Meles Zenawi was preaching about the need to expand telecommunications technology in Africa at a recent conference, while his regime is known as one of the worst obstacles for the growth of technology in Ethiopia, as the report below shows.
“From now on, we will organise activities every 12 March to condemn cyber-censorship throughout the world,” Reporters Without Borders said. “A response of this kind is needed to the growing tendency to crack down on bloggers and to close websites.”
“Today, the first time this day is being marked, we are giving all Internet users the opportunity to demonstrate in places were protests are not normally possible. We hope many will come and protest in virtual versions of Beijing’s Tiananmen Square, Cuba’s Revolution Square or on the streets of Rangoon, in Burma. At least 62 cyber-dissidents are currently imprisoned worldwide, while more than 2,600 websites, blogs or discussions forums were closed or made inaccessible in 2007.”
The press freedom organisation added: “Our list of ‘Internet Enemies’ has also been updated with the addition of two countries – Ethiopia and Zimbabwe. And we are offering an new version of our Handbook for Bloggers and Cyber-Dissidents.”
Reporters Without Borders learned last night that UNESCO has withdrawn its patronage for today’s Online Free Expression Day (read our press release).
To denounce government censorship of the Internet and to demand more online freedom, Reporters Without Borders is calling on Internet users to come and protest in online versions of nine countries that are Internet enemies during the 24 hours from 11 a.m. tomorrow, 12 March, to 11 a.m. on 13 March (Paris time, GMT +1). Anyone with Internet access will be able to create an avatar, choose a message for their banner and take part in one of the cyber-demos taking place in Burma, China, Cuba, Egypt, Eritrea, North Korea, Tunisia, Turkmenistan and Vietnam.
There are 15 countries in this year’s Reporters Without Borders list of “Internet Enemies” – Belarus, Burma, China, Cuba, Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran, North Korea, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Tunisia, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Vietnam and Zimbabwe. There were only 13 in 2007. The two new additions to the traditional censors are both to be found in sub-Saharan Africa: Zimbabwe and Ethiopia.
“This is not at all surprising as these regimes regularly hound the traditional media,” Reporters Without Borders says in the introduction to its report.“Internet penetration is very slight, but nevertheless sufficient to give them a few nightmares. They follow the example of their seniors and draw on the full arsenal of online censorship methods including legislation, monitoring Internet cafés and controlling ISPs.”
There is also a supplementary list of 11 “countries under watch.” They are Bahrain, Eritrea, Gambia, Jordan, Libya, Malaysia, Sri Lanka, Tajikistan, Thailand, United Arab Emirates and Yemen. Unlike the “enemies,” these countries do not imprison bloggers or censor the Internet massively. But they are sorely tempted and abuses are common. Many of them have laws that they could use to gag the Internet if they wanted. And the judicial or political authorities often use anti-terrorism laws to identify and monitor government opponents and activists expressing themselves online.
“The hunting down of independent thinkers online is all the more effective as several major western companies have colluded with governments in pinpointing ‘trouble-makers’,” the reports says. “US company Yahoo! apologised in 2007 for a ‘misunderstanding’ which ended in journalist Shi Tao being sent to prison for ten years. The company has been responsible for the imprisonment of a total of four Chinese cyber-dissidents. It was apparently willing to ‘obey local laws’ that forced it to identify Internet users deemed to be dangerous.”
Finally, a new version of the Handbook for Bloggers and Cyber-Dissidents is available in French and English on the Reporters Without Borders website (www.rsf.org). It offers practical advice and techniques on how to start up a blog, how to blog for anonymously and how to circumvent censorship. It also includes the accounts of bloggers from countries such as Egypt and Burma.
The cyber-demonstration was devised and produced by the Saatchi & Saatchi advertising agency.
Ethiopians for Obama is reaching out to the Ethiopian community and looking for volunteers to drive to Philadelphia this Sunday March 16th to help register Ethiopian-Americans to vote in the Pennsylvania Primary, which is being held on April 22nd. The Pennsylvania deadline to register is March 24th. Anyone who is not registered on or before the 24th of March is not eligible to vote in the Pennsylvania Primary. In addition, those voters who are not registered as Democrats are also not eligible to vote in the Democratic Primary as it is a closed primary.
The good news is that we have a week and a half to register as many Ethiopians-Americans and other citizens as we can. The key is to make sure that they are registered, and if they support Barack Obama, to make sure that they are registered as Democrats. If we are able to get enough participation, the plan is to drive from Washington DC at 7:30 AM on Sunday March 16th and arrive in Philadelphia in time to set up a booth at the various Ethiopian churches in Philadelphia. We will bring our laptops and empower Ethiopians to register to vote right on the spot—you can register on-line in Pennsylvania.
There is a large community of Ethiopian-Americans in Philadelphia, it is vital that we galvanize and organize our community in Pennsylvania so that we can have an impact on the outcome of the Pennsylvania Primary.
If you are interested in volunteering to make this trip to Philadelphia, please email [email protected] and put “Trip to PA” in the subject header.
If you do not have a ride, please state that so we can try to work out accommodations for everyone. The plan is to drive back to DC by 4:00 PM Sunday.
Clinical Oncology Publishes Findings from First-Ever Initiative on Sustainable Breast Cancer Treatment in the Developing World
(Science Direct) – In response to the growing burden of cancer in the developing world, AstraZeneca, in partnership with Tikur Anbessa Hospital, Addis Ababa, The Ethiopian Ministry of Health and AXIOS, developed a framework two years ago for the first-ever program to raise awareness, diagnose and treat breast cancer in Ethiopia. The interim results of this five-year initiative are reported in the March edition of Clinical Oncology*.
Breast cancer is the second most often occurring cancer (cervical cancer is first) among women in Ethiopia. It is estimated that around 10,000 Ethiopian women and men have breast cancer with thousands of more cases unreported as women living in rural areas often seek treatment from traditional healers before seeking help from the government health system. In addition, Ethiopia has many competing public health challenges, including a rising incidence of HIV/AIDS.
In recent years, the Ministry of Health has put additional emphasis on chronic disease management including cancer control. However, with competing health challenges resource has been limited for cancer treatment. The AstraZeneca Breast Cancer Initiative at Tikur Anbessa University Hospital is changing this paradigm.
Mammography, treatment protocols and the continuous audit of over 250 patients have led to considerable improvement in managing breast cancer patients in a single institution. Aspects of this programme are now being extended to other regional hospitals in Ethiopia. In addition, close collaboration with local health personnel has enabled Tikur Anbessa hospital to purchase important diagnostic equipment and establish training programmes and initiate new patient management systems.
“Our goal is to create a centre of excellence for breast cancer treatment in Ethiopia and, in doing so, validate a model for how to build this capability in a developing country,” said Dr. Karol Sikora, CancerPartners UK, one of the paper’s authors.
The project, which began in 2005, has turned Tikur Anbessa Hospital into the first treatment centre for breast cancer in Ethiopia and it has had a significant impact on care from reducing the waiting time for surgery to radiotherapy to less than two months compared with more than a year before the start of the project.
Tikur Anbessa Hospital was selected as the site for this programme because it was the base of the country’s only oncologist. It also had the only radiotherapy unit in Ethiopia. In addition, starting the project at the main university hospital of Ethiopia was likely to have a greater impact on medical policies and education.
The project is conducted as a partnership between Tikur Anbessa Hospital, AXIOS (www.axios-group.com) and AstraZeneca (www.astrazeneca.com). AstraZeneca has provided the financial support for the five-year project and has donated (tamoxifen citrate) NOLVADEXÒ and (anastrozole). ARIMIDEXÒ. The Ministry of Health, other Ethiopian University hospitals and private hospitals in Addis Ababa have also collaborated and participated in workshops to develop guidelines.
ARIMIDEX and NOLVADEX are trademarks, the property of the AstraZeneca group of companies.
Clinical Oncology is owned by the Royal College of Radiologists.
The aromas of incense and freshly ground coffee filled the Takoma Park Community Center on Saturday during a reception for the city’s first art exhibit to exclusively showcase local Ethiopian artists.
The exhibit, which will be on display throughout March, features the photography and paintings of four professionals, all originally from Ethiopia, as well as about a dozen Ethiopian students from Piney Branch Elementary School.
Setegn Atenaw plays the mesinko, a violin-like instrument widely played in Ethiopia, for a crowd gathered Saturday. (Photo: Naomi Brookner)
Alice Sims, who organized the exhibit through her Takoma Park-based nonprofit group, Art for the People, said the show was meant to provide an opportunity for cultural exchange between the area’s large Ethiopian population and the community.
Several dozen people attended the reception Saturday, which included an Ethiopian coffee ceremony, Ethiopian food donated by local restaurants, and the music of Setegn Atenaw, who plays the mesinko, a one-string Ethiopian instrument.
Artist Matewos Legesse came dressed in a traditional white shirt, pants and shoes that he said would be worn to formal events in Ethiopia. Legesse contributed several paintings to the exhibit, many depicting women and apples painted in vivid colors.
‘‘The colors of Africa are so bright, very colorful,” said artist Debebe Tesfaye, whose paintings of Ethiopian market scenes also featured vibrant colors, which he said is a reflection of the dress and culture of the east African nation.
Photographer Andarge Asfaw, who came to the United States in 1972 and lives and works in Silver Spring, said he has traveled to five continents, but nothing compares to being able to capture images of his homeland.
Asfaw’s photos at the exhibit were from a trip back to Ethiopia he took in the 1990s and illustrated scenes that included wheat fields, mountains, churches and marketplaces.
‘‘When you travel to a new place, you have no idea what it’s like; you have no understanding of the culture,” he said. ‘‘But when you travel back to a country after 27 years, you can see if it moved backward or forward.”
To Asfaw, Ethiopia has moved backward in one major way. Three decades ago, he said, the country was 80 percent forest, but as nomads cut down trees for cooking and fires, that number is down to 3 percent.
One of Asfaw’s photographs showed an Ethiopian market built around a large tree with far-reaching branches — an image he says is very rare in Ethiopia these days. He said he is trying to use art as a way to alleviate the problem of deforestation, and profits from his recent book will go toward the county-based nonprofit group Trees for the Future.
Tebabu Assefa, a member of the Takoma Park Community Action Group, which co-sponsored the event, said he wanted to give the public a chance to see Ethiopian culture, but also allow local Ethiopians to embrace their own traditions.
‘‘Each community has its own rich history, rich culture, but all of them are busy in life,” said Assefa, who came to the United States from Ethiopia in the 1980s. ‘‘They’re busy assimilating and trying to make art, and they don’t have the opportunity to bring their culture out.”
Next to the main exhibit, in the passageway that leads to the atrium’s main hallway, hangs the art of several Ethiopian students from Piney Branch Elementary School.
Rachna Rikhye, the ESOL teacher at Piney Branch, said she was approached by Sims after collaborating with Art for the People on a previous project. She thought it would be a great way to involve her Ethiopian students, several of whom drew self-portraits for the exhibit.
‘‘The kids really enjoyed themselves and had a very positive experience,” Rikhye said. ‘‘They showed a lot of pride in their culture.”
Asfaw said that kind of community involvement was welcomed by the artists.
‘‘It’s great,” he said. ‘‘You appreciate the community to be able to embrace and appreciate our work and support our causes.”
The Woyanne-controlled Electoral Board of Ethiopia continues to play its dirty game against Kinijit, which renamed itself “Unity for Justice and Democracy Party.” After demanding that Kinijit leaders get a new name, this week, the board started to raise new demands and questions to frustrate the leaders… Read more by zikkir News Service
Setegn Atenaw plays the mesinko, a violin-like instrument widely played in Ethiopia, for a crowd gathered Saturday. (Photo: Naomi Brookner)