Raila Odinga devoted a large portion of his floor speech to Somalia, saying that "the continuing inflow of refugees, small arms and light weapons [from Somalia] is the major source of insecurity in our country."
Ethiopian Foreign Minister Ato Seyoum Mesfin painted an even more alarming picture, arguing that not only might Somalia fall soon to al Shabab, but the conflict there could expose Sudan to radical influences from the Horn. Mesfin did not spell out precisely how he thought fighting in Somalia would destabilize Sudan, but likely he was alluding to North-South tensions stemming from the run-up to next year's presidential election and a 2011 referendum on Southern independence.
Unspoken, perhaps, was another, more immediate fear: that the Somali civil war will fan flames of conflict in Ethiopia's majority-Somali Ogaden region. Reports of collaboration between the Ogaden Liberation Front, a rebel group, and al Shabab undoubtedly have Ethiopian officials nervous.
How should the US react to these warnings? Washington should certainly take regional leaders' perspectives seriously, both as knowledgeable assessments of the situation on the ground and as political messages indicating the shape of Kenyan and Ethiopian foreign policy.
Yet Washington should not make the mistake of viewing all problems in the Horn as stemming from a single source. Somalia's civil war constitutes a danger to the whole region, but it is not the only cause of instability. Drought strains East African governments' capacities to provide for the welfare of their constituents. Ethnic tensions inside Ethiopia and Kenya cause strife, and maneuvering in advance of the next elections (Ethiopia's are in 2010, Kenya's in 2012) consumes a significant portion of leaders' energies.
These tensions would exist even if al Shabab -- or Somalia -- did not. Similarly, armed conflicts in the region that threaten to reignite - civil war between North and South Sudan, separatist violence in Ogaden, war between Ethiopia and Eritrea - began long before al Shabab formed. It is important to recognize the threat al Shabab poses to the region, but it is also important not to lose sight of the complexity of political relationships inside Somalia and across the region. This is especially true as al Shabab finds its political support slipping in some parts of Somalia. Even as the Islamist rebels bid for control of Mogadishu, other groups are challenging their dominance in strategic towns like Kismayo, a major port on the Indian Ocean, and Beledweyne, which sits near the border with Ethiopia.
In American policy toward the Horn, one feature appears settled: Washington will continue to support Somalia's Transitional Federal Government with aid and weapons. But this step does not in and of itself fulfill the need for a more developed policy toward Somalia. Going forward, Washington should think carefully about how Somalia fits into a regional context. Clearly Somalia's neighbors are worried. If the United States is to play a positive role in the region, we must think about whether our policies will help allay fears or increase them. Will missile strikes on terrorist suspects in Somalia do more harm - particularly to US relations with Kenya - than they will good? Will strategies of quarantining southern Somalia keep al Shabab out of Kenya's refugee camps and urban centers? Will the perceived need to stabilize Somalia eclipse other concerns in the region, such as the political and human rights situations in Ethiopia, Kenya, and Sudan? All these questions bear scrutiny as the Somali civil war rages on, creating unpredictable effects both inside and outside of the country.

Read more at: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/alex-thurston/a-domino-effect-in-the-ho_b_303798.html

tadeth@gmail.com (Horn of Africa Daily) — Thu, 01 Oct 2009 00:23:00 +0000

Video: Statesmen's Forum: H.E. Sheikh Sharif Sheikh Ahmed | Center for Strategic and International Studies

Video from this event. CSIS hosted a Statesmen’s Forum with H.E. Sheikh Sharif Sheikh Ahmed, president of Somalia’s Transitional Federal Government, on “Somalia: Promoting Peace through International Engagement.” using ShareThis

MELES SAYS G-20 SUMMIT AGREES TO USE PLEDGE IN COORDINATED MANNER

tadeth@gmail.com (Horn of Africa Daily) — Wed, 30 Sep 2009 01:49:00 +0000

Prime Minister Meles Zenawi said the G-20 Summit held at Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania has reached consensus on ways to use in a coordinated manner the 20 billion USD pledge made by the previous summit in Italy.

Meles said the summit has accepted the request of Africans to get additional loan.

The pledge that was offered to resist the global economic and financial crisis has been apportioned among African countries including Ethiopia, he said.

The Group of Twenty (G-20) was formally established in 1999 to bring together major industrialized and developing economies to discuss key issues in the global economy.

He said Africa participated for the first time at the London summit last year.

Prior to the 64th UN general assembly various meetings had been held on issues including climate change. It was noted that Prime Minister Meles chaired one of the meetings on climate change.

Meles also held discussions with Denmark Prime Minster, US Special Envoy on climate change and heads of Oxfam USA and Briton on African position in the upcoming Copenhagen Climate Change Conference.

Various meetings held at New York were good opportunity to promote the African position on climate change in the Copenhagen conference.

At the Pittsburgh G-20 Summit, leaders reviewed the progress made since the Washington and London Summits and together they discussed further actions to assure a sound and sustainable recovery from the global financial and economic crisis, according to the Ethiopian Radio and Television Agency.

The delegation led by Prime Minister Meles Zenawi has returned home later on Saturday.

Source: ENA

Humanitarian governance in Ethiopia: A view from INGOs

tadeth@gmail.com (Horn of Africa Daily) — Tue, 29 Sep 2009 20:24:00 +0000

Tuesday, September 29, 2009 by Abby Maxman (CARE Ethiopia), Waleed Rauf (Oxfam GB, Ethiopia), David Throp (Save the Children UK, Ethiopia)
The spark for a debate
Earlier this year, the Overseas Development Institute published a Working Paper called Humanitarian governance in the new millennium: An Ethiopian case study. The paper was later summarised in an HPN article, which featured in the June edition of Humanitarian Exchange Magazine.
Though the article provides a valuable perspective on how humanitarian action and disaster management has changed in Ethiopia over recent decades, it misses an opportunity to provide a fuller analysis of the diversity and evolution of actors working in the humanitarian field. It also fails to present contrasting perceptions and discourse, which could help with much-needed consensus building.
The article focuses entirely on how selected informants from within Ethiopian Government circles perceive the conduct, motivation and performance of international Non-Governmental Organizations (INGOs). While these perceptions are valid and important, no attempt is made to present the perspectives of the INGOs themselves. This could have balanced the article considerably. The case study deliberately sets out to ‘study’ only part of the ‘case’.
Recognising change
The article draws a caricature of INGOs as stagnant and set in their ways. This is contrasted with the dynamic efforts of successive Ethiopian regimes to manage humanitarian affairs. Yet there have been a number of innovations made by INGOs recently, particularly in the area of accountability and transparency. These include: the Red Cross, Red Crescent and NGO Code of Conduct, the Sphere Project, and the Humanitarian Accountability Partnership.
INGOs have changed in other ways too. They are no longer traditional ‘charitable giving’ organisations. Their work is now shaped by participatory methods; rights-based frameworks; capacity building approaches; knowledge management initiatives; and so on. In fact, given the fast changing environment which shapes INGO behaviour and possibilities, it is unlikely that a reactionary INGO - resistant to change and adaptation - would survive at all.
In Ethiopia, INGOs have contributed to a large and well documented body of work, which supports government-led efforts to promote a more holistic disaster management approach aimed at reducing vulnerabilities and managing risk. Specific areas of contribution include:
support to enhance the effectiveness and efficiency of the Productive Safety Net Programme, including the current pilot in pastoral areas;
support to the Enhanced Outreach Strategy (a national health and nutrition initiative targeting children and mothers);
efforts to protect and diversify livelihoods, including through enhancing access to credit, markets and strengthening value chains;
initiatives to build local government capacities to better manage risks and contingencies;
support to early warning systems;
innovative drought cycle management interventions in pastoral areas;
support to immunisation campaigns and other activities to mitigate public health epidemics
Even at the sharpest end of emergency response - in dealing with severe acute malnutrition - INGOs have notably shifted their approaches over recent years. In line with current best practice, they have moved away from classical ‘feeding centre’ interventions towards ‘community therapeutic care’ programmes, which are premised on building local (and sustainable) capacities for early identification, referral, and treatment of the most vulnerable.
Humanitarian partnership
This list of examples helps to illustrate the fact that INGOs are not organisations stuck in the ‘famine and food aid’ paradigms of the past, nor are they primarily obsessed with feeding their own coffers through overstated and inappropriate emergency responses. Such assertions are anachronistic and not borne out by recent experiences and work taking place on the ground.
Partnership with the government underpins all INGO work in Ethiopia and is generally built around constructive technical collaboration at different levels. Many projects and programmes aim to contribute to a more holistic cycle of disaster management that goes beyond emergency response by attempting to address underlying vulnerabilities, and by promoting preparedness and mitigating shocks.
Beyond programmatic work, many INGOs also aspire to make relevant technical contributions to policy discussions through research and project based learning on a variety of topics, including disaster risk reduction and mitigation. These initiatives are frequently welcomed by officials and supported by donors who provide financial resources and other inputs. A lot of this policy work has the added aim of making programmes more timely, targeted and cost effective.
The start of a debate
The recent HPN article provides an opportunity for INGOs to join an important debate. How might we work more positively together, under government leadership, to address vulnerabilities and improve preparedness? How might we respond within a more comprehensive disaster management framework?
This goes beyond technical matters. It implies the need to reshape relationships between INGOs and government, moving beyond the stereotypes set out in the article. Greater acknowledgement of (and reflection on) the challenges, influences and trends that shape the evolution of INGO practice would also be helpful. This could offer a better and more constructive point of reference upon which to build dialogue.
These efforts to reshape relationships would require a number of elements. To begin with, a common vocabulary and conceptual framework for disaster risk management must be established and agreed by all stakeholders. Work must also be done to build trust and consensus through honest dialogue; and the creation of safe, mutually respectful spaces to discuss potentially contentious matters. This includes getting consensus on the way in which needs, risks and vulnerabilities are conceptualised, quantified and articulated.
All of this would help in the development of technically appropriate strategies for risk reduction and, when the need arises, for responses to acute shocks and crises. Efforts to help community voices be heard and incorporated into policy options would improve practice as well. Finally, the role of the media should be examined, both at the domestic and the international level.
Around the world - from Latin America to Africa to South Asia - INGOs are working with governments and other stakeholders to reduce the risk of disasters and to mitigate their potential effects. There is no reason why Ethiopia should be an exception to this.
The views offered here are given in a personal capacity and intended as a constructive contribution to debate and dialogue.

tadeth@gmail.com (Horn of Africa Daily) — Tue, 29 Sep 2009 03:20:00 +0000

UNICEF - Somalia - Public-private partnerships bring sustainable, safe water to Somali communities

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BERBERA, Somalia, 28 September 2009 – Until recently, a run-down urban water system dating from the 19th century delivered scant, low-quality water to the residents of Berbera, a coastal town in north-west Somalia. But that has changed recently.

Somalia's last, best hopes rest on 'unique' president

tadeth@gmail.com (Horn of Africa Daily) — Mon, 28 Sep 2009 01:13:00 +0000

Somalia's last, best hopes rest on 'unique' president
Sheikh Sharif Sheikh Ahmed was the head of the Islamic Courts Union in October 2006 when the Star interviewed him inside a heavily guarded Mogadishu villa.

The soft-spoken teacher-turned-politician had done what no other leader could â brought order to the anarchic city. A former Toronto grocer, Abdullahi Afrah, was among his closest advisers.

But two months later, fears the ICU would become the "new Taliban" pushed Ethiopian tanks over the border as the U.S. propped up a new government. Months of warfare ensued, thousands were displaced and hundreds killed, including Canadian Afrah.

Now, Ahmed is back â as president. He's a unique leader for Somalia because he isn't a warlord with a bloody past or beholden to a clan â factors that have turned Somalis against each other for 18 years. It is one reason Ahmed had that brief 2006 success, and why all hopes are pinned on him today.

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Somali president: Insecurity fuels piracy

tadeth@gmail.com (Horn of Africa Daily) — Sun, 27 Sep 2009 01:58:00 +0000

Sharif Sheikh Ahmed, President of Somalia, addresses the 64th session of the United Nations General Assembly, Friday, Sept. 25, 2009.
Somalia's president says he is ready to sit down at the negotiating table with anti-government groups to end the violence in his war-torn country.

Sheikh Sharif Ahmed addressing the 64th session of the UN General Assembly on Friday said that his UN-backed government would continue political dialogue with all Somali parties and groups, including armed rebels.

He added that continued violence, infighting and insurgency have paralyzed the interim government's attempts to restore central rule while militants are controlling large parts of the country. He also emphasized that instability in the country has increased kidnappings and piracy.

The Somali president said it was difficult to eradicate piracy in waters off Somalia without first dealing with the security situation in the country.

"This means piracy will continue in one form or another as long as security in Somalia continues as is.”

Somalia is in dire need of urgent humanitarian aid from the international community for 3.76 million people including refugees, Ahmed added.

FTP/SS/MMA

Q+A-What is Eritrea's role in Somalia?

tadeth@gmail.com (Horn of Africa Daily) — Fri, 25 Sep 2009 17:29:00 +0000

By Jeremy Clarke and Jack Kimball

ASMARA, Sept 25 (Reuters) - Eritrea said on Friday the hunting of al Qaeda suspects in Somalia by U.S. and Ethiopian forces had crippled peace efforts in the Horn of African nation. [ID:nLP496476]

Washington and the United Nations accuse the Red Sea state of sending arms and other support to Somali insurgents battling the country's U.N.-backed government -- something Asmara denies.

Here are some questions and answers about Eritrea's role in Somalia:

WHAT ARE THE ACCUSATIONS AGAINST ERITREA?

* The U.N. arms monitoring body says Eritrea sends money and weapons by plane and boat as well as providing training and logistical support to insurgent groups in Somalia. The body -- set up to watch violations of a 1992 arms embargo -- says Asmara is acting as a middleman for other countries helping the rebels.

* Since September 2007, the United Nations and western powers have said Eritrea has focused its support on the Alliance for the Re-Liberation of Somalia (ARS), a group set up at a Somali opposition conference in the Red Sea state. The U.N. arms body, citing an ARS source, said Asmara was providing between $200,000 and $500,000 a month to support the rebels.

* Eritrea is also accused of sending arms and providing other support to Ethiopian rebel groups and various guerrilla movements in western Sudan's restive Darfur region. Some Darfuri rebels and Ethiopian opposition groups have offices in the tranquil Eritrean capital Asmara, observers say.

WHAT IS ERITREA'S RESPONSE?

* Eritrean President Isaias Afwerki told Reuters in an interview in May that the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) was masterminding the accusations against Asmara. [ID:nLL935105]

* Eritrea says it is "sick" of the allegations, which it says are completely unfounded.

* Isaias' government says it supports a peaceful resolution to the Somali conflict and blames foreign powers for meddling in the region's internal affairs, citing Washington's weapons deliveries to Somalia's transitional government.

* Asmara denies claims it supports Somali groups with terrorist ties, saying that it battled its own al Qaeda-linked rebels in the western part of the nation in the mid-1990s.

SANCTIONS?

* The African Union has called on the U.N. Security Council to sanction Eritrea for its role in the conflict. The 53-member body wants the United Nations to impose a sea blockade and a no-fly zone to stop people and weapons from reaching Somalia.

* Sanctions may prove less than effective in Eritrea, which prides itself on its self-reliance. Decades of war against successive Ethiopian governments -- which were backed by the United States and then Russia -- have hardened the rebels-turned-leaders against outside aid. There are less than a handful of foreign relief groups working in the Red Sea state.

* Asmara receives little development aid from foreign nations. Remittances from the diaspora in Europe, the United States, the Middle East and other Africa nations are the biggest source of foreign exchange for the nation. Revenue from mining, which is expected to begin in the next few years, will also boost Eritrea's balance of payments. (For Eritrea interview, double click on [ID:nLP496476]) (Editing by Daniel Wallis)

Somalia suicide bomber may be from Seattle

tadeth@gmail.com (Horn of Africa Daily) — Thu, 24 Sep 2009 00:57:00 +0000

Federal investigators are looking into reports that one of the men who detonated a truck bomb in Mogadishu last week that killed 21 peacekeepers was a Somali refugee who had lived in Seattle as recently as 2007.

Two federal law enforcement sources, both speaking on condition of anonymity, said the FBI in Seattle received information last week that indicated that one of the suicide bombers was from Seattle. "We've been looking into it ever since," said one of the sources.

One of the sources, a senior federal law enforcement official, said the FBI is actively investigating whether terrorist groups are recruiting in Seattle's Somali community, one of the largest in the country.

On Tuesday, the radical Islamic Web site www.Dayniile.com reported that at least one of the bombers was a Somali-American who left the United States two years ago, according to a CNN report.

The FBI has already acknowledged that as many as 20 young men have disappeared from the Somali community in Minneapolis over the past two years, many believed to be recruited by people affiliated with the Islamic terrorist group, Al-Shabaab. More

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Ethiopia - Telecoms, Mobile, Broadband & Forecasts

tadeth@gmail.com (Horn of Africa Daily) — Wed, 23 Sep 2009 19:24:00 +0000

Paul Budde Communication Pty Ltd., Sep 2009

The Ethiopia - Telecoms, Mobile, Broadband & Forecasts report includes all BuddeComm research data and analysis on this country. Covering trends and developments in telecommunications, mobile, internet, broadband, infrastructure and regulation.

Ethiopia is the last country in Africa allowing its national telco, ETC a monopoly on all telecom services including fixed, mobile, Internet and data communications. This monopolistic control has stifled innovation and retarded expansion. The government tries to encourage foreign investment in a broad range of industries by allowing foreigners up to 100% equity ownership. However, there is no official schedule for the privatisation of the national carrier and the introduction of competition, but once this happens, the potential to satisfy unmet demand in all service sectors is huge.

Ethiopia has the second lowest telephone penetration rate in Africa, but it recently surpassed Egypt to become the second most populous nation on the continent after Nigeria. However, it is also one of the poorest countries in the world with approximately 80% of the population supporting themselves through subsistence agriculture, which accounts for more than half of the country’s GDP.

Despite the monopoly situation, subscriber growth in the mobile sector has been excellent at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of almost 90% since its inception in 1999 and more than 100% in the past six years. However, demand has been even stronger, and ETC has been unable to satisfy it. Ethiopia’s mobile market penetration is still one of the lowest in the world at little more than 3%. Fixed-line penetration is even lower, and this has also impacted on the development of the Internet sector. Prices of broadband connections are excessive.

Improvements are beginning to develop following massive investments into fixed-wireless and mobile network infrastructure, including third generation mobile technology, as well as a national fibre optic backbone. Ethiopia is investing an unusually large amount, around 10% of its GDP, into information & communication technology (ICT). However, telecommunications revenue has grown only moderately in comparison, at around 16% per annum. It has remained under 2% of GDP, a low figure in regional comparison.

Key Highlights:

- Forecasts for fixed-line, mobile and Internet markets to 2010 and 2015;

- Comparison with other countries in the region in terms of GDP, mobile, fixed and Internet market penetration;

- Detailed profile of the monopoly service provider in all market sectors;

- Launch of 3G mobile service in market with excessive broadband pricing;

- Extensive rollouts of national and international fibre infrastructure;

Multi-billion US$ investments planned before 2012.Fixed-line penetration in Ethiopia and other countries in the region – 2008

CountryFixed - line penetration

Djibouti - 1.4%
Somalia - 1.2%
Ethiopia - 1.1%
Sudan - 0.9%
Eritrea - 0.8%
Kenya - 0.7%
(Source: BuddeComm based on various sources)

Video: Somali crowds vow allegiance to bin Laden- myMotherLode.com

tadeth@gmail.com (Horn of Africa Daily) — Mon, 21 Sep 2009 23:59:00 +0000

Video: Somali crowds vow allegiance to bin Laden-

An Islamic insurgent group that controls much of lawless Somalia has released a video showing its members vowing allegiance to Osama bin Laden, training in dusty camps and slamming Somalia's U.S.-backed president as a traitor.

The tape was released late Sunday by al-Shabab, an insurgent group that last week hit the African Union peacekeeping base with suicide car bombs, killing 21 people in the deadliest single attack on peacekeepers since they arrived in 2007.

Al-Shabab announced the Thursday attack at Mogadishu's airport was in retaliation for a U.S. commando raid on Sept. 14 that killed al-Qaida operative Saleh Ali Saleh Nabhan in southern Somalia.

The United States has become increasingly concerned that al-Qaida insurgents are moving into anarchic Somalia, where they can mobilize recruits without interference.

The video showed the Shabab militia in training, leaping over piles of sandbags, crawling on the ground and shooting at targets. White-skinned bearded trainers could be seen moving among the Somalis. The video also showed crowds chanting:"At your service Osama!"

Sheik Hassan Ya'qub, a spokesman for al-Shabab, said the video is"aimed at showing how the youth are well-trained and ready to the defend their holy land." Shabab means"youth" in Arabic.
myMotherLode.com

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Somali crowds vow allegiance to bin Laden

tadeth@gmail.com (Horn of Africa Daily) — Mon, 21 Sep 2009 17:44:00 +0000

Somali crowds vow allegiance to bin Laden
An Islamic insurgent group that controls much of this lawless nation has released a video showing its members vowing allegiance to Osama bin Laden, training in dusty camps and slamming Somalia's U.S.-backed president as a traitor.

The tape was released late Sunday by al-Shabab, an insurgent group that last week hit the African Union peacekeeping base with suicide car bombs, killing 21 people in the deadliest single attack on peacekeepers since they arrived in 2007.

Al-Shabab announced the Thursday attack at Mogadishu's airport was in retaliation for a U.S. commando raid on Sept. 14 that killed al-Qaida operative Saleh Ali Saleh Nabhan in southern Somalia.

The United States has become increasingly concerned that al-Qaida insurgents are moving into anarchic Somalia, where they can mobilize recruits without interference.

The video showed the Shabab militia in training, leaping over piles of sandbags, crawling on the ground and shooting at targets. White-skinned bearded trainers could be seen moving among the Somalis. The video also showed crowds chanting: "At your service Osama!"

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Al Jazeera English - Africa - Somalis urged to attack AU troops

tadeth@gmail.com (Horn of Africa Daily) — Mon, 21 Sep 2009 13:09:00 +0000

Al Jazeera English - Africa - Somalis urged to attack AU troops:
The leader of Somalia's anti-government Hizbul Islam group has called for more attacks against African Union (AU) peacekeepers, a week after a deadly suicide bombing targeted troops at a military base. /a>

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