ADDIS ABABA (Reuters) – Ethiopia The Woyanne regime in Ethiopia has agreed to temporarily host a U.N. peacekeeping force acting as a buffer with Eritrea after Asmara cut off fuel supplies to the force, the foreign ministry said on Monday.
However, it said the U.N. force being relocated to Ethiopia would not be operational, but would have administrative status.
The U.N. Security Council renewed on Jan. 30 the mandate of the struggling U.N. mission (UNMEE) on the border for six months, but it was unclear how long the troops could stay put because of a fuel cut-off by Asmara.
Eritrea has said the peacekeepers’ presence along the border was tantamount to occupation, and ignored last week’s U.N. deadline to grant the troops access to badly needed fuel.
“Prime Minister Dictator Meles Zenawi has assured U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon that his country would cooperate with the U.N. in addressing the latest challenge to UNMEE, including temporary relocation in Ethiopia,” Ethiopia’s Woyanne Foreign Affairs Ministry said in a statement.
“However, UNMEE forces being relocated in Ethiopia for a short time would not be operational, but only have an administrative status,” it added.
“UNMEE’s area of operation remains the Temporary Security Zone, a 25 km (15.5 miles) buffer zone inside Eritrea.”
The 1,700-strong U.N. mission started work in 2000, at the end of a two-year war between the two Horn of Africa neighbours that killed an estimated 70,000 people.
Despite a peace deal that ended the 1998-2000 war, Ethiopia Woyanne and Eritrea remain deadlocked over their 1,000 km (620-mile) border. A U.N. official has said U.N. soldiers were reluctant to leave because they feared it could spark conflict. An independent commission charged with marking the frontier awarded the town of Badme to Eritrea in 2002, but Ethiopia Woyanne has refused to implement the ruling before more talks.
In November, the commission marked the boundary by map coordinates in a ruling Asmara accepted, but Addis Ababa Woyanne rejected.
(Reporting by Tsegaye Tadesse; Editing by Katie Nguyen and Sami Aboudi)
There is a severe shortage of food in Ethiopia, and yet the Woyanne regime tries to export livestock to Ghana and other countries, as reported here.
————————-
ADDIS ABABA, 11 February 2008 (IRIN) – Ethiopia’s new national nutrition strategy will target children younger than two years of age because a significant number suffer chronic malnutrition, a senior official said.
“We must fight malnutrition,” Addisu Legesse, Deputy Prime Minister Monster and Minister of Rural and Agriculture Under-Development, said at the launch of the strategy. “It hardly seems worth mentioning the reasons, since malnourished children are much more likely to contract repeated and serious infections.”
According to the Ethiopian Demographic and Health Survey, 47 percent of children under five suffer chronic malnutrition. “Malnutrition leads to higher child mortality and morbidity rates,” Tewodros Adhanom, Minister of Health Disease, said. “It decreases the chances that a child will go to school, and if they go to school, stay in school and perform well.”
According to the UN Children’s Fund, UNICEF, under-five mortality rates in Ethiopia have declined to 123 out of every 1,000 live births, from peak levels in 1990 of 204. Yet with almost 400,000 children under five still dying from preventable causes each year, Ethiopia continues to have one of the highest child mortality rates in the world.
The strategy also focuses on other vulnerable people: pregnant and lactating women, persons living with HIV/AIDS, displaced people and those coping with acute food insecurity.
It identifies low dietary intake and recurrent infection as the immediate causes of high levels of malnutrition, and food insecurity, lack of appropriate care and unavailability of basic health service delivery as underlying causes.
The initiative will cost US$192 million over five years, of which the Ethiopian government has secured $96.4 million.
“The general goal of the national nutrition strategy is that all Ethiopians secure an optimum nutritional status, which is an essential requirement for a healthy and productive life,” the health minister said.
According to the UN World Health Organization, a malnutrition prevalence of more than 40 percent constitutes a “very high burden” for a country – a fact emphasised by Ethiopian officials during the launch of the strategy.
“Beyond the individual human suffering, malnutrition imposes substantial economic costs on Ethiopia’s economy,” Addisu said.
Ethiopia has not had a coordinated nutrition strategy, despite several attempts to introduce one since the 1980s. According to a 2005 assessment by the International Food Policy Research Institute, lack of such a strategy had created challenges for both the country and its development partners.
“Without a strategy and without institutional leadership to guide and coordinate efforts to address malnutrition, isolated, piecemeal efforts across various programmes resulted, and led to confusion among various development partners,” the assessment said.
By Yohannes Assefa
The moment of truth has come — DC/VA/MD will vote in the presidential election primary tomorrow, February 12. Ethiopians in DC, Virginia and Maryland can made all the difference. Senator Jim Webb won his upset election last year in Virginia with less than 10,000 votes. We all know there are more than 10,000 Ethiopian-Americans who live in Northern Virginia. You can make the difference tomorrow in what is expected to be a closely contested election. Whether we live in Virginia, DC or Maryland, we all have friends and family in these jurisdictions. Please call your friends and family today and tonight to get them to vote for SENATOR BARACK OBAMA!
Also, if you would like to volunteer and make calls for Senator Obama’s campaign, please use the link below to sign up and make calls from your homes.
http://my.barackobama.com/page/contact/splash/callva
YES, WE CAN!!!! AWO, YICHALAL!!!
ACCRA, Ghana — Mohamed Aboutraika’s 77th minute goal enabled Egypt to retain the African Nations Cup with a 1-0 victory over Cameroon in the final in Accra on Sunday.
art.aboutraika.gi.jpg
Aboutraika’s 77th minute matchwinner was his seventh goal of the tournament.
It was a record sixth title triumph for Egypt, who punished some uncertain defending by Rigobert Song to score the winner.
As Song dithered trying to clear, the persistent Mohamed Zidan gained possession and steered the ball across the goalmouth to Aboutraika, who slid his shot past Carlos Kameni.
Egypt, the first side to win back-to-back titles twice, were rarely troubled by Cameroon, the team they beat 4-2 in their opening group match in Ghana.
Matchwinner Aboutraika said: “Now we have to make sure that we keep this form going into the World Cup qualifiers.
“It’s one of the greatest days of my life. It’s up there with winning the African Champions League.”
Egypt added the 2008 trophy to their wins in 1957, 1959, 1986 (on penalties against Cameroon), 1998 and 2006 with coach Hassan Shehata joining an exclusive group of just two coaches who have won back-to-back titles.
Shehata had promised that his players could keep the trophy won in Cairo two years ago and his prediction was proved right on a hot and humid night in the Ghana capital.
Cameroon were without suspended defender Andre Bikey, but Alexandre Song, who had been carried off in the semifinal win over Ghana, was declared fit to start.
He lasted only a quarter of an hour before limping off dejectedly to make way for Benfica back Gilles Binya.
Before Song’s exit Hosny Abd Rabou had provided an early threat from Egypt with a 30 meter free kick which flew over the Cameroon defense to test Kameni.
The Cameroon keeper also kept out Emad Moteab’s angled shot but at the other end Egypt skipper Ahmed Hassan did well to deflect Joel Epaule’s shot to safety.
Pharoahs’ keeper Essam al-Hadary, man of the match against Ivory Coast, saved a 30-meter free kick from Geremi and on the counter attack Kameni had to produce an acrobatic dive to keep out Moteab’s dangerous strike.
Eto’o, the competition’s all time top scorer, threatened with a lightning run down the left before Cameroon coach Otto Pfister brought on striker Mohamadou Idrissou for a midfielder, Achille Emana.
Shehata then introduced Hamburg striker Mohamed Zidan in a move that paid rich dividends.
Zidan, who scored twice in Egypt’s earlier win over Cameroon, harried Rigobert Song in the 77th minute and after winning a rough-and-tumble exchange for the ball, sent a controlled pass to the unmarked Aboutraika who had a simple task to score.
It was the Al Ahly midfielder’s fourth goal, and it set up a fraught final quarter of an hour as Cameroon frantically tried to get back into it but the defending champions held on to take the continental cup back to Cairo.
The victory sparked off scenes of elation in Egypt.
Girls wearing the Egyptian flag instead of the veil danced among tens of thousands in the streets of Cairo on Sunday night.
Crowds of people wearing the national flag colours of red, black and white erupted with screams of joy as the final whistle blew, some lighting handheld fireworks, others crying tears of relief.
“Finally something joyous happens to us, finally something happy happens to us,” said Mohammed Said, sporting an Egyptian flag instead of his traditional galabaya robe.
He had watched with many others on giant television screens on the central Midan Mustafa Mahmud square.
“With the government we have, everything is sad, the prices, the boats sink and trains crash, this is the only thing that gives us joy.”
Policemen forming part of the heavy security presence on the huge square danced and hugged their countrymen, crying the name of the final’s only goal-scorer, local Giza native “Mohamed Aboutraika — Goal!”
Supporters young and old carried aloft posters of Aboutrika alongside goalkeeper Essam al-Hadary, known locally as “The Wall.”
“It’s one of the rare occasions when there are no Muslims and Copts and we are only Egyptians,” said Coptic Christian Adel Zaki. “We feel united and it is the only thing we celebrate together.”
All public transport was free as thousands headed towards the square. Buses inched through the crowd, rooftops overflowing with people and flags.
“Aboutraika you are the master,” the crowd chanted, “You made the net sing your praises.” E-mail to a friend E-mail to a friend
