SENDAFA REGION, ETHIOPIA -- Meseret Haye knows that in about 10 years, a man and his friends will surround her eldest daughter and carry her away.
The abduction will last a few days. Then, Ms. Haye will be visited by elders who will come on the man's behalf. They will offer a dowry, which she will accept. Whether her daughter likes the man or not, she will have a husband.
But a different scenario was made possible yesterday after Canadian officials officially opened a new well in the tiny village of Garamoye, an hour's drive into the mountains north of Addis Ababa.
The link between a fresh source of clean water in the village and an end to abductions is still unproven, but it shows how Canada is striving to help women with its aid dollars.
The new well will certainly make life easier for women, who traditionally fetch and carry water in this country. It will also keep them closer to home, where they will be safer from abductions.
Kuleni Berhanu, a project manager at the Canadian International Development Agency, said its $28,000 project to build eight wells in the area was selected for its gender sensitivity.
The people of Garamoye, and their animals, used to draw their water from swamps and mud holes. The water made people sick and it dried up outside the rainy season.
Before the well, women in Garamoye had to walk to other villages to fill their clay pots and plastic jugs during dry spells. Often, it was during these trips that unwed girls were abducted. (Although the Ethiopian government recently outlawed abductions, people in Garamoye said they still happen.)
After visiting London for two days to attend the funeral of the Queen Mother, Prime Minister Jean Chrétien is back in Africa for the last portion of his tour. He will start today at another clean-water event, visiting a filtering plant serving poor residents in Addis Ababa, the capital. He will then deliver a speech to the Organization for African Unity to pitch his vision for the continent's development.
Last year, African leaders went to the richest countries in the world with a plan called the New Partnership for African Development (NEPAD), under which they promised to undertake democratic reforms in exchange for increased aid. The Group of Eight industrialized countries accepted the plan in principle and asked Mr. Chrétien to prepare a formal response in time for the G8 meeting in June.
In his speech to the OAU, Mr. Chrétien is expected to praise Africans for taking matters into their own hands, while urging them to move forward with a thorough peer-review system that will rank the continent's 53 countries on their progress.
Countries that rank high would receive increased foreign aid, offering an incentive to score well. African governments are currently drawing up the criteria for the list, which will include things like good governance, respect for human rights and an open economy.
"One [country] would be No. 1 and one will be 53. And that will be the criteria for us to see what we can do to help," Mr. Chrétien said.
The Canadian government is urging African countries to do all they can to attract investments.
Canada's top official on NEPAD, Robert Fowler, said in a speech yesterday that at least 40 per cent of African savings are invested elsewhere. With an appropriate climate, he said, more of that money would remain on the continent. Outside investment would be attracted as well, he added.
"At the moment, even Africans don't invest in Africa."
The G8 is planning to increase its foreign aid spending in five key areas in Africa: peace and security; good governance; education and health; trade and investment; and water and agriculture.
Most indicators have regressed in Africa over the past decade and NEPAD is seen by many as its last chance for development.
FAIR USE NOTICE: This page contains copyrighted material the use of which has not been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. NoNonsense English offers this material non-commercially for research and educational purposes. I believe this constitutes a fair use of any such copyrighted material as provided for in 17 U.S.C § 107. If you wish to use copyrighted material from this site for purposes of your own that go beyond fair use, you must obtain permission from the copyright owner, i.e. the media service or newspaper which first published the article online and which is indicated at the top of the article unless otherwise specified.