View contact dBBC 20 September 2008
Hunger levels soar in East Africa Rising food prices have hit Ethiopia hard
Nearly 17 million people in the Horn of Africa are in urgent need of food and other aid - almost twice as many as earlier this year, the UN has said.
Some $700m (£382m) in emergency aid is needed to prevent the region descending into full-scale famine, it said.
Top UN humanitarian official John Holmes said food stocks were critically low in parts of Ethiopia, Somalia, Eritrea, northern Kenya and Uganda.
The area has suffered from drought, conflict and rocketing food prices.
The number of those at risk could rise still further "as the drought deepens and the hunger season continues", Mr Holmes said.
"What we need essentially is more funds, and more funds now, otherwise the situation is going to become even more catastrophic than it is today."
The estimated total for the rest of this year for those in need is $1.4bn. Almost half of that has been raised, Mr Holmes said, but there remains a shortfall of $716m.
"We may need significant funds after that period - this is not the end of the story," he said.
The UN Food and Agriculture Organisation blames worldwide rises in food prices for helping to push 75 million more people into the ranks of the world's hungry last year - bringing the total to 925 million.
http://www.theethiopianamerican.com/read.php?article=0&module=features Mimi Alemayehou’s Journey to Success
The first African-born, U.S.-educated Executive Director of the African Development Bank is headed to Tunis, Tunisia.
New Era
Being lucky is where opportunity meets preparation” is the motto Mimi Alemayehou lives by, and that’s evident in her hefty resume: founder of Trade Links Inc., a company that managed the U.S. Agency for International Development-funded project to help African Growth and Opportunity Act-eligible countries in the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA) to increase their exports to the United States, a former program manager at the International Executive Service Corps., Director of International Regulatory Affairs at the Worldspace Corporation., graduate of West Texas A&M Unviersity and Tufts business school.
And now, Mimi is prepared to tackle her latest opportunity. Nominated by President George W. Bush to be the United States director of the African Development Bank (AfDB), the Kenyan-raised (age 8-12 years-old) has been tasked with the responsibility of a lifetime. It’s a good thing she’s spent a lifetime preparing to rise to the challenge.
The Prep Work
Mimi has had an incredible sense of direction for many years and a lot of guidance along the way. Mimi says, “[t]hroughout most of my life, I made personal and professional choices which prepared me for a focused and challenging role – to serve as a bridge, an enabler, between our country of opportunity, and the continent of Africa, with its tremendous yet far from realized potential.” And she saw this potential early on.
Mimi was born in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, and at 8 years old moved to Kenya when her father suddenly received a work transfer. The family, including Mimi and her two brothers, were to depart within two days. “I can’t leave! I finally got the lead role in school play!” She panicked. “I remember clearly being chosen to be the orator and had been memorizing my lines for month. How could I tell my drama teacher?”
In the end, Kenya provided her many valuable lessons.
“It was a shock my proficiency for English was lower than I initially believed it to be,” she recalls. Her fellow students came from Morocco, England, Israel, and Indonesia to name a few. Hearing the names of her classmates’ home countries for the first time, Mimi realized she was a minority in a global village.
Her family left Kenya in time for Mimi to start her junior year of high school in California and the culture shock was immense. She had a hard time understanding how 16-year-olds were driving away from campus for lunch and often asked “You have your own car?” The differences were distracting, but she had her own goal to focus on: college. Mimi was encouraged by family members to become a doctor or engineer.
“I was initially pre-med. I was always good at biology chemistry,” she says, but the smell of hospitals made her nauseous. “Going to Paris and painting was not an option,” she jokes, she loved watching C-SPAN debates.
The College Years
West Texas A&M University’s affordable tuition drew Mimi in and the school would be her training ground for life lessons as well as a greater understanding of the U.S. political system. Texas gave Mimi a new perspective on America: there wasn’t a large Ethiopian community near the Canyon, Texas campus.
Her school was located in the “Bible Belt,” and she remembers having open conversations about religion and reproductive rights. She found the community down to earth and STILL has a strong relationship with her ‘foster parents.’ After leaving Texas she served as an aide on Capitol Hill.
Later she earned a Master's degree from the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University majoring in both International Business and International Law & Development.
Mimi became the co-publisher of the African Yellow Pages, the first phone directory targeting the large African immigrant community in the US. She served on the board of directors of the Tahirih Justice Center, the leading advocacy group providing pro-bono legal service to women immigrants and refugees, and sat on the board of the Citizens League of Ethiopian Americans.
Mimi was a member of the pioneering staff at the Corporate Council on Africa (CCA). She also worked in the Public Relations Department at the World Health Organization in Geneva where she focused on publicizing the devastating impact of tuberculosis in Africa with the aim of raising funds from donors to help alleviate the situation.
“I find a lot of Ethiopian-Americans stay in America and do not take the opportunities to explore the world,” she contends.
She says it’s important to see how development works in places from Brazil to Cambodia—not just in her native Ethiopia. “They have the same challenges in development issues. I think it’s important for people to explore what they do in life, to make you face insecurities that you may have a place you’ve never been to.”
The Opportunity
At Mimi’s confirmation hearing before the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations she said, “It would … be a privilege to work with Secretary [Henry] Paulson, the Treasury Department, and Congress to increase the African Development Bank's impact and effectiveness.” The moment was a culmination of her life’s work doing what she loves.
“This doesn’t happen responding to an ad in the paper. It’s over 10 years of Corporate Council on Africa, I was working for Africa before AGOA and before AIDS awareness,” She notes her unique skill set has led her to one of the most important institutions for Africa’s development.
“I started TradeLinks in order to assist AGOA eligible member countries in the regional grouping of the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA) so that they may increase their exports to the U.S.
While I enjoyed working with the African governments and U.S. officials, I took the most pleasure from working with African entrepreneurs with great skills and products but were in desperate need of basic tools.
They were in need of training or adequate equipment so that they can produce consistently high quality goods on a meaningful scale and in a tight timeframe.” Mimi further adds, "I feel very honored the president nominated me for this particular job".
If the past is any indication, she'll have no problem tackling the challenges facing AfDE and Africa.
http://en.ethiopianreporter.com/content/view/1182/36/ Reporter, Ethiopia Monday, 15 September 2008 Landslide incidents warrant follow-up care for the newly-built Abay Bridge Hayal Alemayehu
Landslide incidents at the Abay River Gorge called for a close follow-up for the newly-built bridge crossing the river, it was learnt.
Stretching 303 meters, the newly-built bridge was completed (except for minor finishing works) three years after the construction commenced and was on Wednesday inaugurated by Prime Minister Meles Zenawi.
“Although the design of the bridge takes into account the geological phenomenon at the Abay gorge [characterized by land slides], the newly built bridge needs a close follow-up as an earth-slide incident in the river gorge is increasing,” Ziad W.Gebriel, general manager of the Ethiopian Road Authority (ERA), said at the inauguration ceremony.
“I believe that the government of Japan, which has good experience and expertise in landmass constructions associated with phenomenon such as earth slides, will continue to provide us with its technical support.”
Across the road along the Abay gorge which leads to the newly erected bridge, signboards warn the possible incident of rock slides while cracked asphalt are evident at some spots across the road.
Located some 205 km north-west of Addis Ababa, the new bridge was built adjacent to the old one in service for the last 60 years. It is part of the 40.45 km asphalt road traversing Abay gorge stretching from Goha Tsion to Dejen, a town some 220 km north-west of the metropolis.
Fully financed by the government of Japan, the project cost stands at 320 million birr, the construction of the bridge accounting for 40 percent of the total, according to ERA’s manager.
The Ethiopian government requested Japan to finance this project for its widely known expertise in managing landmass tuned to landslide on a grand scale, Kassu Ilala, Minister of Works and Urban Development, said at the inauguration of the bridge, which was attended by ministers, ambassadors, diplomats and other guests.
“This bridge is unique in Ethiopia,” the Minister said. “It required a unique solution intimately linked to the unique characteristics of the gorge which dictated a location and approach of the road to it.”
Having a width of nine meters, the new bridge will, unlike the old one, allow a two way traffic.
The bridge is expected to open to traffic in October, two months earlier than scheduled.
The construction of the bridge, dubbed extra dosed type, was undertaken by the Japanese construction firm Kajima Corporation.
The first of its type in the country, the bridge is reinforced by cables fastened to the major towers carrying the girder, like most such facilities in use in the western world.
The girder has a height of 55 meters from the river base, while the major towers stood 14 meters above the bridge. It is constructed approximately 145 meters upstream from the old bridge, standing some 20 meters taller.
The road project, which is being financed by the government of Japan and executed by Kajima, stretches from Addis Ababa to Debre Markos. The upgrading work of 186 km road from Addis Ababa to Goha Tsion was completed in 2005.
With the total road project measuring some 220 km finalized, the 10-hour drive route will be shortened to four hours.
“This great work will remain symbolic and a living monument to the Japanese government's cooperation with Ethiopia for the latter’s development,” Meles said on the occasion, reflecting the economic and historical significance of the Nile coupled with the 21st bridge technology the newly-built facility features.
“This new bridge will herald the beginning of the erection of more bridges, dams, and other development activities across the river that will turn the Nile into becoming ideal in spinning up the country’s economy rather than being a bottleneck for development.”
The Prime Minister named the newly erected facility renaissance bridge.
The Japanese Ambassador to Ethiopia, Kenechi Kohamo, on his part said the newly-built bridge will continue to be a living symbol of friendship between Ethiopia and Japan and opening a new state of industrial and development cooperation between the two countries.
1 comment:
I know, not many people take time to read your column, let alone leave comments. As an expression of interest for your columns, I think you would stand tall among others if you have your own domain name and web site. You may be tasting the waters, but as a CEO of an organization, you can start big and succeed with your appealing coverages of news and views that reflect the contemporary Ethiopian.
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