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Sudan Tribune

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The challenge to increase aid to Ethiopia

By Peter Reat Gatkuoth

February 6, 2008 — Ethiopia is Africa’s oldest independent country, but the nation is better known for its sporadic droughts and famine, particularly in the West, north and Southern parts of the region. On the other hands, poverty in Ethiopia is a result of “misguided development policies and practices” which have only increase the wealth of the rich. Even though these communities used to get the food supplies from Disaster Prevention Preparedness and Food Security Office, the ration was not even enough to alleviate the food crisis. The Western and central regional offices of Ethiopia are believed to solve the problem of food shortage by “creating many farms, and loaned some more money to the traders,” but its still in vain because of the instability that plagues the region. The federal government of Ethiopia, as in every crisis in the region, is passive about the food crisis. As a coping mechanism that is used by most African societies, the people of Ethiopia collect fruits and roots from “wild plants and hunt wild animals to get something to eat.” However, it has been noted that the “anti-democratic system of ruling party must be held responsible for poor quality of life that most Ethiopian have been made suffering.”

Ethiopia is one of Africa, and “the world’s best poorest country, with 72 million people living in it.”4 Since 1974, after Megisto Hailu Meriam took the power, Ethiopia population were badly starved to death due to the lack of democratic system that can help the population, not only to become self success or employed, well educators, but also to be productive citizens that can contribute peaceful in the development of nation. All Aid relief were mostly noted to be in the hands of wrong groups because the government is believed to operate in socialist system in which some elite control everything without allowing other citizens’ voice.

The issue at hand is the need to decide on future financial aid to Ethiopia. The British government is believed to “faces a conundrum on how to aid these particular societies in East Africa.” On the other hand, “the people of Ethiopia are desperately in need of assistance” from the other part of the world, but the British government seek not to appear deeply to support the policies and practices of the Ethiopia government currently in power than initially help poor people through Aid Agencies.

Currently, “the debt that Ethiopia government carries is more than 80 percent of GDP,” and yet they are desperately seek more loans and other partial assistance from other nations that are believed to be better off than their nation. “In Nov 2001, Ethiopia qualified for debt relief from the highly indebted poor countries, and In December 2005, the international monetary fund voted to forgiven Ethiopia’s debt.” The current debt load that was proposed by the International Monetary fund, of more than $6 million does not include the portion forgiven.”

Recently, there are two overriding problems that prevent Ethiopian from progressing economically. One of the main is its “crushing external debts,” the other issue is that the government leaded by the military “owns all the lands and provide long-term leases to the people” for various reasons ranging from living, farms, and other Business activities.9 The government ownership of lands on other hands “continues to hamper growth in the industrial sector as entrepreneurs, and is unable to use land as collateral for loans than for their own profits.” In other way, the lack of a developed “financial market further inhibits economic growth” that could increase people’s poor standard of living although Aid agencies are deeply contributed in the Ethiopia development.

The fact that Ethiopia government participated in wars, issues that are believed to be against the will of international community, has increase the odds of poor development. “Famine, drought; civil war, against other bordering nations, and off course HIV/AID in the other hands,” were the main disadvantage that have been compounded in recent years. Although the government of Ethiopia is trying to implement and increase food services for the poor, the fact that it continues to “receives refugees from Neighboring countries” such as Sudan, Somalia had worsen the situation because the more there are inflation of refugees from neighboring countries, the more there will be an increase of food crisis or food shortage in the region. In this way the government of “rich countries wrestle with dilemma; should they continues to funnel their taxpayer’s money to country that routinely jails and torture its critics or should they return off the tap and thereby hurt the blameless poor.”

“Transparency International’s Corruption Perception Index 2006, place Ethiopia in several ties for position article number 130.” The Ethiopia government is known for its corruptions. People continue to suffer while there is “an increase outside aid” that is believe not to reach the needy people whom the world had contributed for.13 When the aids arrive in the “form of cash or cash equivalent,” the government turn everything to its supporters, own projects, and use them for other business while famine, drought and civil war, and war related events driven people from rural sector to urban cities. In the view of Western nations, Ethiopia’s government is not objectionable in its political philosophy and the way they use their political method accordingly. “Though Islam is important in the country, Ethiopia is not predominantly Muslim country that might oppose the view of international community, and it has no patience for terrorism of any kind regardless of the name in which that particular activities has been promoted.” It has help critics to side with the Ethiopia government, however; the fact that “women were burdened by social-cultural and economic discriminatory practices that have been treated as though they were part of natural schemes of things,” had put most social and political activities to regularly question the government of Ethiopia despite it stands on their political view. It has been reported that the “role traditionally ascribe to the Ethiopia’s women was both arduous and exacting.” This means that women are the most victims in most societies of Ethiopia since the start of their independent. In most instances, some who have had the good fortune were the one who had the high ranks in the army/military units, and when they retire, they may be eligible to have loans for the purpose of having small business or farms. Much of women’s work consisted of “carrying loads over a long distance or laboriously grinding corn on the basis of primitive technology.” Therefore, this system also brought many critics to criticize the Ethiopia current government, and Aid agency also question why there are lack of women participation in all aspect such as in developmental organizations, government branches, and other areas.

The “flawed election of 2005 and the violent crisis in the late 2005 combined with the Ethiopia political process in the light of traditions and neo-patrimonial rule is deeply acknowledged to block further democratization in the region.” Although many westerners decry any “cultural change in Global South as being the result of Western imperialism,” there is a great need for Ethiopia population to come to the change that most of African societies had been through. For instance in Uganda, it has been “culturally change” in response to concerted education efforts on the part of the government that has effected real and apparently lasting change in HIV/AIDS situation.17

Ethiopia’s government presently is not in a position to “care and provide more assistance for the plight of its people” than for the wealth building of members of government.18 The British government desire to increase aids to Ethiopia government and help the needy people, but the problem was that it is hard for the needy people to have this aids. Certainly, “the government of Ethiopia depends on the continuations of the $180 million that the Government of Britain gave them in 2006,” and it is clear that Ethiopia needs additional aid because of the current “flood that hit the Jor district of Ethiopia, in western part, and displaced more twenty thousand residences.” However, given its history and place on “the corruption perception index 2006,” it is unlikely that “additional aid” will be increase without assessing the previous records and the evident that the populations that are starved to death had received the previous funds.

Hence, the recommendation for the British government and for the governments of other Western “rich” countries to give aid to Ethiopia is to “maintain historical records of financial assistance, followed with increased financial assistance entrusted to NGOs” to administer and use those assistance aid to the people of Ethiopia through their hands not through government agency of Ethiopia. Currently, not all NGOs are created equally and western government will need to “carry out an investigation and assess” the NGOs that are “operating” within Ethiopia because most of them are not doing what they supposed to do.

Supporting the NGOs that are in turn “providing direct assistance” to the poor people of Ethiopia such as “providing health care, enhance infrastructure, education; make fresh water available and even directly feed and clothe those in need can greatly benefit this approach to ensures that additional funds” are used for their benefits and place the government on notice that its funding could be reduced in subsequent years.

* Peter Reat Gatkuoth is Sociology and Political Science Student in Canada. He is an individual striving for change of right human abuse in the native countries. You can reach him at [email protected] or [email protected]

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