http://www.theguardian.com/global-development-professionals-network/2014/dec/19/11-of-the-best-aid-parodies?CMP=new_1194

Ethiopia’s rapid growth: Miracle or mirage? - Sunday Independent | IOL.co.za

Ethiopia’s rapid growth: Miracle or mirage? - Sunday Independent | IOL.co.za

http://www.dw.de/60-years-ago-ethiopias-emperor-haile-selassie-in-bonn/a-18056720

60 years ago: Ethiopia's Emperor Haile Selassie in Bonn

In 1954 Emperor Haile Selassie of Ethiopia became the first foreign head of state to visit the Federal Republic of Germany. His visit brought a breath of the exotic to provincial Bonn, then the provisional capital.

For the young Federal Republic of Germany it was both a great honor and a sensation when the Ethiopian Negus Negesti (King of Kings) paid a visit in November 1954 as the first foreign head of state to visit what was then generally referred to as West Germany (to distinguish it from the postwar German Democratic Republic or East Germany.) On his arrival, Emperor Haile Selassie, who was dressed in an ornate uniform and wearing a helmet embellished with hair from Ethiopia's heraldic beast, the black lion, attracted great attention.
Despite the historic significance of the visit, the government of the Federal Republic of Germany decided to show restraint in the welcome it extended to the royal guest. In the words of the German head of protocol at the time, Hans von Herwarth, "We said to ourselves, we have refugees here, there is great need in Germany [in the early postwar years], and heads would be shaken both in Germany and abroad if we were to display too much pomp and ceremony." For von Herwarth, what was most important was that "the Emperor of Ethiopia should feel comfortable during his visit." And so, elephants and camels were purchased from a traveling circus for the reception of the African head of state – since apparently no one knew that His Majesty was more interested in thoroughbred horses and took the opportunity to visit a number of stud farms while in Germany.

The Ethiopian emperor was awarded an honorary doctorate by the University of Bonn

The intention was for the visit to be – as Chancellor Merkel would probably formulate it 60 years later – "a meeting of equals." The guest had come not to beg for assistance but as a partner. Diplomatic relations between Germany and Ethiopia had already existed for 50 years. Now, the world's last absolute monarch - "God's Chosen One," "Power of the Trinity," " Victorious Lion from the Tribe of Judah" - the man born as Tafari Makonnen, was coming to visit steelworks and hospitals and to hear from his German hosts how the technical achievements of the west could be imported to the empire on the Horn of Africa.
Belated winds of change
After meeting with Federal President Theodor Heuss and Federal Chancellor Konrad Adenauer, as well as with parliamentarians and captains of industry, the emperor also – unusually for him – faced the press. However he was not willing to answer any direct questions about current political issues.
"His Majesty has seen that fortunately, in His Majesty's country, this problem of the Cold War does not exist and His Majesty therefore does not wish to elaborate further on this issue," was the protocol official's translation from Amharic into German of the Emperor's tight-lipped reply to a political question. His Royal Highness was more open during a short trip to Hamburg where he presented surprised members of the public with gold coins before opening a hospital.

Federal President Theodor Heuss (2nd left) hosted a formal banquet for the Ethiopian guest of honor

During the visit in November 1954 the Germans encountered a figure from a dynasty that had ruled for more than 3,000 years, a man who – despite the winds of change blowing in the rest of Africa – was seated firmly on his throne, supported by an alibi parliament and advised solely by the Abuna, the orthodox high priest. Although appearing friendly and open, the emperor was surrounded by the aura of the ascetic protocol of the court in Adids Ababa, where the daily routine was marked by prayers and fasting and conversations were conducted in whispers.
The Ethiopian monarch returned to Germany for a second visit almost 20 years later, on September 12, 1973. While Chancellor Willy Brandt entertained his guest with a sumptuous state banquet, hundreds of thousands of Ethiopians were in desperate need of food. Revolt was in the air; rumors of self-enrichment, corruption and nepotism at court were circulating. Exactly one year after the meeting with Brandt, Haile Selassie was ousted by the new military leaders in Addis Ababa and died a year later in a small palace room, aged 83, under circumstances that remain unclear to this day.
Practical help sought rather than professors
Back in November 1954 the Emperor of Ethiopia was still able to present himself as a pragmatic development strategist during his visit to Bonn. He requested the federal government to send farming experts to his country, to help develop the agricultural sector – "but, please, no professors." The emperor had already shown himself to be a man of action in his homeland. Declaring that farmland was more important than golf courses, he had a golf course that had been laid out specially for his British advisors dug up and reduced from eight holes to four – to the dismay of the foreigners who now had to look for somewhere else to play.
The emperor's visit to Bonn laid the foundations for close diplomatic ties between the two countries, ties that still exist today. Together with China and Switzerland, Germany is today the largest export market for Ethiopian goods. Germany is also one of Ethiopia's most important development partners. In the last three years, the German government has provided almost 100 million euros ($124 million) for development projects.

On his second visit to Germany in 1974 Haile Selassie met Chancellor Willy Brandt (r)

Ethiopia seen as haven of stability
Germany regards Ethiopia primarily as a strategic partner in the volatile Horn of Africa region and as a guarantor of stability, despite all the democracy shortcomings and human rights violations.
"Today Ethiopia is a very important partner for Germany on the Horn of Africa and is considered by the Germans to be an important partner for stability in the region," says Claas Dieter Knoop, German ambassador in Addis Ababa from 2006–2010.
There has been little change in Ethiopia's rulers' understanding of democracy in the 60 years since the emperor's historic visit to Bonn. He had then proudly proclaimed, "The king knows what the people need, the people do not." Today, shortly before parliamentary elections in Ethiopia in 2015, numerous opposition figures and journalists have been arrested. Once again, there is a sense of impending unrest.

The Tipping Point: Humanitarian Crisis, Early Action & Disaster Resilience Management: CAR, SS & Sahel

The Tipping Point:

Humanitarian Crisis, Early Action & Disaster Resilience Management: CAR, SS & Sahel

Strategic partnership and extent of new global humanitarian donor’s involvement

Costantinos Berhutesfa Costantinos, PhD

Professor of Comparative Public Policy, Graduate School, AAU, costy@costantinos.net, Trustee, Africa Humanitarian Action www.africahumanitarian.org,

African Union Peace and Security Council

Open Session on Humanitarian Situation in Africa

African Union Hall, 19 August 2014, Addis Ababa,

Abstract

The complex political, economic, social and cultural phenomena of state failure are little understood with states such as Central African Republic, South Sudan and Sahel states plagued by rampant corruption, predatory elites, absence of the rule of law and severe ethnic or religious divisions. The ability of states to strip people of their rights to livelihoods security, behind the thin veneer ‘non interference in each other’s internal affairs’ is increasingly being challenged. Nevertheless, while the African Union’s political evolution may allow such novelties, how do the Responsibility to Protect projects pursue their goals consistently in varying contexts, but do so without resorting to a self-defeating, overly scripted and stage-managed political ‘play’? The world knew that the crisis in these nations was coming. Why didn’t we act early enough to stop the genocide in these countries?  How else can we engage crises societies and states so that they can protect themselves meaningfully?

Transitions from crises states to effective and capable states can be explained with reference to two institutional factors: institutions and rules. The central hypothesis is that the relative strength of local institutions determines the rules of the humanitarian principles that are installed. It requires a plural set of organizations which promote and protect rules of peaceful participation and competition. Hence, the UN, AU & donors’ strategies should focus on the different stages of capacity building of crises states: conflict prevention, containment and peace-building and post-conflict reconstruction in the social, political and economic spheres. Strategies need to be simultaneously ‘objective’, dealing with substantive issues and the institutional mechanisms for response, and ‘subjective’, in developing the awareness, understanding and expectations at all levels.

Key words: humanitarianism, conflict prevention, containment and peace-building and post-conflict reconstruction

AIDA - GIUSEPPE VERDI - 2012 ( COMPLETE OPERA )

Antecedent: The Egyptians have captured and enslaved Aida, an
Ethiopian princess. An Egyptian military commander, Radamès, struggles
to choose between his love for her and his loyalty to the Pharaoh.
To complicate the story further, the Pharaoh's daughter Amneris is in
love with Radamès, although he does not return her feelings.

"Fear the Boom and Bust" a Hayek vs. Keynes Rap Anthem

Ethiopia students return to school with Holt’s support

Ethiopia students return to school with Holt’s support

allAfrica.com: Africa: Facebook Reaches a Landmark 100-Million Users in Africa Through Mobile

allAfrica.com: Africa: Facebook Reaches a Landmark 100-Million Users in Africa Through Mobile

Can a Robot Be Your Boss?

http://knowledge.wharton.upenn.edu/article/can-robot-boss/

Jazz and Poetry night in Addis Ababa

The Nile Conundrum: Ethiopia, Sudan and Egypt Getting to the bottom of the ‘Historical Water Rights’ Impasse & Crafting a win-win Diplomacy

The Nile is a river shared by ten riparian States that are among the ten poorest in the world and that necessitate the development of the Nile Water resources by all riparian States. The 1929 agreement was signed between Great Britain (albeit representing its colony, Egypt) and Great Britain, which also represented at the time Uganda, Kenya, Tanganyika (now Tanzania) and Sudan. The document gave Cairo (under colonial administration by London) the right to veto projects higher up the Nile that would affect its water share. The treaty for the full utilization of the Nile, concluded between Egypt and the Sudan in 1959, divides the entire flow of the Nile between the two countries. Other riparian countries, notably Ethiopia - a country with a population of 90 million today and which contributes about 86% of the annual discharge of the Nile - to date use only less than 1% of it.

Ethiopia, a nation known as the water tower of North-East Africa is the epicenter of famines. Surface water resources in Ethiopia flow in 12 major river basins. It is estimated that an average of 122.19 billion cubic meters of water is annually discharged from the Abay (Nile), Tekeze, Shebelle, Baro and Omo-Gibe river basins with an estimated 3.5 million ha of irrigable land. Hence, the long-term objective is to establish once and for all a nation that can ensure its citizenry human development and human security.

In 1984, a famine began to strike Ethiopia with apocalyptic force. Westerners watched in horror as the images of death filled their TV screens: the rows of fly-haunted corpses, the skeletal orphans crouched in pain, the villagers desperately scrambling for bags of grain dropped from the sky. What started out as a trickle of aid turned into a billion-dollar flood. (Serrill, MS, TIME –CNN, 1987) For more than two decades, nearly half of Ethiopians have experienced some degree of food insecurity and malnutrition. Approximately five million are chronically food insecure, i.e., unable at some time in any year to secure an adequate supply of food for survival.

Ethiopia could not develop its water resources to feed its needy population, mainly because of policies of international financial institutions (IFIs), augured on British colonial dictat, which have made it difficult for upper riparian countries to secure finance without the consent of Egypt. Foreign direct investments for the development of the Nile waters have been almost out of the question. The downstream riparian States, therefore, have maintained the right to veto the development endeavors of the upstream States. The Nile status quo was such that Ethiopia, whose name has almost become synonymous with drought and famine, is condemned, while two downstream States have almost utilized the entire water flow. Moreover, Sudan and Egypt introduce new mega-irrigation projects even further. As a result, upper riparian countries are naturally left with very little choice other than to resort to a reciprocal measure of unilateralism even if as feared by many that it may trigger conflict, it becomes a better drive for collaboration (Milas, 2013)

 For more than five decades Egypt’s political leaders have claimed ‘historic rights’ to control of the Nile waters, punctuated by threats of war against any upstream country that might attempt to build dams or water infrastructure on the river. This became a prominent feature of Egypt’s Nile policy after the construction of the Aswan High Dam by the Soviet Union. The late President Anwar Sadat realigned his country with the West, made peace with Israel and announced that the only thing that could bring Egypt into war again would be if any country threatened Egypt’s control of the Nile waters. Egypt’s peace agreement with Israel opened Cairo’s way to aid agreements with the United States and to Egyptian access to strategic positions in the World Bank and other IFIs, which they could influence against lending for water infrastructure in upstream states without the agreement of downstream states. To build it, they would need loans from the IFIs, which were unlikely to be available without Egypt’s agreement, especially in view of propaganda that such loans might possibly lead to war. Now however, there are many other sources of funding, like China. (Ibid)

Now that Ethiopia is building The Renaissance Dam expected to produce around 6000 megawatts of electricity in the Blue Nile Gorge near the border with Sudan, Cairo is nervous that the waters of the Nile might be in jeopardy. While Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi has tried to dampen down embarrassing suggestions that Egypt might use military power over disagreements concerning the Nile waters, the hard-talk from the Egyptian side. This is despite the fact that the report of an independent panel of experts from Egypt, Ethiopia and Sudan had concluded that the hydropower dam would not significantly reduce the flow of water reaching Sudan and Egypt, as the water merely has to pass through the dam’s turbines and come out the downstream side to produce hydroelectricity.

President Museveni has sternly stressed that the biggest threat to the Nile is continued under-development in the tropics i.e. lack of electricity and lack of industrialization. On account of these two, peasants cut the bio-mass for fuel and invade the forests to expand primitive agriculture. Here in Uganda, the peasants destroy 40 billion cubic metres of wood per annum for firewood. They also invade the wetlands to grow rice, he noted. This interferes with the transpiration that is crucial for rain formation. Our experts have told me that 40 percent of our rain comes from local moisture - meaning from our lakes and wetlands. Ironically, said Museveni, the Egyptians wanted to drain the wetlands in South Sudan through the Jonglei canal. It was one of the causes for the people of South Sudan to wage war against Khartoum, which was collaborating with Egypt’s misguided and dangerous policies of that time (Allafrica.com, 2013)

http://issuu.com/costantinos/docs/the_nile_conundrum__ethiopia_and_eg,

A Human Security Strategic Framework for the Greater Horn of Africa Sub-Regional Peace and Security Strategy

The post WWII human community had the firm belief that a global collective security system capable of limiting the misery of people living under conflicts and complex emergencies would have emerged. Fifty years on, notwithstanding an array of declarations, communiqués and action programmes, the humanitarian crisis continues unabated, while rapid political developments continue to make new demands on individuals and communities already at the brink of collapse. It seems there is too much readiness for uncoordinated and unilateral action within the GHA community of leaders without meaningful and adequate understanding, let alone agreement, on critical issues with their political organisations and constituencies. Addressing these requires an agenda promoting good governance and economic development ensuring freedom from want -- the basic idea that violence, poverty, inequality, diseases, and environmental degradation are inseparable concepts in addressing the root causes of human insecurity -- and freedom from fear -- that seeks to limit the practice of human security to protecting individuals from violent conflicts. The purpose and the contents of the Human Security component of the GHA strategy designed to develop capacity to mobilise nations and civil societies to direct policies and programmes to address the compelling and evolving implications of human insecurity; so that it does not further reverse human and social capital development in the sub-Region. Applied data collection focused on affordable and useful techniques where documents at all levels were consulted for stakeholders views, experience and inputs in the identification of lessons learned and formulation of recommendations for the human security framework.

Key words: Human Security, freedom from want, freedom from fear, human capital, social capital

http://issuu.com/costantinos/docs/a_human_security_framework_for_the_