Worancha ወራንቻ

RSF : ETHIOPIA, FLEEING JOURNALISTS AND NEWSPAPERS SHUT DOWN Ethiopian journalists charged with terrorism Paris ( DIPLOMAT.SO) – At least six publications have had to close in recent months and around 30 journalists have fled abroad since the start of the year as a result of the biggest crackdown on the privately-owned press since 2005, one reflecting a government desire to make a clean sweep of independent media before parliamentary elections next May, local analysts say. In the latest development, Reporters Without Borders learned on 1 November that magazine editor Temesgen Desalegn has been transferred to a prison in the town of Ziway, about 200 km away from Addis Ababa to serve the three-year jail sentence of his 13 October condemnation. Desalegn was convicted of publishing reports about “politicians and journalists linked to terrorist groups” in the now-closed newspaper Fitih, which he edited before becoming the editor of Fact, a magazine closed in August. These charge

This fall was a busy time for advocacy at the United Nations on human rights in Ethiopia. It was also a great time to see The Advocates for Human Rights’ new toolkit,  Paving Pathways for Justice and Accountability: Human Rights Tools for Diaspora Communities , in action. Universal Periodic Review Concludes with Some Fireworks In a one-hour session on September 19, the UN Human Rights Council adopted the outcome of its second Universal Periodic Review of Ethiopia. You can watch the video of the session  here . I’ve blogged about the  UPR of Ethiopia   before , and the adoption of the outcome is the last step in the process. The adoption of the outcome is also the only opportunity civil society organizations have to speak during the UPR process. The Advocates for Human Rights is based in Minnesota, not Geneva, so we don’t generally get a chance to address the Human Rights Council during the UPR process. But I often watch the live webcasts, and this time I got up ea

Ethiopia’s already limited space for civil society and human rights defenders is undergoing further contraction, warns CIVICUS, The East and Horn of Africa Human Rights Defenders Project, and the Ethiopia Human Rights Project (EHRP). Throughout 2014, Ethiopian authorities have orchestrated an unprecedented legislative assault on journalists, and independent voices within civil society, undermining fundamental human rights and restricting the operating environment for civil society and human rights defenders. On 27 October 2014, prominent newspaper editor Temesgen Desalegn was sentenced to three years imprisonment on politically motivated charges of provoking incitement against the state. Temesgen and his now defunct newspaper,  Feteh , were targeted under Ethiopian Criminal Code provisions.  The charges, which are widely viewed as an attempt to silence independent reporting on sensitive issues, stem from articles published by Feteh  on demonstrations organised by Muslim groups and

የአፍሪካ    የቀርከሃ የስልጠናና ሰርቶ ማሳያ ማዕከል በ 600 ሚሊዮን ብር ወጪ  በኢትዮጵያ ሊገነባ ነው። በአምስት ሄክታር ቦታ ላይ የሚያርፈው የማዕከሉ ግንባታ  በደን ምርምር ማእከል በገፈርሳ ምርምር ጣቢያ ውስጥ ሀሙስ ጥቅምት 27/2007 ለማዕከሉ ግንባታ የመሰረት ድንጋይ ተቀምጧል። የግብርና    ሚንስትር ዴኤታው አቶ ስለ ሺ ጌታሁን እንዳሉት ማዕከሉ የአሰራርና የፈጠራ ችሎታን በማዳበር አዳዲስ የቀርከሃ ምርቶች የሚመረቱበትንና ለአገር ውስጥና ለውጭ    ገበያ የሚቀርቡበትን ምቹ ሁኔታ ይፈጥራል። ማዕከሉ በተለያዩ አካባቢዎች በተፈጥሮ    የሚገኘውንና በባህላዊ መንገድ ብቻ ይመረት የነበረውን የቀርከሃ ምርት በማሻሻል ተክሉን በማልማት፣ በመጠበቅ፣ እሴት በመጨመርና አጠቃቀሙን ሳይንሳዊ በሆነ  መልኩ በማስፋፋት የገበያ ትስስር ለመፍጠር ይረዳል። የልህቀት ማዕከሉ ከተለያዩ የአፍሪካ አገራት ለረጅምና ለአጭር ጊዜ ስልጠና ከሚመጡ ተሳታፊዎች ጋር የልምድ ልውውጥ ለማድረግ ዓይነተኛ አስተዋጽኦ እንዳለውም አመልክተዋል። የዓለም ዓቀፉ የቀርከሃና ራታን መረብ ድርጅት በኢትዮጵያ ኃላፊ አቶ ተስፋዬ ሁንዴ እንደተናገሩት ማዕከሉ በኢትዮጵያ ውስጥ እንዲገነባ የተደረገው ኢትዮጵያ የድርጅቱ    አባል በመሆን በምክር ቤቱ ውስጥ ጉልህ አስተዋጽኦና የነቃ ተሳትፎ በማድረጓ ነው። ማዕከሉ በአጠቃላይ ለሰርቶ ማሳያ የሚውሉ የቀርከሃ ማባዣ ችግኝ ጣቢያዎች፣ ሰው ሰራሽ የቀርከሃ ደን የሙከራ ተከላ ቦታ፣ የተለያዩ ዝርያዎችን መትከያና ማሳያ ቦታ፣ የማሽነሪዎች መትከያና የተግባር ስልጠና ቦታና የተለያዩ የቀርከሃ ዲዛይኖች ማሰልጠኛ አዳራሽ ያካተተ ነው። ከሙያዊ ድጋፍ በተጨማሪ የማዕከሉ የግንባታ፣ የቀርከሃ ማቀነባበሪያ ማሽነሪዎችና ተጓዳኝ መሳሪያዎች ወጪ

(The following statement was released by the rating agency) PARIS/LONDON, November 07 (Fitch) Fitch Ratings has affirmed Ethiopia's Long-term foreign and local currency Issuer Default Ratings (IDRs) at 'B'. The Outlooks on the Long-term IDRs are Stable. The Country Ceiling and the Short-term foreign currency IDR are both affirmed at 'B'. KEY RATING DRIVERS Ethiopia's 'B' IDRs reflect the following key rating drivers:- -Ethiopia is vulnerable to shocks even compared with 'B' rated peers despite strong improvements in its World Bank governance indicators and development indicators over the past decade. This is balanced by strong economic performance and improved public and external debt ratios since debt relief under HIPC in 2005-2007. -Macroeconomic performance is broadly in line with rated peers. The public sector-led development strategy implemented over the past decade, focusing on heavy investments in infrastructure, has sustained strong real