This week Ethiopia held elections to determine who will hold power in Ethiopia’s parliament. The country’s official results indicate a big victory for Prime Minister Meles Zenawi and his ruling party—capturing at least 499 of the 547 parliamentary seats, according to The Globe and Mail.
But observers who have been following the election are crying foul, accusing the election of being tainted by “a narrowing of political space and an uneven playing field”. And other groups like Human Rights Watch have accused the government of resorting to voter intimidation and threats to capture the landslide victory.
This is a complex situation. Over the years, Prime Minister Zenawi has delivered real development results for millions of Ethiopians. But the people of Ethiopia deserve to be able to participate in real, meaningful democratic elections that meet international standards. An open and democratic process is a daily process delivered by a free media, free civil society, accountable public institutions and transparent budgets.
We’ll be closely watching the situation as it develops and will keep you abreast of any significant updates.
In 2006 I had never heard of obstetric fistula, a devastating childbirth injury caused by obstructed labor. You may be unfamiliar with fistula, since it has been almost completely eradicated in the U.S. through modern care and the use of C-sections. Fistula affects over two million women—predominantly in sub-Saharan Africa and Asia. In fact, over 100,000 of these women are in Ethiopia and the number grows by over 9,000 every year.
Women’s stories who suffer from obstetric fistula are always similar; a woman loses her baby in a long, painful, obstructed labor and then wakes up to the horror of incontinence. A woman with fistula is often abandoned by her husband, ostracized by her family and village and left to live the rest of her life alone and ashamed. While fistula can be cured, less than 4,000 women per year can be treated in Ethiopia. And many women who do receive help still live as outcasts from their families or struggle to reintegrate as productive members of their community.
Last year, Allison Shigo and I decided to take action. We launched Healing Hands of Joy, a non-profit to help empower Ethiopian women who have suffered from fistula reclaim hope for their future, reintegrate back into their communities and receive basic maternal health care services for their needs. Our dream is to help eradicate this terrible affliction in Ethiopia, beginning with our pilot prevention project. Through this project, we will begin making motherhood safer by working with the Tigray Government Bureau of Health and training patients at the Mekelle Fistula Hospital. Please visit our website to find out more and see what you can do to help.
-Brett O’Donnell, Co-Founder, Healing Hands of Joy
In early April I had the honor to be part of a delegation traveling to Ethiopia at the invitation of Bread for the World and the Protestant Development Service (EED). We saw some amazing projects and had numerous discussions about the development opportunities and challenges in Ethiopia.
On the flight back I had a long conversation with another delegation member, who is sort of the ambassador of the Protestant Church to Germany and the EU, about all the everlasting impressions the trip had on us. We could think of so many and I’d like to share some of these with you:
Four African countries on Friday signed a new treaty on the equitable sharing of the Nile waters despite strong opposition from Egypt and Sudan who have the lion’s share of the river waters.
Rwanda, Ethiopia, Uganda and Tanzania signed the new framework while Kenya issued a support statement, an AFP correspondent reported.
Burundi and the Democratic Republic of Congo were not represented at the meeting in the Ugandan town of Entebbe.
“This agreement benefits all of us and harms none of us,” Ethiopia’s Water Resources Minister Asfaw Dingamo said. “I strongly believe all Nile Basin countries will sign the agreement.”
The upstream countries want to be able to implement irrigation and hydropower projects in consultation with Egypt and Sudan, but without Egypt being able to exercise the veto power it was given by a 1929 colonial-era treaty with Britain.
“We regret the intentional and announced absence of our dear brothers from Egypt and Sudan,” said Stanislas Kamanzi, Rwanda’s water and lands minister.
The new agreement, the Nile Basin Cooperative Framework, is to replace a 1959 accord between Egypt and Sudan that gives them control of more than 90 percent of the water flow.
The Living Proof Project recently published a new photo gallery looking at a program organized by the Ethiopian government to train over 32,000 high-school educated women to work as Health Extension Workers and teach rural families about disease prevention and healthy living.
Dr Gebreab Barnabas, Head of the Regional Health Bureau in Tigray province, talked to ONE recently about a primary health care programme that has been running in Ethiopia.
The scheme, which started 5 years ago, involves the training 30,000 female health extension workers nationally, including 1,800 in Tigray. Supported by the Ethiopian government, the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, TB and Malaria, UNICEF and other partners, it also involves the building of more than 3000 heath centres.
Programmes such as this help put health care in the hands of the local community. Not only is primary health care less costly, but its impact can be huge. By eliminating the risk of the disease it helps reduce the costs of diagnosis, treatment and follow up.
Check out this great photo gallery from the Living Proof Project. It follows Liya Kebede was born in Ethiopia and now serves as a WHO Global Ambassador, and her work in Ethiopia.
You can view the full gallery by clicking the image below:
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2011 marks 30 years since the first cases of AIDS were documented. Take a closer look at the specific, achievable goals we must hit by 2015 to make this year the beginning of the end of AIDS.
In 2006 I had never heard of 
Last year, Allison Shigo and I decided to take action. We launched 
