Some see worsening rights situation in aid
donor 'darling' Ethiopia
12 August, 2010 | By Kate Linthicum (Los Angeles Times)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The U.S. gives about $1 billion annually to Ethiopia. But
even as U.S. and other international aid has surged in the
last decade, activists charge that the government has become
more authoritarian.
When the results of the May vote were announced, all but two of 547
parliamentary seats went to the Ethiopian People's Revolutionary
Democratic Front, the coalition that has been in power here for nearly
20 years, or its allied parties.
"How do you win 99% of the vote?" Shinn said. "That's un-American."
And yet, he said, "Ethiopia remains a darling of the donor community."
The U.S. gives about $1 billion annually to Ethiopia, more than to any
other country in sub-Saharan Africa except Sudan. But even as U.S.
and other international aid to Ethiopia has surged in the last decade,
activists charge that the government has become more authoritarian.
"There's been an inverse ratio of rising donor aid and a worsening
human rights record," said Leslie Lefkow, a researcher with Human
Rights Watch.
Prime Minister Meles Zenawi's government has won a degree of favor
from the West for sending troops to fight radical Islamists in
neighboring Somalia, but reports of rights abuses and a string of
draconian laws that have constricted political space have put donor
countries in an awkward position.
"It's a dilemma for the international donor community, which doesn't
want to walk away from Ethiopia because the needs are so great," said
Jennifer Cooke, the director of the Africa program at the Center for
Strategic and International Studies.
Recent allegations of aid corruption have caused further unease among
donor countries.
A March report by Human Rights Watch alleged a countrywide pattern
of local government leaders denying aid to opposition supporters.
Eligibility for many major aid programs is determined by local
government officials — almost all of whom belong to the ruling
coalition or its affiliates.
One former Ethiopian aid worker, who didn't want to be named out of
fear of government retribution, told The Times that aid is leveraged by
local leaders to consolidate power.
"Aid is a tool for development," the aid worker said. "It is also a tool for
politics."
Ethiopian officials deny such claims. Communications Minister Bereket
Simon said Human Rights Watch was "engaged in the continuous
fabrication of allegations" and said Ethiopia "has put in place a
transparent mechanism for the distribution of food aid."
But Western donors appear to be taking the allegations seriously.
Claims that aid programs had fallen victim to political distortion
prompted an investigation into U.S.-funded food programs in seven
local districts in December 2009, said an official with the U.S. Agency
for International Development.
The probe "found no indication of political discrimination," the official
said.
A report released last week by a consortium of donors that includes the
U.S., several European countries and the World Bank conceded that
Western aid programs would benefit from more transparency and
independent monitoring.
The Donor Assistance Group report said donor countries would work
with the Ethiopian government "for continued strengthening of
safeguards" against fraud.
Africa experts agree that walking away from Ethiopia is out of the
question.
Almost a sixth of Ethiopia's 85 million people depend on food aid. In an
added geopolitical dimension, twin bombings in Uganda last month by
the Al Qaeda-linked Somali militant group Shabab underscored the
importance of having U.S. allies in the troubled Horn of Africa.
Ethiopia's rise to "donor darling" is due in large part to its savvy leader,
Cooke said.
Meles, the former Marxist guerrilla leader who has ruled Ethiopia since
1991, "is good at talking the donor speak and the rhetoric of
development," she said.
Hailed by former President Clinton as part of a new generation of
African leaders who would bring stability to the continent, Meles was
invited to sit on then-British Prime Minister Tony Blair's Commission
for Africa in 2004.
The commission argued that economic growth and democracy would
come to Africa only after hunger, poverty and the spread of disease
were stamped out — an expensive proposition that required a "big push"
of new aid.
The year after he was named to the commission, security forces loyal
to Meles killed nearly 200 people who were protesting that year's
election and arrested tens of thousands of opposition supporters,
including Birtukan Mideksa, an opposition leader who is now serving
life in prison for violating the conditions of a 2007 pardon.
The U.S. has been cautious in its criticism, although some say the
Obama administration has been taking a tougher tone. In May, a top U.
S. diplomat said the recent elections "were not up to international
standards."
Meles bristles at such statements and has suggested that Ethiopia could
forgo its dependence on Western aid for a closer relationship with
China, which has lent money for a dizzying number of development
projects in recent years.
"If [the U.S.] feels the outcome of the elections are such that we cannot
continue our relationship," he warned in May, "that's fine and we can
move on."
kate.linthicum@latimes.com
Courtesy
donor 'darling' Ethiopia
12 August, 2010 | By Kate Linthicum (Los Angeles Times)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The U.S. gives about $1 billion annually to Ethiopia. But
even as U.S. and other international aid has surged in the
last decade, activists charge that the government has become
more authoritarian.
- Reporting from Addis
Ababa, Ethiopia - Like
many in the West,
former U.S.
Ambassador to
Ethiopia David Shinn
watched the country's
recent elections for
signs that democracy
was finally taking root.
When the results of the May vote were announced, all but two of 547
parliamentary seats went to the Ethiopian People's Revolutionary
Democratic Front, the coalition that has been in power here for nearly
20 years, or its allied parties.
"How do you win 99% of the vote?" Shinn said. "That's un-American."
And yet, he said, "Ethiopia remains a darling of the donor community."
The U.S. gives about $1 billion annually to Ethiopia, more than to any
other country in sub-Saharan Africa except Sudan. But even as U.S.
and other international aid to Ethiopia has surged in the last decade,
activists charge that the government has become more authoritarian.
"There's been an inverse ratio of rising donor aid and a worsening
human rights record," said Leslie Lefkow, a researcher with Human
Rights Watch.
Prime Minister Meles Zenawi's government has won a degree of favor
from the West for sending troops to fight radical Islamists in
neighboring Somalia, but reports of rights abuses and a string of
draconian laws that have constricted political space have put donor
countries in an awkward position.
"It's a dilemma for the international donor community, which doesn't
want to walk away from Ethiopia because the needs are so great," said
Jennifer Cooke, the director of the Africa program at the Center for
Strategic and International Studies.
Recent allegations of aid corruption have caused further unease among
donor countries.
A March report by Human Rights Watch alleged a countrywide pattern
of local government leaders denying aid to opposition supporters.
Eligibility for many major aid programs is determined by local
government officials — almost all of whom belong to the ruling
coalition or its affiliates.
One former Ethiopian aid worker, who didn't want to be named out of
fear of government retribution, told The Times that aid is leveraged by
local leaders to consolidate power.
"Aid is a tool for development," the aid worker said. "It is also a tool for
politics."
Ethiopian officials deny such claims. Communications Minister Bereket
Simon said Human Rights Watch was "engaged in the continuous
fabrication of allegations" and said Ethiopia "has put in place a
transparent mechanism for the distribution of food aid."
But Western donors appear to be taking the allegations seriously.
Claims that aid programs had fallen victim to political distortion
prompted an investigation into U.S.-funded food programs in seven
local districts in December 2009, said an official with the U.S. Agency
for International Development.
The probe "found no indication of political discrimination," the official
said.
A report released last week by a consortium of donors that includes the
U.S., several European countries and the World Bank conceded that
Western aid programs would benefit from more transparency and
independent monitoring.
The Donor Assistance Group report said donor countries would work
with the Ethiopian government "for continued strengthening of
safeguards" against fraud.
Africa experts agree that walking away from Ethiopia is out of the
question.
Almost a sixth of Ethiopia's 85 million people depend on food aid. In an
added geopolitical dimension, twin bombings in Uganda last month by
the Al Qaeda-linked Somali militant group Shabab underscored the
importance of having U.S. allies in the troubled Horn of Africa.
Ethiopia's rise to "donor darling" is due in large part to its savvy leader,
Cooke said.
Meles, the former Marxist guerrilla leader who has ruled Ethiopia since
1991, "is good at talking the donor speak and the rhetoric of
development," she said.
Hailed by former President Clinton as part of a new generation of
African leaders who would bring stability to the continent, Meles was
invited to sit on then-British Prime Minister Tony Blair's Commission
for Africa in 2004.
The commission argued that economic growth and democracy would
come to Africa only after hunger, poverty and the spread of disease
were stamped out — an expensive proposition that required a "big push"
of new aid.
The year after he was named to the commission, security forces loyal
to Meles killed nearly 200 people who were protesting that year's
election and arrested tens of thousands of opposition supporters,
including Birtukan Mideksa, an opposition leader who is now serving
life in prison for violating the conditions of a 2007 pardon.
The U.S. has been cautious in its criticism, although some say the
Obama administration has been taking a tougher tone. In May, a top U.
S. diplomat said the recent elections "were not up to international
standards."
Meles bristles at such statements and has suggested that Ethiopia could
forgo its dependence on Western aid for a closer relationship with
China, which has lent money for a dizzying number of development
projects in recent years.
"If [the U.S.] feels the outcome of the elections are such that we cannot
continue our relationship," he warned in May, "that's fine and we can
move on."
kate.linthicum@latimes.com
Courtesy
| All rights reserved. |
| Ethio Quest News Together We Can Make It! |
 | |  | |  | |  | |  | |  | |  |
| "In just the next four to five decades, we need to double food production on the same amount of land," Ejeta says.....More |
| " The short- lived pollution particles, known as aerosols, didn't have to travel to Africa to do their dirty work...More |
| Ethio Quest News: For latest Ethiopian News, views, Reviews and More |
| Adwa " After Adwa, Ethiopia became emblematic of African valour and resistance, the bastion of prestige and hope to thousands of Africans who were experiencing the full..." More |
| Previous Stories Sorry Bob, Band Aid millions DID pay for guns: Charity's man in Ethiopia tells his disturbing story By Zoe Brennan When feeding the hungry is political The Economist 'Get real, Bob - buying guns might have been better than buying food': By Richard Dowden Was food aid pilfered? The Economist Online Sir Bob Geldof Defending the indefensible By Alem Mamo Rebels knew it was Christmas time By Jonathan Clayton and Catherine Philp BBC's Ethiopia arms report denied BBC Ethiopia aid 'spent on weapons' By Martin Plaut |
| Related Stories Ethiopia eyes end of food aid within five years-PM Barry Malone East Africa: Rain, Crossborder Trade Boost Food Security Jeff Otieno LiveAid - the kind of help that ultimately harms The Daily Maverick Ethiopia: How little changes Foreign aid, a hostage to fortune The Economist Should we be giving African dictators millions when so many need it at home? By Michael Brennan Ethiopia: Government denies food aid "manipulated" for political gain IRIN Ethiopia's harsh climate By Patrick Nicholson (Caritas) |
