Sunday, April 21, 2013

Barking back against the Conservative Ethiopia-criticism



Barking back against the Conservative Ethiopia-criticism

Development Heikki E. Holmås reject Conservatives claim that the Stoltenberg government acts like a poodle towards the regime in Ethiopia. - Dialogue on human rights is an important part of the cooperation with the country. We are clear that we expect an improvement in the situation of human rights and democracy prior to the election in 2015, he said.
Holmås etiopia
Development Heikki Holmås and Ethiopia's former foreign mini-ster Haile Mariam Desalegn, who since the photo was taken has been prime minister scraps. Photo: Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Faksimile
It was the Conservative Member of Parliament Peter Gitmark that came with "poodle-statement" in the latest issue of Bistandsaktuelt. While he described the Ethiopian government as "illegitimate and authoritarian regime", he meant that Norway under the coalition government had acted servile and ironed Ethiopia by hairs.

Read the case: Right will cut aid to Ethiopia

- We provide assistance to Ethiopia because we want to support the Ethiopian people. Ethiopia has been an extremely poor country that has experienced terrible famine, and the Ethiopian people deserve a better future, saying Holmås.
He also admits that weak political rights in the country creates dilemmas for Norway as a donor, and it is this that is the reason for the so-called human rights dialogue with Ethiopia.
According to human rights organizations, Ethiopia has in recent years a number of imprisoned dissidents and journalists, and stood behind the gagging of free speech and restrictions of civil society's ability to participate in political debate and advocacy.

Eide dialogue

The Foreign Ministry will Bistandsaktuelt stated that human rights dialogue is no formal independent process, but part of the ongoing dialogue between Norway and Ethiopia. Last time human rights was an issue at the political level was then Foreign Minister Espen Barth Eide met Ethiopian Prime Minister Haile Mariam Desalegn last December.
- Barth Eide stated that Ethiopia's membership in the UN Human Rights Council will raise awareness of the human rights situation in Ethiopia and expectations of Ethiopia's national policy in this area, said Claire Annette Hubert, country manager for Ethiopia in ministry.
Also Holmås should have taken up the subject of human rights in their meetings with the Ethiopian Prime Minister. The situation for human rights, freedom of speech and freedom of the press and civil society's role should have been affected in these meetings. In addition, the topic has also been addressed in meetings at senior official level, most recently in February this year.

Challenging the Right

In the interview with Bistandsaktuelt said Conservative Peter Gitmark that the party wanted to stop or freeze the portion of aid that is most "regime supportive '. But it relaxes not
the Minister. He is now challenging Right to clarify how they will make aid cut to Ethiopia without frame work for food security, health and safety and human rights.
- Right said they would cut the aid does not serve the Ethiopian people, but what assistance is this? Is it the work against female genital mutilation? Is there support for legal aid for the poor? Or is it the work of food safety to prevent new famines when drought comes, ask Holmås.
According to SV minister is that this kind of approach by Norway through government-to-government aid to Ethiopia.
n It is difficult to imagine how the rest to the poor Ethiopian population is to be maintained, without Norway relate to the Ethiopian authorities, he said.

Self

Ethiopia has a reputation for being an African country that can not be bullied by Western countries. In August 2007, Ethiopian authorities ordered the embassy to reduce the number of personnel at the embassy from nine to three people. The Ethiopian reaction came after Norway had arranged for a meeting on the Ethiopia-Eritrea conflict in New York.
The restrictions were lifted in September 2008 and the embassy is again fully staffed. In recent years, the trade between the two countries has been increasing.
In the last ten years, the total development cooperation plan amounts to 200-280 million annually, but only a small part of this is government-to-government assistance through the Ethiopian authorities. In 2012, aid was NOK 228 million. For Ethiopia, the Norwegian development assistance to the country, an amount equal to 0.1 percent of the country's gross national income.

Frequent guests

The coalition government have been frequent guests in Addis recent years, partly because of Ethiopia's active regional role and position of the African Union. Foreign Minister visited Ethiopia in June 2010, followed by a visit by Prime Minister Stoltenberg in October 2010. Development Solheim visited Ethiopia several times in 2011 and his successor Heikki Holmås was in Ethiopia twice in 2012. Now deceased Prime Minister Meles Zenawi visited Norway in autumn 2011.

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