In Addis Ababa, a five-day conference is underway on female genital cutting. The UN Population Fund says worldwide, up to 140 million women and girls have been subjected to the practice, which is also known as female genital mutilation. The agency is calling on the international community to support its campaign for zero tolerance of the practice.
Kemal Mustapha is the UN Population Fund’s representative in Kenya. From the conference site in the Ethiopian capital, he spoke to VOA English to Africa Service reporter Joe De Capua about the prevalence of female genital cutting in Kenya.
“The national prevalence rate, when it was last measured in the demographic and health survey, which was conducted in 2003, was that 32 percent of the females in the age range of 15 to 49 had gone through this at one stage or the other. However, that figure needs to be treated carefully because there are areas of the country where it’s almost non-existent and there are areas where you have prevalence rates in certain ethnic communities of over 90 percent. What is encouraging is that the prevalence rate among the younger women is decreasing. And that quite a lot of that 32 percent is made up of older women,” he says.
Asked whether the cutting is done in traditional settings, where a single cutting instrument is used on many different women and girls, Mustapha says, “It varies very much from community to community. There are cases where that kind of practice does continue and efforts are being made to introduce ways in which people are alerted to the health risks, especially of HIV infection. But the general trend has been to try and work towards its elimination. Legislation was passed in the year 2001 criminalizing the cutting of any child under 18. There has unfortunately been in some communities the medicalization, whereby because of the fears of problems of hygiene, people have resorted to going to medical practitioners to undergo the surgery. So, that’s something that’s also being tackled,” he says.
In regards to gathering international support, he says, “I think this has to be seen within the broader framework of human rights, of gender equality and of the Millennium Development Goals.”
The Honorable Congressman Richard Gephardt
Former House Democratic Leader
c/o : Richard A. Gephardt Institute for Public Service
Washington University in St. Louis
Campus Box 1196, One Brookings Drive
St. Louis, MO 63130-4899
It was with a deep sense of betrayal and disbelief that we read a recent report suggesting that you might be involved in helping the Ethiopian dictator, Meles Zenawi, to derail the passage of a bill in Congress intended to protect the democratic rights of the people of Ethiopia.
If it is indeed true, your association with one of the most vicious dictators of the modern era would be inconsistent with your image as a leader who has dedicated his professional life to advancing the ideals of democracy and social justice.
Not too long ago, you declared to the world:
“One of the most important virtues of the American character is our ability to approach the complexities that life presents us with common sense and decency, … The considered judgment of the American people is not going to rise or fall on the fine distinctions of a legal argument but on straight talk and the truth.”
On May 15, 2005 the people of Ethiopia took to the polls in unprecedented record numbers, and cast a vote of no confidence in Zenawi’s minority government. Instead of accepting the people’s verdict, Zenawi proclaimed a state of emergency, and declared himself a winner, against the testimonials of credible observers, including one by the EU-EOM group.
In the aftermath of the elections that he stole, Zenawi ordered the massacre of over 193 peaceful demonstrators, and imprisoned opposition leaders and thousands of opposition party members, as was unveiled by a commission set up by his own government.
In a move reminiscent of Joseph Stalin’s Great Purge, he coerced the political prisoners into admitting responsibility for the crimes he had committed, and publicized to the world the confession obtained under duress.
“The long nighttime of communism and totalitarianism is not over, but we are entering a new era where ordinary citizens everywhere are speaking out freely and are no longer afraid of murderous dictators.”
Unfortunately, if the rest of the world is marching out of the “nighttime of totalitarianism,” it is still pitch dark for the people of Ethiopia. According to a recent report, Ethiopia topped the list of the worst countries for press freedom, with more jailed and exiled journalists than any other country in the world. In 2006 alone, eight newspapers were banned, two foreign reporters were expelled and several websites were blocked.
As the rest of the world enjoys the “peace dividend” from the end of the “Cold War,” the people of Ethiopia are going through extremely severe economic hardships, thanks to the rampant corruption and expensive lobbying that are characteristics of Zenawi’s regime. A recent World Economic Forum report indicated that Ethiopia had slid to the rank of 120th out of 125 countries in 2006 in the Global Competitive Index, down from the 116th place it had occupied in 2005. Economic analysts point out that the number of Ethiopians on less than a dollar a day, has nearly tripled since Zenawi took power in 1991, i.e., relative to the record of the discredited communist regime of Mengistu Haile Mariam.
You once made the observation:
“It’s amazing what happens when you ask yourself this question before you speak or act. ‘How would I like this said or done to me?'” So, before you venture to work for Zenawi, the people of Ethiopia would wish to remind you of the above and to ask yourself: “How would I feel if I were an Ethiopian living under a dollar a day and my leader squandered the money on expensive lobbying?”
You have also been quoted as saying: “I think the most important thing in life, …., is credibility,…” Your demonstrated position against tyranny in Ethiopia would give more credibility to the mission of the Gephardt Institute for Public Service that you so generously helped to establish, and whose purpose you so eloquently described as an institute, “… to help spread freedom, democracy, and capitalism across the globe so we can better prevent the creation of terrorists.” The stand you now take in distancing yourself from a brutal dictator will certainly be a metric by which the image of this promising institution will be judged for a long time to come.
Honorable Congressman,
In the days and weeks to come, Ethiopian Americans and other Ethiopians in the US, who unlike their compatriots back home enjoy their freedom of speech, will be contacting you in thousands to ask you to disassociate yourself from a brutal dictator, and to stand on the side of democracy and social justice. They will be doing so, not out of impertinence, but in the full knowledge and conviction that, as a man of integrity, you will listen to the voices of the 70 million oppressed Ethiopians and be a part of their struggle against tyranny and injustice.
Meles buys Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Majority Leader Hoyer
Ephrem Isaac lobbied hard against H.R. 2003
The Coalition for HR 2003 has learned that Foreign Affairs Committee Chair Tom Lantos was directed by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (San Francisco) and Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (Maryland) not to mark-up H.R. 2003 on July 31, 2007. The reasons for the directive are not clear.
Preliminary investigations suggest that neither Chairman Tom Lantos nor Chairman Donald Payne were consulted prior to issuance of the directive.
The Coalition is informed and believes that over the past few days, Meles Zenawi’s lobbyists from DLA Piper, State Department officials and others were engaged in intense lobbying of Pelosi and Hoyer.
The Coalition has further learned that Prof. Ephrem Isaac, who has recently been masquerading as a “shimagle”, has been engaged in intense lobbying efforts against H.R. 2003 in Congress. He was observed visiting various congressional offices today chaperoned and accompanied by Congressman Gary Ackerman of New York. The Coalition is investigating information that Ephrem Isaac is mobilizing powerful Jewish leaders and groups in the United States against H.R. 2003.
The Coalition respectfully notifies Ethiopian Americans in California and Maryland, particularly in the congressional districts of Pelosi and Hoyer, to prepare for vigorous and intense advocacy in the coming days.
The Coalition will provide further statement on these developments shortly. The Coalition will prepare an advocacy action plan in the near future.
The Coalition for Unity and Democracy Party’s International Leadership (K.I.L.) announced yesterday that it is handing over political leadership back to the recently freed top leaders of the party in Addis Ababa.
At a press conference that was attended by several Ethiopian editors, publishers, and radio hosts, Dr Moges Gebremariam, chairman of the K.I.L., said that his committee has ceased its activities. Dr Moges explained that the K.I.L.’s mandate was to represent the party’s executive committee only until its members are released from jail.
Earlier yesterday, the Kinijit executive committee sent a letter from Addis Ababa to all Kinijit groups in the Diaspora announcing that it is taking over leadership responsibilities from the party’s international leadership. Click here to read the letter.
Dr Moges, joined by his colleagues Ato Berhane Mewa, Ato Andargachew Tsige, Ato Dawit Kebede and Ato Daniel Assefa, expressed his appreciation for the contribution made by the Ethiopian independent media in the effort to secure the Kinijit leaders’ freedom, and keep the struggle going.
He also thanked Ethiopians around the world who had supported and rallied around the K.I.L. in the past 15 months of its existence.
Following the opening statement by Dr Moges, Ato Berhane Mewa read what he called “K.I.L.’s last official statement,” which announces the end of the leadership group.
The statement outlines K.I.L.’s accomplishments and jobs left unfinished. It is a positive and forward-looking statement.
In the 3-hour press conference, the media representatives took turns to ask questions and make their own comments.
Ethiopian Review asked the K.I.L. members what the future of Kinijit movement in the Diaspora would look like.
Ato Andargachew answered that a high-level Kinijit delegation composed of some of the top leaders will arrive in the United States shortly and it is they who would make such a decision after consulting with the various support groups. Until then, Kinijit North America, which has a democratically elected leadership, will continue to moblize support for the party from Ethiopians in the U.S.
Ato Andargachew said he believes that their decision will be in line with helping Kinijit’s culture of democracy to be firmly established through out the party.
The Coalition for Unity and Democracy Party’s International Leadership (K.I.L.) announced yesterday that it is handing over political leadership back to the recently freed top leaders of the party in Addis Ababa.
At a press conference that was attended by several Ethiopian editors, publishers, and radio hosts, Dr Moges Gebremariam, chairman of the K.I.L., said that his committee has ceased its activities. Dr Moges explained that the K.I.L.’s mandate was to represent the party’s executive committee only until its members are released from jail.
Earlier yesterday, the Kinijit executive committee sent a letter from Addis Ababa to all Kinijit groups in the Diaspora announcing that it is taking over leadership responsibilities from the party’s international leadership. Click here to read the letter.
Dr Moges, joined by his colleagues Ato Berhane Mewa, Ato Andargachew Tsige, Ato Dawit Kebede and Ato Daniel Assefa, expressed his appreciation for the contribution made by the Ethiopian independent media in the effort to secure the Kinijit leaders’ freedom, and keep the struggle going.
He also thanked Ethiopians around the world who had supported and rallied around the K.I.L. in the past 15 months of its existence.
Following the opening statement by Dr Moges, Ato Berhane Mewa read what he called “K.I.L.’s last official statement,” which announces the end of the leadership group.
The statement outlines K.I.L.’s accomplishments and jobs left unfinished. It is a positive and forward-looking statement.
In the 3-hour press conference, the media representatives took turns to ask questions and make their own comments.
Ethiopian Review asked the K.I.L. members what the future of Kinijit movement in the Diaspora would look like.
Ato Andargachew answered that a high-level Kinijit delegation composed of some of the top leaders will arrive in the United States shortly and it is they who would make such a decision after consulting with the various support groups. Until then, Kinijit North America, which has a democratically elected leadership, will continue to moblize support for the party from Ethiopians in the U.S.
Ato Andargachew said he believes that their decision will be in line with helping Kinijit’s culture of democracy to be firmly established through out the party.
The 1960’s witnessed the advent of information technology in Ethiopia, when the mainframe computers were introduced for the first time in Africa. Despite being installed in the important sectors of military, defense, finance, telecom, electricity & power, and railways, the mainframes had no interactive boundaries within the sector.
Later, microcomputers spread widely in the country either by direct purchase or through donor development aid. Like its predecessor, the initial use of microcomputers was characterized by inadequate literacy and patchy understanding of the technology by potential users.
A centralized approach to building information and communication technologies in Ethiopia was first proposed by donor agencies such as UNESCO and IDRC as soon as microcomputers were introduced to the county. In 1986 national computing and information center was also established. However, the intended goals were not realized by the centre due to high control by the military government of the time, inadequate resources, high turnover, shortage of skilled manpower and insufficient knowledge of information technology by decision makers.
After the change of government in 1991 the efforts were resumed with regard to promoting the awareness and growth of computers. A survey carried out in response to a study on national informatics policy in Ethiopia in 1993 covering 81 major institutions reports 1550 microcomputers, 38 mini computers and 8 mainframe computers. 25% of these machines were owned by international organizations and aid agencies. By the end of 1998, extensive growth in computers in business, academic institutions and households were seen raising the figure to an estimated 15,000 microcomputers.
Awareness of the effect of information technology has been growing among users in the field of research, those working for international organizations and those in business. All of which has encouraged the IT sector in the country – proliferation of private companies that provide value added services in information technology, training centers and the establishment of a computer science unit at Addis Ababa University, efforts towards standardizing Ethiopic software, etc.
Public access links were introduced in 1990 and the first Internet connection was established by the Ethiopian Telecommunications Corporations (ETC) in October 1996 with a T1 connection to the United States. Currently there are over 2500 Internet users but the quality of service leaves much to be desired.
Recent move of the government towards increasing the bandwidth to 1Mb line, privatization of energy and telecommunication sector could open further opportunities for growth in information and communication sector. However, surveys show as much as 83% of the capacity of a PC is often underutilized and the quality of services offered is often poor.
Challenges to the Growth of Information Technology in Ethiopia
Full adaptation of the technology has been difficult due to:
§ Lack of national guidelines and consistent information and communication policy
§ Lack of academic institutions that act as sources of well-grounded study in information technology
§ Non-existent computer literacy in primary and secondary education
§ A weak education infrastructure
§ Shortage of skilled human resources and computing infrastructure colleges and universities
§ The School of Information Studies for Africa (SISA) that was to become a center of excellence in new techniques of information systems development for Africa has limited intake of students – degrees for less than fifteen African students per- due to its heavy reliance on donor funding and lack of vision.
§ Shortage of programmers in custom and new systems development
§ Poor quality of internet services
§ A restrictive information seeking culture
§ Limited access to software and training materials
§ Diverse local languages, scripts and dialects in Ethiopia – user friendly interface in the local languages for on-line connectivity is needed in promoting information sharing and developing a successful national network in Ethiopia
The Role of International Organizations and Development Aid Agencies
The international organizations and aid agencies have played a significant role in information technology diffusion in the country. Their existence has helped create opportunities for demonstrations of key information technology, transfer of ideas, sponsoring structural development projects and a potential market segment for emerging small and medium enterprises in the field. The number of international organizations recognizing the importance of information technology for the development of local capacity has been increasing.
Potential Benefits of Information Technology in Ethiopia
• Efficient communications for manufacturing, service and tourism sector
• Fast response to natural disasters and effective rural health and family planning services
• Effective governance and administrative effectiveness
• Efficient education, research and communication of research results
• Access to global market and research information
• Employment opportunities for small and medium enterprises
• Effective and enhanced data and information gathering and distribution for better planning
• Enhanced national cohesion and integration of heterogeneous social composition or geographical dispersal
Core ICT Application Areas for Development in Ethiopia
To attain the benefits mentioned above, Ethiopia should define areas of outmost strategic importance that should be put in place for continued economic development. This would include those areas that:
• Promote food security (food chain information systems, agricultural information systems and networks, etc.)
• Help in overall poverty reduction enhancing quality and quantity of education and health (basic education and health care information systems, telemedicine and healthcare networks)
• Build the necessary human capital (school, university and research networks)
• Facilitate general economic activity (statistical information systems, geographic information systems, judicial and administration systems such as inland revenue, municipalities activities, land registry information systems and networks)
• Improve financial market and the development of private sector (property, land and business registry systems and networks, payment clearance and financial institutions oversight systems);
• Improve trade and global competitiveness (trade information systems, customs and clearance systems, business promotion information systems and networks)
• Improve the delivery of infrastructure and social services (transport, communication, utilities management information systems and networks)
• Support the management of macroeconomic planning and project implementation at national level (planning, budgeting, monitoring, tax administration, expenditure management system both at national and federal states level).
• Assist in the preservation of the environment (regional planning, environment monitoring, early warning information systems, etc.)
• Encourage the tourism sector (promotional and cultural information systems) and
• Provide conditions for popular participation (community centers, information systems between various regions).
Recommendations
Ethiopia should develop a National Information Infrastructure (NII) plan that covers the above mentioned areas of strategic information systems and networks backed by efficient telecommunication networks and people that implement it.
The NII plan should encompass connectivity (built on robust and low cost technology), content (mainly strategic information systems), infrastructure (human, energy, telecommunications, and social) and enabling policy for private sector investment and participation.
Ethiopia should not leave ICT as sector for commercial interest or free market and privatization as such but rather regard them as part of the general public interest, participation, use and debate.
With the growing population pressures, the policy on rural economic development requires considerable investment and attention to ICT to achieve sustainable growth in the long term.
The application of information and communication technology does not just encompass technology – hardware, radios, computers, telephones and software and the content or data, but also needs organization, incentives, procedures and people.
The ability to participate in information and communication technologies requires participation, partnership, understanding of social implication of new technologies and management of changes at national level.
Furthermore, democratization of access to ICT to the 90 percent of rural and sub-urban disadvantaged communities is also crucial. But it requires considerable resources.
Some of the key steps for democratization of access to ICT that remain as a principle to Acacia initiative and crucial for Ethiopia include:
• Promoting applications and services that respond to communities’ needs (e.g. enhancing the delivery of education, distribution of health and agricultural information, and other applications)
• Fostering it and telecom policies which are hospitable to ICT access in rural and small town communities (e.g. changes in pricing policies, regulatory frameworks, the delivery of public information, and promotion of universal service/universal access);
• Supporting human capacity and innovative infrastructure that extends communication networks to rural and small town communities (e.g. radio, satellite, cellular phone-computer linkages);
• Encouraging the development of tools and technologies that facilitate ICT use by the marginalized groups including the disabled and illiterate (e.g. graphic, touch-screen or language interfaces); and,
• Developing, organizing and dissemination of content in structured and non-structured format through a variety of media to be accessed and advanced by communities.
Besides meeting the general needs of the rural areas the National Information Infrastructure should take overall national strategy for development into consideration. The NII plan should also be built on existent tools and infrastructure that underpin the current economic activity and new tools and technologies that must be put in place to sustain emerging economic activity.
