May 11, 2012 Report: Ethiopian Children Better Off, Still Lack Full Rights Cathy Majtenyi | Nairobi The Ethiopian government and the United Nations children's organization have released a report on children's rights, saying that the country's high ...

May 10, 2012 Ethiopia's Meles Blames African Corruption on Foreign Investors Peter Heinlein | Addis Ababa What is the poison that corrupts many African leaders, no matter how honorable their intentions when they take office? That was the question put ...

By Aaron Maasho Addis Ababa - On the outskirts of Addis Ababa, a muezzin leads a solemn sermon at a mosque before thousands of worshippers stamp their feet to protest against what they say is the Ethiopian government's interference in religious affairs ...

Ethiopia's capital is gearing up to host The World Economic Forum's meeting on Africa and the 2012 Ethiopia Investment Summit this week. (Courtesy photo) By Tadias Staff New York (TADIAS) – The Lion Economies – a term coined by the global management ...

NEW YORK — An imprisoned Ethiopian journalist and blogger who could face the death penalty for advocating peaceful protests in his Horn of Africa homeland was honored Tuesday with PEN America's “Freedom to Write” award. Eskinder Nega was arrested in ...

Nazret.com (blog)
The 116th Victory of Adwa in which Ethiopia defeated the Italian invading forces was celebrated colorfully on Friday through out Ethiopia. Here in the capital, the day was celebrated in the presence of thousands of city residents, war veterans and ...

BBC News
An oil pipeline, railway and motorway will also be built linking Lamu to South Sudan and Ethiopia. Newly independent South Sudan plans to use Lamu as its main oil export outlet. A BBC reporter says security concerns for the project may explain the ...

Just last week, we profiled Horn Relief, who has been working on the ground in Somalia (and nearby countries) for over 20 years. Here’s a press statement from Horn Relief and a number of other organizations involved in relief efforts in the country addressing the situation in Somalia.   Press Statement on the Famine situation in Somalia Nairobi Tuesday 7 February 2012   Following the UN’s announcement on Friday that famine conditions in Somalia have ended, we wish to express our relief that the suffering of the people of Somalia has eased. We also wish to underline the important work that has been done by numerous international and local non-governmental organizations (NGOs) to contribute to this improvement.   At the same time, we would like to advocate for caution, as the announcement does not mean the crisis is over for millions of people. Many Somalis are still unable to fully meet their essential food needs, lack medical services, clean drinking water and other critical services. Over 1.2 million people are living in IDP or refugee camps and many of these individuals still need assistance before they can return to their homes. The gains that have been made in recent months [...]

Provoked by the economic crises in the rich world since 2008, two shadows are cast on the multilateral trading system, institutionalised as the World Trade Organisation (WTO). Rich countries have increasingly become protectionist, while at the same time opting for regional trade agreements with binding and reciprocal international pacts over the movement of goods and services. In between are least developed countries (LDCs) that are lined up to become members of this Organisation, which Director General Pascal Lamy argues is the norm rather than the exception. Lamy was here last week attending the African Union (AU) Summit and met Prime Minister Meles Zenawi. In an exclusive interview, he told Tamrat G. Giorgis, managing editor, about the functioning relationship he has developed with Meles.

BBC News
The African Union has inaugurated its newly built headquarters in the Ethiopian capital, Addis Ababa. The entire $200m (£127m) project was funded by China as a gift to the AU, as Beijing continues to strengthen its influence in Africa.

Nazret.com (blog)
By Abebe Gellaw Washington DC (ESAT)–The Oromo Liberation Front has announced its historic decision to drop its long-held secessionist agenda and to embrace the unity of Ethiopia under a genuine federal arrangement that must guarantee the rights, ..

Ezega
December 29, 2011 - Foreign Minister and Deputy Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn disclosed that, in the past few months, the Ethiopian government has signed loan agreements adding over 1 billion dollars, according to the Reporter. ...

But internal Israel Defense Forces data reveals that for many Ethiopian immigrants, integrating into Israel society's chief melting pot, the IDF, is difficult: One in four Ethiopian men winds up deserting, three times the overall rate for male recruits ...

The Addis Abeba City Roads Authority has changed its approach to solving the traffic light problem in the city and is to establish a traffic management bureau.

November 25, 2011 Regional Summit Urges Ethiopia to Send Troops to Somalia Peter Heinlein | Addis Ababa, Ethiopia A Horn of Africa regional summit has given its blessing to the return of Ethiopian troops to Somalia, but the force will remain outside ...

Kebede Chane, who was Head of Administrative and Security Affairs bureau of the Amhara Regional State, has been appointed the new Minister of Trade. Kebede Chane visited the Ministry’s office on Friday and introduced himself to the staff.
Kebede has been working as the region’s security head for over 10 years and is one of the 65 central committee members of the Amhara

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The United Nations Development Program’s (UNDP) annual flagship publication, the Human Development Index (HDI) for 2011, puts Ethiopia fourteenth from bottom in its HDI ranking of 187 countries. That is the most countries it has ranked in their over two decades of publication.  Ethiopia ranked 174 out of 187 surpassing only 13 countries amid the huge investment the Ethiopian government and its development partners have made so far. The HDI placed Norway at the throne of human development while it put DR of Congo at its tail.
What a disparity, many would say. One of the richest countries

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Prime Minister Meles Zenawi says Africans must speak with one voice at the upcoming UN Conference on Sustainable Development, commonly known as the Rio+20. African countries should concentrate on building a green economy, said Meles, speaking at the fourth annual Conference of African Ministers.
“Alternative development paradigms are necessary because of the failure of neo-liberalism in African development. The economies of African countries are largely based on farming and therefore any efforts toward green development need to take into account the agrarian sectors,” Meles said while opening the conference.
The Ministerial Segment of the Africa ...

Attempts by the government to modernize the nation’s cross country bus system has led the Federal Transportation Authority to mandate that long distance bus services color code their vehicles according to service level by November 10.
Birhane Zeru, the deputy chair of the Federal Cross Country Public Transport Associations’ Coalition, says the government has allowed enough time for the bus owners to paint their buses which should cost around 20,000 birr. He says many have already completed the process.
Now people will know if a bus is level one because it will be green on the top and

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The construction of the road from Meskel Square to Bole Airport is closer to seeing the light of day after sitting on the drawing board for almost five years following the approval of a 60 million dollar loan by the Council of Ministers last week.

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The Construction Contractors Association of Ethiopia (CCAE) has opposed foreign based contractors’ involvement in medium and small construction projects as it is  affecting local contractors’ activity, including its financial and capacity growth.
The management of the association, which is the biggest and the oldest association in the sector, has said that the involvement of foreign contractors in small construction projects create more disadvantages than benefits for the country.
“One disadvantage of contracts being given to foreign companies is that Ethiopia then has to pay in the corresponding foreign currency, which is a big disadvantage. But the scarcity of local contractors

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The Independent Evaluation Group of the World Bank (IEG) released a new evaluation of the bank’s  engagement with different countries on governance and anticorruption last Friday on September 02.2011.
Practical evidence from history shows that countries which have a well- organized and well-governed political system can have a more successful development path than those without. To prove the validity of this thesis, one needs to track the development path of any successful country both in its governance structure and economic well being. The more the political footing of the country is crafted appropriately; the better will be its economic progress

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