Ethiopia and the European Union held the first of its kind Annual Human Rights and Governance Consultation in Addis Ababa on Thursday the 6th of April 2017. This Consultation is one of the pillars of the Ethio-EU Strategic Engagement signed on the 14th of June 2016 in Brussels.

An Ethiopian delegation led by State Minister of Foreign Affairs Mrs. Hirut Zemene met with EU delegation headed by Mr. Stavros Lambrinidis, European Union Special Representative for Human Rights to exchange on issues such as human rights, good governance, democratic process, economic cooperation, and migration.

State Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mrs. Hirut Zemene noted the strong support Ethiopia has been receiving from the European Union and welcomed the initiative to start the annual dialogue on issues of human rights and democracy.

Briefing the EU delegation on current issues in Ethiopia, State Minister Hirut underlined that the situation in Ethiopia is now calm and the extension of the state of emergency for the next four months is meant to further ensure the prevalence of peace and security in the country, adding that this would bring more guarantee for public safety and security and the respect of citizens’ fundamental rights.

Mr. Stavros Lambrinidis, European Union Special Representative for Human Rights, welcomed the launching of the first annual human rights consultation, noting that this would enhance the respect of fundamental human and democratic rights in Ethiopia.

The Special Representative underscored that the EU is keen to further strengthen its long-standing ties and cooperation with Ethiopia. The EU emphasizes on the need to move forward the partnership with Ethiopia in the spirit of ACP- EUPartnership Cotonou Agreement, he added.

The two sides dealt at length on how to further insure the respect of fundamental human and democratic rights including insuring rule of law, due process of law, promoting youth employment, ensuring respect of child and women rights, widening the political space in Ethiopia and expanding cooperation in the fight against human trafficking.

Ethiopia and the EU have enjoyed over 40 years of strong and enduring partnership and cooperation on a range of bilateral, regional and international issues. The importance of this relationship has been underlined in the Ethio-EU Strategic Engagement (2016). Ethiopia is also an increasingly important partner in terms of migration, as demonstrated by the signature of a Declaration on a Common Agenda on Migration and Mobility (CAMM).

On the 17th of March, Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn met with HRVP Mrs Federica Mogherini in Addis Ababa. Both sides discussed the implementation of the Ethio-EU strategic engagement. The next consultation in this framework is expected to be held soon in Addis Ababa on the topic of combating terrorism and extremism in relation with peace and security.

Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ethiopia

Call for papers of the 11th annual symposium of the Africa Platform of Ghent University Association, entitled “Health in Africa – an interdisciplinary approach“.

This international symposium will be organized at Ghent University on Friday 15 December 2017.

For this edition we welcome paper submissions within any of these five interdisciplinary sub-topics:

• Sub-topic 1: Health care, space and materiality in Africa, past and present
• Sub-topic 2: The quest for healing as a driver in political mobilization and development
• Sub-topic 3: Mental health and disability
• Sub-topic 4: Health system challenges for donor darlings: perspectives from the ground
• Sub-topic 5: Childhood malnutrition in Sub-Saharan Africa

Deadline for the submission of abstracts (max. 500 words): 1 June 2017.

Download the Call for paper (PDF)

Recently, the primary school of Heilig Hart School in Jette (Brussels) organized a special event that intends to educate students about Ethiopian culture and history.

Early in the morning, over 300 elementary students gathered to take part on the presentation given by the Ethiopian Embassy in Brussels.

Students were fascinated about Ethiopia’s culture, history and the uniqueness of its calendar. During the presentation, students were informed about Ethiopia’s civilization dated back to 3,000 BC, the victory of Adwa and how it manages to live in peace and harmony having over 80 languages and 200 dialects.

The World Bank’ Board of Executive Directors approved an International Development Association credit of 50 million dollars for the National Quality Infrastructure (NQI) Development Project in Ethiopia, aimed at improving the competitiveness of Ethiopian industries.

It will support the Ethiopian government’s efforts to develop the country’s standardisation practice, metrology, accreditation, and conformity assessment services, inspection, testing, and certification.

A Press Statement said on Friday last week that a well-functioning NQI would enhance firms’ competitiveness and opportunities for expansion into new export markets by offering them proof that products and services adhere to quality requirements. This would also encourage investors to upgrade their products and quality of services to meet market requirements imposed by trading partners, consumers, and regulatory authorities.

This, it said, was particularly important for Ethiopian manufacturers currently facing a number of challenges in meeting quality requirements needed to access developed markets, such as the United States, European Union, and Asia, which require stricter quality checks and standards than the prevailing domestic ones. The project will focus on three value chains central to the government’s industrial policy to increase its export base, including: leather and leather products; textile and garments; and agro-processed products.

The Board of Executive Directors also approved a new 150 million dollars credit for a project to increase the efficiency of trade logistics in Ethiopia.

The project will focus on improving the Modjo Dry Port, a key transportation hub that handles 95 percent of Ethiopia’s trade, but which is a major bottleneck on the vital Ethio-Djibouti trade corridor.

This project will support investments in physical infrastructure and ICT systems, as well as regulatory improvements which will increase exports, generate jobs, and raise incomes of producers and traders.

Ms. Carolyn Turk, World Bank Country Director, Ethiopia said: “The success of Ethiopia’s large-scale investment in industrial parks and the new rail line to Djibouti will depend on their connectivity to different logistics nodes along trade corridors.”

It was consistent with Ethiopia’s Logistics Strategy for Modjo to evolve from being a single-user dry port that focuses on customs clearance, to a multi-user, multi-purpose facility, where third party logistics providers gather together to provide modern services.

A World Bank official said: “By enhancing the performance of the Ethio-Djibouti corridor through improvements in the range and quality of logistics services at Modjo Dry Port, and reducing burdensome regulations in customs, trade finance and trade facilitation, the government will be able to reap the benefits of trade that help to drive growth and reduce poverty.”

The press statements said both projects would support the World Bank Group’s twin goals of reducing extreme poverty and promoting shared prosperity by supporting economic growth.

Source: MFA Ethiopia

The Executive Secretary of the IGAD, Engineer Mahboub Maalim, and the Director for East Africa Division of Germany, Dr. Ralf-Mathias Mohs, signed a grant agreement for 36 million Euros on Friday last week (March 31). This is to provide for the strengthening of responses to drought migration.

The funds are divided into two parts, 20 million euros for financial cooperation and 16 million euros for technical cooperation. These funds will go towards strengthening IGAD’s coordination role in the migration policy, management coordination in line with the Regional Migration Policy Framework as well as other continental and international frameworks.

They will strengthen IGAD’s capabilities and role within the Regional Migration Fund, including the capacity for knowledge management, by creating systemized methods and monitoring of best practices and performance compliance with the national and regional migration policies. They will also enhance and strengthen the IGAD Regional Consultative Process and IGAD’s positioning within global and regional processes such as the New York Declaration on Global Compact on Migration and Refugees and the Khartoum Process. They will allow IGAD to strengthen its facilitation role to promote both comprehensive regional cooperation on migration routes and effective cross-border cooperation among the member states.

The agreement came after a three-day experts’ consultation process.

Source: MFA Ethiopia

On the 22nd of March 2017, the Unrepresented Nations and Peoples Organization (UNPO) organized a conference at the European Parliament in Brussels entitled “Women’s Inferno in Ethiopia: The Plight of Women from Ogaden, Oromo, Benishangul-Gumuz, Gambella & Sidama”.

During this event, several individuals and organizations accused the Ethiopian government of being oppressive towards women. Representatives of the Ethiopian government participated in the meeting and provided facts showing that these accusations were false and that the government was making huge efforts to empower women in the society and in the economy, and to stop harmful practices against women.

However, the report published on the website of UNPO about the event fails to mention the statements by the representatives of the Ethiopian government. Our Embassy explicitly asked UNPO to report also about the testimonies given by Ethiopian representatives during the event. But this request was rejected on the motive that the report on UNPO’s website should be kept short.

It is unfortunate that the organisers of the event chose to report only about contributions fitting their one-sided vision of the situation, while omitting the statements that were not fitting their point of view. This not only lacks basic fairness, but also compromises further much-needed dialogue on this issue. 

Because UNPO refused to publish the point of view of the Embassy as it was expressed during the event, we publish the following text explaining the efforts of the Ethiopian government to improve the condition of women in several areas. Although a lot remains to be done on this topic, it is obvious that notable progress was achieved in the past decade.

Ethiopia’s open pledge to support full participation of women in society and defend their rights

Ensuring the full participation of women in the Ethiopian society is a core concern of the Ethiopian government and the society at large. To reach this objective, the government is actively working to bringing an end to all harmful practices against women, improve women’s health and providing social and financial support to empower them.

A new Federal Family Code, based on the principle of gender equality came into effect in July 2000. This family law was the first of its kind in the history of the nation. It cemented the irreversible equality of women not only before the law but also in the entire socio-economic fabric of the country. The Ethiopian Revised Penal code (2005) invariably criminalizes domestic violence and harmful traditional practices including early marriage, abduction and female genital mutilation.

Some key data are encouraging, such as women’s participation in the political life of the country. 38% of members of the Ethiopian national parliament are women. As a comparison, this proportion lays at 39% for Belgium and 26% for France.

In 2005, the Government upgraded the Office of Women’s Affairs in the Prime Minister’s office to the level of a full Ministry of Women’s Affairs with the mandate of ensuring that due consideration was given to gender issues across all sectoral policies.

The Government has also incorporated gender issues in different national policies including health, education and training, HIV/AIDS, population and other sector policies.

The formulation of the National Action Plan on Gender and Development ensures that gender is fully considered and incorporated in all the annual work plans; and the establishment of a gender focal person in each of the regional bureaus is evidence of the Government’s commitment to gender equality.

During the 2017 celebration of the International Women’s Day, Demitu Hambissa, Minister of Women and Children Affairs, announced that a government’s women’s development package had been prepared by incorporating new ideas so as to boost participation and benefits of women.

The country’s achievements and strong commitment for future political actions is demonstrated by its active dedication on improving five key issues for women: Ending Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) (1), Improving Maternal and Reproductive Health (2), Improving Access to Education for Girls and Women (3) Deploying Health Extension Workers across the counrty (4) and Supporting Women in Economy and Entrepreneurship (5)

1. Ending Female Genital Mutilation

The Government of Ethiopia has taken strategic and programmatic measures to eliminate FGM, first through the criminalization of the practice in the Ethiopian Penal Code, which was ratified in 2005. The Government has since shown a ground-breaking commitment to end FGM and child marriage by the year 2025

At the Girl’s Summit in London in 2014, the Ethiopian Government represented by his Deputy Prime Minister Demeke Mekonnen, showed his position towards FGM by saying: “Our approach puts girls at the heart of our commitment, working closely with them, their families and communities, to end these practices for good and break the cycle of harmful traditional practices.” He said that Ethiopia would achieve its goal by 2025 through a strategic, multi-sectoral approach and highlighted four areas where the government has promised to take action:

1. Through incorporating relevant indicators in the National Plan and the National Data Collection Mechanisms including the 2015 Demographic and Health Survey to measure the situation of FGM and Child, Early and Forced Marriage (CEFM) and to establish a clear benchmark

2. Through enhancing the coordination and effectiveness of the National Alliance to End Child Marriage and the National Network to End FGM by engaging different actors with key expertise

3. Through strong, accountable mechanisms for effective law enforcement

Ethiopia has witnessed a steady reduction in FGM nationally over the past decade: as a whole, 74 percent of women and girls were mutilated according to 2005 statistics. A decade later, national prevalence of FGM had dropped to 65 percent. Mentalities are also evolving. According to a Unicef study, almost 97 percent of the people favored FGM in the southern region of Kembatta-Tembaro in 1999. By 2008, less than 5 percent supported the practice.

Moreover, the Ethiopian government is working hand in hand with UNICEF and UNFPA (United Nations Population Fund) in many areas in Ethiopia for the abandonment of FGM. One of the exemplary programme is located in Afar Region, which recorded pronounced success in facilitating declaration of abandonment of the practice in 6 districts in Afar Region, and eventually expanding to other districts in Afar and other regions.

2. Improving maternal and reproductive health

Maternal and reproductive health is an area were Ethiopia recorded its most stunning success.

Maternal, new born and child health (MNCH) is one of Ethiopia’s priority health programmes. For the period 1990 to 2013, WHO data show maternal mortality declined by 70%, from 1400 to 420 per 100,000 live births.

In terms of family planning, in 2000, only 6% of married women were using modern family planning services. Today, 42% are using modern family planning methods. Infant mortality rate fell by two-thirds from 1990 to 2015.

3. Improving access to education for girls and women

Although Ethiopian women have a low literacy rates, over the course of the last decade, the country has made strides in educating women between the ages of 15 and 19, where it achieved a 70% literacy rate by 2014.

Primary school. Though important disparities remain between primary school attendance of boys and girls in Ethiopia, primary school enrollment among Ethiopian girls increased by 42 percentage points, rising from 41 percent in 2000 to 83 percent in 2014.

Secondary school. While the gender gap has not been fully eliminated at the secondary education level, girls’ enrollment is quickly catching up. In 2008-09, the gap for grades 9–10 was 3.1 percentage points, with boys having a higher enrollment percentage than girls. For the years 2011-12 and 2012-13, however, girls’ enrollment rate had overtaken that of boys.

Higher education. Female enrollment in Technical and Vocational training remains almost equal to men’s, however the gap remains important in universities.

4. Health extension workers & Health Development Army

Starting 2009, 39,000 female health government-salaried extension workers were trained and deployed throughout the country. They are high school graduates with one-year training in essential health skills, recruited from the same communities where they go back to serve. Introducing a female health extension worker in every village has helped the country improve health outcomes.

In 2011, an initiative called the ‘Health Development Army’ was launched. This is an substantial team of three million women volunteers across the country, that is organised in small groups, to talks about their health, about the health of their children and how they can rally support to improve the health of the community members. This helped to increase the uptake of critical services around the country, especially as only 10% of Ethiopian women give birth within health facilities, according to the 2011 Ethiopia’s latest demographic health survey results. The figure is nevertheless a significant improvement on 6% in the previous survey, in 2005. The ministry is seeking to increase the number of women delivering in hospitals by tapping into those seeking antenatal care and providing sustained family planning services at the district level.

5. Empowering women in economy and entrepreneurship

During the first GTP period (2010- 2014), over 11 million women had received certificates of ownership for the farmlands they had legally owned and some 8.6 million women were able to engage in farm and off farm activities to improve their economic status and sustain the well-being of their families.

More than 6.6 million women were provided with access to credit and saving facilities in which they were able to save 2.2 billion birr in total. A total of 3.4 million women had access to energy saving technology which had enabled them to save time and improve their health.

Launched in 2013, the Women Entrepreneurship Development Project is the first financial intermediary loan (or two step loan) specifically targeting women in Africa. Each month, it provides about USD 2 million in loans to growth-oriented women entrepreneurs, financing access and training opportunities to companies owned or co-owned by women entrepreneurs in major cities with active economies in Ethiopia. It has the objectives of increasing profits for the target companies and increasing employment, thereby contributing to women’s social empowerment and development in the private sector. This project is co-financed by the World Bank and other bilateral donors. For women entrepreneurs, it is particularly difficult to find financing since houses and land, which are usually required for loan collateral, traditionally tend to be registered in the names of men in Ethiopia.

The first results of this initiative are encouraging. Two years of project’s implementation, more than 3,000 women entrepreneurs took loans and over 4,500 participated in business training. Participating female enterprises grew profits by 24% and employment by 17%, and repayment of loans stands at 99.4%. Moreover, data from loan applications indicate that enterprises will create 6000 new jobs by 2017, the majority of which will be for women.

Sources

http://www.csmonitor.com/World/Africa/2014/0725/In-Ethiopia-family-planning-increasingly-an-article-of-faith-video

https://www.devex.com/news/what-it-means-to-create-a-women-s-health-development-army-88240

http://www.mfa.gov.et/web/guest/news/-/asset_publisher/5jKH9lQTWEUf/content/prime-minister-hailemariam-at-the-launch-of-the-global-strategy-for-women-children-and-adolescent-health

http://www.mfa.gov.et/news/-/asset_publisher/5jKH9lQTWEUf/content/high-level-roundtable-discussion-on-financing-health-and-education-girl-s-driving-development-in-new-york

https://www.jica.go.jp/english/news/press/2016/170227_01.html

http://www.afro.who.int/en/ethiopia/country-programmes/topics/4459-maternal-health.html

http://allafrica.com/stories/201601191548.html

http://www.aho.afro.who.int/profiles_information/index.php/Ethiopia:MDG_Goal_3:_Promote_gender_equality_and_empower_women

http://www.who.int/workforcealliance/knowledge/case_studies/Ethiopia.pdf

http://owsd.ictp.it/sites/default/files/National%20Assessment%20on%20Gender%20and%20STI%20-%20Ethiopia.pdf

http://allafrica.com/stories/201601271372.html

On Saturday 1st of April 2017, members of the Ethiopian diaspora living in the Netherlands gathered in Rotterdam. The participants established an Ethiopian Renaissance Council aimed at mobilizing Ethiopians living in the Netherlands to contribute to the renaissance and image building of the country.

H.E. Teshome Toga, Ambassador of the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia to the Benelux and Baltic countries and to the European Union, briefed the participants about the latest developments in Ethiopia. During the program, the participants also raised questions and discussed issues related to the development of Ethiopia on its way to renaissance. During the meeting, the sixth anniversary of the start of the construction of the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam was also celebrated.

Finally, the guests enjoyed some Ethiopian traditional food and music.

See all the pictures on Facebook

See all the pictures on Facebook

Ethiopia’s House of Peoples’ Representatives voted to extend the State of Emergency by four months on Wednesday (March 29), passing a bill entitled “State of Emergency Proclamation for the Maintenance of Public Peace and Security Renewal”.

This extends the proclamation decreed in October last year. The Minister of Defense and Secretary of the Command Post responsible for enforcing the State of Emergency, Siraj Fegessa, told Parliament that the Command Post, chaired by Prime Minister Hailemariam Dessalegn, wanted to see the emergency decree extended to reinforce “the peace and stability which has been gained since Parliament declared the State of the Emergency.

The State of Emergency has been amended twice since October, with the lifting of the curfews imposed on areas close to industrial sites and major development projects. More recently, it has also ended the arrest of suspects without court warrants, and lifted travel restrictions for diplomats.

The vote this week follows the Prime Minister’s statement to Parliament two weeks ago that “the majority of people surveyed by the government wanted to see the emergency law extended.”

The European Union Business Forum in Ethiopia (EUBFE) celebrated its official launching on Wednesday, following its formal registration as ‘Foreign Investors Association’ under Ethiopian law.

The registration will facilitate the work towards achieving EUBFE’s main mission: to improve the business environment in Ethiopia in order to enhance commercial and economic ties between the EU and Ethiopia.

This article was published on the 27th of March 2017 on the website of NABC

The outlook for Ethiopia remains positive, Ethiopian Minister Arkebe Oqubay, Special Advisor to the Prime Minister, has said. The minister was speaking during the ‘Doing Business in Ethiopia Seminar’ that was organised by the Netherlands-African Business Council on behalf of the Ethiopian Embassy in Brussels and the Common Fund for Commodities. 

The Ethiopian delegation, led by Dr. Oqubay, informed the 70 participants of the seminar about recent developments in the Ethiopia, both economically and socially. Dr. Oqubay recommended Dutch companies to set up enterprises at the Hawassa Industrial Park. “In 2025 we want to be the largest manufacturing hub in Africa. We have to create millions of jobs for our fast-growing population,” said Dr. Oqubay.

The minister lauded the recent cooperation between The Netherlands and Ethiopia. “Together with the Dutch, we have built a horticulture sector within ten years,” Mr Oqubay said. “We want to capitalize on this and we are inviting more companies to invest in horticulture in Ethiopia.”

‘Unrest overcome’

The Ethiopian Government is on an international investment drive. Before their visit to The Netherlands, trade delegations visited Hong Kong and the United Kingdom. This drive comes roughly half a year after a period of social unrest that took place in Ethiopia in September and October, during which dissenting groups took to the streets and attacked foreign firms, including six Dutch flower farms.

Minister Oqubay gave his view of the situation. “The expectance of the youth is high,” he said, referring to the protestors. Admitting that “democracy is a major challenge,” the minister asked for patience, saying that Western countries have experimented with democracy for hundreds of years, compared to Ethiopia that saw its first constitution only in 1995. “I firmly believe that an unfortunate incident like this won’t happen again,” Dr. Oqubay assured, adding that “the affected farms have received a certain compensation.”

Tax holidays for flower firms

The Ethiopian delegation promotes four different regions that have been earmarked for large-scale horticultural activity: the Alage, Bahir Dar, Arbaminch and Hawassa Hubs. The total size of the areas ranges from 900 to 2.500 hectares of land. In the Bahir Dar region, the government promises that land will be provided free for lease for 30 years, while other incentives for Horticulture hubs include Zero tax on export and an exemption from income tax for 8 to 10 years. NABC is ready to continue working with the Ethiopian Embassy and is considering an outgoing trade mission to the country.

This article was published on the 27th of March 2017 on the website of NABC