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Integrated Regional Information Network for Central and Eastern Africa

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HORN OF AFRICA
IRIN-HOA Weekly Round-up 142
24 - 30 May 2003


CONTENTS:

ETHIOPIA: Rock star Geldof urges Europe to do more
ETHIOPIA: Fire razes homes in displaced camp
ETHIOPIA: Britain urges EU to hurry food aid
ERITREA: Nation at a crossroads, says president
ERITREA: FAO to help drought-affected farmers
ERITREA-ETHIOPIA: Border ruling "wrong and unjust", Meles says
SOMALIA: 133 would-be illegal immigrants detained in Puntland
SOMALIA: World Bank resumes operations
SOMALIA: Business community to support all-inclusive government
SOMALIA: Opposition party rejects Kahin as Somaliland president
SUDAN: UNICEF calls for action to find abductees
SUDAN: Monitoring team to begin work
SUDAN: 30 deaths from yellow fever in the south


ALSO SEE:

SUDAN: Interview with Lazarus Sumbeiywo, chief mediator in the peace talks
at: http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=34412

ETHIOPIA: Interview with British minister Paul Boateng at:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=34383

ERITREA-ETHIOPIA: Feature - Monitoring demarcation at:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=34328

ETHIOPIA: Feature - Stopping the cycle of famine at:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=34305

ETHIOPIA: Interview with Berahanu Nega, director of the Ethiopian Economic
Association at: http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=34413




ETHIOPIA: Rock star Geldof urges Europe to do more

Irish rock star Bob Geldof launched an attack on the European Union (EU)
on Tuesday as he returned to drought-stricken Ethiopia for the first time
in 20 years. Speaking to reporters after meeting Prime Minister Meles
Zenawi, he called on the EU to ship in more food unless the world again
wanted to witness the horrors of the 1984 famine in which one million
people died. Geldof is the mastermind of the 1985 Live Aid concert which
raised US $60 million for famine victims in Ethiopia. "The EU have been
pathetic and appalling and I thought we had dealt with that 20 years ago
when the electorate of our countries said never again," Geldof stated. So
far some 12.6 million people - one in five of the population - are facing
starvation and the aid bill is estimated at more than £500 million.
Geldof's five-day mission is billed as a "wake up call" to a crucial G8
summit of world leaders in Evian, France on 1 June. He is looking for
western governments to come up with a "Marshall Plan for Africa".
Meanwhile, the Irish rock star, on Wednesday urged Ethiopia and its
politicians to face up to the devastating HIV/AIDS virus. Geldof came face
to face with the impact of the virus by meeting a 10-year-old AIDS orphan,
Meseret Tadese, who is one of three million people in Ethiopia infected
with the virus. The pair held hands in a tiny mud shack in a shantytown on
the outskirts of the capital, Addis Ababa. "This girl wants to be a doctor
when she grows up. Instead she will die within a year," said Geldof. [Full
stories at:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=34356&http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=34338]

ETHIOPIA: Fire razes homes in displaced camp

Families facing eviction from a displacement camp near the Ethiopian
capital complained bitterly on Tuesday after a mysterious fire tore
through their ramshackle homes. Hundreds were forced to quit their
makeshift homes in Kaliti displacement camp on the outskirts of Addis
Ababa after the midnight blaze last Saturday. Concern is now mounting that
the families, many of whom are destitute and lived on the site rent free,
will end up back on the streets as beggars. Resident Mengiste Assefa, 40,
told IRIN that many of the families were now effectively homeless and
could not afford to pay rent. "We were told we would get some support but
many people have received nothing," he said, speaking at the burnt-out
remains of the now demolished site. "We need support otherwise we will
just end up on the streets." He added that some of the families were now
sleeping in a hut at the local government office. Kaliti camp - for
internally displaced people - sprang up in 1991 after thousands of
families fled from Eritrea following the collapse of the former Marxist
regime. [Full story at: http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=34329]

ETHIOPIA: Britain urges EU to hurry food aid

The British government has called on the European Union (EU) to speed up
food aid shipments to drought-stricken Ethiopia. Chief Secretary of the
Treasury Paul Boateng, who is on a three-nation tour of Africa, said on
Friday his government would urge the EU to ensure that desperately needed
shipments were delivered on time. "The EU undoubtedly has to do better on
the delivery front," said Boateng. "I cannot be clearer about the
importance that we attach to matching delivery with pledges." "You can be
assured that the United Kingdom and all ministers have a continuing
dialogue with the EU and its institutions about the importance of aid
effectiveness," he added. Ethiopia is facing one of the worst droughts in
its history with more than 12 million people facing starvation. The
Ethiopian government says it has been forced to cut ration sizes by almost
a fifth in most of the country because it has not received enough food.
"One very much hopes that in relation to Ethiopia, and one believes very
shortly, we will see further arrivals of food aid to Ethiopia from the
EU," Boateng added. [Full story at:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=34309]

ERITREA: Nation at a crossroads, says president

Eritrean President Isayas Afewerki marked the country's 12th independence
anniversary on Saturday with a warning that the nation had now reached a
crossroads which could go either way. "We find ourselves today [24 May],
12 years after our liberation, at a crossroads between a war that has come
to an end but that appears unfinished, and a peace that has been ushered
in but that remains uncertain," he said in a speech, carried by the
official Shaebia website. The Eritrean People's Liberation Front (EPLF)
marched into Asmara on 24 May 1991, after a 30-year guerrilla struggle
against neighbouring Ethiopia, and independence was formalised by a
referendum two years later. Isayas accused Ethiopia of "concocting endless
obstructions" to the demarcation of the two countries' common border,
following a second war from 1998-2000 triggered by a skirmish in the
border village of Badme. [Full story at:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=34306]

ERITREA: FAO to help drought-affected farmers

The UN's Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) is to distribute seeds to
about 30,000 families in Eritrea in a bid to offset the effects of the
worst drought in 10 years. In a statement, the FAO said the drought had
hit all regions of the country, including the breadbasket areas of Debub
and Gash Barka. "The overall harvest of cereal crops realised in 2002
represents only 11 percent of the expected annual cereal harvest," the
statement added. "Farmers also still suffer from the impact of the border
war with Ethiopia. They have little cash left to buy seeds. Often, their
limited seed stock becomes the family's only remaining source of food."
[Full story at: http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=34415 ]

ERITREA-ETHIOPIA: Border ruling "wrong and unjust", Meles says

Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi branded the crucial boundary ruling
that places the symbolic village of Badme in Eritrea as "wrong and unjust"
on Tuesday. His comments come amid increasing tensions between both
countries over the controversial decision by the independent
Eritrea-Ethiopian Boundary Commission (EEBC). "Well accepting that war is
unacceptable is one thing," the prime minister told reporters after
meeting Irish rock singer Bob Geldof. "Accepting something that is wrong
and unjust as right and just would not be fair, would it?" It is the first
time Meles has spoken to the international media on the ruling since the
fate of Badme was definitively made known in March 2003. Ethiopia is
contesting the ruling and has called for changes to the decision. The
1998-2000 border war between Eritrea and Ethiopia was triggered by a
border skirmish in the village of Badme. Under the terms of the Algiers
peace agreement in December 2000, they agreed to set up a boundary
commission to mark out their territories under a legal "final and binding"
ruling. [Full story at: http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=34336]

SOMALIA: 133 would-be illegal immigrants detained in Puntland

The authorities in the self-declared autonomous region of Puntland have
detained a group of migrants who were waiting to be smuggled into western
Europe, Puntland's deputy information minister told IRIN on Thursday.
Abdishakur Mire Adan said 133 Sri Lankans had entered Puntland under
"false pretences". The people who had brought them here from the United
Arab Emirates a few months ago had obtained visas for them as "commercial
fishermen", he said. Investigations by the authorities revealed that the
Sri Lankans were to be smuggled into Europe. "We have established that the
traffickers had charged them up to US $6,000 each to get them into western
Europe by boat," Abdishakur told IRIN. He said the Sri Lankans had now
been detained and were being kept in a guarded compound until they could
be repatriated. "We have asked for assistance in repatriating them, but
have so far had no positive response," he added. Abdishakur said Puntland
would ensure that "no-one uses our territory as a transit point for human
trafficking". He pointed out, however, that Puntland needed help in
controlling problems of this kind. "We need assistance from the countries
which are the potential destinations of the migrants to stop such
trafficking."  [Full story at:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=34382]

SOMALIA: World Bank resumes operations

The World Bank has resumed operations in Somalia for the first time since
suspending its activities there at the onset of the 1991 civil war. In a
statement, the Bank said it would now assume a leading role through the
"Low-Income Countries Under Stress" initiative, which supports countries
"with very weak policies, institutions and governance" where lending might
not be an option. The Bank's re-engagement would focus on four strategic
entry points - macroeconomic data analysis and dialogue, livestock,
HIV/AIDS and capacity building for skills development. In formulating this
strategy, the Bank said it had held extensive consultations with various
partners, donors, UN agencies and Somali stakeholders. The initiative will
be jointly implemented with the UN Development Programme (UNDP) and other
partners, the statement said. The World Bank suspended its lending to
Somalia following the collapse of the state in 1991, and resumption of new
lending is prevented by the fact that the country is in arrears, lacks a
functional government and is affected by an unstable security situation.
[Full story at: http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=34359]

SOMALIA: Business community to support all-inclusive government

Members of the Somali business community have said they will support an
"all-inclusive" outcome of the peace talks currently underway in Nairobi,
Kenya. Muhammad Jirde Husayn, an executive member of the Dubai-based
Somali Business Council, said the business community would support any
comprehensive agreement emerging from the talks. "We will support morally,
materially and physically any new government that comes out of Nairobi,"
he told IRIN. Jirde is leading a 27-member team to Nairobi, representing a
cross-section of the community both inside and outside the country. He
said that the group, which comprises members from all Somali clans, had
convened "to see how best we can contribute to the reconciliation
process". Jirde said they had met delegates to the conference and its
chairman, Kenyan Special Envoy Bethwel Kiplagat. "We have told the
delegates to stay the course and conclude the conference successfully," he
added.  According to a Somali delegate, the business community's support
is crucial to any future government in Somalia. [Full story at:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=34342]

SOMALIA: Opposition party rejects Kahin as Somaliland president

The main opposition party in the self-declared republic of Somaliland says
it does not recognise the legitimacy of President Dahir Riyale Kahin,
according to a statement issued by the party on Sunday. A senior official
of the Kulmiye (Solidarity) party told IRIN that it was prepared to talk
to the ruling party, the Unity of Democrats Party (UDUB), "so long as they
are not claiming to be the winners" of last month's elections. Kahin of
the UDUB, who had been the incumbent president, was confirmed as the
winner of last month's disputed presidential election by the Somaliland
High Court. Kulmiye's presidential candidate, Ahmad Muhammad Silanyo -
Kahin's main challenger, told IRIN at the time that his party
"categorically rejected" the results of the 14 April election. The Kulmiye
senior official said the party "does not recognise UDUB as the winner of
the elections. The court's ruling was not based on the facts, and is an
injustice". "In the national interest, we are calling on UDUB to come to
the negotiating table without any preconditions, and as equals", he added.
"Kulmiye will do everything in its power to safeguard the country's peace
and stability." [Full story at:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=34303]

SUDAN: UNICEF calls for action to find abductees

The UN Children's Fund (UNICEF) has urged the Sudanese government and
international donors to use new research on missing people in Sudan as an
opportunity to resolve the issue. The new information is the result of an
18-month study carried out by an organisation, known as the Rift Valley
Institute, on people abducted by militia groups in Sudan over the past 20
years, who are still missing. The research puts the number of children and
adults whose families do not know of their whereabouts at about 10,380. In
a statement, Joanna van Gerpen, the UNICEF representative in Sudan, said
this had been "an absolutely vital initiative". "For the first time since
1983, the true extent of the abductions has been documented," she said.
"It's a huge step in helping us search for the missing children and women.
It drives home the fact that they are real people with real names and
stories - not just statistics." According to the statement, the new
information would make the search for those still missing "far more
effective, far more meaningful, and far more hopeful". [Full story at:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=34386]

SUDAN: Monitoring team to begin work

A team mandated to monitor the cessation of hostilities accord between the
Sudanese government and rebels aims to have a permanent presence in the
country by early next month. Paul Davenport, the chief of operations with
the Verification and Monitoring Team (VMT), told IRIN a mission would
visit the country this week to identify possible locations for permanent
VMT bases. The VMT was mandated in early February to monitor the agreement
between the government and the Sudan People's Liberation Movement/Army
(SPLM/A), but has not yet undertaken any missions.  "We want to get the
VMT in as soon as possible," Davenport told IRIN. He said each of the
monitoring teams would have representatives from both the government and
the SPLM/A. Among the locations to be visited this week are eastern Sudan
along the Ethiopian border, Malakal, Bentiu, Wau, Juba, Aweil, Tam and
Akak, said Davenport. Both the government and the SPLM/A described these
regions as "areas of conflict". [Full story at:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=34355]

SUDAN: 30 deaths from yellow fever in the south

Thirty people have died in an outbreak of yellow fever in southern Sudan,
which has affected at least 80 people, the United Nations confirmed on
Tuesday. It was earlier suspected that the yellow fever, which is a
haemorrhagic virus, was Ebola fever. The World Health Organisation (WHO)
confirmed the diagnosis of yellow fever late last week, following two
laboratory test results, respectively from South African and Kenya. Local
health staff in the Imatong and Ikotos areas had initially reported 178
cases of the fever, but the figure had been revised downwards following an
investigation by WHO officials, Ben Parker, the spokesman for the UN
humanitarian coordinator in Sudan, told IRIN. UN agencies and NGOs in the
area are now working with local counterparts and the Sudan Relief and
Rehabilitation Commission to stop the spread of the virus. A mass
vaccination campaign is being planned for next week, with an initial
40,000 doses of vaccine coming from neighbouring Kenya. The initial focus
will be on Imatong town, the epicentre of the outbreak, followed by
Ikotos, which had only two cases to date. "We have received reports of
some people fleeing from the Imatong area to Ikotos, which is a cause for
concern," Parker said.  [Full story at:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=34339]


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Copyright (c) UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs 2003


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