IRR News reports on the recent inquest into the death of an Ethiopian asylum seeker found hanged in September 2004, just hours after being taken to hospital by friends because he had suicidal feelings.

More than 23,000 people have fled their homes in southern Ethiopia following clashes triggered by disputes over land ownership between neighbouring ethnic groups in the area, according to Oxfam. The fighting, which pits the Guji community against the Borena erupted about two weeks ago in the territory between the towns of Yabello and Finchewa, some 400 km south of the Ethiopian capital, Addis Ababa.

At least 100 people have died and thousands of others have been displaced during clashes over disputed land in southern Ethiopia during the past two weeks, humanitarian sources said. "The conflict started after the Guji, whose woreda [district] has recently been expanded by the government, started to claim land that previously belonged to Borena."

The Green Awards Programme gave awards to organizations, associations and individuals for their significant contributions to environmental protection activities at the national level. The awardees were organizations, associations and individuals engaged in soil conservation, afforestation, biodiversity development, and waste recycling among others.

This paper examines the Ethiopian Government's emphasis on the intensification of agricultural activities in order to increase livelihood options and provide better safety nets for the poor (e.g. through food or cash-for- work programmes). The report explores the impact on child labour and child schooling of public policy interventions formulated within the PRSP, and looks at how changes are mediated through gender and rural/urban differences.

This is an exciting opportunity to work with a young, ambitious women's health organisation, and have a real impact to reduce maternal mortality in developing countries. The post-holder will coordinate the development and evaluation of Maternity Worldwide's ambitious £349,000 Safe Motherhood Programme funded by the UK Big Lottery Fund. The programme aims to reduce maternal mortality by the empowerment of local women and communities, improving access and communications and providing skilled obstetric and midwifery care.

Three more websites (Ethiomedia.com, Freeourleaders.org and Nazret.com) have become inaccessible within Ethiopia. Information minister Hailu Berhan insisted that his government was not involved but he failed to explain why almost all of the opposition websites suddenly cannot be accessed.

A Regional Network of Women for Greater East Africa, Women Direct, has urged women to actively involve in providing transformative leadership. Speaking at a workshop organized under the theme "Beyond Numbers: Towards Transformative Leadership" Network Executive Director Dr. Margaret Jesang Hutchinson said that women should participate in providing trasformative leadership at home, in farming and other workplaces so as to address the pressing challenges facing women.

"For the most part, sub-Saharan African nations haven’t focused their resources on filtering internet content. Ethiopia, however, appears to be pioneering a change for the worse," reports the blog My Heart's in Accra. "Several bloggers in Ethiopia have reported that all Blogspot blogs have been blocked within Ethiopia for the past few days. Many Ethiopian bloggers - both inside the country and in the diaspora - use Blogspot/Blogger to host their blogs - as a result, this block prevents Ethiopians from accessing several sites highly critical of the government."

A verdict has been postponed until next year in the 12-year genocide trial of Ethiopia's former Marxist ruler. Mengistu Haile Mariam is accused of killing tens of thousands of people after he ousted Emperor Haile Selassie. In a notorious campaign - known as the Red Terror - thousands of suspected opponents were rounded up, executed then tossed onto the streets. The ex-leader fled to Zimbabwe in 1991 and is being tried in absentia but 35 members of his junta are present.

Ethiopia's largest opposition party has announced it has formed an alliance with four rebel groups. The new Alliance Freedom and Democracy (AFD) says it will focus on peaceful struggle against the government but the armed groups will still stage attacks. Several leaders of the Coalition for Unity and Democracy (CUD) are on trial for treason following protests over last year's disputed elections. The CUD says the polls were rigged - charges rejected by the government.

On 28 May, the people of Ethiopia will celebrate National Day, marking the anniversary of Ethiopia’s independence from the injustice and lawlessness that characterised the previous military dictatorship. While saluting the people and the Government of Ethiopia for the gains they have made over the last 15 years, CIVICUS: World Alliance for Citizen Participation has an initiated an appeal reminding the Ethiopian government of the commitments it made to foster democracy, freedom, development and human rights. The draft letter urges the government to re-open civic space for the civil society movement in Ethiopia, and to release civil society activists currently on trial for treason. We invite both organisations and individuals to sign-on to the appeal by Tuesday, 23 May 2006. For more information, or to sign-on, please email [email][email protected]

Education International is deeply concerned at the actions taken by the Ethiopian authorities to dismantle the Ethiopia Teachers’ Association (ETA), which has been representing the legitimate interests of the teaching profession in that country since 1949. While Ethiopia has never been a haven for independent trade union activities, it can be said that in recent months EI’s Ethiopian affiliate has become the target of escalating repression which is clearly aimed at bringing about the total destruction of the union.

The Security Council on Monday (15 May) gave Ethiopia and Eritrea until the end of May to meet its demands that they accept the border drawn for them by outside experts and end all restrictions on UN peacekeepers. Should they fail to meet the UN demands, a resolution adopted unanimously by the 15-nation council pledged to quickly scale back the UN force preserving a shaky peace between the two former foes.

People living in the rural highlands of Ethiopia suffer from land degradation, low agricultural productivity and poverty. Finding solutions to these connected problems requires policymakers to understand the potential impacts of different interventions.

The amount of funds allocated for education and health in the federal and regional budgets in Ethiopia is not children-oriented and the quality is poor, according to a recent research under taken by Save the Children Sweden.

Amnesty International today (2 May) called on the Ethiopian government to release immediately and unconditionally several opposition Members of Parliament-elect, human rights defenders and journalists whose treason trial begins today, saying that they are "prisoners of conscience who have not used or advocated violence."

A scarf tied around her head and her five-month pregnancy just showing under a robe, Serkalem Fassil appeared shy and scared as she talked about life in Kality Prison. Her English is not good, she explained, but yes, the baby is OK. And yes, she added softly, it’s very hard in Kality. Fassil, 26, who worked on three Amharic-language weeklies, is among at least 14 journalists held in this crowded, sweltering prison alongside dozens of political opposition leaders. They are being tried jointly for genocide and treason, charges that could bring life imprisonment or the death penalty. The journalists are the most notable example of a government crackdown on the press that began in November when post-election street protests drew a show of official force, violence flared, and more than 40 died.
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* Trial of opposition journalists resumes

The Omo National Park in Southern Ethiopia is being taken over by the Dutch conservation organization, African Parks Foundation (APF) and 50,000 people are in danger of being displaced and/or of losing access to their vital subsistence resources, according to the World Rainforest Movement.

Agricultural research in Ethiopia has not achieved a consistent increase in crop productivity over the past 40 years. Ethiopia is still economically underdeveloped and food aid imports are estimated to be more than 0.6 million metric tonnes each year. However, recent developments are more encouraging.