Capital

Africa’s busy week in Addis Ababa Ministry of Finance assumes tariff regulation

By Kirubel Tadesse

Second largest flower farm budding

By Muluken Yewondwossen

World Bank – poor being left behind

By Groum Abate

ETC warns of failure in Internet services

By Abiy Demilew

Former CUD elects supreme council members

By Kirubel Tadesse

House approves five judges including former MP Opposition MP claims ethnic imbalance

By Kirubel Tadesse

WASH Ethiopia commits to stamp out health related problems

By Addis Mulugeta

India-Africa march together in new world trade order

By Abiy Demilew

Carter Center Ethiopia budgets 32 mln ETB on tropical diseases

By Addis Mulugeta

IMF revises global growth forecast

By Kirubel Tadesse

Saving institution combats primitive adage

By Addis Mulugeta

The world faces unprecedented food shortages

By Abiy Demilew

iAbesha.com offers online recruitment

By Kirubel Tadesse

UNMEE extends mandate for six months

By Abiy Demilew

PSI launches STD kit

By Abiy Demilew

Childhood nutrition linked to increased productivity

By Groum Abate

Africa’s busy week in Addis Ababa Ministry of Finance assumes tariff regulation

By Kirubel Tadesse

Aiming to protect emerging industries from being driven out of the market by imported foreign products, the Council of Ministers has been the responsible body to impose custom tariff whenever it finds it necessary as per Proclamation No. 67/1993 article 4. But according to the committee which was studying best practices on custom tariff, the Ministry of Finance and Economic Development is better suited for the job.
In most benchmarked countries the committee members visited, it is the Ministry of Finance that is responsible for regulating custom tariff, the committee explains. “Calling on the Council of Ministers whenever a proposed custom tax fails to result in the desired target due to working procedures of the Council,” added the committee.
According to the proclamation presented to the House of People’s Representatives (HPR) in its 15th regular session on Thursday, January 31, 2008, amending the international convention on the harmonized commodity description and coding system ratification proclamation is necessary. The proclamation proposes that the existing provisions of Article four of the 1993 proclamation be re-numbered as sub-article (1) and a new sub article which allows the councils of ministries to transfer the authority of determining custom tariff is included.
“The Ministry of Finance and Economic Development may determine customs tariffs in accordance with the power of delegation given to it by the Council of Ministers,” states the amendment bill proposed to the HPR, to be part of the 1993 bill as sub article 2 of article 4.
One Member of Parliament (MP) expressed his concern that imposing customs tariffs in general is not in the best interest of Ethiopian buyers. “Since imposing custom tariff only forces buyers to pay more for the products after likely price adjustments following customs tariffs,” explains the MP, “it is not the foreign producers we will put a burden on but rather the buyers. It should also be noted that professionals from the World Bank, International Monetary Fund or trading agreements of World Trade organization do not advise such measures.”
Before the House sent the bill to Trade and Industry, Budget and Finance as well as Legal affairs standing committees, Temesgen Zewdie (MP) urged the Standing Committees to check if the constitution provides the authority of determining Custom Tariff to the HPR or another body. The HPR sent the bill to the standing committees by majority vote.
The House also endorsed the minutes of its 10th and 11th regular sessions; it also endorsed the bill providing for the ratification of a nuclear weapons free Africa agreement and a bill providing for amendment of the proclamation establishing the Ethiopian Commodity Exchange Authority, also by majority vote.
It also referred the bill providing for the ratification of a general cooperation agreement signed between Ethiopia and Spain to the foreign, defense and security affairs standing committee.

Second largest flower farm budding

By Muluken Yewondwossen

The signing agreement for the second largest flower and horticulture investment project in Ethiopia, valued at 1.5 billion ETB, was held on Monday January 28, 2008 between Oromia Investment Office and Shadi plc..
According to Legesse Geleta, a senior expert in Oromia Investment Commission, this kind of investment is the first near Ambo town of West Shoa Zone. He added that the project is the second largest flower investment in the country next to the south east Oromia based Share Ethiopia, a Dutch investment near Zeway town.
Shadi plc is a Dutch and Indian joint venture with a capital of 1.5 bln ETB and aims to produce flowers on four hundred and ten hectares. According to Legesse the project will create job opportunities for more than six thousand employees.
Alemu Semae, the Commissioner of Oromia Investment Commission, said at the signing ceremony that this investment encourages other investors in the area. He mentioned that horticultural investment was weak in the area and that this could be a major step in changing that trend.
The President of the Ethiopian Horticulture and Flower Association (EHFA), Tsegaye Abebe, told Capital that around seventy two companies in the country exported flowers in 2007 and that the number is fast approaching eighty. He also mentioned that 125 mln USD was earned from the export. “We have a plan to double exports this year,” Tsegaye added.
In a related development, Prime Minister Meles Zenawi held discussions with flower exporters at his office on January 28, 2008. Meles said that the government would scale up on-going efforts to search for more international markets. The government would attach due attention to expand the country’s flower export market to Russia, Japan and Far Eastern countries in addition to the Netherlands and Germany.
Meles assured participants that the government is ready to provide all the necessary incentives for those investors who would want to be engaged in the sector. He also affirmed the government’s commitment to solve any land and finance related problems in the sector. He said it would also provide due attention to the provision of short and long term trainings with a view to alleviating the shortage of professionals. In addition to the floriculture sector, Meles went on to say, the government would provide attention to the fruit and vegetable sectors.

World Bank – poor being left behind

By Groum Abate

World Bank-financed projects to bring electricity to rural areas around the globe shortchange the poorest of the poor, according to a study by the bank’s independent evaluation unit.
The study, due to be released today, finds that electric grids expand mostly to areas near urban clusters, rarely to more-remote areas where people live on less than $1 a day. In rural villages that do have electricity, as many as 20% of villagers may go decades without hooking up to power because of connection charges that can range from $100 to $300. Credit markets rarely operate in such places, so few villagers can get loans that would spread the cost over years. The evaluation group looked at 120 World Bank-financed projects since 1980 designed to increase rural electrification. In Indonesia, the percentage of rural areas reached by electricity increased to 85% in 2003 from 33% in 1981, in good measure because of such projects. But an emphasis on cost-effectiveness means that many poor villages are less likely to be connected.
“There’s a balance that needs to be struck between cost-effectiveness and reaching those with greatest need,” said the report’s author, Howard White. In Peru, for instance, the government sought to emphasize the poorest rural communities, but changed that focus when the choice of villages became a political battle. Now it looks at what is the most efficient way to boost rural electrification, which often means expanding outward from urban areas. The report praised some countries that started credit programs to help with connection fees. Morocco allowed rural consumers to pay over seven years, while Ethiopia, for a time, spread the payment over five years. The Ethiopian program boosted the number of connections in electrified villages by 20%.
For rural communities, the advent of electricity can change centuries-old patterns. Villagers use the electricity first for lighting and second for TV, the report found. The latter is associated with a reduction in family size — a long-sought goal. The median rural family had 0.6 fewer children after electrification than before, the report said. The report cites two possible explanations for how television helps achieve this. One is that villagers learn about contraception by watching soap operas and informational programs. Then “there’s the ‘Leave me alone, there’s something good on TV’ argument,” said Mr. White. Surveys suggest the first theory is correct. Another big gain from electrification is that it allowed schools and health clinics to stay open longer. Additionally, people living in homes with electricity, on average, stayed up an hour to 1.5 hours later than other families. That gave kids more time to do their homework.

ETC warns of failure in Internet services

By Abiy Demilew

The Ethiopian Telecommunications Corporation (ETC) last Thursday warned that Internet service in the country is facing delays, as of January 31, 2008, due to the severing of a 155MB sub-marine cable ETC uses as its international link.
In a press release ETC sent, the problem has occurred internationally covering most of the Middle East, India and its surrounding countries, after the sub-marine cables crossing the Mediterranean Sea were damaged. Another cable off Dubai has also mysteriously gone down.
The cable failure is impacting 70% of the Egyptian Internet service network and 60% of the Indian network coverage while UK based organizations including British Airways are reporting their call centers have been victimized by the network failure, according to ETC
Internet speed delays have also impacted United Arab Emirates, Kuwait and Saudi Arabia in which at least two internet service operators in Dubai have faced the same failures, ETC disclosed.
Regional service providers are still unable to identify the cause of the disconnection. Some reports are showing that the sub-marine cable connecting South Eastern Asia, the Middle East and Western Europe, was damaged by a docking ship close to the port of Alexandria in Egypt.
Some international telecom experts estimate the maintenance of these cables would take about one week. Until the linkage is fixed, Ethiopia will also face speed failures on its Internet service.
ETC currently uses a satellite link with a capacity of 50MB for its international connection and 34MB capacity in its link across Djibouti. The corporation is currently working to broaden its services and upgrade the capacity of the satellite link to 200MB per second besides upgrading the link across Djibouti to 155MB per second, according to ETC.
ETC believes that when the upgrading is finalized, the corporation will still have a sustainable capacity of connections even if such accidents occur in the future.
The state owned and only service provider in Ethiopia, ETC, announced that the corporation is closely monitoring the interruption, which occurred for the first time and will inform the public on development.
Being the only Telecom service provider, ETC currently has more than 31.000 Internet subscribers with more than 1,215,032 mobile phone subscribers, operating in 883 service stations and employs more than 11,489 employees around the nation.
ETC currently earns more than 1,037.5 Million Birr operating revenue and 594,317,667 Million Birr gross profit from various services it provides.

Former CUD elects supreme council members

By Kirubel Tadesse

Losing the party’s name to Ayele Chamiso’s group and its election emblem to Lidetu Ayalew’s (MP) party, the former Coalition for Unity and Democracy, which is now operating as two separate groups; one led by Engineer Hailu Shawl and the other by first vice president Birtukan Medeksa, has elected sixteen new members for its supreme council in the presence of nine out of fifteen executive committee members.
Sources told Capital that the sixteen new members of the supreme council include Professor Mesfin Woldemariam, who did not want to be part of any leadership and twelve Members of Parliament including Temesgen Zewidie (MP). According to the source, the four members, including Prof. Mesfin and Aserat Tase were elected out of twelve nominees presented from the Birtukan’s group and the MPs were nominated from the Temesgen Zewidie (MP) group, which is now participating in the House of People’s Representatives as parliament group after Ayele Chamiso won the legal battle for the name ‘CUD’.
The election of the supreme council members came after the meeting of the supreme council members which were originally elected in the May 2005 national elections, ordered the executive committee to elect new members.
Even if some members of the executive committee are too missing, sources explain that nine out of an original fifteen attended the appointment of the sixteen new members of the supreme council. According to the sources, the final appointment of the members was decided in a meeting held on Friday, February 1, 2008.
The sixteen elected members are to replace the council’s members which have spent more than six months abroad, and those who informed their decision of retiring from the party. They are also to replace the members of the council which withdrew from the coalition along side Lidetu Ayalew (MP) to continue in their won original party.
Even if sixteen new members are elected and eighteen to twenty others are working with the Birtukan group and some with Engineer Hailu, many are still missing but the source explains that Birtukan’s group want first to finalize any possible reconciliation or talks of a split before replacing the remaining members. The executive and supreme council members who are working under Engineer Hailu didn’t participate in the nomination or election of the sixteen members of the council.
Sources also explain that Birtukan Medikisa and Temesgen Zewidie (MP) are expected to give the first joint press conference stating the appointment of the supreme council members and the possible process of forming a new party.

House approves five judges including former MP Opposition MP claims ethnic imbalance

By Kirubel Tadesse

The House of People’s Representatives has approved the appointment of five judges who will preside at the Federal Supreme Court.
Accepting Prime Minister Meles Zenawi’s request for approval of the appointment of the five individuals, which were first nominated to the PM by The Federal Judges Administration Assembly, the House voted 258 in favor, 26 against and 30 abstaining.
Gebru Gebremariam, opposition Member of Parliament, pointed out that two of the nominees are from the same ethnic group, referring to Medhin Kiros and Tsegaye Assemamawe of Tigray. “In a nation where there are more than eighty nations and nationalities, why is that we could not represent them fairly by at least offering one of the positions to other nations or nationalities?!” Gebru asked.
An Ethiopian People’s Revolutionary Democratic Front, (EPRDF), Member of Parliament replied to Gebru’s comment that Article 81 Sub 2 of the FDRE constitution states that the appointment of judges should only be evaluated with qualification measures such as law education or experience in practicing law, age and will to respect the country’s constitution and others but not by ethnicity. “Just by chance, the distribution of our judges in federal or other level is a fair one when we evaluate it in ethnic representation wise but, that is not achieved intentionally since the law clearly states do not base ethnicity as criteria,” explained the MP, “stating such suggestions which may lead the public to misunderstanding should be corrected and any concerns should be first carefully checked with what the law and the actual figure says.”
Bulecha Demeksa (MP) commenting on the educational background of the nominees stated that the standard of the Civil Service College is to be questioned since three out of the nominees completed their studies in the college. “It could be the fact that most of the judges preceding in the courts are from this college that problems are occurring in the country’s justice system,” Bulecha expressed his concern.
“Civil Service College is like all other education institutions which have the required accreditation and credibility,” replied the EPRDF MP,” claiming that the college graduates are the ones who are messing up the justice system is unfounded.” Bulecha quickly asked the House to correct what he claimed is a serious misquote as did Gebru, for replies to his comment.
Summing up the discussion and arguments, Teshome Toga, Speaker of The House, explained that he is letting some MPs to say and state comments and suggestions for the sake of smooth discussions, which aren’t supported with evidence. He urged all the MPs to support their statements and assertions with evidence.
Medhin Kiros, Alemawe Wole, Belachew Anehiso, Kedir Ali and Tsegaye Assemamawe who served as MPs between 2000- 2005 are the judges approved by the House.

WASH Ethiopia commits to stamp out health related problems

By Addis Mulugeta

WASH Ethiopian Movement (WEM) commits to stamp out health related problems in various parts of the country. Amhara Regional State is one of the focus areas of WEM, in which the vast majority of the people live in rural areas and sanitation, hygiene and water quality are a critical problem in the region.
WEM has been working, with financial support from the World Bank, in the region to eradicate these problems with South Achefer Woreda’s 15 kebeles among the beneficiaries.
Head of South Achefer Health Center, Gojjam Abere, explained during an interview with journalists that there were challenges from the community in the beginning; they were not amenable to the idea of using toilets and the separation of cattle pans from living quarters. Meanwhile, WEM has trained influential individuals from among teachers, agriculture and health workers to teach the community in order to bring social and behavioral changes in sanitation, hygiene and cleaning water. However, gradual behavioral change has developed.
Amber Kush and Kuntishe Dawit are among kebeles benefiting from improved sanitation and hygiene by toilet construction, separation of cattle and human shelters, using smokeless kitchen, cleaning their compound and keeping their children’s health related diseases. They have even become a model for neighboring Woredas.
The World Bank’s consultant in Ethiopia, Kebede Faris, says WASH Ethiopia Movement (WEM) is a coalition of representatives from governmental, non-governmental and faith-based organizations, UN agencies, the media and the private sector, standing together to eradicate health problems related to water quality, sanitation and hygiene and to promote improved behavioral and social change in various rural communities under the motto “Your Health is in Your Hands.” The initiative has been launched a month ago with an annual budget of 600,000 birr to tackle various health related problems.
One of the beneficiaries in Kuntishe Dawit Kebele, Adeba Seneshaw, pointed out that there were a number of problems in his Woreda previously. People were being affected by killer diseases like malaria poisoned water due to the problem of sanitation, hygiene and water supply. He said that health related diseases have now been eradicated with the cooperation of residents, the Woreda health center, WEM and government bodies.
Another beneficiary is Baby Atnkut in Ahuri Kebele who is grateful for the movement’s efforts that have provided them with better sanitation and hygiene facilities such as the use of toilet facilities, though potable water supply has not ye

India-Africa march together in new world trade order

By Abiy Demilew

Anand Sharma, State Minister for External Affairs of India, has stated that India and Africa are joining hands in various cooperation arenas to achieve meaningful position in the new world trade order.
Speaking to the Executive Council of the African Union, here in Addis Ababa on Tuesday, Anand Sharma announced that India and Africa have a vision of partnership for the 21st century, to develop a new paradigm of cooperation taking into account Africa’s own aspirations for pan-African institutions.
“We believe Africa too is moving forward on eradicating poverty and creating employment and a better life for the people and has become an important part of the emerging world trade order, like India”, Sharma told the summit.
Sharma also confirmed India’s commitment to the development and industrialization of Africa. “We engage through revolving lines of credit, capacity building programs, small development projects under our aid assistance programs and support to objectives of African countries and regional organizations to fulfill the Millennium Development Goals”, he affirmed.
In an exclusive interview with Capital, Anand Sharma, a former Indian youth movement leader against apartheid, affirmed that his country’s support to Africa’s industrialization has been consistent and valuable. “Private sector investment from India is growing in Africa and these investors contribute to the building of local capacities, the creation of employment, utilization of local resources and to intra-African trade as well as exports”, Sharma told Capital.
According to the Minister, his country would stand as a true partner to strengthen this partnership through supporting the ability of African entities, “to utilize their resources better, to add value and to obtain a larger share from the emerging world trade order.”
Anand Sharma also told Capital that the wide ranging cooperation and developing partnerships include human resource development, health, capacity building and ICT utilization; all of which he hopes will be symbolized in the Pan-African e-Network Project. “We hope to take this experience to a new level”, he added.
Sharma recalls India has been engaged in developing an Africa-wide dialogue besides developing programs of action with the regional economic networks like SADC, COMESA, EAC and ECOWAS.
“The idea of the India-Africa forum came up during the outgoing Chairperson of the African Union, Alpha Omar Konare’s visit to India in December 2006" Sharma remembers. The joint committee established then has already met twice, including with the permanent representatives of the member states, to work out the details of the Forum, according to the State Minister.
The Indian government has decided to host the India-Africa summit in New Delhi in April, 2008 while the participation and the format of the summit has been decided in consultation with the African Union Commission and the permanent representatives of the member states, according to Anand Sharma.
Asked which areas score a special focus of the action plan of the agreement, State Minister Sharma noted human resources, institutional capacity building, education, science and technology, agricultural productivity and food security, industrial growth including small and medium enterprises and minerals, development in the health sector, infrastructure, ICT and the establishment of a judicial system with police and defense establishments under civilian control are to be given special attention.
Here to attend the 10th ordinary session of the African Heads of States Summit, Anand Sharma has held talks with Prime Minister Meles Zenawi and the outgoing president of the AU, John Koufour, President of Ghana.

Carter Center Ethiopia budgets 32 mln ETB on tropical diseases

By Addis Mulugeta

The Carter Center Ethiopia has set a lump sum budget of 32,691,148 birr to efforts towards hitherto neglected tropical diseases, for this fiscal year in various parts of the country.
Director of Programs and Deputy Country Representative of Carter Center Ethiopia, Dr Estifanos Biru Shargie, disclosed that the Center has been focusing on disease related problems of Malaria, Trachoma and Guinea Worm that adversely affect the life of people in different parts of the country from 2006 onwards. Currently, the Center addresses 150 Woredas in various parts of the country, especially in western zones of South Nations Nationalities and Peoples (SNNP), Oromia, Amhara, Bench Maji, Keffa and Illubabur.
He said that last fiscal year the Center budgeted 30,993,064 birr to tackle neglected tropical diseases and utilized 23,290,700 birr of it. On the other hand, the Center has out laid 66 million birr for eye surgery.
Research documents indicated that in just the Amhara region alone, 645,000 individuals have been affected by Trachoma. The Carter Center Ethiopia has a five year plan to eliminate this and other related diseases, budgeting 146 million birr.
Dr Estifanos commended that Malaria and Trachoma have negative consequences on the development process of any country. Especially, from October - December and April-May, the spread of malaria is much higher than at other times of the year.
He added that the Lions Club, the government, the International Trachoma Initiative (ITI) and Psizer Medicine Organization are among Carter Center Ethiopia’s partners working together to tackle neglected tropical diseases.

IMF revises global growth forecast

By Kirubel Tadesse

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has revised its forecast for global economic growth for 2008. Even if the revised version lowers growth forecast, it is well short of being a global recession. The IMF calls it a significant global slowdown.
For the major developed economies, the IMF predicts continued, but much weaker, growth this year. The new forecast for global economic growth this year is 4.1%, after nearly 5% last year. According to the IMF, there is a very sluggish period ahead for the main rich countries. It is predicted that by the final quarter of this year, annual growth in the US will be below 1%. Developing economies are predicted to grow more slowly than last year, though still quite robustly in many cases.
While projecting growth of above four per cent for the global economy, the IMF said there was a risk that the ongoing turmoil in financial markets would further reduce domestic demand in the advanced economies with more significant spillovers into emerging market and developing countries.
“Despite some slowing of export growth, emerging market and developing countries have thus far continued to expand strongly, led by China and India,” explains IMF, “These countries have benefited from the strong momentum of domestic demand, more disciplined macroeconomic policy frameworks, and in the case of commodity exporters, from high food and energy prices.”
Growth in emerging market and developing countries is also expected to ease, moderating from 7.8 per cent (annual basis) in 2007 to 6.9 per cent in 2008. In China, growth is projected to decelerate from 11.4 per cent to 10 per cent, which should help alleviate overheating concerns.
One exception to the pattern of slowing growth in the forecast is Africa. According to the IMF, growth in Africa is projected to pick up to 7.0 per cent from 6.0 per cent in 2007. IMF economists say that reflects high prices for many of the commodities exported by African countries, improved economic polices and the fact that the continent is less exposed than Asia, for example, to problems in international financial markets.

Saving institution combats primitive adage

By Addis Mulugeta

Amhara Credit and Saving Institution (ACSI) disclosed that it has vowed to fight the traditional adage “either the creditor or debtor may die”. The institution works to replace it with strong conviction that this is not true and that people do live to repay loans.
ACSI has been ranked first among 50 of Africa’s best and sixth in the world among 641 Microfinance Institutions (MFI), after ASA Bangladesh, Bandhan (Society and NBFC) India, Babnco do Nordeste in Brazil, Fundacion Mundial de la Mujer Bucaramanga in Colombia and FONDEP Micro-Credit of Morocco ranked in order by Forbes Magazine. This achievement is the result of the smooth relationship between creditors and depositors and strong management system, ACSI Managing Director Mekonnen Yeleumwosen explained at a press conference in Bahirdar.
The Managing Director said that ACSI is one of the world’s most competitive institutions, in terms of marketing, investment, efficiency of the institution and risk taking and has been accorded two other international awards in one year.
He added that one of the awards was from Directions Organizations of New York, an international business initiative based in Madrid and the second from Geramin Microfinance Foundation based in Washington, USA.
The criteria for being eligible for the awards were, number of creditors and depositors, area covered, and the payback efficiency of creditors. ACSI has up to around 593,000 active creditors and 280,000 depositors with 3224 kebeles and Woredas covered.

The world faces unprecedented food shortages

By Abiy Demilew

Dr. Joachim Von Braun, Director General, International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) announced that the world is facing a historical and unusual food shortage not seen for about 30 years with a dramatic food price escalation.
In an exclusive interview with Capital this week, senior economist, Dr. Joachim Von Braun said currently, the world food situation has changed dramatically with the lowest level of food storage in stocks.
“The world is short in food; the markets are very tight and very nervous about that. Food prices have doubled only in the last 24 months. This is good news for farmers who have something to sell and this is bad news for consumers of rural and urban areas including Ethiopia” Dr. Joachim said.
The expert sees different factors are driving the world in to a perfect storm. “The basic factors are high demand and high income growth all over the developing world especially in China, India and Ethiopia.” High energy prices and fertilizers made inputs very expensive raising the cost of food production and food prices, he believes. “The other big new factor is the bio-fuel production which includes petrol, ethanol and diesel from plants, that has increased the demand on agriculture tremendously,” Dr Joachim reveals.
On the supply side, the very fundamental reason is the world has not invested enough on new ideas and innovations for productivity increases, according to Dr. Joachim. “What we are seeing now is reduced supply and more and more demand of food in the markets” he added.
Dr. Joachim told Capital that Ethiopia is one of the countries with faster economic growth in the world. “As part of the world, the food price escalation in Ethiopia is occurring due to the demand increase of food products raised by high economic growth” he affirms.
The expert believes that the newly introduced commodity exchange market system will play a positive role in stabilizing the market and addressing the major economic challenges of demand and supply.
“Ethiopia should also think about investing on new ideas and innovations like Ethiopian Commodity Exchange – ECX, to increase sustainable productivity in the agriculture sector and to tackle the challenges of food shortage situation and price escalations in the markets.”

iAbesha.com offers online recruitment

By Kirubel Tadesse

iAbesha.com, a newly launched website, offers Ethiopians at home and in the diaspora the opportunity to look for jobs and create their own Curriculum Vitae (CV) web page free of charge. The website is owned by Ethiopian born Swede, Maria Zerihoun.
Maria told Capital that she has spent about 150 thousand ETB Croner and involved software developers and other ICT professionals from India and Sweden to prepare the webpage. “We had planned to launch the website back in September 2007 for the millennium celebrations but we couldn’t finalize it. We are currently promoting it only in Ethiopia but since we offer the service for Ethiopians in the diaspora too, soon we will shift the publicity to that part of our target users,” explained Maria, “what makes our site unique is that it has a professional look and aspiration. You will be able to present your competence in a professional context and also enlarge your contact surfaces within the Abesha community.”
“Today, one way or another, we are forced to use, work and look for anything we want online. It is becoming mandatory in almost all business interactions in most parts of the world. So if we are looking for a job or opportunities, we need to expose our educational status, experience and other qualifications we have online so that interested companies or organizations can access it,” added Maria. Stating her own experience as a photographer, Maria explains that despite the presence of a huge number of talented professional photographers in Ethiopia, a Swedish company hired her to take pictures in Ethiopia. “If there was a way to find photographers and contact them, it would be very suitable and cheaper for the hiring company in addition to creating job opportunities for Ethiopian photographers. The benefit is not only for foreign companies but for local based businesses too, which we offer the service to give information on how to contact the professionals they are looking for from our recruitment database,” further explained Maria.
Maria is currently a student at Stockholm University after spending a few years as mobile concept developer at Telia Mobile Company. She told Capital that despite the noticeable lack of infrastructure, Ethiopians are soon to catch up with the rest of the world in using information communication tools.
According to the Ethiopian Information and Communications Technology Development Agency (EICTDA), which was established as an autonomous Federal Government public office with its own juridical personality under Proclamation No. 360/2003, Ethiopia’s ICT infrastructure problems point out that there is a critical need to speed up the opportunities offered by ICT in addressing the complex socio-economic and governance problems facing the country today.
The Agency explains that the challenges include the dominant factor for agricultural backwardness with low output and productivity by global declines in commodity prices, erratic GDP growth arising from extreme variations in weather conditions, poorly developed physical, communications and telecommunications infrastructure and a fledgling democratic and governance system.

UNMEE extends mandate for six months

By Abiy Demilew

The United Nation’s in Ethiopia and Eritrea, UNMEE, announced the extension of its mandate in the disputed Ethio-Eritrean border, for the next six months, after members of the Security Council voted for the extension, on Wednesday, calling on the two east African nations to show maximum restraint and refrain from any threat or use of force.
The Security Council, on its resolution called on Eritrea to withdraw all its troops and heavy military equipment from the Temporary Security Zone (TSZ) immediately and urged Ethiopia to decrease its military forces in areas adjacent to the TSZ.
The Security Council, adopting the resolution unanimously, also warned Ethiopia and Eritrea to “avoid provocative military activities and put an end to the exchange of hostile statements.”
The Council also expressed its concern over critical fuel levels that are impeding UNMEE’s work. It called on the Eritrean Government “resumes immediately fuel shipments to UNMEE or allows UNMEE to import fuel without restrictions.”
Azouz Ennifar, UNMEE’s acting head, after briefing the Security Council said this week that the mission has not been able to obtain fresh supplies of fuel in Eritrea since 1 December of last year.
“These restrictions are paralyzing the mission and its movements and making the living conditions of our civilian and military staff on the ground extremely difficult,” the official said.
Meanwhile, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, attending the African Union summit here in Addis, told the summit that “UNMEE continues the role of helping to maintain stability in the border area between Ethiopia and Eritrea is critically dependent on the cooperation and goodwill of the two countries concerned – as indeed is the final resolution of the dispute between them.”
Prime Minister Meles Zenawi recently told a French Parliamentary delegation that he regrets Eritrea refuses to accept a peaceful way of resolving the border issue.
In related news, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon expressed his sadness on the alarming situation in Kenya, addressing the African Heads of State and called upon Kenyan leaders Mwai Kibaki and ODM leader Raila Odinga in particular to show responsibility to do everything possible to resolve the sources of the crisis which have claimed the lives of more than 800 Kenyans.
The Secretary-General also called upon African Heads of State to urge and encourage and people of Kenya to calm the violence the resolve their differences through dialogue and respect for the democratic process.
Ban Ki-moon expressed his support for the former secretary general, Kofi Anan, for his effort and urged the support of all to end the ethnic clashes triggered by the aftermath of the recent election in the country known for its stability.

PSI launches STD kit

By Abiy Demilew

Population Service International Ethiopia, a local representative of Population Service International PSI, has launched the first pre-packaged treatment kit, Addis Cure, for the management of sexually transmitted infections, at Global Hotel last monday.
PSI is engaged in non-profit social marketing work and operates in nearly 60 countries.
Malaria, reproductive health, water/child survival and most of all HIV/AIDS are the primary areas of operation for the giant social marketing organization, PSI.
Addis Cure, produced in Ethiopia, is touted as a complete kit for STI, which are referred as the forgotten side of HIV/AIDS.
“This new project responds to the strong evidence that sexually transmitted infections may enhance both the transmission and acquisition of HIV infection” according to PSI Ethiopia. “Improved control may slow down HIV transmission.”
Addis Cure is among the similar projects launched in countries like Cameroon, Uganda, Madagascar, India, Pakistan, Nepal, Benin and Togo. It is sold in pharmacies under medical subscription and affordable price, according to the organization.
“It is specially designed for vulnerable groups at high risk of contracting HIV/AIDS, in a country in which 2.1 per cent of the total population is at risk of HIV/AIDS and sexually transmitted infections,” it was learnt.
The statement puts prevention of sexually transmitted infections as traditionally neglected, but they play an important role in the prevention of the spread of HIV/AIDS.
PSI, acting as a bridge between the public and private sectors, creates demand for essential health products and services by using private sector marketing techniques to motivate positive and sustained changes in health behavior, according the organization’s statement.
Addis Cure is produced in collaboration with various organizations including federal and city health authorities and HIV/AIDS prevention bureaus.

Childhood nutrition linked to increased productivity

By Groum Abate

Feeding very young children a high-energy, high-protein supplement leads to increased economic productivity in adulthood, especially for men, according to a study published in the current issue of The Lancet, a leading medical journal.
Boys who received the supplement, known as atole, in the first two years of life earned on average 46 percent higher wages as adults, while boys who received atole in their first three years earned 37 percent higher wages on average. Those who first received the supplement after age three did not gain any economic benefits as adults.
According to a press release sent by International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI), using data collected in Guatemala over a span of 35 years, the study analyzes the impact of early childhood nutrition on adult incomes and reports significant findings, with important implications for developing countries. The study was conducted by the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) in collaboration with researchers from Emory University and other institutions.
This study is the first to present direct evidence of the effects of early childhood nutrition programs on adult economic productivity and incomes. The research was conducted in Guatemala by Emory University, the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI), the Institute of Nutrition of Central America and Panama, the University of Pennsylvania, and Middlebury College.
“The study confirms that the first two years of life are the window of opportunity when nutrition programs have an enormous impact on a child’s development, with life-long benefits,” said Reynaldo Martorell, Woodruff Professor of International Nutrition at Emory University.
From 1969-1977, four rural communities in Guatemala participated in a food supplementation study in which children received one of two supplements fortified equally with micronutrients. The first, atole, was high in protein and energy; the second contained no protein and was low in energy.
In 2002-2004, researchers returned to Guatemala to interview individuals who had participated in the nutrition supplement program as children. They collected information about all income-generating activities, including type of work; hours, days, and months worked; and fringe benefits received.
“This research demonstrates that early childhood nutrition is not only crucial for the physical growth of children, but is also a wise, long-term economic investment,” said Martorell, who was one of the researchers who conducted the original study in Guatemala. “Just as we need to invest in infrastructure, we need to invest in children.”
The Guatemala study is part of an ongoing focus by The Lancet on maternal and child undernutrition and a featured article in the current issue.
“We have long known that nutrition interventions can provide significant benefits in terms of a child’s health, growth, and mental and physical development,” said John Hoddinott, lead author of The Lancet article and IFPRI senior research fellow. “This study in Guatemala is important because it shows that improving nutrition in early childhood can also be a driver of economic growth for developing countries and a pathway out of poverty for poor households.”