Patriots all set to mark the fourth national Flag Day

Addis Ababa, Tuesday, 30 August 2011 – The Ethiopian Patriotic Association said its members are all set to commemorate the fourth national Flag Day.iketeguhan Astatke Abate, president of the association, said it is important for the nation’s patriots to attend the commemoration ceremony which will be held on September 26, 2011.

Prime Minister Meles Zenawi said Ethiopia has managed to contain the humanitarian crisis

Addis Ababa, August 26 , 2011 – Prime Minister Meles Zenawi said Ethiopia has managed to contain the humanitarian emergency caused by the drought in the Horn of Africa region. The Prime Minister made the remark yesterday in a statement he delivered during the African Union Pledging Conference held to help raise funds for the worst drought to hit the region in sixty years. “I am pleased to report that at the moment we have managed to contain the humanitarian emergency in our country,” Meles said in his statement to African Heads of States and

Ethiopia and Nigeria on recognized Libya's National Transition Council (NTC)

Addis Ababa, Thursday, 25 August 2011 – Ethiopia and Nigeria on Wednesday recognized Libya's National Transition Council (NTC) as the country's legitimate authority. “In the interest of peace and stability, and wellbeing of the people of Libya, the governments of Ethiopia and Nigeria have decided to jointly recognize the NTC as the interim and legitimate authority in Libya,” a statement issued here on yesterday by Deputy Prime Minister and

Ethiopia gets a record US$1.5 billion from Diaspora

MONDAY, 22 AUGUST 2011-Ethiopia received a record US$ 1.5 billion from its citizens abroad during the just ended 2010/11 fiscal year, data released by the National Bank of Ethiopia (NBE) has revealed.The figure, which represents money sent by Diasporans through banks, represents an 88 per cent growth from the previous year.But officials believe money running into millions of dollars is sent through illegal channels and cannot be accounted for. During the 2009/209 financial year,

USAID praises Ethiopia's effort to ensure food security to its people

8-17-2011-USAID Deputy Administrator Gregory Gotlied praised Ethiopia's effort for food security during an interview with the Voice of America Amharic Program. The director said, the situation in Ethiopia is no where as dire as what is the case in Somalia. He went on to say there is no famine in Ethiopia.

X-ray machines from Eugene to improve clinic in Ethiopia

EUGENE, Ore. 8-17-2011 - Dr. Fikru Heramo sees up to 250 patients per day at a medical clinic in Ethiopia.When they need an x-ray, he has to send them to another clinic many miles away. “We don't have x-ray equipment, and having x-ray equipment in Ethiopia is tough,” said Heramo. That is all about to change. Heramo was in Eugene this week at Slocum Center. Slocum is donating their old x-ray machines to the Mother and Child Health Center in Shinshicho, Ethiopia, where Heramo is the medical director. Slocum is moving to digital x-ray. Instead of throwing away their machines, they will donate them to the clinic overseas. “We found that there was a child and mother clinic being constructed in Ethiopia that was in need of many resources including x-ray equipment which they never thought they would be able to purchase,” said Dr. Thomas Wuest of Slocum. Slocum worked with Holt International to donate the machines. Holt International is currently expanding and building additions to the Shinshicho Health Center. The x-ray machines will improve services at the clinic, Heramo said. “They'll be able to receive better treatments and better care, and definitely it’s an absolute necessity for the center,” he said. He expects the number of patients to increase after the x-ray machines arrive at his medical center. Slocum and Holt International will be sending the x-ray machines after the Shinshicho Health Center is finished with renovations.The expected date is early 2012.(http://www.kval.com)

Ethiopia, Mitsubishi Corporation sign MoU for provision of solar systems for RCBP

Addis Ababa, August 17 – A Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was signed between Mitsubishi Corporation and Ministry of Agriculture for the “Provision of Solar Systems for Rural Capacity Building Project (RCBP)”. The project is supported under the scheme of International Contribution Programs which will be implemented by the Ministry of Agriculture. Agriculture State Minister, Sileshi Getahu and Corporation Executive Vice President, Regional CEO for Europe, CIS, Middle East and Africa Tetsuo Terada signed the MoU on Tuesday August 16, 2011. According to a statement the Embassy of Japan sent to WIC today, the solar power systems are designed to have the capacity to supply power for computers, printers, TV, DVD players and electric lamps at the Farmers Training Center in the said two Kebeles.
These solar power systems will enable the farmers to receive training with audio visual materials. Following the request from the Ministry of Agriculture, the Mitsubishi Corporation made similar contributions in 2009 and 2010 in two “Kebeles” in the Oromia and Amhara States.Mitsubishi Corporation has been operating in Ethiopia for over 50 years, engaged in several business activities including import and export of various commodities, execution of grant projects financed by the Japanese government, and investment in the market..(waltainfo)

Gov’t food aid system successful to prevent famine: PM Meles

Addis Ababa, August 17 - Prime Minister Meles Zenawi said that the food aid system that was introduced by the government of Ethiopia to prevent famine has been successful. The Premier said in an exclusive interview with ERTA on Tuesday August 16, 2011 that the aid system has played a major role in preventing famine, though there is drought in some parts of Ethiopia. Due to inadequate ‘Kiremt’ and absence of ‘Belg’ rains, drought has occurred in the peripheral areas of eastern and southern Ethiopia, which are mainly pastoralist areas. The situation has left 4.5 million Ethiopians in need of emergency food aid. The government is currently working together with non-governmental organizations in providing food aids to these areas. This has made it possible to contain the situation before causing loss of lives. The U.N. declares a famine when certain criteria exist in an area. These are when acute malnutrition rates among children exceeds 30 per cent; when more than two people per every 10,000 die per day; and when people are not able to access food and other basic necessities. Meles said, based on these criteria, there has been no famine in Ethiopia in the past 20 years, adding, this is because the government has put in place a successful food aid system which some hardly accept. Certain parties are mistakenly associating this drought situation in Ethiopia with the current famine in Somalia. According to Meles, this emanates mainly from two reasons. The first one is the need to gather as much as possible aids by institutions and non governmental organizations working in the area of food aid, by using the situation.
The premier stated, the second reason as a motive which emanates from political aim to exaggerate the country’s need of aid, thereby mar the image of Ethiopia, Meles said. He said though it is not possible to stop the drought, it would be possible to make citizens not to rely on aid by utilizing irrigation and other mechanisms in those drought affected areas.Increasing agricultural productivity in other areas of the nation would also help to overcome the problem within the capacity of the nation, Meles noted. (ERTA)

Ethiopia has good record of using aid properly: FAO Director-General

Addis Ababa, 13 August 2011 -Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affair, Hailemariam Desalegn on Friday, August 12, 2011 held discussion with FAO Director-General, Dr. Jacques Diouf.The two officials discussed on the current situation in the Horn of Africa in general and Ethiopia in particular. Dr. Diouf on the occasion commended Ethiopia’s aid use. “Ethiopia has a good record of managing aid properly and using it for the intended purpose,” he said.Due to its efficient use of aid, the country is getting more and more supports from the international community, he added.
Dr. Diouf further expressed his concern about the current economic crises, increase in food prices and volatility emerged in various parts of the globe.“We have a long way to go so as to ensure food security particularly in developing countries by increasing agricultural productivity,” he underscored.Dr. Diouf also appreciated the Ethiopian government for providing shelter for the Somali refugees sheltered in various refugees camps.Hailemariam on his part expressed Ethiopia’s willingness to work hand in hand with FAO so as to increase agriculture productivity in the country.(waltainfo.com)

UN Council to Target Eritrea With Sanctions on Mining and 2% Tax

Addis Abeba, 8-5-2011 Eritrea, one of the world’s poorest nations whose citizens earn just over a $1 a day, may face tougher United Nations sanctions targeting the mining and remittances that keep its economy afloat.
Neighboring Ethiopia and Djibouti are urging the 15-member UN Security Council to impose sanctions on Eritrea’s mining and outlaw a 2 percent tax on remittances, according to a diplomat who spoke on condition of anonymity. Ethiopia and Djibouti want one of the council’s three African members -- Gabon, Nigeria or South Africa -- to introduce the measure, the diplomat said.
The latest push to punish Eritrea was triggered by a UN report last month that said Eritrea’s government planned a failed plot in January to disrupt the African Union summit in Addis Ababa by bombing civilian and governmental targets.
Eritrea’s $2.59 billion economy depends on mineral resources such as gold, which has drawn investment from companies including Canada’s Nevsun Resources Ltd, and on money sent from Eritreans living abroad. There is concern that further economic sanctions may hurt more than 5 million people living in poverty, the diplomat said.
A July 18 UN report said the tax on remittances is the “most significant source of revenue” for the government, and estimated the income to be “tens, possibly hundreds of millions of dollars on an annual basis.” The government, through a joint gold-mining venture with Vancouver-based Nevsun, has “started to receive royalty payments worth millions of dollars,” the report said.
Current UN Sanctions Eritrea has been ruled by President Isaias Afeworki, a former rebel leader, since it gained independence from Ethiopia in 1993. The UN has already sanctioned the country in the Horn of Africa for supporting al-Qaeda-linked terrorists fighting to topple the Western-backed government of Somalia. The current sanctions include an asset freeze and a travel ban on government leaders.
Al-Shabaab, a Somalia-based terrorist organization that the U.S. says has links to al-Qaeda, generates between $70 and $100 million a year in revenue from taxation and extortion in areas under its control, according to the UN report.
Eritrea’s UN Ambassador Araya Desta said the initiative was part of an effort to overthrow his government, with a “hidden agenda to have a way out” to the Red Sea for land-locked Ethiopia.
“What they are proposing as far as economic sanctions is totally unacceptable and ridiculous,” Desta said in an interview. “Eritrea has nothing to do with any of their accusations. What they are doing is a resolution drafted by Ethiopia to damage the economy and isolate Eritrea politically and diplomatically.”
He said Ethiopia and Djibouti should take their issues to the African Union Peace and Security Commission rather than the UN Security Council.
Islamist groups including al-Shabaab and the Hisb-ul-Islam movement, previously based in Eritrea, have gained control of most of southern and central Somalia in their bid to oust President Sheikh Sharif Sheikh Ahmed’s UN-backed transitional government. Somalia hasn’t had a functioning central administration since the removal of Mohamed Siad Barre, the former dictator, in 1991.
U.S.-backed Ethiopian troops invaded Somalia in December 2006, ousting the Islamic Courts Union government that had briefly captured southern Somalia. The troops withdrew in January.(bloomberg)