By Darrell Waller, Navy Facilities Engineering Command Public Affairs
PORT HUENEME, Calif. (NNS) — Three Ethiopian geologists were hosted recently by the Naval Facilities (NAVFAC) Engineering Service Center (ESC) as they sought assistance to discover new water sources for drought ravaged areas in the Horn of Africa.
The three engineers — Dagnachew Legesse, Zenaw Tessma and Tesfaye Tadasse — received a tour of the ESC facility and collaborated with ESC engineers on future water resources capacity building projects.
“We are happy to receive these gentlemen and help them in their efforts to build much needed water resources throughout the Horn of Africa,” said NAVFAC ESC Commanding Officer, Capt. Gregory J. Zielinski. “The horn has been devastated by conflict, as well as drought, famine and other natural disasters. The Combined Joint Task Force and NAVFAC are diligently working with the people there to build an infrastructure that will improve their quality of life and bring some semblance of order out of chaos. This is important, gratifying work and we’re glad to lend a hand.”
During their visit to California, the Ethiopian scientists toured water management organizations and spent many days learning surface water computer modeling at the U.S. Army Corps Hydrologic Engineering Center (HEC) in Davis, Calif. The tours and modeling lessons provided them with essential tools to make better use of limited water supplies throughout the area and plan for disasters such as floods.
For nearly two years NAVFAC ESC has managed water resources capacity building projects in Ethiopia for the Combined Joint Task Force Horn of Africa (CJTF-HOA) located in Djibouti. The U.S. Navy partners on projects with other DOD and federal agencies such as U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and U.S. Geological Survey.
The government of Ethiopia, in December 2007, signed a five year memorandum of understanding with the CJTF-HOA, cementing a long term relationship between the two countries. U.S. government civilian engineers, geologists and hydrologists will work side by side with the Ethiopians on projects that enhance the ability of Ethiopia to manage its ground and surface water.
Ethiopians in Ohio and Texas will have a chance to deliver a resounding victory on Tuesday, March 4th. We encourage all Ethiopians to make a phone call to a family or a friend in either Texas or Ohio and strongly encourage them to vote this coming Tuesday for Barack Obama.
Additionally, in the state of Ohio, all Ethiopians who became citizens in the past 5 years are automatically registered to vote. This is very important because the democratic primary in Ohio states that you have to be registered at least 30 days before the primaries in order to be eligible to vote. However, those who have become naturalized in the past 5 years are automatically registered.
All Ethiopians are invited to the Renaissance Hotel in Washington DC to celebrate Barack Obama’s decisive Tuesday on his way to the White House.
For Ethiopians, this is a special day; Barack Obama has garnered overwhelming support from the Ethiopian community. Ethiopians for Obama embarked on a journey to Columbus Ohio this past weekend, and the enthusiasm and the level of dedication that Barack Obama has in the vast Ethiopian community in Columbus was amazing. At every stop, whether in Ethiopian churches, the Ethiopian markets, or the Ethiopian restaurants, men and women of all ages were effusive in stating their intention to vote for Barack Obama.
For those of us in the Washington, DC area, we will have a chance to celebrate on March 4th at the Renaissance Hotel’s Presidents Sports Bar. We encourage all Ethiopians in the Washington DC area to come out and support Obama, there are hundreds of Ethiopians who volunteer and work for the Barack Obama campaign. This is a chance for everyone to come together and watch the results of the March 4th Primaries.
The Presidents Bar has 9 flat screen HD televisions located throughout the bar. Audio will be piped in throughout the bar with the Presidents Bar premium sound system. Everyone will be able to view and hear the results of the primaries as they come in.
Although there are plenty of seats available through the expansive bar, turnout for this event is expected to be high, so please RSVP to ensure entry. Pease RSVP at: http://my.barackobama.com/page/event/detail/4rbbb
The Desert Locust situation continued to be serious in parts of the Central Region during February. Several swarms formed in central Oman and moved through eastern Yemen, Saudi Arabia, UAE to southern Iran. Hatching and hopper band formation are likely to occur in southern Iran. Immature swarms persisted in rugged areas of southern Ethiopia where little control could be carried out. These swarms are expected to move to the Ogaden region and perhaps to northern Somalia and breed. Locusts declined in the winter breeding areas on the Red Sea coast, especially in Sudan, and no signifi cant developments are expected. The situation remained calm in the Western Region.
Western Region. The situation continued to remain calm during February. Small-scale breeding continued for the fourth consecutive month in northwest Mauritania but locust numbers remained low and insignifi cant. Locusts increased slightly in central and southern Algeria where scattered adults were present in several areas. Low numbers of adults are likely to be present in parts of northern Mali and Niger but surveys could not be conducted in these areas due to insecurity. Scattered adults are expected to persist in these countries and small-scale breeding could occur if further rains fall. No signifi cant developments are likely during the forecast period.
Central Region. As vegetation dried out, several small immature swarms formed in central and southern Oman by mid February. Most of the swarms moved through UAE to southern Iran while a few swarms fi rst moved to eastern Yemen and then crossed the Empty Quarter in eastern Saudi Arabia to the Persian Gulf. The swarms were highly mobile so only limited control operations could be carried out. Immature swarms persisted in southern Ethiopia, but survey and control operations were hampered by the remote mountainous areas. Therefore, the current situation is not very clear. Nevertheless, the swarms are likely to remain in the Harar Highlands and eventually move to the Ogaden region and breed when the long rains begin in March or April. There is a low to moderate risk that a few swarms could move to northern Somalia. Locusts declined on the Red Sea coast of Sudan where ground control operations were carried out against late instar hopper bands and adults in the Tokar Delta. A few adults were present in southern Egypt.
Eastern Region. Small-scale breeding occurred on the southeastern coast of Iran during February. On the 20th, a small swarm from the northeastern Arabian Peninsula arrived on the southern coast, dispersed and laid eggs. As only part of the swarm was treated, hatching and small hopper band formation will occur in March. Scattered adults are likely to be present in western Pakistan. Locust numbers are expected to increase in the spring breeding areas of Baluchistan in Iran and Pakistan from breeding that occurs during the forecast period.
VOA PRESS RELEASE – Washington, D.C., March 3, 2008 – The Voice of America’s (VOA) Amharic Service has launched a new morning radio show, offering an additional half-hour of up-to-the-minute news and information to millions of VOA listeners throughout Ethiopia.
The new morning show features on-the-ground news reports, the latest U.S. and world news, cultural highlights, and in-depth coverage of social, political and economic issues directly affecting Ethiopians.
“We’re always striving to meet the growing needs of our audience,” said VOA Amharic Service Chief David Arnold. “We want to reach the widest possible audience, particularly in the rural areas where listenership has peaked,” he added.
The morning show airs live, Monday-Friday at 0300 UTC (6:00 a.m. local) via shortwave. In addition, VOA Amharic airs a one-hour evening show at 1800 UTC (9:00 p.m. local), seven days a week. Both programs are available live and on demand at www.VOANews.com/horn.
VOA’s Horn of Africa Service broadcasts 12 hours a week, in the Amharic, Afan Oromo and Tigrigna languages. More than 11 percent of Ethiopia’s 76.5 million people tune in to VOA Amharic weekly.
The Voice of America, which first went on the air in 1942, is a multimedia international broadcasting service funded by the U.S. government through the Broadcasting Board of Governors. VOA broadcasts more than 1,250 hours of news, information, educational, and cultural programming every week to an estimated worldwide audience of more than 115 million people. Programs are produced in 45 languages.
For more information, call the Office of Public Affairs at (202) 203-4959, or e-mail [email protected].
London — A new Amnesty International report describes Somalia as one of the most dangerous places in the world to be a journalist. The report says the threat to journalists in the war-torn country is now the worst it has been since the Siad Barre government was overthrown in 1991. Tendai Maphosa has the details in this report for VOA from London.
At least nine journalists have been killed since February 2007, more have been threatened, arrested and harassed and more than 50 have been forced to flee Somalia, the Amnesty International report says. Radio stations and other media outlets have been repeatedly closed.
The attacks on journalists and the media, Amnesty concludes, indicate a systematic attempt to curtail independent journalism.
Fighting between the Ethiopian-backed Transitional Federal Government, called the TFG, and Islamic insurgents is blamed for the ongoing insecurity. The TFG and the Ethiopians ousted the Islamic Courts from power at the end of 2006. Amnesty spokesperson Michelle Kagari said all parties are to blame for the worsening plight of journalists and ordinary Somalis.
“Violations against human rights and violations against international humanitarian law are being committed by all parties to the conflict so the Ethiopian troops linked to the TFG and armed opposition groups,” said Kagari.
The attacks, Amnesty says, mark a disturbing reversal from 2005 and 2006, when the media began extending news coverage beyond clan and warlord loyalties.
The Transitional Federal Parliament passed a media law in December 2007. Though it provides an overly broad and ill-defined framework that could ultimately subject all media to a series of confusing constraints, it does offer some positive features.
“The new Media Act is a marginal improvement on the rule by decree, we still have some concerns about that especially with regards to freedom of expression and the independence of journalists for example, the new media act says that the journalists must support the Somali state and culture, they need to be licensed, no government has the right to start dictating based on its own terms the context with which they should be doing their work; that is a violation of international law,” explained Amnesty spokesperson Kagari.
The draft law also would require journalists to promote such state interests as Islam, justice and democracy. It would also require the establishment of regulatory Media Council with a majority of members elected from private media outlets.
On Sunday, news reports said that Somalia government soldiers raided three independent radio stations in the capital Mogadishu. The soldiers reportedly forced the stations off the air, arrested a journalist and seized equipment.
But a government official told VOA that the government did not order the closure of the radio stations. Minister of Information Ahmed Abdi Salam, a former co-founder and director of programming for Horn Afrik, said some insurgents who were wearing government uniforms went into different businesses, including some of these stations and took some equipment. He said the stations were forced to close because some of their equipment was stolen by looters.
