Government aims structural transformation

By Abdurezak Mohammed

ADDIS ABABA –The government seeks the industrial sector to play an important role in GDP growth, job creation, foreign exchange earnings, and small and medium-sized enterprise (SME) development over the coming years.

The above remark was made by Abdulsemed Abdo, Advisor to State Minister of Agriculture at the 3rd international agrofood and plastprintpack trade shows kicked off yesterday here at the Millennium Hall.

The overall goal of the government’s Industrial Development Strategy (IDS) is to bring about accelerated structural transformation of the economy through enhancing industrialization, he said adding that it plans to raise the share of the industrial sector of GDP from the current 13 percent to 27 percent by 2025, and the GDP share of the manufacturing sub-sector from the current 4 percent to 18 percent by 2025.

The development of agro-industries presents Ethiopia with an opportunity to accelerate economic development and achieve its industrial development goals. If addressed correctly, agro-industries can help fulfill the potential of agriculture and advance industrialization in the country, according to him. He stated, recognizing this opportunity, the government is spearheading the development of integrated agro-industrial parks and accompanying rural transformation centers with the intention of better integrating agricultural value chain actors.

He further said the ministry will continue working with all development partners and private sector in the area of agriculture and agro processing industries. About 151 global technology leaders from 18 countries are participating in three-day long exhibition.

Traditional administrative system in Mursi

By Abdurezak Mohammed

 

South Omo is one of the Zonal Administration in South Nations, Nationalities and Peoples State. The Zone is a home for 16 ethnic groups– Mursi, Murle, Malie, Hamer, Bena, Bacha,Brayle, Bodi, Gnangatom, Ari, Arbore, Kuwagu, Kara, Dime, Dasenech and Tsemay. The base of their economy is cattle rearing, semi-farming and farming.

According to the 2007 National Population and Housing Census, the total number of the population in South Omo had reached to 577,673. The people of Mursi live in the South Omo, Selamango and Logofa woreda. Their economy is depending on cattle rearing and semi-farming. The official language of the people is Mursigna.

This language is grouped in Nilo Saharan language family. According to National Census of this same year, the total number of Mursi people was 7,500. There are two main tribes- Kutame and Shakaand the people of Mursi are led by these tribes. There are also 12 sub-tribes under these two major tribes. The power is given to candidates (relatives) by competition and election.

The competition for power is given to the king’s brother or relatives. The power transfer system is approved by prominent elders, leaders and the male householders groups by giving comments towards the bravery, vigilance, success, administrative performance and ability of the man who is to inherit power. If the proposed inheritor cannot meet those criteria, the elders have the power to disqualify the election. The people of Mursi are led by Kumuru, Koyse, Herhato and Kamis.

Their responsibilities and functions are presented as follows: Kumuru (the king) is the superintendent, controller, representative, and secular and spiritual leader of Mursi people. There is executive council of elders who brings complaint of the community to the Kumuru. Koyse serves as the advisor of the king. It also acts as medical practitioners by curing people from various type of illness.

By preparing traditional medicines (a mud from selected soil and smearing the patients of the community) he assists them to recover from their illnesses. It facilitates spiritual role like expectorates on the patients’ body to save them from sickness and pain. Herhato is a religious leader and psychic/prophet – predict what will happen in the future Herhato listen to communities’ dreams, interpret, predict and extend his opinions from groups under his authority, Kamis.

Herhato traces the system implementation process of the prediction. Kamis makes coffee and conduct spiritual ceremony; bless the members of the community by smearing white mud. It is believed that Kamis will mediate with the God. In addition to spiritual roles Kamis connects the members of the community with higher leaders. Generally the administrative system of the community tends to spiritual rather than secular administrative system.

The peoples of Mursi have their own traditional administrative system in which they solve conflicts within the people and neighboring peoples. The main reasons for conflicts within the peoples of Mursi are robbing of cattle and goats; boundary and farm land issues; and other similar acts. If human life is lost in a conflict, the murderer and his family come to their traditional leader and report the case.

Then, the traditional leader calls the leaders of tribes and administers immediately to prevent counter attack. On the scheduled date the leaders of tribes and administers make cultural conciliation rituals in the presence of prominent elders, families and relatives of murderer and victims, members of the tribe.

 In Mursi clans, age plays a significant role in identifying the status of each individual. Elders become the “police” of the clans and often punish wrongdoers or watch over their people.

Source: Addis Ababa City Administration Culture, Arts and Tourism Bureau

Gov’t returning IDPs to homes: Ministry

By Abdurezak Mohammed

ADDIS ABABA – Ministry of Peace said the task of returning Internally Displaced Peoples (IDPs) to their original places has continued in cooperation with states and community members.

Presenting the Ministry’s nine months report to the FDRE House of People’s Representatives yesterday, Peace Minister Muferiat Kamil said that 768,488 citizens have been returned to their homes over the last nine months.

Reconciliation forums were also held with 350,221 community members aiming to reintegrate returnees with the community, according to her. As a result most community members are participating in the construction of homes to the displaced people, she added.

Likewise, various types of support, food and non-food commodities gained from the government and donors were also distributed to IDPs, she said. The government has also been taking measures on culprits implicated with the displacements, she said, adding the 468 suspects are under custody the cases of 420 suspects are under process.

There are a number of defects at some of the top levels leadership which included reluctance to cooperate with federal government in the effort of putting culprits in custody, she said.

Media occupies center stage in instilling democratic values: Premier

By Abdurezak Mohammed

ADDIS ABABA – Press and media occupy center stage in instilling democratic values in society, ensuring transparency in the mechanisms of the government and encouraging consensus on major issues of national concern, said Prime Minister Dr. Abiy Ahmed.
Addressing the “UNESCO/Guillermo Cano World Press Freedom Prize” state dinner at Sheraton Addis Hotel Thursday evening, Dr Abiy noted that the government of Ethiopia has no misconception that a free, independent and responsible media – augmented by the efforts of citizen journalism – is an imperative prerequisite for building a viable democratic political order.
It is important to highlight that freedom comes with responsibilities, he said, “Media establishments and citizen journalists need to seize this current enabling environment and use their voice and pen with ethical considerations.”
He connoted that we need to move away from sensationalism towards conscious reporting and information sharing. And also, Ethiopia’s growth and democratization process will further be enriched when the focus of attention of media entities is geared towards news analysis, knowledge sharing and building the critical engagement skills of a society in transition.
The price that many have paid in life and freedoms for this opportune time to arise is a moment that needs to be capitalized on for peace and growth dividends, to him.
When press and media play a role in catalyzing society to bridge the lines of divide, build understanding and tolerance, and unite in a common cause, then we are serving the people in whose name we raise our pens and our voices, he added.

The role of media in society

 

By Abdurezak Mohammed

Media plays an important role in human civilization. In today’s world, media has become as essential as our daily needs. It helps people to remain informed and updated about various issues including new occurrences, events, social activities, lifestyle, entertainment, and advertisements.
Media of today apart from informing and entertaining the society, it plays crucial role in shaping up publics’ opinion, and further strengthening the social fabric of the society creating socially cohesive community.
Media, therefore, can bring about both positive and negative impacts on the lives and the minds of the people. In this regard, among the many undesirable outcomes came to happen due to unethical usage of media, the Rwandan genocide is the one. This deliberate killing was aroused by a single irresponsible radio station.
According to Debebe Eshetu, a pioneer artist, media has a role to play in sustaining peace, creating awareness among the people as its scope is wide.
Creating awareness to the society is not a onetime activity as a campaign. Rather, it requires a continuous action, to him.
“For instance, in most cases, our media tries to create awareness towards various issues, such as HIV and AIDS. But, they have not been able to achieve the desired goals because the effort needs continuous activities.”
So, the media should work persistently to inform, educate and aware the public on different issues. Equally important, it should do its best to protect conflicts and violence between and among the communities by disseminating appropriate information to the society.
Arif Abdulkadir, an Author and a translator, on his part said that media has soft power to influence the minds’ of the people positively. This, in other word, can change the minds of the people gradually by educating, entertaining and informing in the form of news, programs, documentaries, and advertisements. The most important questions, however, are for what purpose the media practitioners use their media and how far they know their real power on influencing their audiences positively or negatively.
He said that many countries in the world have changed the lives of their people by using the media properly and effectively. For example, Ghana is properly employing its media to free its own citizens from poverty. It uses media to modernize the agricultural sector and to change the lives of Ghanaians. Not only Ghana but India also is utilizing its media effectively to realize its poverty reduction strategy.
It is difficult to say that the Ethiopian media institutions are playing their important roles in terms of shaping the minds of Ethiopians positively. Some of the private television and radio stations are more sensitive to political issues and tend to pursue their own businesses rather than entertaining societal issues. They have forgotten their social responsibilities. This means they give low coverage for social issues that change the lives of many Ethiopians, he reiterated.
“Relatively, social issues that are used to change the minds of citizens positively are entertained by books even if there are some publications which promote violence among citizens”, he indicated.
All media institutions should work in more responsible way and must understand and bind to their professional ethics – their duties and rights. Media institutions and professionals must realize that the fate of the country and its peoples is at the hands of them: as mismanagement of media can construct or damage the country and its people, he remarked.
Gebretsion Mehari, Lecturer at Mekelle University in the Department of Journalism and Communication, said that media has the power to construct and deconstruct the country.
To him, public opinion could not be shaped by merely news coverage, but it should be supported with continuous and follow up programs.
Media has very great power especially for developing nations. Comparatively, peoples in developing countries are illiterate than peoples in developed nations. So, media is used to create awareness about different issues, he stated.
Many of our media and journalists come to the industry with their political agendas. He said, “If you come with your political agenda, you will be obsessed to your own interest and for the success of your agendas turning a deaf ear to the whole society.”
Countries like Brazil, Canada, Belgium, and England changed the lives of their peoples by using their media and by entertaining diverse voices and views. These countries understood the power and responsibility of their media and they use the media properly and effectively to change the minds of their people positively.
“But, when we come to our country, their role in shaping the minds of the communities positively and uniting them is not at the desired level. As we seen in the past months that some media institutions preach ethnic based conflict and disseminate hate speeches in their news pieces, programs and documentaries. We should not see media as a luxury thing. Using media to change the country is not an option. It is mandatory,” he further said.
The media should entertain not only political issues but economic, culture and social issues to change our country, he suggested.

Commission to establish expert’s panel

 

By Abdurezak Mohammed

ADDIS ABABA – The Ethiopian Reconciliation Commission will establish panel of experts that facilitates the hearings of citizens and access to justice in a fair manner, His Holiness Cardinal Birhaneyesus Demerew, Chairperson of the Commission said. .
At a press conference held yesterday, His Holiness said that the role of the panel is signifying directives that are good for the country by taking the best experiences of countries went through the process in different times and lessons learned from the reconciliation procedures.
He said that the members of the Commission put in place directives and instructions on their meeting of April 13, 2019 to do the actions quickly and to enter to the main functions.
From the mandates and duties bestowed upon the proclamation, the focus of the Commission for the next three years is identifying the root cause of the conflicts and wiping out the source of the problem to restoring trust and preventing future violations by following an information-based strategy. “We would work for a reconciliation based on truth and justice,” he said, Furthermore, several times, regular and informal consultations were held with various bodies that are working to sustain peace, added.

JICA reveals a five year research project

By Abdurezak Mohammed

ADDIS ABABA – A five year research project that aims to reduce road disaster on problematic soil, financed by Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) was launched here yesterday, The Ethiopian Herald learnt.

The research titled “Project for Development and Operation Model of Plant-Derived Soil Additives for Road Disaster Reduction on Problematic Soil” is implemented in Addis Ababa City and Jinka, South Omo Zone in Southern Nations, Nationalities and Peoples’ State (SNNPS) with total budget of 3.17 USD, as The Ethiopian Herald learnt from the launching workshop.

The research project led by Kyoto University (Japanese side) is also partnered with its counterpart Addis Ababa Science and Technology University (AASTU) (Ethiopian side, research lead), Jinka University (JU), and Ethiopian Roads Authority (ERA).

The site for lab-work and experiments related to application of problematic soil to roadbeds and base courses is Addis Ababa and South Omo Zone in SNNP would be a place where other activities related to development of cellulose-based soil additives and operation model of construction measures for problematic soil are carried out.

The goal of the project is to develop and apply a plant-derived soil stabilizing additive to construct and maintain all-weather roads, in a sustainable manner where problematic soil is relevant, said Prof. Mesay Daniel Representative of joint researchers and implementing agencies.

This project will produce a road improvement model, which will be presented to ERA as a guideline for future rural road development projects, it was learnt.

The implementation period is from April 2019 – March 2024.

Do Ethiopian media entertain diverse voices, views?

By Abdurezak Mohammed

While there are noticed changes in the rigid media environment in the last one year, there are still questions over the media, whether they really entertain and represent diverse voices and viewpoints.
In terms of press freedom, the media have started to enjoy changes. According to the latest World Press Freedom Index, an annual index published every year since 2002 by Reporters without Borders, Ethiopia is leveled 110th out of 180 countries in general level of press freedom, showing an improvement of 40 places in ranking since last year. On top of this, UNESCO has selected Ethiopia to host the 2019 World Press Freedom Day.
However, in regards to entertaining diverse voices and offering a fuller and more balanced range of viewpoints, many agree that diversified voices are not properly entertained properly by most of the media.
Yirgalem Kassahun, Lecturer at Mekelle University Department of Journalism and Communication, told The Ethiopian Herald that the media need to operate in line with professional ethics of journalism. They should provide equal treatment of people and entertain diverse views.
He says that regional broadcast media entertain almost only the voice of regional governments, regardless
 of media ethics. “They disseminate unfair and unbalanced information.” Compared to regional media, there has been good progress in entertaining voice of diversity on national public television stations.
“Media should be established to serve as an alternative source of information. Relatively, private media entertains diversity of opinions and some of private broadcast media are good source of information,” he indicates.
In some media houses, the influence of media owners is visible, he says before mentioning how they compel journalists to work regardless of professional ethics of journalism.
Entertaining diverse opinions has an important role in nation building. And it has a great power to promote country’s peace and security because solutions to problems can be obtained by entertaining diversity of opinions, Yirgalem remarks.
Tibebu Belete, General Manager of Ahadu FM 94.3 and a senior journalist, for his part believes that the performance of public and private media on entertaining diversity of opinions is very low.
“State and federal level public media are still the voice of the government, and are having difficulties in adopting the national reform.” I think this is the effect of pressure of the past 27 years, he adds.
As to him, media with their own political interest are dominating the airwaves. Most media and journalists are operating outside of the ethics and philosophy of the profession. “Even the scholars and experts invited by these media organizations are the promoters of the stands of that particular media.”
“The current political situation in our country has casted a shadow on our media organizations with the media mimicking the current political climate,” he notes.
On the other hand, Tibebu points out how the private media focuses on the capital of the country, Addis Ababa, whilst neglecting all the citizens those residing out of the Addis Ababa and things happened outside the radius of the capital.
Nuru Mudesir, Chairperson of All Ethiopian Democratic Party, says that Ethiopian broadcast media have currently become an outlet of some parties or individuals. This may harm the social, economic and political activities of Ethiopians.
The private and public media are not entertaining diverse voices and viewpoints. They are the mouthpiece of the government and individuals. “Especially, public media entertains almost only the voice of the ruling party.”
The private media on the other hand do not provide equal treatments of people and entertain diverse views, and this has been the problem of the private broadcast media, he remarks. “Some private newspapers and magazines work for parties and individuals just like political campaign workers,”
In concluding, these experts urge the Ethiopian Broadcast Authority to regulate and monitor these media properly and the journalism schools and scholars to play an important role in producing professional journalists.

Integrated landscape management to enhance food security, improve ecosystem resilience

By Abdurezak Mohammed

In Ethiopia, agriculture is characterized by unsustainable use of natural resources, leading to soil erosion and land degradation. High population growth is also aggravating the effects particularly in the highlands. Pressure on land is also increasing in the lowlands owing to declining of grazing areas and the expansion of invasive plant species.
On the other hand, climate change is impacting agricultural productivity negatively. As a result, food insecurity is becoming a growing concern whilst eco-regions are increasingly endangered.
Last week, Oromia Water and Energy Resources Development Bureau, Water and Land Resources Center (WLRC) of Addis Ababa University and Nestle Waters Ethiopia (NWE) jointly organized a symposium to launch “Integrated Landscape Management and Protection (ILMP) Project for upper Sululta watershed.”
At the symposium, the findings of the socio-economic and bio-physical baseline study of the 2016-2018, and the integrated landscape management proposal were presented to symposium participants.
According to Omar Salah, Chief Executive Officer of NWE, over the past years, the WLRC has been conducting an in-depth socio-economic and bio-physical study with a total of 3.5 million Birr gained from NWE. Consequently, taking into account the findings of the study, Sululta Watershed Integrated Landscape Management and Protection (ILMP) was developed.
“The study was dedicated to analysis of bio-physical and socio-economic situations to identify the prevailing challenges and opportunities and design ILMP.”
As to him, with the aim to empower local community, authorities and industries for sustainable water resource management, his office has entered into a long term partnership with WLRC to develop an ILMP.
Upper Sululta Watershed, being at the edge of the expanding Addis Ababa, is transferring into an urban settlement, small scale industrial, and agro-industrial area speedily; but with very little consideration to sustainability. This situation could impact the watershed, the communities, and the environment unless long-term plan which ensures sustainable co-existence of human activity with water resource management is developed, he opined.
This initiative, hence, can be taken as a mode to boosting the role of the Private-Public Partnership in terms of contributing, supporting and promoting better and sustainable environment, he added.
Dr. Gete Zeleke, Director of Water and Land Resource Center at Addis Ababa University, told to The Ethiopian Herald that Sululta
 has an interesting landscape and bio-physical condition with an average rainfall of 1200mm per year.
All the agro-ecology, landscape the rainfall is conductive environment for human being and so for different agro-ecological based farming systems in general.
“Nestle Waters has approached us to conduct a study in Sululta and develop a project proposal; with a focus on collective action for sustainable water resource use and management as core of organization’s water stewardship commitment,” he indicated.
After conducting different consultation meetings with the community, administrative bodies and the project steering committee, a detailed bio-physical and socio-economic baseline survey is conducted.
In the study about 20 researchers and scientists such as Hydro-Geologist, Architectures, Agriculturalists, Land Management Specialists, Socio-Economic Analyst, Agronomist and other experts have taken part. The survey focuses on identifying potentials and challenges of the area, as he presented on the symposium.
According to him, as the findings of the study indicated, six major and broad findings were reported – weak institutional capacity and governance issue, poor coordination between the rural and urban areas, environmental degradation – up to 65 percent slope was cultivated without any proper management practice and unregulated urban expansion with poor management and less consideration to the potential of the land and ecosystem functions.
The most important finding is that the hydrology-geology verses the urban expansion. The researchers found that the hydrology-geology is largely covered by porous permeable layer with many fissures. The last major finding is the flooding issue, the lower part of the town expansion is totally on the flooding zone, Dr. Gete elaborated.
Based on the key findings, the researchers have designed a comprehensive project proposal, the Integrated Landscape Management and Protection (ILMP). The project proposal is unique because it addresses both the rural and urban landscapes and communities; and
it follows area-based approach principle – no part of the watershed left untreated and none will be left alone – both the rural and urban population are target groups, he added.
As to him, the project focuses on the best and rational use of the natural resources of the area for betterment of community without bargaining their ecosystem functions and services.
As shown on the project proposal, the project captures major challenges and opportunities of the area and suggests development option. For instance, enhancing institutional capacity within the urban and rural system, proper protection of the wetlands, the water recharge and, the forest areas and proper management of the agricultural landscape, as well as management of the natural resources particularly the graded hillsides, the forest zone and built up of the green recreational centers for employment are few among others.
The proposed landscape management interventions address eleven environmental, socio-economic and resource governance issues implemented within the coming 15 years (2019-2033) with a total capital of over 70, million USD, divided into three phases , he remarked.
Roza Umer, Sululta Town Mayoress for her part said that developing and implementing such kind of comprehensive and integrated sustainable project plan needs to tap the potential of private sectors for effective and profound collaboration with government, NGO’s, communities, and others development actors.
However, the project needs huge investment and the total budget is above town’s capacity. “Therefore, we are very keen to request other private sectors, donors, development practitioners, sister towns and NGO’s to collaborate with us in terms of financial and technical support to implement this visionary project on the ground and make Sululta Town a model eco-city in the region and the country at large.”
The project also hopefully reduces the major problem of the town by creating job opportunity for youths, she indicated.
Dr. Eng. Fekadu Fufa, Head of Oromia Urban Development Bureau, stated on the opening of the symposium that the project has a keen ambition to demonstrate water stewardship to manage the scarce groundwater sources through implantation of a well-designed feasible long-term project at Sululta. Thus, strong collaboration and involvement of stakeholders particularly local communities in realizing such a project should be given due attention.
He reiterated that in any country with a wider economic opportunities and emerging economy of spreading private and public enterprises competing for profits, the issue of ethical business operation and social responsibilities come into question.
Yet, shared value business principles should become more mainstreamed as forward-thinking companies embed sustainability into the core of their business operations to create shared value among the business sectors and with the community they work with.
“In most cases, in our planet the environmental and social impacts of investments not well shared and considered by private sectors. And, I would like to appreciate this project as a good start and initiative. If implemented at the desired level, it could serve as a model for other private sectors too.”
He expressed that the implementation of such a project should not undermine community participation, as there is no success in any project without maintaining the economic and environmental health of the local communities. Therefore, he also said that, he would take this opportunity to call on all the interested partners to collaborate through all the required inputs to convert this project in to reality and join the journey of timely responding to the drinking water demands of Sululta Town residents and the surrounding communities.

Schooling Autistic children

By Abdurezak Mohammed

Dagmawi Alamrew, (6) was born autistic. Before joining Champions Academy in 2017, he couldn’t communicate well and he barely spoke. He was also very sick and very difficult to deal with.His entire body was bleeding. Generally, he was very dependent child. But we have seen so many changes within the past two and half years after joining the school, said his mother Menbere Woldesemayat.
Now he turned out to be very decent kid with good behavior and communication at home and school. He can speak well. Even he presented a poem on stage very well two weeks ago in school’s “autism awareness creating day”. He is very clever in class and he will join grade one next year. She said:“I didn’t have any awareness about autism.
I didn’t help my son as needed. I brought a very dependent, sick and noisy child, has problematic behaviors, to the school. But, now, I got awareness about autism by the help of champions’ academy and I support my son properly”, Starting with self-care, the school gives a required training to autistic students. And also the school gives continuous training for parents of autistic students to treat their children in proper way, she added.
Meaza Menkir is founder and owner of the school and also Psychologist and Head of Special Needs Department at the Academy.“Our school is committed to inclusive education program. We have 55 autistic and other students with certain disability. The number of students is increasing on yearly basis. We have seen major changes in teaching these special needs students with other students.” The school’s special education is a specialized instruction designed to meet the specific or unique needs of children with special needs, according to her.
She said that ‘Special Needs’ is a term used to describe students who need additional help and resources or reaching their potentials than typical. Under special education unit our school provides a variety of educational and training services to help children with special needs to overcome their learning problem and benefit from the educational opportunities.
The school provides the education (program) and active training including: appropriate training on communication, self-care, and social, emotional or behavioral and academics. Children with special needs are accepted in our regular school system and attend a full day education program based on their developmental need, according to her. She reiterated that based on each child’s need, children receive intensive one-to-one instruction on communication, speech and language, occupational and behavioral training.
One-to-one coaching helps the children became more self-sufficient and ready for regular classroom activities. The school provides home-based service for children with special needs who do not reach the appropriate age for schooling and severely affected by their disabilities.
In this case the, children receive the service in their home. Based on the child’s needs, the school designs educational and skills programs; assigns teachers (service providers); and provides monitoring and follow up.And also the parents of autistic students get training to teach their children; to help in home practice; and to manage their problematic behaviors,she said.
Every child has the right to be supported by their parents and community to grow, learn, and develop in the early years, and, upon reaching school age, to go to school and be welcomed and included by teachers and peers alike. When all children, regardless of their differences, are educated together, everyone benefits— this is the cornerstone of inclusive education. Inclusive systems provide a better quality education for all children and are instrumental in changing discriminatory attitudes. Schools provide the context for a child’s first relationship with the world outside their families, enabling the development of social relationships and interactions.
Special Support and Inclusive Education Directorate Director at Ministry of Education, Teklay Gebremichael told The Ethiopian Herald, “There are 67 autistic students in kindergarten; 916 autistic students in primary level; and 243 autistic students in secondary levels all over the country, according to Education Statistics Annual Abstract, 2010 E.C.” He said that Ethiopia’s Inclusive Education issued on the basis of international conventions. Ethiopia is practicing inclusive education.
There are many activities to apply inclusive education in the country. There are 347, without including private centers, special support centers in the country. 16 of them were established by the governments of Finland.“We planned to change 100 schools to integrated schools to give inclusive education in all parts of the country next year. We made discussions with the management bodies of these 100 schools and they have signed to begin the program.”
 “However, we are not achieving the goals as intended due to many reasons.The major challenges are lack of trained teachers; lack of finance; unavailability of needed materials for students with disabilities.” He reiterated that to make inclusive education a reality we need to support kindergartens and schools financially in adequate and sustainable manner to make all activities and services inclusive and effective.

Office calls for coordinated conservation activities

 

By Abdurezak Mohammed

ADDIS ABABA – With a view to ensuring the long-term service of the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam, whose construction is said to hit 66 percent, Environmental protection activities ought to be further coordinated.
So remarked, Solomon Teka, Project Management Director at the Office of National Council for the Coordination of the Public Participation for the Construction of the Grand Dam in an interview with The Ethiopian Herald.
He said the main solution to develop environmental protection include developing cooperation; creating ‘one plan one report’ system; developing national land use plan; and building a legal framework for the community to benefit from the basin development.
Regarding the first issue, he explained that federal and regional government’s concerned bodies have long been engaged in watershed development activities but the tasks should be planned and implemented holistically than in a fragmented way.
As reservoir sedimentation, filling of dams by small particles of sand, threatens the life of most dams, pertinent bodies have responsibilities of joining forces to speed up conservational activities, he said. “Civil societies, higher education institutions, and the entire community should participate in water and environment protection works.”
 Commenting that environmental protection works are not a onetime campaign, he noted as sustainability can be possible while actors work together leaving aside the fragmented efforts.
Negash Teklu is executive director of Population, Health, and Environment (PHE) Ethiopia. To him, overgrazing stands tall among the causes of land degradation.
To him, billions of tons of soil eroded annually. “Hence, it is incumbent up on all of us to seek ways and means of preventing overgrazing to ensure the longevity of the Dam.” Issues of development, energy, and poverty reduction have great relationship with basin development works, he said.
 He seems to buy Solomon’s proposal as he said Amhara, Oromia, and Benishangul Gumuz regions as well need to work in close cooperation for a better result in the effort of environmental protection. Despite a delay, the hydraulic and mechanical parts in particular, the Environmental protection works has kept on track. The construction of the 6450 MW flagship as well is going with accelerated pace.

A fight against small pieces of sand

 

 By Abdurezak Mohammed

 

Sedimentation could be regarded as the gangrene of hydro dams, it slowly but surely remove their water retention capacity and eventually kills investments worth multi-million dollars. That is the reason water and environmental protection activities become top in the list of government priorities, particularly since the inception of The Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam eight years ago. 0Sustainable protection work will keep the Dam at good health, says Solomon Teka, Project Management Director at the Office of National Council for the Coordination of the Public Participation for the Construction of the GERD, speaking to The Ethiopian Herald. “If we reduce the amount of sediment that at the would be reservoir by 75 percent, the service year of the hydro-plant could be extended to 375 years, lifting the national electric export earning to 246 billion USD,” he says.
According to him, cutting the amount of sedimentation by 50 percent will result in the longevity of the Dam, giving a 275-year service life, earning is estimated to 140 billion dollars from electricity. “Touch job is ahead of us as the protection works so far are very far from being enough. At least the Dam’s life go between 75-100 years.” A billion tons of soil is eroded annually in the basin within Ethiopia’s territory, Negash Teklu, Executive Director of Population, Health, and Environment (PHE) Ethiopia Group says. “Works should not be a onetime campaign.”
 The Environment, Forest & Climate Change Commission has developed various legal frameworks, strategic plans to boost protection works along the basin. It has also been conducting various studies to facilitate innovative ways of environmental protection, it was learnt. Soil and water conservational activities so far carried out on 772,975 hectares of land is said to have impacted positively. But the cooperation could go even at wider levels. The Dam offers huge opportunity for cooperation at sub-basin levels like in the Eastern Nile, Eastern Nile Technical Regional Office (ENTRO) Director-General, FekAhmed Negash said.
The Dam have layers of benefits to downstream countries, he noted, listing the benefits as controlling flood, reduction of sedimentation for dams at downstream, regulating the flow of the water, just to mention but a few. The Nile Basin covers 23 percent of the Ethiopia’s total landmass, represents 40 percent of the country’s water resources.

Yekakie Wurdwet - Women’s rights struggle of Guraghe community

 By Abdurezak Mohammed

Feminism has a short history in many parts of the world though it has got a long history in Ethiopia, The Land of Origins. It has been known in different terms among the Ethiopian societies for unknown time as Hadha Sinqe among the Oromos and Yekakie Wurdwet in the Guraghe community, the latter is the focus of this piece.
One highflying woman from the Guraghe community started a struggle to enable women seize their deserved socio-economic and political rights 150 years ago. The lady was widely known among the community by the name Ye Kakie Wurdwet but her given name is confirmed as Wurdwet. Ye Kakie Wurdwet—could, therefore, be equivalent to Kakie’s daughter—Kakie is her father’s name.
Wurdwet challenged the system that gave power only to men. She could be regarded as the first proponent of women’s rights in the community, breaking some traditions which long oppressed women. She struggled for the freedom of women.
Ye Kakie Wurdwet was the fourth and the last daughter born to her parents. She was born in Sebat Bet Guraghe, Mihur Ena Aklil – Zhermene Kebele in 1839.
Her father, Damo Kakie Werabo (Damo is a title given to a bountiful man in Guraghe community), was a prominent, rich and respected person around Mihur Ena Aklil area. And he was Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahdo Christianity follower. While her mother, Ajyet Amina (Ajyet is the title given to generous woman), was from Welene Bete Guraghe and. she was a follower of Islam.
As shown in the Study and Research Journal of the Ethiopian National Theatre, Ye Kakie Wurdwet started her nonviolent struggles in 1860 at the age of 21— three years after she got married to a man who was from Ezha Bete Guraghe.
She and her compatriots picked 12 social and economic issues that they believed women of the time had been deprived of.
Women’s right of inheritance, the right to property, and the right to choose partner, the right to divorce; the right to establish traditional judicial system led by women; the right to choose one’s family name from either of the two parents are few of them.
Wurdwet and her friends take the issues to Yejoka Shengo – higher traditional judicial system of Guraghe. Some of their questions were properly addressed. But some of their questions are unanswered even until today.
Public Relations and Communication Head at Guraghe Development and Cultural Association, Mengistu Hailemariam, told The Ethiopian Herald that the first and main issue raised by Ye Kakie Wurdwet and her friends was to avoid ‘Ankit’ which prohibits females from making a divorce without their husbands’ consent. This issue seems to have been a bit difficult for Yejoka elders to pass their final judgment at that time, he said.
For this reason, they made lots of efforts to keep the question unaddressed. Another very critical question was the insistence for one man to marry only one wife. Otherwise, female ought to be green lighted to marry more than one husband as well.
“Ye Kakie Wurdwet, is the main advocate of women’s rights. She raised political, social and economic rights of women at that time. She tried to alter traditions that pose harms to women”, Mengistu noted.
Culture, History and Heritage Study and Development Head with the Guraghe Zone Culture, Tourism and Communication Bureau, Mengistu Abera, also told The Ethiopian Herald that Ye Kakie Wurdwet struggled for the freedom and equality of women though the resistance lasted for short period due to different reasons.
Yejoka Shengo adjured her to stop her struggle and to lead her personal life. Hence, the struggle of women at that time fails to proceed with more fever.
He said that she was a very influential lady at that time. There were different factors that enabled her to be influential. She adopted the norms of two religions – Orthodox Christianity and Islam.
In summing up, it is not exaggeration to conclude that working for women’s rights started earlier in Ethiopia.

Resilient, self-reliant community

 

By Abdurezak Mohammed

 

The Government of Ethiopia joining hands with development partners has been working to increase families’ long-term resilience to food shortages. The Productive Safety Net Programme (PSNP) is one among such efforts.
PSNP existed since 2005 and has made significant contributions to improved food security in Ethiopia. It is aimed at enabling the rural poor, facing chronic food insecurity, to resist shocks, create assets and become food self-sufficient.
PSNP provides multi-annual predictable transfers, as food, cash or a combination of both, to help chronically food insecure people survive food deficit periods and avoid depleting their productive assets while attempting to meet their basic food requirements, as shown in launching workshop of PSNP IV.
PSNP’s four major goals are: to support the rural transformation process; to prevent long-term consequences of short-term food inaccessibility; to encourage households to engage in production and investment; and to promote market development by increasing household purchasing power.
A number of studies have shown that PSNP has had a positive impact on the livelihoods of households. It has enhanced community-level infrastructure and contributed to environmental transformation.
At the household level, families have benefited from improved food security, increased asset creation and protection, increased utilization of education and health services and improved agricultural productivity, report of World Food Programme, 2012 shows.
Last week, another project Climate Smart Mainstreaming in the Productive Safety Net Programme (CSM-PSNP) was launched last week in Adama town of Oromia State.
 Rural Transformation and Resilience Team Leader at European Union, Dominique Davoux, told to The Ethiopian Herald that the aim of this project is to mainstream climate smart solution. He said that the European Union supported 8 million USD for technical assistance and capacity development.
To him the goal of the project is to improve resilience and adaptive capacity of targeted poor and vulnerable communities in Ethiopia to Climate Change driven impacts. He said, “The project will be completed within four years.”
Director of Department of Natural Resources Development, Conservation and Utilization of the Ministry of Agriculture, Tefera Tadesse, said that PSNP operates in Afar, Amhara, Dire Dawa, Harari, Oromiya, SNNP, Somali and Tigray regions. Development partners contribute to PSNP.
The Ministry of Agriculture, along with regional governments, is responsible for the programme coordination, management and implementation.
These types of programs are done by the support of our development partners. The program runs in 350 woredas (districts) in eight regions.
Dr. Kaba Urgesa, State Minister at the Ministry of Agriculture expressed at the launching workshop that the PSNP is in its fourth generation of the programme, currently under implementation in 350 woredas (districts) in eight regions identified to be chronically food insecure.
He said that PSNP possess a robust opportunity for climate smart development integration and complementarities with climate sensitive implementation of other related agriculture, pastoral and livelihood programs in which the project should exploit this opportunity to bring change.
The approach of the project should focus on capitalizing to the existing initiatives and building a system on how to mainstream the climate smart planning and implementation of the PSNP and beyond, he recommended.
This action focus on scalable activities that work from actual PSNP capacities with a goal of increasing PSNP impacts, he added.
“The government of Ethiopia gives higher priority to support the poor and vulnerable households in the rural areas of the country”, he indicated.
Major public work sub projects are biophysical soil and water conservation; forestry, agro-forestry and forage development; water projects, community micro level construction; rehabilitation; social infrastructure activities construction; and nutrition based public work activities, according to him.
According to The World Bank (2018), Sub-Saharan African countries spend an average of USD 16 per citizen annually on safety net programs, whereas countries in the Latin America and the Caribbean region spend an average of USD 158 per citizen annually. Globally, developing and transition economies spend an average of 1.5 percent of GDP on safety net programs.

Will parties keep oath?

By Abdurezak Mohammed

Over one-hundred political parties, both national and regional, currently operate in Ethiopia. For long, the parties seem to have lacked a trusted confluence that enables them work together.
Earlier this month, the parties have signed a covenant that consists of twenty articles which most parties’ leaders described the move as an initiative that went on their own free will.
The Code of Conduct states that political parties have responsibilities of bringing the on-going reform to a successful end. Hence, parties that represent various ideas and segments of the society, have unparalleled role in ensuring democracy, rule of law and peace in the country.
It further says, parities ought to work together in a sustained and organized way to tackle threats of U-turn that unrest erupting in various places of the
country can pose on the reform undertaking.
The signing of the document could be equated with the mitigation of pre-election and post-election violence, says Communication Advisor with National Electoral Board of Ethiopia, Soleyana Shimeles.
Members of political parties in particular and the society in general benefit out of the joint platform the parties have created for they could deliberate in a democratic way on real and imagined conflicting issues that may arise in their separate activities while governing the intra-party relations, she hints.
“Pre-election and post-election crises might not be prevented by a single document only. But it could be regarded as an unprecedented move that won the minds and hearts of all political parties,” she explained.
A council will soon come to reality to ensure the implementation of the covenant; thereby to strengthening the reform in the area of democratic building and helping parties unleash legal responsibility they are entrusted with, as the document states.
The council also serves to arbitrate disagreements arising among political parties as well as between political parties and the government, it says.
Abraha Desta, Chairman of Arena Party for Democracy and Sovereignty, told this reporter that the signing of the agreement and the resulting platform can lessen mistrust among parties and enhances cooperation as all work to pursue the Ethiopian cause.
More importantly, the agreement is very important to undo the relationship among supporters of parties that usually go violent, according to him.
“It helps us all to cultivate the culture of dialogue,” Abraha added.
Lencho Letta, President of Oromo Democratic Front, explained that if all parties obey this agreement, it has great significance to the building of democratic system in the country.
He also expressed belief that conflicts could be minimized as parties work together closely.
Also, Nathnael Feleke, member of Arbegnoch Ginbot 7, told this reporter that both the covenant and the council can help devise solution to problems that could surface along their ways.
Further, its role for the prevalence of rule of law is undeniable, he adds.
Now that Ethiopia is in the trajectory of all-round reform, cooperation among political parties could be regarded as a ticket to travel far and achieve peace and prosperity, as the parties’ and the advisor have said.

Six Political Parties to Unveil a Unified Party

By Abdurezak Mohammed

ADDIS ABABA – Six opposition political parties to form new national political party which they said would advocate citizen politics and push for social justice, announced the parties yesterday.
The parties are Ethiopian Democratic Party, All Ethiopian Democratic Party, Semayawi Party, the former Unity Party, Gambella Regional Movement, and Arbegnoch Ginbot 7 Movement.
The symbol, program, name and guideline of the upcoming party would be unveiled in the upcoming May in its launching session.
These parties are working together by taking the current political situations of the country into consideration. A task force has been set up to oversee the establishment of the new party. The task force is in charge of finance mobilization program and training developments, data collection and forum organization.
Chairman of Arbegnoch Ginbot 7 Movement, Prof. Birhanu Nega, said that two other political parties have already finalized preparation to join the six parties in realizing the new party.
He also said that democratic system cannot be realized without democratic party which he said the upcoming party would stand for.