From: Berhane Habtemariam (Berhane.Habtemariam@gmx.de)
Date: Sun Nov 15 2009 - 07:17:31 EST
State Department Briefing. Topics include Ethiopia Nov 12 2009
15/11/2009
The following is an excerpt from the State Department daily briefing
regarding Ethiopia on November 12, 2009. Video is posted below, fast forward
towards the end on questions about Ethiopia.
QUESTION: I have a couple of Ethiopia questions.
MR. KELLY: Ethiopia questions.
QUESTION: Yeah. Has the State Department or USAID investigated claims by the
country's opposition, including a former president and defense minister that
some of the $850 million in food and anti-poverty aid from the U.S. is being
distributed on the basis of political favoritism by the current prime
minister's party? And then, also when the Secretary met with the Ethiopian
foreign minister last week, did she bring up the issue of the jailed
opposition leader Birtukan Mideksa, and did she express any concerns about
the fairness of the outcoming Ethiopian elections in May?
MR. KELLY: Yeah. Well, regarding the assistance, we're committed to
assisting people in need all over the world. And we provide humanitarian
assistance that is politically neutral, socially impartial, and based on
people's needs, rather than on political factors. And we're, of course,
aware of these reports that you raise, Indira, about the politicization of
humanitarian assistance in Ethiopia. Regarding that, let me say that we have
monitoring systems in place to prevent or expose such activities, which we
are continually reviewing and working to improve. Personnel from U.S.
Embassy in Addis are increasing their field visits to observe how the
assistance is distributed, and they're aware of these allegations, so
they're conducting these monitoring activities specifically with these
allegations in mind. We are committed to the people of Ethiopia and ensuring
that our humanitarian assistance does reach those most in need.
In fiscal year 2008, the U.S. provided $934 million in overall assistance to
Ethiopia, of which $479 million was humanitarian assistance. The fiscal year
2009 numbers will be available at the end of the calendar year. This - the
meeting last week, I was not in that meeting, but I understand that a full
range of issues were discussed. And in general, human rights are at the
center of our bilateral dialogues with Ethiopia.
QUESTION: Thank you.
MR. KELLY: Thanks.
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