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Worancha

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Ethiopians deserve a free press

The Feb. 9 editorial “ Ethiopia’s stifled press ” raised fundamental issues of human rights, democracy and governance. The journalists and bloggers languishing in prison committed no crime except to criticize the ruling party.  If the government of Ethiopia is concerned for its citizens, as a spokesman asserted in a Feb. 13  letter  [“The Ethio­pian government’s duty is to protect all of its citizens”], it should respect the rights and views of journalists and civilians who oppose its policies. It is repressive to block popular Web sites and broadcasts, such as Voice of America, that provide an alternative to government-controlled media. Ethiopians should have the right to voice their concerns about their country’s affairs. Private, independent media outlets facilitate the venue for an open discourse. The government’s persistent attack on press freedom, therefore, will only exacerbate the people’s anguish. No government is perfect. Those who use pens to expose the imperfections s

ከሃዋሳ ከተማ ኣስተዳደር ትኩረት የሚሹ የከተማዋ ጎዳና ተዳዳሪ ህጻናት

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Photo:  El & Marty የሃዋሳ ከተማ በኢትዮጵያ ውስጥ በከፍተኛ ፍጥነት በማደግ ላይ ካሉ ከተሞች ግንባር ቀደም መሆኗን የተለያዩ ድርሳናት ይጠቅሳሉ። ከተማዋ ተፈጥሮ ባደለቻት መልካም ኣየር ንብረት፤ በእንግዳ ተቀባይ ህዝቧ፤ ለስራ፤ ለትምህርት እና ለኑሮ ምቹ በመሆኗ ብሎም ኣዲስ ኣበባ እና ለሌሎች ትላልቅ የኣገሪቷ ከተሞች በኣንጻሩ ቅርብ መሆኗ፤ ለእድገቷ እና ለተወዳጅነቷ ምክንያት ሆኗል። ሃዋሳ ልክ እንደ ኣሜሪካዋ ላስቬጋስ ከተማ በኣገሪቱ የመዝናኛ ከተማ እየሆነች መጥታለች ይባላል።ምንም እንኳን የከተማዋ የመዝናኛ ከተማ መሆን ለነዋሪዎቿ ኣዎንታዊ እና ኣሉታዊ እድምታ ያለው ብሆንም። ኣሉታዊ ገጽታውን ለኣብነት ያህል ማንሳት ካስፈለገ፦ በሃዋሳ ከተማ ለማዝናናት የምመጡ ሰዎች ለምዝናኛ የምሆናቸውን ገንዘብ ኣስበው እና ቆጥበው ይዘው ስለምመጡ የተጠየቁትን ከፍሎ መዝናናት ስችሉ የከተማዋ ነዋሪ ግን ከጊዜ ወደ ጊዜ እየናረ ያለውን ኑሮ ለመቋቋም ኣዳጋች እየሆነባቸው ነው። በዚህ ጉዳይ ላይ እንመለስበታለን። የከተማዋን እድገት ተከትሎ በከተማዋ መንገዶች ላይ የፈሰሱት ለምኖ ኣዳሪዎች ቁጥር በከፍታኛ ሁኔታ ጨምሯል። ከጥቂት ኣመታት በፊት በከተማይቱ ቤተክርስቲያናት ደጃፍ ብቻ ይታዩ የነበሩት ለምኖ ኣዳሪዎች በኣሁኑ ጊዜ በየትኛውን መንገድ እና ኣከባቢ ይታያሉ። ለምኖ ኣዳሪዎቹ በኣብዛኛው ከገጠር ወረዳዎች የመጡ ሲሆን፤ በኣብዛኛው ኣቅሜ ደካማ ኣረጋውያ፤ሴቶች እና ህጻናት ናቸው። የሃዋሳ ዙሪያ እና ቦሪቻ ወረዳ በኣብዘኛው በሃዋሳ ከተማ ያሉ ጎዳና ተዳዳሪዎች የመጡባቸው ወረዳዎች ሲሆኑ፤ የሁላን ወረዳ ጨምሮ ከሌሎች የሲዳማ ወረዳዎች የመጡ ይገኙበታል። ከጎዳና ተዳዳሪዎች መካከል ከፍተኛውን ቁጥር የምይዙት ህጻናት እና ታዳጊዎች ሲሆኑ፤

zonondergang the lake at Hawassa

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A sunset is always a rewarding subject.  Here a sunset at the Hawassa lake in southern Ethiopia.  The orange sunset diffuse broken by the relatively thin air, while the trees on the banks form a welcome contrast. Photo:http://www.columbusmagazine.nl/afrika/ethiopie/oromiya/reisreporter/fotos/483419.html

Laws discriminating against women persist globally

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All laws in the world discriminating against women were supposed to be wiped out by 2005. Ten years later, numerous countries still have laws that restrict equality between men and women. Many of the 189 government that agreed to ending gender inequality at the U.N. Fourth World Conference on Women 20 years ago are not living up to their promises, says the women’s group Equality Now. “[I]nequality, even in its most overt form, has not been vanquished,” says the group in its report  Words and Deeds: Holding Governments Accountable in the Beijing+20 Review Process . “Without good laws women and girls have no formal recourse to protect and promote their rights and cannot fully participate in society. ” It is the fourth edition of the report, published every five years since the 1995 meeting in China. While there are countries where laws against women are unchanged or worse, there are many others that have made positive reforms. About half of the laws highlighted in the group’s previ