Comparing the new years
and what was supposed to be back-to-school season
Hi there,
Happy Ethiopian New Year. I hope those of you who celebrated had a great time. I slept right through the holiday, which, if you ask me, is a fantastic way to start the year. (Let the, ‘can you believe it’s already Meskerem 6?!’ conversations commence).
This week’s update is on the short side (life strikes again).
My name is Maya Misikir, and I’m a freelance reporter based in Addis Abeba. I write Sifter, this newsletter where I send out the week’s top 5 human rights stories in Ethiopia.
Now, to the news.
2018: still calling for justice
The attacks on women in the country, from catcalling to femicide, have been increasing, and three organisations working on women’s rights, Addis Powerhouse, Article 35, and SIHA Network, have shared a recent statement calling for an end to this phenomena as part of their new year statement.
The three organisations have been convening religious leaders, civil society, government officials, and legal experts over the past year to discuss women’s rights issues in the country. Religious leaders, the statement reads, are standing in unison, in saying that there’s no basis for religious violence against women.
The three organisations have also asked for a comprehensive, country-wide, and policy-level response in their call for justice.
Addis Powerhouse and Article 35 are both relatively new grassroots organisations, and SIHA Network works at a regional level, covering Ethiopia, Uganda, Djibouti, Eritrea, Somalia, Somaliland, Sudan, and South Sudan. A statement like this may seem, at first glance, like another press release, but in the current ‘climate’ that we’re in, a bold stand to take.
If you remember, two years ago, for the Ethiopian New Year, 35 civil society organisations (CSOs), some of which have been around for decades, put out a joint call asking for peace in the country. In that statement, they pointed out the conflicts that happened over the year as well as the government’s response, which included internet shutdowns and unlawful arrests.
By last year, the number of CSOs who had made the joint call had dwindled to 10.
This year? Crickets. More on why this might be on the next update.
If you’re looking to get the full joint press release from the three organisations, which is in Amharic, hit reply and let me know, and I’ll share it with you.
Civic space: what’s a synonym for shrinking?
“We regret the closure of civic space in Ethiopia, including recent intimidation and suspension of civil society organizations.” This is part of a joint statement issued by 42 countries to the UN last week.
Here’s an excerpt:
We call on the Government of Ethiopia and all other actors to take concrete action to end ongoing human rights violations and abuses in areas of conflict, including in Amhara, Oromia, and Tigray.
Killings and injuries of civilians, torture, ill-treatment, enforced disappearances, arbitrary arrests and detentions, attacks on civic infrastructure as well as extreme levels of sexual and gender-based violence by different actors must stop.
The statement on the human rights situation in Ethiopia also highlighted the ‘significant increase in grave violations against children, including the killing and maiming of children, sexual violence against children and the abduction of children’.
The full statement, here.
Education: maybe a warning can help with the numbers
Summer break is over, and ideally, students should have been making their way back to school as of the start of this week. But over seven million students in Ethiopia are missing out on school, according to data from the Ministry of Education. The UN says this number is closer to nine million.
Over the past two weeks, I have written about how conflict in the country has played a big role in this. In Ethiopia’s Amhara region, 4 million students are out of school because of conflict, and in Tigray, the education bureau says this number is 1.2 million.
The Ministry of Education sent out a warning last week, cautioning, ‘parents and guardians of legal repercussions for failing to send children to school’, according to a story on Addis Standard.
The full story on Addis Standard, here.
Climate: what happened at the summit?
A quick update on the second Africa Climate Summit, which took place last week in Addis Abeba.
Was any money raised? Banks and financial institutions on the continent have committed 100 billion dollars to ‘speed up the continent’s green industrialisation’. You can familiarize yourself with what green industrialization means here.
What makes this summit different from other ‘global climate convenings’? Agriculture was not a side topic but a main one, explains a story on Devex.
Why? Here’s an excerpt:
African climate conversations are rarely about mitigation — Africa contributes less than 4% of global emissions — but about adaptation: How people, especially those who directly rely on the land for their livelihoods, as most of the continent does, can navigate a hotter, more uncertain world.
Whether it’s forest restoration, green corridors, or climate-smart farming, nearly every conversation comes back to food, land, and resilience.
Is there the money to back this focus on agriculture and food systems?
Here’s another expert from the story:
Just 1.5% of public climate finance for food systems is directed toward agroecological approaches — those rooted in sustainability, local knowledge, and long-term soil health.
The full story on Devex, here.
GERD: hoping for the best
The Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) was inaugurated last Wednesday. Naturally, Egypt issued a statement on the same day, criticizing the step as a violation of international law, according to a story on The Reporter.
Rivers crossing borders (like the Nile in this case) are not rare. Over half of the world’s rivers cross borders. So who owns the water in these cases?
Here’s an excerpt from a story on Radio France Internationale (RFI):
In essence, international law recognises the right of sovereign states to use shared waters, but only within certain limits.
Usage must be equitable and reasonable, it must not cause significant harm to neighbouring countries, and it should be guided by a general obligation to cooperate.
The problem, however, lies in enforcement.
Hence, the issue with the GERD, Africa’s largest hydroelectric project.
Despite the unpleasant rhetoric, though, a climate and resource governance expert cited in the story says ‘most disputes don’t escalate’ and that, ‘leaders usually find ways to manage them’.
But there’s a catch. There needs to be ‘at least some trust and a willingness to cooperate’ to make this happen.
The full story, on RFI, here.
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