Focus: The real reasons Ethiopia is back in the news - Toronto Globe and Mail, April 29, 2000. (Explains how the international media works)

Analysis: Analysis of Ethiopia Press Freedom: Freedom With Strings Attached For Over 160 Journalists - by Reporters Sans Frontieres, April 28, 2000. (Well written, balanced article)

Commentary:

• Meles Defends State Ownership Of Land In Ethiopia – PANA, April 28, 2000.
  Comment: Ethiopian Land Tenure Should be De-Politicized.

  People interested in land tenure issues should consult the highly recommended article: REVISITING THE LAND ISSUE: OPTIONS FOR CHANGE - by Dessalegn Rahmato, General Manager, Forum for Social Studies. Published in Economic Focus - The Journal of the Ethiopian Economic Association. Dessalegn Rahmato is a respected Ethiopian scientist with extensive experience. He has conducted intensive field research and written several books on Ethiopian agriculture.

• Eritrea’s “Offer” of its Ports and the Naiveté of the Powers that Be – by M. Mikael, April 26, 2000

Essay: Ethiopia – the Art of Giving - by Anne Bayin, CBC News Online, April 25, 2000

Reference:

• Drought Monitoring Centre For Eastern And Southern Africa
  - Greater Horn of Africa Rainfall Outlook: March-May, 2000

• UNDP-EUE:http://www.telecom.net.et/~undp-eue/latest.htm

• Hararghe Agro-pastoralist Face an Uncertain Future:- A field mission report focusing on the status of livelihoods and relief  operations in selected belg dependant areas of East and West Hararghe. By Yves Guinand, UN-EUE Field Officer, 18 April 2000.

• Belg Rains Arrive Late: The northern highlands once again face a difficult year:- With the late arrival of the belg rains, farmers in the highlands of Welo, northern Ethiopia, face yet another difficult year. Report of a field assesment mission to North and South Welo zones of Amhara region.  By Walter Eggenberger and Dechassa Lemessa, UN-EUE Field Officers, 21 April 2000.

Open Letters: From the representatives of the Kunama people abroad. April 24, 2000 - These letters were mailed to this website. Although the topics are more appropriate for Eritrean forums, they are posted here simply to give them recognition and space they would never be accorded in the Eritrean websites.

• Letter to Mr. Mustafa, Senior District Officer, Barentu, Eritrea
• Letter to Eriterea.org. Asmarino. com, Visafric and all those other, Eritrean users of website news and other mass-media
• Letter to AVIE: Audio Visual Institute of Eritrea; SBRIT Cultural Dance Group

Response: From The Untold Story To The Distorted Story: The Over-Sensationalization of Professor Asmerom Legesse – by Ethiopians in Cincinnati, April 20, 2000

Analysis:

• In a Land of Want, an Expensive War - New York Times, April 23, 2000
  
• Fighting, Famine Compete in Ethiopia - Washington Post, April 21, 2000
  
• Tragic Enemies - Africa's forgotten war: the deadly border conflict between Ethiopia and Eritrea - PBS NewsHour, April 19, 2000
  
• How the West has failed Ethiopia - The Independent, 18 April 2000

Commentary:

• Eritrean government policies impede donor efforts to help Eritrea’s people - April 19, 2000

• Ethiopia's Reward for Helping Eritrea - After surviving off Ethiopian food supplies in 1995/96 and looting food aid donated to Ethiopia in 1998, Eritreans now campaign to limit international food assistance to drought affected Ethiopians

• Indian Ocean Newsletter (4-15-2000): Raised voices in Washington: - Meetings between Eritrean head of state Issayas Afeworki, national security adviser 'Sandy' Berger, and US assistant secretary of state for African affairs Susan Rice on April 6 and 7 turned out to be pretty stormy... - Comment: Anyone who has followed the Eritrean dictator's interview sessions can see that this man is unbalanced. Rudeness, foul language, wild accusations against the US, blatant lies (eg - on the Assab food theft issue) flippant responses to serious questions... this trip seems to have been a PR disaster.

Announcements:

• HOPE Task Force "HOPE Task Force is a new organization that was formed by a group of young Ethiopians dedicated to helping their brothers and sisters back home who are suffering from hunger and malnutrition."

• Medrek calls for help "Please contribute, let your generosity and compassion not stop. We know, it will save hundreds, thousands of lives of our people."

New Websites:

• SOL Organization in San Jose - "Save Our Lives (SOL) is a nonprofit organization founded for the purpose of helping the hungry and the destitute."

• Arba Minch Water Technology Institute (AWTI)
  - nice web site set up by alumni

Reference: The Food Crisis in Ethiopia: A Joint Statement by NGOs - [Action Aid, CARE, Catholic Relief Services, Community Aid Abroad, Concern Agro-Actin, GOAL, Intermon, Lutheran World Federation, Oxfam-GB, Save the Children-UK, Save the Children-USA, SOS- Sahel.] - Addis Tribune 14 April 2000

"...the government, with the support of the international community, has developed effective and transparent early-warning and response mechanisms. These systems have not elicited adequate and timely responses. NGOs and others warned of the developing emergency and lobbied donors for responses well before the situation deteriorated. Early-warning systems are only effective if they are responded to in a timely fashion.

"The government, with donor support, had put in place an Emergency Food Security Reserve (EFSR) with a capacity of more than 300,000 metric tonnes. The EFSR was depleted last year. Some donors borrowed from the reserve, and food would have been in place to overcome the crisis.