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From: Berhane Habtemariam (Berhane.Habtemariam@gmx.de)
Date: Tue Aug 02 2011 - 15:02:56 EDT
The Drought Claimed To Prevail In The Horn Of Africa Needs To Be Analyzed
>From Various Angles
Asmara, 2 August 2011 - A senior official of the Eritrean Ministry of Labor
and Human Welfare said that the drought claimed to prevail in the Horn of
Africa needs to be analyzed from various angles without getting misled by
the on-going 'drought scenario films' .
The official told ERINA that the root cause of the drought situation that
exposed millions of people in the region is the man-made lack of conscious
development endeavors. He further indicated that the different groups and
organizations that cause chaos and instability in various zones of the Horn
region are those parties that use aid as a means of paralyzing skilled
manpower resources, as well as new colonialist practices, and loans as
control mechanisms in addition to non-governmental organizations as the
source of corruption.
He also noted that the two big causes that bring about amassment of huge
so-called development aid are deliberately ignited wars and corrupt
practices employing aid as a tool to this end.
In this regard, the official singled out Ethiopia under the TPLF regime as a
typical example. He elaborated that during the past 25 years, Ethiopia got
over 25 billion dollars in development aid, over 14 billion in loan, more
that 70 thousand tons of food aid, as well as making available 35% of
the country's annual budget in the form of support. Despite this, however,
about 8 million Ethiopians live below the 'safety net' program, and around
30 million Ethiopians suffer from food shortage.
The senior official further indicated that the country is being categorized
as one of the four poorest countries of the world, not in a position to
guarantee social services for the citizens. Around 150 thousand prostitutes
live in the capital, Addis Ababa, and that there are more 300 thousand
homeless citizens, and that around 8% of the city's residents are carriers
of HIV/AIDS.
In conclusion, he underlined the need for through analysis of the causes
that gave rise to the aforementioned malaises. Indeed, a number of questions
raised: what was the outcome of previous so-called assistance? What are the
objectives behind such aid and what about the relations between crises and
corruption in the continent? What about the reason behind the number of
citizens who live below one dollar a day reaching 1.2 billion? What is the
function of the international financial organizations? And why are countries
compelled to pay 15 dollars for every single dollar they obtain through
loan?
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