The Recent Ambiguity
There is a news that claims that the UN is finding it difficult to support hungry people in Ethiopia because, one of the reasons the UN gave is the Ethiopian government is preventing it from using its own trucks from Sudan to transport food from the port of Djibouti to the regions that need the food. The reason for that according to the UN’s accusation is that the government has given priority to transporting fertilizers to the farming regions since the September harvest season is approaching. Another news source is saying that the head of United Nations World Food Program (WFP) is asking the development ministers of the Group of Eight Industrialized Countries (G8) meeting in Italy to stretch their hands more, because the agency is totally dependant on the aid it gets from numerous sources. The same executive officer is claiming that the global food aid has hit a 20-year low.
The ambiguity here is that it sounds as if the UN has enough food stashed in Djibouti as long as it gets the means to transport it to the needy regions. Another news source says that the UN has warned after it handed out its final rations this month that there will be no further deliveries until September or October. The same source states that the agency says it has no option but to cut back on the food it provides, which has already been cut by a third since July 2008. Considering all this conflicting reports it is difficult to say what the real problem is, because it sounds as if the UN had run out of food since the donation it is getting is drying up, the reason why the executive director is urging the G8 representatives to increase their donation, which might have been cut because of the global crisis.
It is always difficult to blame the Ethiopian government that had demonstrated its savvy when it comes to know what is right for the nation, and the assumption is going to be it will not go wrong even when human life is at stake. Based on that it is difficult to imagine these responsible officials will find it difficult to find a solution. Why should the UN be prevented from using its own trucks to transport the food from the port to the needy regions? This by itself should backfire on the government if that is going to be the only reason why people are going to die waiting for the harvest season that might presumably be good this season because of good rain. But people will have to make it up to September in order to harvest, while at the same time they have to farm the land and there might also be need for seeds. When looking at all these problems they sound complicated, while in fact they are not.
The reason why what is exactly taking place is ambiguous is because if the problem is that the UN does not have grain in it its warehouse in Djibouti they should say so and they might get help from somewhere else, as usual. But if they have the grain and the government for some reason does not want that grain to reach the needy regions, the beating around the bush could be to cover up for the government that might have gone awry. This would mean that there is an explosive situation in the nation where we are going to see another scenario similar to Wollo repeated, where the government of the day was reluctant to take measures and the whole situation had gone out of hand causing a tragedy.
The outcome of such a stand-off might be the government could be digging its own grave if it is going to be engaged with such reluctance while pretending to be busy transporting fertilizers. Because, one of the reasons that expedited the falling of the Imperial regime was that, as everyone vividly remembers, the Derg regime had made it part of its propaganda by showing the world Emperor Haile Selssaie celebrating his birthday drinking champagne, while there were people dying of starvation.
The solution to this kind of a problem is if the UN has the food at its warehouse, it has either to be provided with a means of transportation through the government or if that is not possible the government should allow the agency to use its own trucks, because there will not be any harm done. It is very difficult to fathom why the government would refuse to co-operate with this kind of direct help. If that is not possible for any reason, it is going to require another campaign where the available food could be airlifted so that it will be possible to save human life. The question why the government cannot allow the UN to use its own trucks requires a good governmental addressing because it is not going to make the government look bad only, but a government that fails the people who are part of the country does not have any business of running a government and it will be difficult to foresee what kind campaign it is going to run next year. At the same time, it will be difficult to foretell what kind of human casualty will take place before the harvest time arrives and even if it arrives it is difficult to see how a nation that is only producing close to 60% of the food the nation needs could accommodate a region that cannot feed itself, let alone to work the land. It is really unfortunate to see the government cornered like this by failing to deal properly with such a problem that already has its own ample solution. Such a failure might require some kind of intervention, because people are going to die, and it will be difficult to sit back and watch when that happens.
The ambiguity here is that it sounds as if the UN has enough food stashed in Djibouti as long as it gets the means to transport it to the needy regions. Another news source says that the UN has warned after it handed out its final rations this month that there will be no further deliveries until September or October. The same source states that the agency says it has no option but to cut back on the food it provides, which has already been cut by a third since July 2008. Considering all this conflicting reports it is difficult to say what the real problem is, because it sounds as if the UN had run out of food since the donation it is getting is drying up, the reason why the executive director is urging the G8 representatives to increase their donation, which might have been cut because of the global crisis.
It is always difficult to blame the Ethiopian government that had demonstrated its savvy when it comes to know what is right for the nation, and the assumption is going to be it will not go wrong even when human life is at stake. Based on that it is difficult to imagine these responsible officials will find it difficult to find a solution. Why should the UN be prevented from using its own trucks to transport the food from the port to the needy regions? This by itself should backfire on the government if that is going to be the only reason why people are going to die waiting for the harvest season that might presumably be good this season because of good rain. But people will have to make it up to September in order to harvest, while at the same time they have to farm the land and there might also be need for seeds. When looking at all these problems they sound complicated, while in fact they are not.
The reason why what is exactly taking place is ambiguous is because if the problem is that the UN does not have grain in it its warehouse in Djibouti they should say so and they might get help from somewhere else, as usual. But if they have the grain and the government for some reason does not want that grain to reach the needy regions, the beating around the bush could be to cover up for the government that might have gone awry. This would mean that there is an explosive situation in the nation where we are going to see another scenario similar to Wollo repeated, where the government of the day was reluctant to take measures and the whole situation had gone out of hand causing a tragedy.
The outcome of such a stand-off might be the government could be digging its own grave if it is going to be engaged with such reluctance while pretending to be busy transporting fertilizers. Because, one of the reasons that expedited the falling of the Imperial regime was that, as everyone vividly remembers, the Derg regime had made it part of its propaganda by showing the world Emperor Haile Selssaie celebrating his birthday drinking champagne, while there were people dying of starvation.
The solution to this kind of a problem is if the UN has the food at its warehouse, it has either to be provided with a means of transportation through the government or if that is not possible the government should allow the agency to use its own trucks, because there will not be any harm done. It is very difficult to fathom why the government would refuse to co-operate with this kind of direct help. If that is not possible for any reason, it is going to require another campaign where the available food could be airlifted so that it will be possible to save human life. The question why the government cannot allow the UN to use its own trucks requires a good governmental addressing because it is not going to make the government look bad only, but a government that fails the people who are part of the country does not have any business of running a government and it will be difficult to foresee what kind campaign it is going to run next year. At the same time, it will be difficult to foretell what kind of human casualty will take place before the harvest time arrives and even if it arrives it is difficult to see how a nation that is only producing close to 60% of the food the nation needs could accommodate a region that cannot feed itself, let alone to work the land. It is really unfortunate to see the government cornered like this by failing to deal properly with such a problem that already has its own ample solution. Such a failure might require some kind of intervention, because people are going to die, and it will be difficult to sit back and watch when that happens.
posted by Ethio-Probe @ 6:32 AM
0 comments
