The Human Cost of ‘Imperialist’ Interventions in the 21st Century MENA RL Vol XII No 376 MMXVIII

The Human Cost of ‘Imperialist’ 

Interventions in the 21^st Century Middle

East & North Africa (MENA)

Public Lecture - RL Vol XII No 376 MMXVIII

Costantinos Berhutesfa Costantinos, PhD

Professor of Public Policy & Sustainable Institutional Reforms

https://addisababa.academia.edu/CostyCostantinos

Abstract

The concept of the Responsibility to Protect (R2P) is a brand new international norm that removes the thin veneer of sovereignty from states and a novelty in the conduct of international relations. 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. Huntington work “The Clash of Civilisations” proposed that people's cultural and religious identities would be the primary source of conflict in the post-Cold War world. This lecture hones on the West’s colonial and interventionist war in the Middle East and Africa and its support for the Sunni-Shia conflict that is decimating Yemen. If the Libyan war was about saving lives, it was a catastrophic failure (Milne, 2011). NATO claimed it would protect civilians in Libya, but delivered far more killing. About 500 people, civilians and fighters, have been killed by shooting, shelling and NATO bombing. That has followed a two month-long siege and indiscriminate bombardment of a city of 100,000, which has been reduced to a Grozny-like state of destruction by newly triumphant rebel troops with NATO air and Special Forces support. Moreover, these massacre sites are only the latest of many such discoveries. Amnesty International has now produced compendious evidence of mass abduction and detention, beating and routine torture, killings and atrocities by the rebel militias Britain, France and the US have backed for months. A household survey of Iraq has found that approximately 600,000 people have been killed in the violence of the war that began with the U.S. invasion in March 2003 (Burnham, et al., 2006). As the Syrian conflict enters its seventh year, more than 465,000 Syrians have been killed in the fighting, more than a million injured and over 12 million Syrians - half the country's pre-war population - have been displaced from their homes. Operation Decisive Storm, the intervention initially consisted of a bombing campaign on Houthi rebels and later saw a naval blockade and the deployment of ground forces into Yemen starving millions to death. Saudi-UAE coalition 'cut deals' with al-Qaeda in Yemen (Al Jazeera, 2018). The West, the Arab World and the Gulf, Russia and the combatants have to come to a negotiated settlement on the human security of the region.

Key words: Arab, Gulf, Yemen, Libya, Syria, Iraq, Russia, US, EU, Sunni, Shia, Saudi, UAE, Egypt

See paper here or  https://www.academia.edu/37965354/The_Human_Cost_of_Imperialist_Interventions_in_the_21_st_Century_MENA_RL_Vol_XII_No_376_MMXVIII

What the Libyan tragedy has brutally hammered home is that foreign intervention does not only strangle freedom and self-determination – it doesn't protect lives either (The Economist, 2015).

Policing Algorithmic Shared Media! Could Racial Animosity & Social Media Hate Discourses scuttle Pluralism? Quo Vadis Ethiopia! RL Vol XII No 377 MMXVIII

Policing Algorithmic Shared Media!

Could Racial Animosity & Social Media Hate Discourses scuttle Pluralism? Quo Vadis Ethiopia!

Public Lecture - RL Vol XII No 377 MMXVIII

Costantinos Berhutesfa Costantinos, PhD

Professor of Public Policy & Sustainable Institutional Reforms

https://addisababa.academia.edu/CostyCostantinos

Abstract

Juan Ortiz Freuler (2018) asserts that three perspectives exist on ‘whether the internet is having a damaging impact on democracy’, auguring on the fact that ‘over the last few years, the potentially damaging impact of the internet, and particularly social media, on democracy has increasingly come to dominate the news. Catherine O'Donnell (2011) writes, after analysing more than 3 million tweets, gigabytes of content and thousands of blog posts, a new study finds that social media played a central role in shaping political debates in the Arab Spring. Indeed, governments assert that pernicious ‘politicians’ using social media defy reason and derive pleasure from real peoples’ misfortunes; ecstatically oblivious of the negative impact that they have on the poor in Ethiopia. Their media outlets thrive on promoting conflict, protected by their newly acquired rights of citizenship in the West. While they derive contentment from creating chaos, generate needless complexity and strife, these ‘politicians’ will never be worth one’s time and energy—and they take a lot of each. Whether it is ruthlessness or just plain idiocy, such reckless agent provocateurs that augur their discourse on argumentum ad hominem find it tantalising to waste the intellect of cognoscenti as their emotive cesspool.

Hence, the Ethiopian government has passed a cybercrime law that criminalises an array of substantive computer activities including the distribution of defamatory speech, spam, and pornography online among others offenses. The Computer Crime Proclamation law,, was passed, the government says, in an effort to more accurately attune the country’s laws to technological advances and provide the government better mechanisms and procedures to prevent, control, investigate, and prosecute the suspects of computer crimes (Carlson, 2016). Parallel to the recently introduced national motto in all government offices and beyond, Ethiopia, a New Horizon of Hope, which brings a single page (dashboard) of 100 days plan, the Office of Attorney General of Ethiopia is preparing a draft bill aiming to curb hate speech. It is also to bring accountability towards public speeches and every other discourse, which is deemed to ignite hate and racial tensions in the country. The rise of irresponsible social media activism and fake news in recent times is being blamed as the catalyst especially for race related violence in various parts of the country.

Using desk study of literature and personal observation, the research augurs on questions that are important in examining and assessing the ideological openness of transitions to plural politics in Ethiopia. The discussion augurs on the fact that beyond the sphere of social media agency, possibilities and problems of democratic transition openness can be grasped in terms of the related domain of ideology. Regulation of social media suggests itself, seems within reach only to elude, and appears readily practicable only to resist realisation. A more proactive state that inclusive of its citizens can wither away the challenges faced by agent provocateurs that augur their discourse on argumentum ad hominem find it tantalising to waste the intellect of well-meaning cognoscenti, as their emotive cesspool.

Key words: social media, regulation, political transition, political activism, populism, authoritarianism
See paper here or  https://www.academia.edu/37949894/Policing_Algorithmic_Shared_Media_Could_Racial_Animosity_and_Social_Media_Hate_Discourses_scuttle_Pluralism_Quo_Vadis_Ethiopia_-_RL_Vol_XII_No_377_MMXVIII

"Within countries, the supply of ideas of plural politics may be artificially deflated by particular strategies and mechanisms used by incumbent governments to manage entire reform processes. Conceptual possibilities may be left unrealised, or sub-optimally realised, insofar as governing elite are preoccupied with filling out those spaces of uncertainty in transition political thought, discourse and action that social media activists would occupy in the course of their own engagement."

Harnessing Social Capital for Nation Building and Inter-Citizen Group Peaceful Coexistence in Ethiopia: -RL Vol XII No 375 MMXVIII

Harnessing Social Capital for 

Nation Building and Inter-Citizen Group Peaceful Coexistence in Ethiopia:

The Role of CSOs, 5 Dec 2018, CCRDA, Addis Abeba

Moulding a Plural & Enterprising Polity & Citizenry:

A Clarion call for a Resilient Ethiopianism

Public Lecture - RL Vol XII No 375 MMXVIII

Costantinos Berhutesfa Costantinos, PhD

Professor of Public Policy & Sustainable Institutional Reforms

https://addisababa.academia.edu/CostyCostantinos

Abstract

Students of the 1970s demanded land to the tiller and the equality of nations & nationalities, an ideological arsenal that informed the era and that continues to enlighten politics heretofore, undergirded the ubiquity of imperious economic policy, the stress on political organisation and the national question. Half a century later, a human rights crisis stemming from the protest against impunity is emergent, triggered by identity issues, mal governance, corruption and impunity of officials. The state must look into local elders (shimagiles) to contain the mayhem. Coupled with this, lodged in a highly turbulent region, new martial and security scenarios threaten the nation. Hence, while ethnic liberation has been accomplished, Ethiopianness must now take the front stage to defend and advance the nation. While nations & nationalities have realised their freedom, what is simmering on is exigency for pluralistic governance and the statutory veneration they deserve as Ethiopians. The transformation achieved so far also means citizens are becoming more affluent and civically refined, demanding to be heard. A collective psyche that puts so much trust in the trappings of hegemony must be supplanted by a social awareness that gives due respect to the highest moral and professional benchmarks in social life. State collapse that stems from a society, which is not based on strong institutional pillars and robust meritocracy in its public administration, is bound to fail. Thus, the merit system is consequential as a tried and tested route to success in constitutional self-governance. The mystique of power is closely linked to the lack of execution of constitutional rules and political institutions such as the coordinates of the state and pillars of civil society.

In advancing the economy, private sector, capital and liberalisation of the big state owned enterprises that would unleash untapped billions for development, are indispensable allies to employment and livelihood security. In its transformational stance, the state must focus on streamlining discretionary rule of officials, eliminate monopolies and the economic distortions that facilitate them and improve accountability. Finally, a requisite for pluralism is a spirit of tolerance and transparency - discords resolved in a spirit of respect for the views of citizens. Visionary leadership, political will and public support are vital to the state’s legitimacy that twigs from meritorious choices to district-cum-zonal officers that are in direct contact with the populace and reform of policy-making and governing institutions. Society’s watchdogs and responsible and independent media are indispensable assets in curbing corruption and pursuing good governance goals consistently and in varying contexts, but do so without resorting to a self-defeating, overly scripted and stage-managed political gambit. The protests and the apologies herald a new era of openness, albeit at a price!

Key words: Ethiopianism, meritocracy, pluralism, human rights, corruption, mal governance,

See lecture here or https://www.academia.edu/37918416/Harnessing_Social_Capital_for_Nation_Building_and_Inter-Citizen_Group_Peaceful_Coexistence_in_Ethiopia_aA_Clarion_call_for_a_Resilient_Ethiopianism_-_RL_Vol_XII_No_375_MMXVIII

Society becomes civil when it asserts to elect legitimate political authority, by which it protects its hegemonic grip on the state for an enduring democratic society.

Nascent Pains of the Absolute Entitlement to Self-Determination and Outright Secession - RL Vol XII No 371 MMXVIII

Nascent Pains of the Absolute Entitlement to Self-Determination and Outright Secession

Plaintiffs in Civil Society and Ethiopia’s Neophyte Exploration into Social Re-engineering

Public Lecture - RL Vol XII No 371 MMXVIII

Costantinos Berhutesfa Costantinos,

President, Lem Ethiopia – the Environment & Development Society

https://addisababa.academia.edu/CostyCostantinos

Abstract

Article 39 of the Constitution of the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia states the Rights of Nations, Nationalities, and Peoples. It establishes that “every Nation, Nationality and People in Ethiopia has an unconditional right to self-determination, including the right to secession. Nevertheless, current discussions and analyses of transition to democracy in Ethiopia is generally are marked by several limitations. These include: a tendency to narrow democratic thought and practice to the terms and categories of immediate, not very well considered, political and social action, a naive realism, as it were; inattention to problems of articulation or production of democratic systems and process within Ethiopian politics rather than simply as formal or abstract possibilities; ambiguity as to whether civil society is the agent or object of democratic change and concerning the role of the state; a nearly exclusive concern in certain institutional perspectives on self-determination in Ethiopia with generic attributes and characteristics of political organisations and consequent neglect of analysis in terms of specific strategies and performances of organisations in processes of transition; and inadequate treatment of the role of international agencies and of relations between global and indigenous aspects or dimensions of self-determination in Ethiopia.

It is a telling comment on the abstract nature of the whole exercise that the major nationalities of Ethiopia have been cultural categories rather than territorially defined political entities. Yet such was the power of the theory that even the Dergue was forced to make some half-hearted concessions to it by establishing autonomous units in its People's Democratic Republic of Ethiopia. After 1991, the student theory of the 1960s and 1970s has become official doctrine. The absence of any critical re-examination of the principle has meant that Ethiopia is now virtually a laboratory for its testing ‘self-determination and secession’ out, irrespective of the disastrous lessons of the South Sudan, Soviet Union, Yugoslavia, etc.

Whether democracy means individual freedom or collective rights, government policy or citizen action, private value or public norm, the upshot of the relative inattention to problems of articulation of open democratic systems and processes in itself makes democracy at once the most concrete of idea systems. Within current projects of political reform, democracy is either conventionalised or sterilised on terrain of theory and often vacuously formalised on the ground of practice. It enters Ethiopian politics and society in relatively abstract and plain form, yet is expected to land itself to immediate and vital Ethiopian polity's socio-political experience. It suggests itself, seems within reach only to elude, and appears readily practicable only to resist realisation.

Key words: Constitution, Article 39, ethnicity, nation, nationality, people, self-determination, secession, Ethiopia

See paper here or https://www.academia.edu/37889067/Nascent_Pains_of_the_Unconditional_Right_to_Self-Determination_and_Secession_RL_Vol_XII_No_371_MMXVIII

Priming Public Policy to Combat Entrepreneurial Stasis in Ethiopia RL Vol XII No 317 MMXVIII

Priming Public Policy to

Combat Entrepreneurial Stasis in Ethiopia

Public Lecture - RL Vol XII No 317 MMXVIII

Costantinos Berhutesfa Costantinos, PhD

Professor of Public Policy & Sustainable Institutional Reforms

https://addisababa.academia.edu/CostyCostantinos

Abstract

Entrepreneurship and business development in a post-war/ post-command economy and under political transitions can be explained with reference to two institutional factors: institutions and policies that inform and influence the promotion of entrepreneurship & employment. The central hypothesis is that the relative strength of entrepreneurship, entrepreneurs and business organisations determines the wellbeing of the economy. They require a plural set of social and political institutions of which economic changes, downsizing government and privatisation of state owned enterprises which promote and protect rules of peaceful participation and completion in the market place.

Public policy intervention in the informal sector is argued based on some mix of equity, efficiency or political economy principles. Whatever, the basis of the argument might be there is a need for government policy intervention to promote economic growth and reduce pervasive poverty in an economy. Indeed, the socialist regime, which followed a centrally planned economic system since 1974, introduced excessive interventions and controls. After 1991, several policies were formulated and regulations promulgated relating to diverse social, economic and political issues that are hardly supportive of private sector development.

Hence, the ingredients of enabling environment for entrepreneurship development are avoidance of bureaucratic barriers, efficient and reliable infrastructure, expansion and/or establishment of financial institutions, establishment of training institutions and a healthy business-government relationship based on a stable political and regulatory climate. Grassroots businesses (small scale businesses) constitute the building blocks of entrepreneurial development anywhere in the world challenges that deserve urgent attention in developing entrepreneurial capabilities and the small scale sector in particular. These are lack of appropriate training system, lack of information and advisory service, financial constraints, lack of properly defined national policy, and that government institutions have been created to serve only the large businesses. Hence the state must focus on expansion of the role of civic associations sound and stable macroeconomic policy framework and develop programme support objectives, outputs & benchmarks to provide an enabling environment for the development and growth MSMEs, access to credit & finance, facilitation of access to other essential services needed by MSMEs, strengthen capacity of intermediary MSME support institutions, membership associations and advocacy groups to deliver quality services. The programme support to the overall programme is nationally executed within the framework of a partnership between public and entrepreneurial sector, reflected in the managerial and institutional arrangements.

Key words: entrepreneurship, employment, MSME, business organisations, public policy, partnership
See lecture here or  https://www.academia.edu/37686919/Priming_Public_Policy_to_Combat_Entrepreneurial_Stasis_in_Ethiopia_RL_Vol_XII_No_317_MMXVIII.pdf

Public Policy Trajectories for Managing the Current Account Crises RL Vol XII No 310 MMXVIII

Public Policy Trajectories for

Managing the Current Account Crises –

Ethiopia: an exploratory think piece

Public Lecture - RL Vol XII No 310 MMXVIII

Costantinos Berhutesfa Costantinos, PhD

Professor of Public Policy & Sustainable Institutional Reforms

https://addisababa.academia.edu/CostyCostantinos

Abstract

In recent years, public investment has been one of the major drivers of economic growth in Ethiopia. Government spending has doubled in just the last three years and quadrupled in the past six years. For the five-year GTP period as a whole, the sum of budgetary government spending and off-budget spending by public enterprises is programmed to reach Birr 1.26 trillion, or an average of 41% of GDP per year over five years. Ethiopia now has the highest capital expenditure share in government spending in Africa. This means that much more spending is being funnelled to capital projects and to capital equipment, rather than to recurrent expenditure (wages, operational and maintenance costs). The public investments planned for the coming five years can be seen as putting in place the necessary hardware and software needed for a modernising economy. Though Ethiopia current account balance (% of GDP) fluctuated substantially in recent years, it tended to decrease through 1997 - 2016 period ending at -11.4 % in 2016.

Strategic corporate planning is affected by competence in government’s economic management, the efficiency of the public service bureaucracy, the attitudes of influential public figures towards entrepreneurship, and the quality of public infrastructure and services. A case in point is the commercial farm sector where half a million hectares lay bare. A major paradigm shift in the management of the economy is a necessary condition, looking for new business strategies and approaches that are consistent with market economies accommodating changes whenever they take place and be able to convert such developments into opportunities to redefine their position and purpose. After passing through about four decades of economic policy crises in which it has been subjected to anti-private sector polices, Ethiopian entrepreneurs are in the early stage of revival and has not as yet regained its prominence in national development. An assessment of the private sector shows that the formal private sector is quite small with average employment figure of less than ten people per enterprise. Most depend on outdated and obsolete technology characterised by frequent breakdowns and low productivity. Hence, the discussion points improvement in public policy and strategy, fiscal & monetary management, increased import substitution and exports, and re-balancing the trade deficit.

Key words: public policy, fiscal & monetary strategy, import substitution and exports, re-balancing the trade deficit

See lecture here or   https://www.academia.edu/37858670/Public_Policy_Trajectories_for_Managing_the_Current_Account_Crises_Ethiopia_an_exploratory_think_piece

Federated Ethiopia - Stemming Demographic Trials and Resource Conflicts - ACM - RL Vol XII No 363 MMXVIII

Federated Ethiopia - Stemming

Demographic Trials and Resource Conflicts

Could these spin to Ethnic Cleansing? What are the Requisite Policy Introspection to Create an Enterprising Society and Polity? Alternative Conflict Management

Public Lecture - RL Vol XII No 363 MMXVIII

Costantinos Berhutesfa Costantinos, PhD

Chair, Lem Ethiopia, the Environment & Development Society

https://addisababa.academia.edu/CostyCostantinos

Abstract

Ethiopia’s population is estimated by projection 107.5 million, while total fertility rate is at 4 in 2018. While population explosion could be a dividend, the economic carrying capacity that has resulted in human insecurity. Ethiopia has seen the highest number of people forced to flee their homes within their country in the first half of 2018, according to the IDMC report on global displacement. It beggars belief that 1.4 million people fleeing violence isn't making global headlines. The world has turned a blind eye to Ethiopia, warned Nigel Tricks, Regional Director of the Norwegian Refugee Council. Families we've met who have fled fighting are living in dire conditions, and dismal international funding is being channelled to help them (Reliefweb, 2018).

Despite the success the new charismatic Prime Minister Abiy, some regions are locked up in a round of vindictive ethnic violence. Hundreds of thousands of displaced Ethiopians are caught between ethnic violence and shadowy politics. Ethiopian police force has uncovered mass grave with 200 bodies along the border between the strife-torn Oromia and Somali regions. Critics point to the formal transition activity that constituted the central instruments of ‘democratisation’ - the unlimited right of any nation, nationality or people to self‑determination, including the right to secession. More than ideology, it is the everyday social and economic life, which has come under stress and strain in the highly ethnicized political order. For many, particularly, but by no means exclusively, the city elite, the values, sentiments and symbols of national unity they cherish and take for granted have suddenly become objects of controversy and deconstruction. Many often grumble at their country having to endure another “social experiment” after seventeen years under dictatorial Marxist-Leninist rule. The relevant policy instruments of the state to this discussion include the National Population Policy of Ethiopia (where between the policy statement and operationalisation, a concrete implementation action plan to guide it is required that should deal with questions such as resource requirements, timetable. The food security policy is consistent with current food-security theory. However the lack of specific recognition of the need to control the population growth rate to achieve food self-sufficiency merits further consideration. The land use and land tenure policies, land use planning and land tenure have been hotly debated. These are extremely complex issues with a far-reaching impact on the future of Ethiopia. The lecture proposes policy review and alternative conflict management approaches derive from several basic premises about the nature of conflict, change and power. It is essential to launch a truth commission. Efforts must focus in creating an enterprising society.  

Key words: ethnicity, demographic dividend, livelihood security, alternative conflict management, policy review

See paper here or https://www.academia.edu/37836799/Federated_Ethiopia_Stemming_Demographic_Trials_and_Resource_Conflicts_ACM_RL_Vol_XII_No_363_MMXVIII

Reining in a ‘Million’ Cavaliers of the Millenarian Apocalypse RL Vol XII No 360 MMXVIII

Quo Vadis ‘pillaged’ Ethiopia:

Reining in a ‘Million’ Cavaliers of a Millenarian Apocalypse

The First Decade of the Third Ethiopian Millennium Heralds

Impunity, Grand Corruption & Accountability

Public Lecture - RL Vol XII No 360 MMXVIII

Costantinos Berhutesfa Costantinos, PhD

Chair, Ethiopian Scouts, Professor of Public Policy & Sustainable Institutional Reforms

https://addisababa.academia.edu/CostyCostantinos

Abstract

             An “honest, incorruptible machinery can increase economic efficiency by greatly reducing corruption. A major problem inherent in the system is the extreme weakness of the social movements and their failure to develop coherent strategies for promoting broad based and well organised citizenry. The huge public sector has burdened the Ethiopian civil service with literally all human development services delivered by the state but has several challenges– remuneration, post adjustment, etc. Based on a desk study of the literature assembled, the research questions augur on the following - What is the extent of corruption in Ethiopia’s developmental state? What is the impact of corruption on society and polity? What needs to be done to stem the tide of corruption and impunity? Looking at the emerging breaking-after-breaking news of the past two weeks, the Ethiopian developmental state has been transformed into a kleptocratic state. “A year ago, many Ethiopians would not have dared to imagine the spectacle they are being treated to right now, as the government intensifies the crackdown on corrupt officials and people it alleges have carried out gross human rights violations. The country has watched in disbelief - and then cheered as former high-ranking and powerful military and intelligence officials have been arrested on live television, handcuffed while surrounded by heavily armed security personnel and bundled into police vehicles. Times have indeed changed” (Igunza, 2018).

           Leadership, political will and public support are essential to the success of stemming any threats of corruption, and that the causes and not just the consequences of these threats have to be addressed. Upholding the rule of law is important to guarantee protection of human rights, ensure judicial predictability. It creates a climate conducive to domestic private sector activity, foreign direct investment and enforce adherence to formal rules of behaviour. Watchdogs are significant components of this strategy can help increase integrity and transparency. Creating a merit based and metric civil service is a basic requirement for limiting any threats of corruption and rebuilding public confidence. A culture of professionalism needs to be created and thus, incentives as well as sanctions have to be employed. Remuneration is obviously a factor, but opportunities for career advancement based on merit are important mechanisms to instil a sense of professional pride. While the prime role of the state in advancing the economy is well recognised, reducing state involvement in the economy, streamlining the discretionary decision-making authority of its officials will reduce the threats of corruption. Reforms can eliminate state monopolies, economic distortions that facilitate them and improve accountability. Stemming the tide of the impact of corruption focuses on the evolution of a political culture, building rules and institutions, enhancing governing institutions: leadership and human quality development think tanks and technology; oversight and regulation: the legislature, the justice system, state corporate strategic and business plans: capacity for strategic harmonisation and civil society & media watchdogs

Key words: corruption, impunity, civil society & media watchdogs, state corporate strategic and business plans

See paper here or https://www.academia.edu/37822702/Quo_Vadis_pillaged_Ethiopia_Reining_in_a_Million_Cavaliers_of_a_Millenarian_Apocalypse

Civil Service Salaries & The Wages-Price Spiral, Devaluation, Inflation & Livelihood Security RL Vol XII No 345 MMXVIII

Civil Service Salaries &

The Wages-Price Spiral, Devaluation, Inflation & Livelihood Security

Public Lecture Res Publica Litereria – RL Vol XII No 345 MMXVIII

Costantinos Berhutesfa Costantinos, PhD

Professor of Public Policy & Sustainable Institutional Reforms

https://addisababa.academia.edu/CostyCostantinos

Abstract

While the dismal civil service salary has been an Achilles heel in the development of good governance structures, questions have been raised if a civil service salary increment will spin the inflationary pressures out of control (price &wages spiral). On the other hand, the continuous, stealth and surprise devaluations fall short of addressing the problem, which reflects numerous and complex factors. The National Bank can have various instruments to promote price stability and eco­nomic growth, where price stability, growth and export competi­tiveness are all concerns, but it is useful to consider the issue in terms of the monetary conditions index. The banking system must be functioning efficiently - taking care of the money market and hence the credit market needs of private sectors. An efficient and a development-oriented private sector provides the nourishment, which markets require to grow and function effectively. Markets themselves provide the credit ingredients, which the private sector requires to grow, expand and contribute to development. Thus, there is a reciprocal and mutually productive relationship between the private sector and credit and capital markets. Full or partial privatisation of units providing services that would be more efficiently provided in a competitive, multi-channel environment, force account activities, and private sector involvement in provision of major infrastructure and concession arrangements will provide more employment. Progress in information systems on micro-economic behaviour including labour market networks, and the specific requirements of technology transfer and adaptation are all preconditions for sound policy and strategy analysis, formulation and management. Planning and policy-making are characterised by on-going dialogue between government and different groups of economic actors, regular exchange of electronic data and information on specific needs and requirements. Primarily it is important to consider what Ethiopia’s bulk imports (petroleum, food – beer malt, sugar, wheat, etc. fertilizer, machinery, spare parts, raw materials and what Ethiopia exports (Coffee, Sesame, Kat, oil seeds, etc…). What is the wisdom of devaluating the currency when the exports are limited? Do they hurt the populace by a price spiral that goes out of control for citizens? There is simply no alternative to the establishment of sound institutional capacity in government for real-time strategy development, sensitivity analysis, policy coordination, and attention to the details of implementation. Strategic objectives must be clearly defined and specific measures made consistent with overall polices of a good national economic management. Provision of incentives to entrepreneurs must be subject to periodic review, continuation, and expansion made conditional upon perfor­mance criteria established in advance.

Key words: price &wages spiral, devaluation, inflation, monetary conditions index, credit & capital markets, 

See paper here or  http://www.academia.edu/37743956/Civil_Service_Salaries_and_Wages-Price_Spiral_Devaluation_Inflation_and_Livelihood_Security_RL_Vol_XII_No_345_MMXVIII

Ending Famine Emergencies in the Horn of Africa Vol XII No 348 MMXVIII

The Horn of Africa Initiative

Ending Famine Emergencies in the Horn of Africa

Partnership Consultative Meeting

15-16, Nov. 2011, Kempinski Palace Hotel,

Republic of Djibouti

Inter-Governmental Authority on Development

Djibouti, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Kenya, Sudan/South Sudan, Somalia and Uganda

Report of the Consultative Meeting

Public Lecture Res Publica Litereria – RL Vol XII No 348 MMXVIII

Costantinos Berhutesfa Costantinos, PhD

Professor of Public Policy & Sustainable Institutional Reforms

https://addisababa.academia.edu/CostyCostantinos

Abstract

The objectives of the IGAD Partnership Consultative Meeting on the Horn of Africa Initiative - Ending Famine Emergencies in the Horn of Africa are to share information on the initiative: its origins, vision, issues and challenges and potential areas of intervention, currently and potentially available sources, grant and loan funds and amounts and propose a road map for institutional coordination to move the initiatives forward and agree implementation modalities and determine an array of roles and responsibilities and preliminary configuration of stakeholders, partners, IFIs, etc.  The expected outcome of the Partnership Consultative Meeting is partnership agreement for sustainable livelihoods in the Horn: A shared understanding of the initiative (vision, objectives, scope, and strategy) and roadmap and modalities for implementing shared vision, roles and responsibilities, agreed institutional arrangement. The IGAD-led partnership outcomes for ending drought triggered emergencies and promoting sustainable livelihoods in the Horn entails developing.

The Heads of State and Government of IGAD, EAC and South Sudan, meeting in Nairobi, Kenya on 9 Sept 2011, at the Summit on the Horn of Africa Crisis; undertook to enhance the following. First is provision of timely and actionable early warning information to all, ensure efficient utilisation of water resources in the region under existing and future co-operative frameworks. Further, it is to promote ecosystem rehabilitation and management, encourage the shift from reliance on rain-fed agriculture, and launch regional projects to address the underlying causes of vulnerability in drought-prone areas, reform emergency humanitarian response to enhance resilience and long-term solutions. The priority areas for long-term investment are long-term investment in sustainable management of water for crop, livestock production and domestic use; sustainable use of natural resources including rangelands; securing pastoral assets and production systems; market-related infrastructure and financial services; and new approaches on conflict-sensitivity and disaster risk reduction.

Key words: famine, early warning, natural resources, investment, ecosystem, livelihood security

See paper here or https://www.academia.edu/37763230/Ending_Famine_Emergencies_in_the_Horn_of_Africa_Vol_XII_No_348_MMXVIII

Awakening from the Centenary Slumber that is wrecking Mother Earth L Vol XII No 350, MMXVIII

Awakening from the Centenary

Slumber that is wrecking Mother Earth

Discourse on Polices & Political Will

The most remarkable feature of this historical moment on Earth is not that we are on the way to destroying the world – we have actually been on the way for quite a while, we are beginning to wake up, as from a millennia-long sleep, to a whole new relationship to our world and each other (Joanna Macy)

Public Lecture - RL Vol XII No 350, MMXVIII

Costantinos Berhutesfa Costantinos, PhD

Chair, Lem Ethiopia, the Environment & Deve. Society,

Professor of Public Policy & Sustainable Institutional Reforms

https://addisababa.academia.edu/CostyCostantinos

Abstract

Scientists on the Nobel Prize-winning IPCC point to a global temperature rise of 1.5°C as a threshold the planet cannot cross without seeing the worst effects of climate change. Yet according to the U.N. organisation’s latest report, temperatures have already risen 1°C as a result of human activity, and the planet could pass the 1.5°C threshold as early as 2030 if greenhouse gas emissions continue at the current rate. We need a plan to save us, we have a short window of time and a huge responsibility.’ African Member States are urged to strengthen their policies and interventions for effective climate change adaptation planning. In this regard, particular emphasis should be placed on increasing land-use efficiency, water-use efficiency and access, and agricultural productivity, with a view to enhancing climate resilience, especially for food production and security in Africa. With the involvement of civil society, they are urged to develop strategies to advance low carbon development, taking into account the specific needs and context of African countries…. They are urged to strengthen regional cooperation to enable countries to focus on areas of comparative advantage and to formulate and implement supportive policies that promote access to affordable, reliable and clean energy services to reduce poverty, improve health, increase productivity and promote economic development.

‘The main difference between possibility and impossibility is just political will”. The consequences of failure would be immense and affect countries and their citizens in every corner of the globe. But the worst toll would be inflicted on developing countries that lack the resources to adapt and communities located in vulnerable regions like coastlines, small islands and particularly dry regions.  ‘We need a ‘climate just’ pathway’. ‘The risks posed by global warming in excess of 1.5°C are large and unpredictable and in some cases irreversible.’ In confronting the imperatives of political will, nothing is more challenging for our polities than the strategic co-ordination of diverse global and local elements, relations and activities within themselves, nor has anything greater potential for enabling them achieve successful transitions to democracy. The concern here is not so much the number and diversity of ideas, values and opinions allowed to gain currency during transition as modes of their competitive and co-operative articulation.

Key words: climate change, Paris agreement, IPCC, Africa, desertification, climate bonds, carbon-tax-credit

See lecture here or use this link  https://www.academia.edu/37727654/Awakening_from_the_Centenary_Slumber_that_is_wrecking_Mother_Earth_Discourse_on_Polices_and_Political_Will_RL_Vol_XII_No_350_MMXVIII