Alemayehu G. Mariam: Ethiopia: Indoctri-Nation

The Ministry of Indoctrination This past week Ethiopia's Ministry of Education issued a "directive" effectively outlawing distance learning (or education programs that are not delivered in the traditional university classroom or campus) throughout the country. According to reports, the directive of the Ministry's Higher Education Relevance and Quality Agency (HERQA) prohibits enrollment of new students in all distance education programs. It also creates a monopoly for state-controlled universities to administer the disciplines of law and teaching. There are said to be 64 private institutions serving some 75,000 students throughout the country that are impacted by the directive. The reason for the sudden and radical change in policy is said to be concern for educational quality. Ministry spokesman Abera Abate painted all private distance learning institutions in the country with a broad brush by categorically condemning them as scams and diploma mills. "When the purpose is collecting money, it is not a good purpose. The only issue some universities have is collecting money." Of course, the directive does not apply just to "some" universities whose "purpose is collecting money"; it applies to all distance education providers in the country. The response from the various private educational service providers was swift. Wondwosen Tamrat, president of St Mary's College and former chairman of the General Assembly of the Ethiopian Private Higher Education Institutions Association (EPHEIA) described the directive as "ridiculous. The [regime's] inability to enforce the quality standards already set should not lead to these kind of measures... We have participated in the legal education reform programs, and our college issues a biannual law journal...In fact, in this area, it is public institutions that are suffering ...Full story

UN reveals global disparity in broadband access

By Jonathan Fildes Technology reporter, BBC News

Africa is now encircled with high-speed internet cables

The global disparity in fixed broadband access and cost has been revealed by UN figures.

The Central African Republic is the most expensive place to get a fixed broadband connection, costing nearly 40 times the average monthly income there.

Macao in China is the cheapest, costing 0.3% of the average monthly income.

Niger becomes the most expensive place to access communication technologies, when landlines and mobiles are also taken into account.

"Access to broadband in an affordable manner is our greatest challenge," Dr Hamadoun Toure, secretary general of the International Telecommunications Union (ITU), told BBC News.

The statistics were released ahead of the UN 2010 Millennium Development Goals Summit in New York on 19 September.
Continue reading the main story
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Remote care

The Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) are a set of targets intended to reduce global poverty and improve living standards by 2015.

Specific goals target education, fighting disease and promoting gender equality.

Access to communications technology is a part of one of the targets.

With five years to go until the deadline to achieve the goals, progress remains uneven. Some countries have achieved many of the goals, while others - mostly in the developing world - may not realise any.

Many development experts question how the goals will be achieved and how they will be paid for. Some even question whether the approach is neccessary or helpful.

But Dr Toure said that he believed technologies such as broadband could be used to "accelerate" progress on the goals and help countries achieve them.
Men sell phone credit (Kiwanja) Mobile phones have proliferated throughout Africa and the world

"Unfortunately many observers will say that we run the risk of not meeting the goals. But I think the focus should be on how we meet the goals," he said.

"I am putting ICT [Information and Communication Technologies] as an opportunity of meeting the goals."

In particular, he said, broadband and connectivity could be used to develop e-health and e-education programmes.

He said broadband would allow people in rural and remote areas to access "state of the art" health facilities and doctors.

"You will also be able to ensure that students around the world will have access to the best universities at their fingertips," he said.

"That can only be done if [connectivity] is accessible and affordable."

Claire Godfrey, senior policy advisor for Oxfam, agreed that technology could help accelerate progress on the MDGs but said "the root causes of poverty must be addressed first", including "access to clean water, adequate food, free healthcare and education".

"Rich countries' governments need to meet their aid commitments, with sustainable, well-targeted and predictable aid and they need to help poorer countries to make health care and education free," she told BBC News.
Cheapest fixed line broadband as proportion of monthly income
Rank Country Price as % of monthly income B'band subscriptions per 100 inhabitants...Full story

Ethiopians Continue to Suffer in Middle East: Five Die in Saudi Prison | NewBusinessEthiopia


Five Ethiopians died in a crowded Saudi Arabia prison, which they call it ‘centre for deporting illegal immigrants’, the Arab News reported this week. Ethiopian Women Migrants Destinations by Country in 2009 The five died in the deportation centre in the southern Red Sea port of Jizan of "asphyxiation due to overcrowding," the newspaper stated quoting a local police official. “The disease-breeding situation in the center persists,” the Supervisor General of the National Society for Human Rights in Jazan, Ahmad Al-Bahkali, told Arab News. “I was totally shocked by the hundreds of people there with no sanitation facilities, and I was equally shocked by the callousness on the part of the employees there,” wrote Khaled Almaeena, Arab News Editor-in Chief, describing the worst situation of Saudi deportation center when he visited to check on his driver who was held at the deportation center at the Old Jeddah airport. “It was total anarchy. How could this happen in a country that proclaims to be following the Qur’an and the Sunnah?,” he questions. “I believe it is a crime. The explanation of acting Jazan police spokesman Abdul Rahman Al-Zahrani that they died of asphyxiation due to overcrowding should give us cause for even more concern.” “I am in agony that in this holy month of Ramadan five people whose only crime was that they were illegal migrants would meet such a horrible fate. What is even more agonizing is that these are being justified as “death by natural causes” due to overcrowding, Khaled wrote. Reports show that every month thousands of Ethiopians legally and illegally migrate to Saudi Arabia and Middle East Countries. It has now become common for Ethiopian families to receive dead bodies of their families and relatives at Bole International Airport from these countries. Monthly Ethiopian women migration to the Middle East A research done by Bina Fernandez of the University of Leeds in September 2009, entitled, “Ethiopian domestic workers in the Middle-East’ shows that from 2004 – 2006 a total of 70,781 Ethiopians migrated to Middle East. Out of this 68,090 were females. They pay brokers between 100 to 750 USD dollars, according to the study, while they are only supposed to pay for their passports and medical check up. The return ticket, insurance and visa to be covered by the employer. In 1989, there was a doubling of the figures of migrants to the ME, from 1,742 to over 3,000 in 1990 and 1991; with a slightly higher percentage of male migrants. This tapered off in the rest of the nineties, with roughly stable and equal numbers of men and women. The total rose again dramatically in 2003, with 5,510 migrants leaving the country; this time, 72% of them were women, a percentage that has today increased to over 96% of official or documented migration.

Ethiopia: The Outcast August 23, 2010: Ethiopia announced that it had negotiated a peace deal with a large faction of the ONLF (Ogaden National Liberation Front). Last month, the Ethiopians signed a peace deal with one of the smaller Somali rebels groups in Ogaden province. This area, on the Somali border, is populated largely by Somalis and has long been claimed by Somalia. There is oil in Ogaden (worth up to $100 billion or more), and Ethiopia is willing to wheel, deal and fight to protect this resource. As fierce as the Somalis are, the Ethiopians can match them in combat. So the Somalis have been offering gifts, and peace, to make deals with the Ogaden rebels. This approach has apparently included some nasty violence against Ogaden rebels, to make the point that the alternative to peace is very painful. The ONLF denies that there has been any peace deal, but the Ogaden has been quiet over the Summer, and calls talk of peace government propaganda. Lack of violence is what passes for peace in this part of the world. Eritrea continues to wallow in dictatorship, poverty and paranoia. The government is currently denying that there is a major drought and food shortage. The government's main concern is hanging on to power, and keeping opposition non-existent. The situation is not much better next door in Ethiopia, where there is a bit more prosperity, attention to the drought and political opposition. But Ethiopia also has one party rule. Nevertheless, inflation and food prices are down in Ethiopia, and up in Eritrea. While Ethiopia and Eritrea host each other's rebels, Eritrea has the most to fear from this. Ethiopia is a larger place (a million square kilometers and 79 million people, versus 118,000 square kilometers and 5.7 million), and the various rebel groups have plenty of places to hide. Not surprisingly, Eritrea is a major source of refugees in the region. Those with money flee across the Gulf of Aden to Yemen and exile in the Middle East and beyond. Those without money go to Ethiopia, where the government there recently allowed these 36,000 refugees to live outside the refugee camps. Ethiopia continues to maintain thousands of troops on the Somali border. Since these troops are also in Ogaden, they keep Somalis out, and local ethnic Somali rebels under control. Islamic rebel groups in Somalia still talk of invading Ethiopia, but none have tried it in months. China has replaced Germany as Ethiopia biggest export customer. China bought 36 percent of these exports (which totaled $2 billion in the last year), the biggest item being sesame seeds. Coffee and khat (an addictive leaf that is chewed fresh to obtain the narcotic effect) are the two biggest exports overall. Eritreas economy is increasingly dependent on gifts from Iran, which uses Eritrea as a base to support Islamic radicals in the region. August 15, 2010: The ONLF claims attacks on Ethiopian troops in four Ogaden towns, killing 44 soldiers. But there was no way to confirm this, and the Ethiopians denied any such activity. The ONLF has claimed non-existent attacks in the past, and this appears to be more of them. July 29, 2010: The Ethiopians signed a peace deal with the UWSLF (United West Somali Liberation Front) to reduce the amount of violence in Ogaden. July 11, 2010: In Uganda, Somali Islamic terrorists set off several bombs, killing over 70 people. Most African nations condemned this, but not Eritrea, which supports Somali Islamic terrorist groups. Eritrea provides safe bases for Somali Islamic terrorist groups and allows illegal arms to be brought to Eritrea, where they can be flown into Somalia. In the face of these attacks on Uganda, Eritrea is even more isolated.

How Did al-Shabab Emerge from the Chaos of Somalia?

An al-Shabab fighter runs for cover near a burned African Union military tank in Mogadishu on July 2, 2010

The concerns and agenda of Somalia's al-Shabab militia are very much rooted in local politics. However, its rise to prominence is tied to decisions taken by the U.S. and its regional allies in pursuit of the Bush Administration's global war on terrorism.

Following the 9/11 attacks, the U.S. deemed the 10-year power vacuum in Somalia a potential refuge for al-Qaeda, one that prompted Washington, together with African allies, to arm and fund various Somali warlords. In 2004, some warlords were drawn together into the Transitional Federal Government (TFG). However, successive attempts to establish a government were based on clan alliance and were inherently unstable because of the zero-sum character of the clans' competition for resources. (From TIME's archive: America's misadventure in Somalia.)

The TFG failed to transcend the predatory warlord politics that had prevailed for 15 years, and in 2006, the Islamic Courts Union (ICU), an Islamist alliance that eschewed the politics of clans, seized control of Mogadishu, rapidly bringing order and economic improvement to their expanding areas of control, thanks to the enthusiastic support of the Somali business community. Thousands of men and women welcomed them, clapping and singing in joy as the ICU's victory convoy coursed through formerly warring neighborhoods.

But the movement's Islamist colors, and the fact that the ICU was said to have given shelter to a handful of wanted al-Qaeda suspects, did not sit well with the U.S. State Department's sole Somalia analyst in the region at the time. And for Washington, the ICU became an intolerable alternative.

With apparent U.S. approval, Ethiopia used funds provided by Washington to buy weapons from North Korea, smuggling them in through Somaliland — a breakaway region of Somalia desperate for international recognition. The U.S. then backed an Ethiopian invasion to restore the TFG to power. During the ensuing fighting, up to 16,000 Somalis were killed and 1 million were displaced. The Islamist leadership was driven out of Mogadishu. The ICU's armed wing, known as al-Shabab (the Youth), initiated an insurgency against the Ethiopian occupation and its Somali accomplices and used tactics seen in Iraq, such as improvised explosive devices and suicide bombings. The Shabab had been a radical faction of the ICU, but was far from dominant. The Ethiopian invasion not only ended the ICU experiment in governance but also legitimized the more militant outlook of the Shabab. (Does al-Shabab want to join terror's big league?)

The resulting instability in Somalia has been infused not just with the U.S. global agenda against al-Qaeda, but also with the agendas of regional adversaries — the proxies of Ethiopia against Eritrea and even those of Egypt, Yemen and other Arab states against Ethiopia. Those agendas further complicate Somalia's political-military landscape, propelling the country into cyclical foreign interventions. If the African Union forces pulled out, the TFG would almost certainly disappear. But if the Shabab then managed to plant its flag and declare that it was in control, the U.S. would once again find the situation intolerable. Disengagement is unlikely. And every time there has been an increase of foreign involvement, the Shabab — or its equivalent — only grows and becomes more radicalized.

Is there an exit strategy? One reason the ICU was able to take power was that it provided the best environment for business, and offered a better deal for Somalis than the warlords did. Ultimately, it may be the business communities of the various clans that will be the kingmakers, and perhaps the key to stability.

Rosen is a fellow at the New York University Center on Law and Security and author of the forthcoming book Aftermath: Following the Bloodshed of America's Wars in the Muslim World

Somalia's al-Shabab: A Global or Local Movement?

When Somalia's al-Shabab militia claimed responsibility for the July 11 suicide bombings that killed 76 people watching soccer on TV in Uganda, the media described the event as an al-Qaeda attack on the World Cup. That's a misrepresentation, of course, but one that illustrates many of the problems with viewing and reacting to events in Somalia through a war-on-terrorism paradigm. The Shabab certainly has a relationship with al-Qaeda, but it is an independent organization, and the Kampala bombings were motivated not by some global jihadist agenda but by the Shabab's ongoing struggle against foreign military intervention in Somalia. That primarily means Uganda, which is a key component of the African Union (A.U.) mission in Somalia. That mission props up the beleaguered remains of a government that is widely seen as corrupt, greedy, inefficient and illegitimate. The Shabab perceives that government as a foreign-imposed regime; in fact, it does not even qualify as a regime, simply the faction that controls the airport and the presidential villa — buttressed by Ugandan arms. Read more: http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,2010700,00.html?xid=rss-mostpopularemail#ixzz0xA76O4Hz

Ethiopia Faces Era Of One-Party Rule

Ethiopia's 2010 election all but wiped out the country's once vibrant political opposition. This means that Ethiopia faces the prospect of one-party rule for the foreseeable future. Prime Minister Meles Zenawi categorically rejects characterizations of Ethiopia as a one-party state. Speaking to reporters last week, he likened the Horn of Africa nation to Japan or Botswana, where opposition groups operate, but one party dominates the political landscape. "Ethiopia is not moving towards a single-party system," said Zenawi. "It can, with some credence, be said that it is a dominant party system, but there is a fundamental distinction between a dominant party system and a single-party system. The democratic system in Japan has been a dominant party system for half a century, but it has not been a single-party system." ...More story

China wants bureaucrats to shut up - latimes.com

Less is more, top officials say, as they try to crack down on civil servants notorious for longwinded speeches. Reporting from Beijing — By John M. Glionna Chinese officials say they want to clean up a pollution scourge fouling the capital and government centers nationwide: bureaucratic gasbags. The problem, Communist Party functionaries say, is that civil servants talk too much — at meetings, in speeches and when speaking off-the-cuff in public. It's the official Chinese version of yada-yada-yada, blah-blah-blah. To set an example for his peers, Li Yuanchao, a top member of a key Central Committee department, told the state-run New China News Agency that he is keeping his speeches short during meetings. In one recent video-conference, he kept his remarks to just 10 minutes, officials said. Vice President Xi Jinping scolded underlings at a recent Central Party orientation meeting, declaring that bureaucratic long-windedness lengthened meetings and cut productivity. So there's a new unwritten policy among bureaucrats: when it comes to speechifying, less is more. Scholars say long speeches by Chinese officials are legendary, often making a U.S. congressional filibuster seem like a haiku in comparison...More story

Some see worsening rights situation in aid donor 'darling' Ethiopia - Los Angeles Times

Some see worsening rights situation in aid donor 'darling' Ethiopia The U.S. gives about $1 billion annually to Ethiopia. But even as U.S. and other international aid has surged in the last decade, activists charge that the government has become more authoritarian. August 12, 2010|By Kate Linthicum, Los Angeles Times Reporting from Addis Ababa, Ethiopia — Like many in the West, former U.S. Ambassador to Ethiopia David Shinn watched the country's recent elections for signs that democracy was finally taking root. When the results of the May vote were announced, all but two of 547 parliamentary seats went to the Ethiopian People's Revolutionary Democratic Front, the coalition that has been in power here for nearly 20 years, or its allied parties. "How do you win 99% of the vote?" Shinn said. "That's un-American." And yet, he said, "Ethiopia remains a darling of the donor community." The U.S. gives about $1 billion annually to Ethiopia, more than to any other country in sub-Saharan Africa except Sudan. But even as U.S. and other international aid to Ethiopia has surged in the last decade, activists charge that the government has become more authoritarian. "There's been an inverse ratio of rising donor aid and a worsening human rights record," said Leslie Lefkow, a researcher with Human Rights Watch. Prime Minister Meles Zenawi's government has won a degree of favor from the West for sending troops to fight radical Islamists in neighboring Somalia, but reports of rights abuses and a string of draconian laws that have constricted political space have put donor countries in an awkward position. "It's a dilemma for the international donor community, which doesn't want to walk away from Ethiopia because the needs are so great," said Jennifer Cooke, the director of the Africa program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. Recent allegations of aid corruption have caused further unease among donor countries. A March report by Human Rights Watch alleged a countrywide pattern of local government leaders denying aid to opposition supporters. Eligibility for many major aid programs is determined by local government officials — almost all of whom belong to the ruling coalition or its affiliates. One former Ethiopian aid worker, who didn't want to be named out of fear of government retribution, told The Times that aid is leveraged by local leaders to consolidate power. "Aid is a tool for development," the aid worker said. "It is also a tool for politics." Ethiopian officials deny such claims. Communications Minister Bereket Simon said Human Rights Watch was "engaged in the continuous fabrication of allegations" and said Ethiopia "has put in place a transparent mechanism for the distribution of food aid."...More story

UN welcomes Ethiopian policy to allow Eritrean refugees to live outside camps

UN welcomes Ethiopian policy to allow Eritrean refugees to live outside camps Young Eritrean refugees Ethiopia has recently decided to take a new approach to Eritrean refugees by allowing them to live outside camps, a move welcomed by the United Nations refugee agency. Under the so-called ‘out-of-camp’ scheme announced last week, Eritreans who can sustain themselves financially or have relatives or friends who commit to supporting them no longer have to stay in camps. The policy shift is due to discussions between the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and the Ethiopian Government. “Given the fact that Eritrea and Ethiopia were a single political entity before the 1993 referendum, the new policy is also a response to refugees’ wishes and needs for strengthened people-to-people relations between the two countries,” UNHCR spokesperson Andrej Mahecic told reporters in Geneva.More than 60,000 Eritrean refugees have crossed the border into Ethiopia since the border conflict in the late 1990s between the two countries. More than 60,000 Eritrean refugees have crossed the border into Ethiopia since the border conflict in the late 1990s between the two countries. The new scheme now allows Eritrean refugees to live in urban areas, improves their access to services and helps build stronger ties with host communities. UNHCR said that once the policy has fully been implemented, the costs of looking after the refugees will be significantly lowered since those benefiting from the programme will be sustaining themselves. “It is our hope that this decision will eventually expand to include refugees from other countries as well,” Mr. Mahecic said. Refugees from Somalia and other countries – numbering 138,000 in all – already live in Ethiopian towns and cities, while more than 36,000 Eritrean refugees reside in three camps and two community centres that are set to be converted into camps. Any Eritrean refugee living in an Ethiopian camp who does not have a criminal record is eligible to take part in the new programme, which also involves skills training and educational opportunities. At present, many Eritreans in Ethiopia work in the informal sector and this is normally tolerated by the Government, the agency noted. UNHCR’s Addis Ababa office has found that a “good number” of Eritrean refugees plan to take advantage of the new policy, Mr. Mahecic said.