US State Department Issues Another Travel Warning for Ethiopia

The Department of State warns U.S. citizens of the risks of travel to Ethiopia due to the potential for civil unrest and arbitrary detention since a state of emergency was imposed in October 2016. 

The Government of Ethiopia extended the state of emergency on March 15, 2017, and there continue to be reports of unrest, particularly in Gondar and Bahir Dar in Amhara State. This replaces the Travel Warning of December 6, 2016. 

The Government of Ethiopia routinely restricts or shuts downs internet, cellular data, and phone services, impeding the U.S. Embassy’s ability to communicate with U.S. citizens in Ethiopia and limiting the Embassy’s ability to provide consular services. Additionally, the Government of Ethiopia does not inform the U.S. Embassy of detentions or arrests of U.S. citizens in Ethiopia.

Avoid demonstrations and large gatherings, continuously assess your surroundings, and evaluate your personal level of safety. Remember that the government may use force and live fire in response to demonstrations, and that even gatherings intended to be peaceful can be met with a violent response or turn violent without warning. U.S. citizens in Ethiopia should monitor their security situation and have contingency plans in place in case you need to depart suddenly.

Given the state of emergency and the unpredictable security situation, U.S. citizens in Ethiopia should have alternate communication plans in place, and let family and friends know that communication may be limited while you are in Ethiopia. The Department of State strongly advises U.S. citizens to register your mobile number with the U.S. Embassy to receive security information via text or SMS, in addition to enrolling in the Smart Traveler Enrollment Program (STEP).

For further information:

• See the State Department’s travel website for the Worldwide Caution, Travel Warnings, Travel Alerts, and Country Specific Information for Ethiopia.
• Enroll in the Smart Traveler Enrollment Program (STEP) to receive security messages and make it easier to locate you in an emergency.
• Contact the U.S. Embassy in Addis Ababa, located at Entoto Street, P.O. Box 1014, by email at AddisACS@state.gov, or at +251-11-130-6000 Monday-Thursday, 7:30 a.m.-5:00 p.m. For after-hours emergencies, U.S. citizens should call +251-11-130-6911 or 011-130-6000 and ask to speak with the duty officer.
• Call 1-888-407-4747 toll-free in the United States and Canada or 1-202-501-4444 from other countries from 8:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. Eastern Standard Time, Monday through Friday (except U.S. federal holidays).
• Follow us on Twitter and Facebook.

US Department of State

Home » News » Ethiopia: US should drop out of UN Human Rights Council

Ethiopia: US should drop out of UN Human Rights Council

Posted by: ecadforum  June 9, 2017

by Alemayehu G. Mariam, The Hill, Opinion Contributor

Last week, Nikki Haley, the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, in an op-ed piece, openly questioned whether the U.N. “Human Rights Council actually supports human rights or is merely a showcase for dictatorships that use their membership to whitewash brutality.” She charged, “The victims of the world’s most egregious human rights violations are ignored by the very organization that is supposed to protect them.”

In a blunt speech to the Human Rights Council (HRC) in Geneva earlier this week, Haley reminded members, “The United States is looking carefully at this Council and our participation in it.” She declared, “Being a member of this council is a privilege, and no country who is a human rights violator should be allowed a seat at the table.” Secretary Rex Tillerson in March also underscored the need for considerable reform in the HRC to ensure continued U.S. participation.

source :ecadforum

Ethiopia warns emergency drought aid to run out next month

WARDER, Ethiopia (Reuters) – Ethiopia will run out of emergency food aid for 7.8 million people hit by severe drought by the end of this month, the government and humanitarian groups said.

Successive failed rains blamed by meteorologists on fluctuations in ocean temperatures known as the Indian Ocean Dipole (IOD) have created a series of severe back-to-back droughts in Ethiopia and the Horn of Africa region.

In Ethiopia, the number of people now critically short of food is expected to rise by at least two million by next month, according to figures compiled by the government and its humanitarian partners.

Donors, international aid groups and the government say existing food aid for the current 7.8 million will run out as funds are critically short this year with Ethiopia receiving slightly more than half of the $930 million to meet requirements until July.

“We are in a dire situation,” John Aylieff, the World Food Programme’s representative in Ethiopia, said on Friday during a field trip to Warder in southeast Ethiopia, one of Ethiopia’s hardest-hit areas.

“We’ve got food running out nationally at the end of June. That means the 7.8 million people who are in need of humanitarian food assistance in Ethiopia will see that distribution cut abruptly at the end of June,” he added.

TREELESS PLAINS

Humanitarian groups fear donor fatigue is weighing on efforts to meet requirements.

Famine in northeast Nigeria, together with South Sudan, Yemen and Somalia, constitute the worst humanitarian crisis the world has faced since 1945, the U.N. said in March.

“There is donor fatigue because there are a lot of crises,” said Ahmed Al Meraikhi, the U.N. Secretary-General’s humanitarian envoy.

Addis Ababa allocated $272 million extra in 2015 and a further $109 million last year from its own coffers to deal with the drought.

However the government said it faced difficulties in sustaining similar targets this year.

“Last year, we spent a lot of money to confront this type of drought. It is very challenging,” said Mitiku Kassa, head of Ethiopia’s National Disaster Risk Management Commission.

Across the Horn of Africa, close to 17 million people need humanitarian aid due to drought, including 2.6 million in Kenya and 3.2 million in Somalia, according to the U.N.

In the treeless plains littered with makeshift plastic homes in Ethiopia’s Warder, bordering Somalia, displaced and destitute pastoralists said their entire herds had been decimated.

“We have had droughts before, but this time we have drought, diarrhea and disease,” said Ardo Yusuf, a 49-year old mother who said her entire livestock had succumbed to illness.

የሰኔ-አንድ-ሰማዕታት-አደራ-በትግላችን

ሰኔ አንድ በኢትዮጵያ የሰማዕታት ታሪክ ልዩ ስፍራ የሚሰጠው ነው። ሰኔ 1 ቀን 1997 ዓም እንደ የካቲት 12 ቀን 1929 ዓም ሁሉ ፣ መብታቸውን የጠየቁ፣ በባርነት፣ በጭቆና እና በዘር መድሎ አንኖርም ያሉ ኢትዮጵያውያን በመለስ ዜናዊ ትዕዛዝ ደማቸው እንደ ጎርፍ እንዲፈስ የተደረገበት ዕለት ነው። በየካቲት 12 እና በሰኔ 1 መካከል ልዩነት ቢኖር፣ የገዳዮች ማንነት ነው። የካቲት 12 ቀን 2009 ዓም የአገራቸውን በጣሊያን መወረር የተቃወሙ የቁርጥ ቀን ልጆች በፈጸሙት ታሪካዊ የአልገዛም ባይነት ተጋድሎ ፣ በአረመኔው ግራዚያኒ ትእዛዝ ተጨፍጭፈዋል። ሰኔ 1 ቀን 1997 ዓም ደግሞ የጭቆናን ቀንበር ሰብረው ለመውጣት ትግል ያደረጉ፣ በአገራቸው ዲሞክራሲያዊ ስርዓት ተገንብቶ ማየት የሚሹ፣ በግንቦት 7 1997 ዓም ምርጫ ወላጆቻቸው የሰጡት ድምጽ እንዲከበርላቸው የጠየቁ እንቦቀቅላዎች፣ አገር በቀል በሆነው የግራዚያኒ የመንፈስ ልጅ መለስ ዜናዊ ትዕዛዝ፣ ከ40 በላይ ወጣቶች በአደባባይ የተጨፈጨፉበት፣ ብዙዎች ለአካል ጉዳትና ለእስር የተዳረጉበት ነው።

እነዚህ ሰማዕታት የህይወትና የአካል መስዋትነት ሲከፍሉ በህይወት ላለነው ታላቅ አደራ አስቀምጠውልን ማለፋቸውን ምንጊዜውም ልብ ልንል ይገባል። ሰማዕታቱ “ኢትዮጵያችን ዘረኝነትን፣ ጭቆናንና አፈናን አሸንፋ፣ በዲሞክራሲ፣ በፍትህና በነጻነት የምትመራ አገር እስከምትሆን ድረስ ትግላችሁን ቀጥሎ፣ ያን ጊዜ የእኛ ደም ከንቱ ሆኖ አየቀርም” የሚል አደራ አስቀምጠውልን አልፈዋል። ይህ ታሪካዊ አደራ ዛሬ ዛሬ እየተደረገ ላለው የሞት ሸረት ትግል የማንቂያ ደወል ሆኖ እያገለገለ ነው። ዛሬ በመላ አገራችን የተቀጣጠለ የመጣው የነጻነት ትግል ለእነዚህ ሰማዕታት ትልቅ ርካታን የሚሰጥ ነው። በእያንዳንዱ ቀን በምናደረገው ትግል ውስጥ ሰማዕታቱ አብረው ይዘከራሉ።

የሰኔ 1 ሰማዕታትን አደራ ጠብቀው የተጓዙ በርካታ ወጣቶች የህይወት መስዋትነት ከፍለዋል፣ እየከፈሉም ይገኛሉ። ከሰኔ 1 ቀን 1997 ዓም ወዲህ በማላ አገሪቱ በሺዎች የሚቆጠሩ ዜጎች ለነጻነታቸው የህይወት መስዋትነት ከፍለው። በአወዳይ፣ አምቦ፣ ሃሮማያ፣ አርሲ፣ ጎንደር፣ ጎጃም እና በሌሎች በርካታ የአገሪቱ ክፍሎች በተካሄዱ የነጻነት ትግሎች በአንድ አመት ጊዜ ውስጥ ብቻ ከ2 ሺ ያላነሱ ሰዎች በአረመኔው አገዛዝ በግፍ ተገድለዋል። በሺዎች የሚቆጠሩ የአካል ጉዳት ደርሶባቸዋል። በየእስር ቤቱ እየማቀቁ የሚገኙትንማ ቤት ይቁጠረው። የሰኔ ሰማዕታት የለኮሱት ትግል ፣ አደራቸውን በተቀበሉ ወጣቶች እየጎመራ ሲሄድ ስንመለከት ፣ የሰማዕታቱ ደም ከንቱ አለመሆኑን ብቻ ሳይሆን፣ አደራውን በተቀበሉ ወጣቶችም እንድንኮራ አድርጎናል።

ትግል እንደ ዱላ ቅብብሎሽ አንዱ ለሌላው እያስረከበው የሚሄድ ነገር ነው። አንድን ትግል አንድ ግለሰብ ወይም የአንድ ትውልድ አባላት ብቻ ከዳር ያደርሱታል ብሎ ማመን ስህተት ነው። የሰኔ ሰማዓታቱ የትግሉ ሻማ ለዚህ ትውልድ አስረክበዋል፣ ይህ ትውልድ ደግሞ ሻመው እንዳይጠፋ ብቻ ሳይሆን ይበልጥ እንዲቀጣጠል አድርጎ ለሚመጣው ትውልድ ያስረክባል፣ የሚመጣው ትውልድም ለቀጣዩ ትውልድ እያስረከበ ይሄዳል። የህወሃትን ዘረኛና አምባገነን አገዛዝ ማስወገድ ከትግሉ ግቦች ውስጥ አንዱ ቢሆንም፣ በዚህ አገዛዝ ቦታ ላይ የሚተካውን ዲሞክራሲያዊ ስርዓት መፍጠር ፣ የተፈጠረው ስርዓት በጠንካራ አለት ላይ እንዲቀመጥና ቁመናውንና ጥንካሬውን ከጊዜ ወደ ጊዜ እያደገ እንዲሄድ ማድረግ የትውልዶች ስራ ነው። የዚህ ትውልድ የቤት ስራ የህወሃትን አገዛዝ አስወግዶ በምትኩ የዲሞክራሲያዊ ስርዓትን መሰረት መጣል ነው ብሎ ድርጅታችን አርበኞች ግንቦት7 በጽኑ ያምናል። ለዚህ ስርዓት መመስረትም አስፈላጊውን መስዋትነት እየከፈለ ይገኛል፤ ይህ ስርዓት እውን እስኪሆንም መከፈል ያለበትን መስዋትነት ሁሉ ይከፍላል። አርበኞች ግንቦት7 የሰኔ ሰማዕታት ያስረከቡትን አደራ ምንጊዜም ጠብቆ አደራቸውን ዳር ለማድረስ የሚተጋ ድርጅት ነው። ሰኔ 1 በአርበኞች ግንቦት7 ታጋዮች ዘንድ ልዩ ስፍራ የሚይዝ ቀን እንደመሆኑ፣ በዚህ ቀን ሁሉም ታጋይ የትግሉን ቃል ኪዳን ያድሳል። ሰማዕታቱንም ይዘክራል።

የሰኔ ሰማዕታት አደራውን ለሁሉም ኢትዮጵያዊ ያስረከቡት በመሆኑ፣ ሁሉም ኢትዮጵያዊ በዚህ አደራ ዙሪያ ታቅፎ ትግሉን ማካሄድ አለበት። የህወሃትን ዘረኛና ጨፍጫፊ አገዛዝ ለማስወገድ ብቻ ሳይሆን፣ በተነቀለው ጉቶ ላይ የዲሞክራሲያንና የነጻነትን ችግኝ ለመትከልና ለማሳደግ የመላው ኢትዮጵያዊን ርብርብ የሚጠይቅ በመሆኑ፣ ሁላችንም የሰኔ ሰማዕታትን አደራ እያስታወስን እጅ ለእጅ ተያይዘን ትግላችንን አጠናክረን እንድንቀጥል ዛሬም አገራዊ ጥሪ እናቀርባለን።
ክብር ለሰኔ አንድ ሰማዕታት! ድል ለኢትዮጵያ ነጻነት ወዳዶች ሁሉ!

ESAT News (June 9, 2017)

ESAT News (June 9, 2017) The annual Fragile States Index (FSI) compiled by the Fund for Peace revealed that Ethiopia has become the most-worsened fragile country over the past year owing to economic disparities, poor access to internet and communications as well as failing health infrastructure, among others. “Ethiopia’s overall Fragile States Index (FSI) score has been incrementally worsening over the past decade, moving from 95.3 in 2007, to a score of 101.1 in this year’s 2017 index, with Ethiopia — along with Mexico — being the most-worsened country over the past year,” the 2017 Fragile States Index (FSI). [  293 more words ]

https://ethsat.com/2017/06/ethiopia-worsened-fragile-state-index-reveals/