A collection of international aid agencies in Ethiopia that has named itself Development Assistance Group (DAG) has issued a statement rejecting a recent report by Human Rights Watch that points out how foreign aid is being used by the ruling junta to suppress people. DAG said:
We do not concur with the conclusions of the recent HRW report regarding widespread, systematic abuse of development aid in Ethiopia. Our study did not generate any evidence of systematic or widespread distortion…
DAG is not willing to accept all the evidences that have been compiled by international human rights groups because it is in its self interest for Ethiopia to stay poor and underdeveloped. The aid agencies in Ethiopia are perpetuating poverty by helping prolong the brutal dictatorship’s grip on power. Most of the $3 billion that is being funneled to the Meles dictatorship every year through DAG is not reaching the poor.
Let’s crunch the numbers:
DAG gives Ethiopia’s regime $3 billion per year, according to HRW, which is roughly 50 billion birr. This amount of money is enough to give 5 million children 10,000 birr each per year, which is enough to provide food, cloth, shelter and education for each child for a year.
However, the fact on the ground right now is that even in Ethiopia’s capital Addis Ababa, tens of thousands of children eat trash to survive, while DAG Ethiopia representatives dine, wine and party with officials of the Meles regime every night of the week in Addis Ababa’s most expensive restaurants and night clubs.
All the aid agencies (poverty pimps) would do the people of Ethiopia a big favor if they pack up and leave.
The following is a list of DAG members:
African Development Bank
Mr.Lamin Barrow
Resident Representative
Tel :0115-533244
Fax :0115-546355
Email : [email protected]
http://www.afdb.org/en/countries/east-africa/ethiopia/
Austria Development Cooperation
Mr. Heinz Habertheur
Head of Development Cooperation
Tel : + 251 11 553 38 28
Fax : + 251 11 553 38 31 Email: [email protected]
http://www.entwicklung.at/uploads/media/Ethiopia_Country_Strategy_2008-2012_02.pdf
AECID
Ms.Cruz Ciria
Head of Development Cooperation
Tel : 0116-185365
Fax : 0116-185357
Email : [email protected]
CIDA
Mr. Edmound Wega
Country Dirctor and Head of Development Cooperation
Tel : 0113-713022
Fax : 0113-713033
Email : [email protected]
Denmark Embassy
Ms. Pernille Dahler Kardel
Ambassador
Tel : +251 11 6187075
Fax : +251 11 6187057
Email : [email protected]
DFID Mr. Howard Taylor Head
Tel: +251 116-180601
Fax:+251 116-610588
[email protected]
European Commission
Mr. Denis Thieulin
Head of Development Cooperation
Tel :+251 116-612511
Fax : +251116-612877
Email : [email protected]
Embassy of Belgium
Mr. Wouter Detavernier
First sec. and Head of Dev.Cooperation
Tel : +251 11 661 16 43
Fax : +251 11 661 36 46
Email : [email protected]
Embassy of Finland
Ms. Virpi Kankare
Deputy Head of Mission
Tel : +251 11 320 59 20
Fax : +251 11 320 59 23
Email : [email protected]
Embassy of France
Mr. Patrick Cohen
Head of Development Cooperation
Tel : +251 11 140 0000
Fax : +251 11 140 0050
Email : [email protected]
German Embassy-German Development Cooperation
Mr. Bernhard Trautner (Phd.)
First Counsellor/Head of Development Cooperation
Tel : +251 11 123 5139
Fax : +251 11 123 5132
Email : [email protected]
German Embassy www.addis-abeba.diplo.de
Embassy of Japan
Mr. Yoshinori Kitamura
First Secretary/ Head of Development Cooperation
Tel : +251 11 551 10 88
Fax : +251 11 551 13 50
Email : [email protected]
Embassy of Norway /NORAD
Mr. Havard Hoksnes
Head, Development Cooperation
Tel : +251 11 371 07 99
Fax : +251 11 371 12 55
Email : [email protected]
International Monetary Fund
Mr. Sukhwinder Singh
Resident Representative
Tel :+251 116-627800
Fax : +251 116-627803
Email : [email protected]
Indian Embassy
H.E. Bhagwant Bishnoi
Ambassador
Tel : +251 11 1235544/38
Fax : +251 11 1235547/48
Email : [email protected]
Irish Aid
Ms.Colleen Wainwright
Head of Development
Tel : +251 11 4 665005
Fax : +251 11 4 665020
Email : [email protected]
http://www.embassyofireland.org.et/home/index.aspx?id=71961
Italian Cooperation
Mr. Giorgio Sparaci
Head of Development Cooperation
Tel : +251 11 123 96 00/01/02
Fax : +251 11 123 96 03
Email : [email protected]
Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA)
Mr. Ota.Koji
Resident Representative
Tel : +251 11 550 47 55
Fax : +251 11 550 44 65
Email : [email protected]
Netherlands Embassy
Mr. Geert Geut
Head Development Cooperation
Tel : +251 11 371 11 00
Fax : +251 11 371 15 77
Email : [email protected]
SIDA
Mr. Abdi Foum
Head of Development Cooperation
Tel :+251 115-180018
Fax : +251 116-626752
Email : [email protected]
http://www.sida.se/English/Countries-and-regions/Africa/Ethiopia/Our-work-in-Ethiopia/
Turkish International Cooperation Agency (TICA)
Mr. Abdullah Sari
Programme Coordinator
Tel : +251 116-627850/51
Fax : +251 115-185357
Email : [email protected]
UN Development Programme (UNDP)
Mr. Eugene Owusu
Resident Representative
Tel : +251 11 551 10 25
Fax : +251 11 551 51 47/ +251 11 551 49 77
Email : [email protected]
USAID
Mr. Thomas H. Staal
Mission Director
Tel : +251 11 551 08 51
Fax : +251 11 551 00 43
Email : [email protected]
http://www.usaid.gov/policy/budget/cbj2010/
World Bank
Mr. Kenichi Ohashi
Country Director
Tel : +251 11 662 77 00
Fax : +251 11 662 77 17
Email : [email protected]
http://siteresources.worldbank.org/INTETHIOPIA/Resources/ETHIOPIA_CAS_FY08.doc
24 thoughts on “Poverty-mongers come out against HRW report on Ethiopia”
All DAG members should pack up and leave Ethiopia taking with them their bad manners of dining, wining and prostituting.
It is unfortunate that nowadays we live in a moral-less, ethic-less world. If it were not for corruptions and love of money and power, not one Ethiopian and poor people in other countries would die for a lack of piece of bread and a cup of water a day. This DAG group only lookout for their best interest and their countries interest. How can we expect a better outcome, as long as dictator Meles keep on bribing other countries with acres and acres of Ethiopian land free and clear for up to a hundred years, and possibly sharing some of the Foreign Aid money with the heartless people like him, so that they can ignore the HRW report and to let Ethiopians suffer needlessly–which in this case DAG have proven themselves to be that soulless corrupted group of people.
The letters and e-mails that is going to be send to DAG, should also be send to each individual countries main news papers to be investigated for corruption and to explain to their country men/women why they voted against Human Rights Watch.
Elias, you deserve an award, my hat’s off to you!
International aid groups act like Count Dracula, like vampires bleeding Ethiopia dry. When the beggar regime of Meles Zenawi is overthrown, the first thing the new Ethiopian government should do is to kick out all aid groups out of Ethiopia within a year.
What a group of trash they are, wining and dining while small children just outside sleep with empty stomach . Ethiopians please call and give this invaders a piece of your mind and tell them to pack up and leave.
SHAME ON THEM! Why is the Human and natural resource super rich Africa in general, Ethiopia in particular still being pathetically wretched and completely impoverished, if it were not for the unholy alliances of the local through corrupt Brutal criminal human rights violating dictators and the hedonistic external treasure hunter PARTNERS IN UNDERDEVELOPMENT.
Are they now ganging up in defense of the Ethiopian dictator for life who have just stolen 99.6%, read 100%, of the impoverished 80 million Ethiopian peoples voices using the funds provided by these same apologetic PARTNERS IN UNDERDEVELOPMENT?
Why is Ethiopia being taped in cycles of crushing poverty and dismal UNDERDEVELOPMENT that has become the country’s national and international brand, regardless of decades of the so called Aid and loan inflows, that in fact funds and finances ONLY the donors own back home developments using anti people mercenary human rights violating local dictators?
Elias,
I agree with you that Ethiopia would be better off if all the aid agencies would pack up and leave.
Any way 80-85% aids goes to administration cost. The big chunk of it goes to above mentioned administrative personnel. They will protect by any cost.
Aids is not given for free and is conditional. Aids is a foreign policy tool for “Donors”.
Aids become as an instrument in a dehumanizing our people.
We can see its effect in comparison of hunger duiring Mengistu era and under current regime.
We saw skeleton of dying people in the past on TV screen across the globe.It was effective tool for collecting money in the name of those hungry and use the it to buy weapons and at the same time showing the inability of the communist regime to feed its people.
However, now days we don’t see such skeleton of dying people but hungry children who are running after dumpsters to collect Weyanes’ left over decayed food.
All DAG members should pack up and leave Ethiopia taking with them their bad manners of dining, wining and prostituting.this is well said1! cause this is the reality!
DAG members they better pay attantion to Ethiopian people than dining, wining with the system cadres and prostituting Ethiopian young girls!
they need to pack up and leave Ethiopia immediately. they are not there for the poor but for their own greedy belly. wining and dinning with the tribal junta. they are the first who will be deported when we gain our freedom.
As a precondition to work in Ethiopia Development Assistance Group must support weyanes and attack Human Right Watch.
Elias, you are making ER an action site.Good Job.We should call this poverty mongers and tell them the truth. These poverty mongers can never say yes the money and food is being abused- because they will loose their jobs and funds.They want the aid business model to stay alive.
That is the reason for them to oppose HRW’s truth.
We already know World Bank and IMF are there not to benefit Ethiopians. It will be interesting we the Diaspora write letters to these groups and challenge them and tell them that we Ethiopians in the Diaspora know what is going on. We need to make them accountable and disprove to them. Silence is not the answer to change the perception of the these foreign organizations. Change will come from them when we complain and beat the drum.
All of you are so right! Aid is another form to increase poverty and misery in poor nations. Please read Dambisa Moyo’s book “Dead Aid” will tell you the whole story. Aid, NGOs are vehicles for foreigners to control societies, spy, live in luxury, enrich, etc.. nothing to do with bringing change. Besides, why would any poor nation want to rely on aid. We need to stop this donor mentatlity, the need to look elsewhere because we are poor. We are poor because of leadership. It is common sense, if you get something for free especially from foreigners, there is string attached. Why should we have the mindset that we need “free” stuff anyways? Why should we expect we need aid anyways. Only equal partnership of trade is what gives us dignity and pride, nothing less and nothing more. Remember, Mengistu was set up during the famine in 1985, war, the West, Meles regime deliberately set up the famine so that they will have excuse to get in the country. Indeed they succeeded. Meles regime has been working hand and glove with Westerners against Ethiopia. Now they succeeded.
Elias – Thank you for informing us. I think readers of this site should understand the essence of the HRW report. The report is not only blaming the Ethiopian Government, but the above listed agencies as well. These agencies were obliged either to put a control mechanism that protects aid not to be used as a political tool or recommend to donors to stop providing aid. the truth is each one of them knew about it long time ago. But we should not have to be naive to expect them saying “yes we knew about it, but we let it happen”. If they do so they would be kicked out of the country within 24 hrs and face anger of the tax payers.
Please take note of their response – they didn’t say that the report is untrue and baseless. What they have said is their report didn’t provide evidence to confirm the alligation.
Let God bless Ethiopia
Kewle
Unless forced they wouldn’t leave. It is their interest, they are enjoying life. Like Isayas Afeworki say no to DAG
I am going make a call to as many of them I can from the list ER provided and throw my heavy criticism in an effort to protest their irresponsible behaviors driven by greed.
Actual they are revealing themselves with no ambiguity i.e these are the real causes of Ethiopian misery.One can clearly see that Ethiopia’s decades of suffering is a direct consequence of these corrupt so called DAG top officials.They must have been shocked that someone is closely watching them when they hear the HRW report and it looks like they felt,as a result, their job is in danger-that is what they care most anyway.
thanks ER!
From start to finish aid groups, ngos etc., are bore. In the first place we should not have been beggars; once beggars, the whole operation should have been short-lived. The quagmire says more about us than the hand out adminstrators. Agree: future Ethiopia is one without aid groups, no worshiping of superpowers; no idolizing therefore no begging.
Tumblr
Trial by Fire
Survival
Eritrean-Canadian
Some of these NGOs are pedophiles who are turning innocent Ethiopian orphan Children into male prostitution. Our president Issayas got rid all of them within a year because it was clear to him they all weren’t into any good. Then just like what they are doing to HRW, they left no stone unturned to tarnish our president’s name and they did lots of character assassination tries to discredit his achievements, obviously what do you expect, he took away their livelihood. Anyways, but the dogs are barking but the camel keeps walking
They accused our president for not allowing democracy in his country and on the other hand they help Meles to do whatever he wants. Kill and mime his own people. This double standard has been common practice by the west for sometime, and we Africans need to go beyond all these conspiracies and stop fighting and putting each other down.
Peace
it is very devasting, to hear ethiopia is the poorest nation, we are short of confidence every where we go, what a painful it is, to born from Ethiopia.
I don’t see this as any kind of suprise. Ethiopia is a way to generate $3 billion in cash per year so that they can skim off the top and enjoy a good life–nice house, servant, save money for children’s schooling, going out at nice hotels in Addis, taking trips in beautiful Ethiopian landscape, etc. If they say no to Meles then they are saying no to their life support. The economy is very difficult in US/Europe so they would be struggling to survive otherwise. On top of that they can back home and brag to friends/family that they are helping “helpless” “starving” Ethiopians and gain respect.
THESE LORDS OF POVERTY WHO TRADE IN THE BLOOD OF POOR ETHIOPIAN NATIONALS MUST LEAVE OR SPEAK TRUTH.
TRUTH
1) Development money is not reaching the poor, its targets.
2)TPLF government is enriching these development agents and its party members at the cost of poor Ethiopians( children…)
3). Many individuals who come to Ethiopia in the name of development are have hiden agendas. They are member of AID INDUSTRY. That is how they earn their bread. If Ethiopia escapes the POVERTY LOOP, how are they supposed to earn the million dollars they are getting from the corrupt regime in Ethiopia?
4) Some of them enjoy rights and previlages that they can’t get in their own country.
a). Prostitution and child pornography
b). Pedophiles force poor children into sex works.
c).Free wine, good womens, and easy earned money from the dictator government, as compensation to cover the corruption of Ethiopian government officials.
Ethiopians should make an end to these terrible actions of the so called Development Partners.
Thank you Elias – for letting me know that the DAG is so big (and influential) an organization. Emmm…HRW?
Why need to read Dembisa’s book to understand the evil of AID. Look how Eritrea is doing with out them when it kicked them out. Do you think Eritra is richer than Ethiopia. We know if Ethiopia had good government it could feed the whole Africa.
The Donor Assistance Group (DAG) are a bunch of vampires sucking the blood of our poor country, Ethiopia. These bloodsuckers know exactly what they are doing. They are so greedy that they are lying to their governments and peoples of their countries, who are footing the bill as tax payers. These so-called ‘donors’ often make comments to foreign journalists, such as ‘our governments are concerned about what is happening here’ etc.etc…. seriously? How is it possible that the DAG considers the perpetrator of the injustice to be the default arbiter to respond to the crime committed on the opponent of the incumbent political party? The close collaboration of the members of DAG with the Meles Zenawi government demonstrates that they do not have the conviction of their principles to reprimand the government for fear of reprisals. It is unconscionable to knowingly align themselves with such a repressive government, which has a long history of human rights violations and does not observe its own Constitution, and reward it with more aid.
If Meles and his poverty-peddler- collaborators leave our country, there would not be any poverty in Ethiopia.
We should write to the governments of DAG members and also send letters to the newspapers of their countries informing them that hard earned tax payers money is being offered as development aid to the repressive government of Meles Zenawi.