www.eastafricaforum.net http://africa.reuters.com/wire/news/usnN29381985.html U.N. council to disband Eritrea-Ethiopia force
Tue 29 Jul 2008Louis Charbonneau
UNITED NATIONS, July 29 (Reuters) - The U.N. Security Council is planning to disband its peacekeeping mission to the volatile border between Eritrea and Ethiopia after Eritrea forced out most of the U.N. troops, diplomats said on Tuesday.
The mandate for the 1,700-strong force expires on Thursday and a draft resolution circulated at the United Nations by Belgium calls for an end to the mission.
The resolution, which council diplomats said would be put to a vote on Wednesday, calls on the two sides "to show maximum restraint and refrain from any threat or use of force against each other, and to avoid provocative military activities."
The United Nations withdrew its peacekeeping force from the border in February after Eritrea cut off fuel supplies. The force had been in place since 2000 after a two-year war between the Horn of Africa neighbors that killed some 70,000 people.
Eritrea is angry that the United Nations has been unable to enforce a ruling by an independent boundary commission awarding the bulk of disputed border territory to Eritrea.
U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon warned in April that the withdrawal of the peacekeepers could spark renewed conflict on the 1,000-km (620-mile) frontier.
Eritrea's ambassador to the United Nations, Araya Desta, told Reuters Asmara did not want a military confrontation with Addis Ababa but was fed up with what he described as an illegal occupation of Eritrean territory.
"We have a right to take our land, to do anything possible to take back our territories," Desta said. "I don't envisage at this stage any use of military force to do that."
The Brussels-based think-tank International Crisis Group said last month the armies of the feuding neighbors were "less than a football pitch" apart, risking a catastrophic new war.
Asmara says a November 2007 "virtual demarcation" of the border by the now-defunct boundary commission ended the issue. Ethiopia says Eritrea is illegally massing troops on the border in a supposedly demilitarized zone and it wants to discuss the border demarcation further.
The Eritrea-Ethiopia dispute is part of a set of regional tensions that extends into Somalia, where Ethiopian troops are supporting an interim government, and into Djibouti, whose forces clashed with Eritrean troops last month.
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http://www.reliefweb.int/rw/rwb.nsf/db900SID/LSGZ-7GZH4C?OpenDocument
ReliefWeb/UN
28 Jul 2008
Situation report: Drought/Food Crisis in Ethiopia Complete report:
http://www.reliefweb.int/rw/rwb.nsf/db900sid/LSGZ-7GZH4C/$File/full_report.pdf
Highlights:
- Malnutrition rates continue to rise with no sign of stabilisation
- Reports indicate the geographic scope of the crisis is widening to include Afar
- UNICEF requests the Government to grant a blanket tax exemption of emergency therapeutic feeding supplies until the end of 2008.
Humanitarian Overview
Current Context
The humanitarian crisis in Ethiopia continues to escalate despite the concerted efforts of the government and the humanitarian community to respond to the needs of affected communities.
The current crisis, manifest in acute food insecurity and accelerating rates of malnutrition, is a product of the interaction of a number of factors including; drought, a sharp increase in market prices and crop failure. The immediate impact upon communities in drought-affected regions of the country is reduced access to food and water, erosion of livelihoods and heightened vulnerability to malnutrition especially among children.
Humanitarian partners have been responding to the treatment needs of children suffering from Severe Acute Malnutrition (SAM) in SNNPR and Oromiya since the outset of the crisis. Reports indicate that the geographic scope of the crisis has expanded to encompass communities in Afar, Amhara and Somali Regions.
The humanitarian community continues to grapple with serious shortfalls in commodities essential to deliver much-needed emergency relief. Due to logistical challenges and breaks in the food pipeline the shipments of food scheduled to arrive in July and August will not be sufficient to respond to the needs of people affected by the crisis. Food baskets have been reduced for July distributions as a result of shortfalls.
The DPPA have completed the belg assessment process and early indications are that more people will require additional support over the next six months due to continued food insecurity. Initial findings indicate critical food security problems in Afar, Amhara, Tigray and Somali Regions. Teams charged with conducting an assessment of food security in Oromiya and SNNPR are due to debrief partners on the 29th July 2008.
Government and humanitarian partners have been working to find ways to strengthen the capacity of the humanitarian community to respond to the crisis in Ethiopia. Food distributions, securing quick release of essential humanitarian commodities from customs and enhanced response in the Somali Region have been among the core issues tackled by government and partners during the course of the week.
The Somali Region Special Committee, led by the Director General of DPPA and the Humanitarian Coordinator, will meet on a weekly basis to facilitate a strengthened response to the crisis in the Somali Region.
The Special Committee met with 13 NGOs on Wednesday 23rd July to discuss options to scale up humanitarian interventions in the region and is lobbying for clearance of additional NGOs to intervene in areas affected by the crisis. The Special Committee is working in tandem with technical task forces to develop coordinated plans of action in the health and nutrition, water and sanitation and agriculture and livestock sectors.
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http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/news/arts/la-et-getty30-2008jul30,0,777381.story
Los Angeles Times
July 30, 2008
Getty Museum adds rare Ethiopian book
Suzanne Muchnic The J. Paul Getty Museum has added a rare Ethiopian Gospel book to its collection of illuminated manuscripts. Created around 1504-05 with five full-page paintings and many ornamental touches, it is one of the few such volumes to have survived wars and a Muslim purge of early Christian imagery in Ethiopia.
Purchased at an undisclosed price from a private collection in France, the new acquisition will go on view Aug. 12 in "Faces of Power and Piety," an exhibition of portraiture in illuminated manuscripts at the Getty Center.
"This is a wonderful addition to the collection, visually and culturally," said Thomas Kren, the Getty's curator of manuscripts. "It's a great and beautiful object. And it belongs to the classic tradition of Gospel books, one of the greatest vehicles for Christian art. Within that context, it's a completely distinctive variation."
The book -- which measures 13 5/8 by 10 1/4 inches -- contains full-page illuminations of the Virgin and Child and evangelists Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. The portraits are painted in a bold style that Kren described as "almost modern." Ethiopian illuminators favored blocks of vivid color and strong patterns, including zigzag motifs on textiles and clothing.
In the Getty's example, architectural borders enhance an eight-page concordance, or index, of Gospel stories; abstract designs frame other sections.
The area now known as Ethiopia had become a great power by the 3rd century. Christianity was introduced there in the 4th century, and a distinctive visual arts style emerged in the 6th century. But Ethiopian-illuminated manuscripts are few and far between outside their native land.
The Walters Art Museum in Baltimore, which claims the largest collection of Ethiopian art outside Ethiopia, has eight.
At the Getty, the recently acquired Gospel book has joined a single Ethiopian leaf from the 14th century, depicting St. John.
"In theory," Kren said, "our collection is European, but we have a range of Gospel books. To have an Ethiopian example adds a whole dimension to this form of medieval Christian art."
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