Many Ethiopians, who left the country for either political or economic reasons, are often heard confessing that in all respect life for Ethiopians in the Diaspora is not as glamorous as one is led to believe. Obviously, it is always a bitter struggle to survive in an alien society. As the saying goes, you have dignity only in your own country. Most Ethiopians in the Diaspora do not seem to be comfortable in their second home.

UN Economic Commission for Africa

The incumbent will be responsible for coordinating and conducting economic research on African development and for undertaking macroeconomic studies through the application of quantitative and qualitative methods, including econometric modelling. The successful candidate will hold an advanced degree in economics and have practical experience in trade and/or regional integration in Africa.

The number of Ethiopians in need of food aid has risen to more than 7.6 million as a result of crop failure and lack of pasture following poor or erratic rains earlier this year, the country's disaster prevention commission reported this week.

In a 12 August 2004 letter to Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi, the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) expressed deep concern that Tewodros Kassa, the imprisoned former editor-in-chief of the Amharic language weekly "Ethiop", has been newly convicted on a four-year-old defamation charge, delaying his scheduled release from prison.

Political ethnicity assumes that ethnicity is a total identity and that ethnic diversity is the ultimate political horizon. From this perspective, space is ethnicized and self-determination means ethnic government. Yet by making membership a voluntary act that in no way infringes on one’s other social identities, civic ethnic associations make ethnicity a partial identity, comfortably articulated with other identities.

Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi has averted a possible boycott of 2005 elections by opposition parties by agreeing to their demand to invite international observers, his ruling party said on Tuesday. Ethiopia banned international observers from monitoring the last vote in 2000, restricting the observer status to Ethiopian civil societies, the then Organization of African Unity (OAU) and diplomats resident in its capital Addis Ababa.

At the height of the 1998-2000 border war with Ethiopia there were 1.1 million internally displaced people (IDPs) in Eritrea. This number has fallen sharply but there are still some 59,000 people who cannot return home because of the tensions that persist around the border demarcation process.

The Writers in Prison Committee (WiPC) of International PEN says it has noted the release on 9 July 2004 of Tewodros Kassa. The former editor of the weekly newspaper "Ethop" had served his two-year sentence in full. Kassa was sentenced on 10 July 2002, on the grounds that he had "fabricated information that could incite people to political violence" and that he had defamed a "Mr. Duki" by "disseminating false information through the newspaper". The charges related to three "Ethop" articles published in 2001.

With a potentially devastating malaria epidemic threatening to break out in Ethiopia, United Nations agencies are working with the country's Government to raise nearly $7 million to purchase new medicines needed to treat the disease. The UN Children's Fund (UNICEF) and the World Health Organization (WHO) are supporting the Addis Ababa authorities in attempting to rapidly mobilize the funds to supply a newer treatment known as Artemisinin-based Combination Therapy (ACT) because of increased resistance to drugs now in use.

In a letter to the Ethiopian government six free expression organisations (ARTICLE 19, Media Institute of Southern Africa, Media Foundation of West Africa, Media Rights Agenda, the Committee to Protect Journalists and the International Federation of Journalists) reiterated their concerns over the recent draft Proclamation to Provide for the Freedom of the Press (Draft Proclamation) in Ethiopia. “The Draft Proclamation in its present form contains some improvements on previous drafts, but there are still some serious problems with the law, including: restriction on who may practice journalism; government-controlled licensing and registration systems; and harsh sanctions for violations of the law, including up to five years imprisonment.”

VSO

The Programme Manager will be responsible for the development of VSO's programmes in the areas of participation and governance and for seeking suitable partner organisations. Successful applicants will be experienced in overseas development work and have strong communication and networking skills.

Save the Children, UK

SCUK are seeking applications for a livelihoods and poverty technical manager to be based in Addis Ababa. The post holder will be responsible for providing technical support in these areas and for piloting new approaches to address poverty in the pastoral and agro pastoral areas. The successful candidate will have at least 4 years experience in this sector.

There are some 130,000 people internally displaced (IDPs) in Ethiopia due to conflicts. This figure includes 62,000 persons in Tigray who have been displaced by the military confrontation which arose from a border dispute in May 1998 between Ethiopia and Eritrea. Since 2003, about 51,000 people in Gambella have been displaced by ethnic clashes and power struggles. As of July 2004 all the displaced people were unable to return to their areas of origin due to insecurity, the presence of landmines, lack of resources and an inability to construct their livelihoods in areas of return.

Mary Wandia (FEMNET) and I have worked closely with the Special Rapporteur on the Rights of Women, Commissioner Angela Melo, in lobbying the governments and regularly exchanged information and ideas. The AU Commissioner for Political Affairs also went around speaking to countries about ratification. We got two ratifications (Libya and Rwanda) since coming to Addis Ababa.

Yesterday [06 July] the President of Botswana [Festus Mogae], during a debate on gender, announced that his country will sign, ratify and implement the Protocol on the Rights of Women in Africa.

The Assembly is adopting a declaration on gender and it includes a commitment to ratify the Protocol by the end of 2004; and no country objected to this deadline.

We reached out to all the countries that have signed the Protocol as well as most of those who didn't. The news is encouraging. Most countries seem to have started the process of ratification though they are at different stages of discussion. Mary and I are very optimistic that it would come into force by December 2004; but a lot also depends on the national campaigns. Mary will send around the declaration that is being adopted by the heads of state and that could be used in the national campaigns to remind the authorities of their commitment.

The Special Issue of Pambazuka News (Pambazuka News 162) to support the campaign on ratification of the Protocol on the Rights of Women was a very useful campaign tool. It became popular at the African Union meeting.

Aside from lobbying we did several interviews with the press highlighting the campaign. As you all would agree, media is a powerful tool to use for the campaign and we hope that everybody will be engaging the national media to keep up the pressure on governments. Feel free to use information from the special issue of Pambazuka News. Likewise, you can reproduce the petition and make it specific to your country. Please continue to spread the petition to publicise it and get as many signatures as possible.

Faiza Mohamed
Equality Now

Ethiopia has appointed a human rights commissioner to investigate alleged abuses, parliamentary officials told IRIN last Thursday. Dr Kasa Gebre Hiwot was announced in parliament as head of the Human Rights Commission (HRC), along with Abay Tekle Beyene, as ombudsman. The government first announced its plan to effect these appointments in 2000. Earlier this year, Hilary Benn, the British secretary of state for international development, said he wanted to see progress towards implementation of the plan as he announced a tripling of aid to US $100 million over three years.

The United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan has urged Eritrea and Ethiopia to resolve their border dispute, saying international peacekeepers could not remain in the region indefinitely. Speaking on Saturday in the Eritrean capital, Asmara, Annan said he was "optimistic" despite the deadlock over the dispute, but added that many crises around the world were stretching the UN's limited resources.

The head of the National Election Board (NEB) on 24 June urged government and opposition parties in Ethiopia to ensure "free and fair" elections next year. Asefa Biru, the NEB executive secretary, told IRIN that his organisation "will insist government closely cooperate with the election board to take measures when any official or overzealous cadre interferes". The polls are expected to be held in May 2005, but both the government and the opposition are already gearing up to contest.

The first-ever centre to help victims of trafficking opened in the Ethiopian capital, Addis Ababa, on Tuesday. It will offer support to the estimated 40,000 women and girls believed to be victims of trafficking, according to the International Organisation for Migration (IOM). "This centre is the first of its kind, and covers rehabilitation and reintegration for victims of trafficking," Rakeb Messele of the IOM's anti-trafficking unit told IRIN. "Ethiopia is a source country for women and children trafficked for the purposes of sexual exploitation and forced and domestic labour," she added.

A coalition of civil society organisations including Oxfam GB, Equality Now, FEMNET, CREDO for Freedom of Expression and Associated Rights and FAHAMU on 29 June in Addis Ababa announced the launch of an international campaign urging member states of the African Union to ratify the African Protocol on the Rights of Women in Africa without delay. The campaign will particularly target the 30 countries that have already signed the Protocol in a concerted effort to get the necessary ratifications for it to enter into force. The group will approach heads of state arriving for the upcoming summit, presenting them with a petition signed by individuals and organizations from across Africa including Graça Machel and supporters around the world urging swift ratification of the Protocol. Graça Machel emphatically stated, “I urge all African States to ratify the Protocol immediately because African women's rights cannot be postponed.” In collaboration with national women's and human rights groups, the coalition has already begun dialogue with government officials from several countries across the continent.

**Sign the petition on the Protocol on the Rights of Women in Africa at:
http://www.pambazuka.org/petition/petition.php?id=1

SCUK is one of the largest NGO's in Ethiopia having been present in this country for over 30 years. One of the projects currently run by SCUK in Ethiopia, is the 'Focus on Emerging Regions' (FOCUS) funded by USAID. The main goal of the project is to enhance the capacity of communities and the Ethiopian government to manage resources and conflict effectively in the zones of Fik, Jijiga and Shinile.