Eritrea Cabinet Approves Aid to Somalia

[Jacaylbaro]

Source: VOA

 

An official says Eritrea’s Cabinet has approved a food aid package to Somalis affected by drought and famine. Some skeptics have questioned the timing as well as the size of the approved aid.

 

But Information Minister Ali Abdu says “it not about how much [aid] you give, it’s about how much love you give with what you give.”

 

“We are doing this with deep affection... because we stand along our Somali brothers and sisters [to] the bitter end,” said Abdu.

 

Experts say the Horn of Africa is experiencing its worst drought over a decade. The United Nations says more than 12 million people in the region are in urgent need of food aid. In Somalia, where the situation is the most serious, the U.N. says more than 3.2 million people are estimated to be on the brink of starvation.

 

Abdu said Asmara will continue to support efforts to help stabilize Somalia.

 

“We have been supporting the Somali people to [gain] their sovereignty and [to reinstitute] public and government institutions, the territorial integrity of Somalia,” said Abdu. “This is something that we have been striving for the last 20 years [and] we have been consistent. And now, it is proven that our approach is the best approach.”

 

Asmara has often stated that foreign intervention and “pointing fingers ” would not resolve the situation in Somalia.

 

“Why should people opt to exhaust all the wrong procedures before they embark upon the right one ?‘’ asked Ali Abdu adding that “if a fire is set ablaze somewhere, like what we see happening in Somalia, first and foremost people should try to extinguish it before arguing how it was ignited in the first place… whether it was with a match or a lighter.”

 

He further added that “There should be political dialogue among Somali people including in Somaliland and Puntland and other entities of Somalia,” said Abdu. “The world should realize that the only way is to leave Somali people to decide their destiny and their own fate.”

[Jacaylbaro]

What kind of Aid I wonder ,,,,,, Maybe some small arms for Alshabab

[Thankful]

Again I believe Somalia will be eternally grateful to Turkish PM Recep Tayyip Erdogan. The notoriety he has brought to South Somalia’s devastating famine has been immense. So much so, that we are seeing other parts of Somalia and East Africa now wanting to donate to this catastrophe even though they knew of this for some time.

 

Of course all aid is welcome and credit must be given to Turkish PM Erdogan for his visit to Mogadishu and UN Speech.

[yahya007]

Ironic to me. Eriteria said before that they supported Alshabab because they had a some political intrest in them and now they are claiming to give some food Aid to Somali's .what impression do you get.

[The Zack]

^they are giving the aid to the Somali people, nothing to do with politics

[Thankful]

The Zack;751537 wrote:

^they are giving the aid to the Somali people, nothing to do with politics

Lol come on, you can't be serious. Eritrea? A country where many of the top ICU leadership fled and regrouped? As well, the majority of Al Shabaab leadership who left Somalia back in 06 were lived in Eritrea. Even the UN and Countries have blasted Eritrea and threatned them with sanctions including the TFG.

 

Now they want to help Somalia when they support a terrorist group that is trying to destroy us?

 

The people need help and I am not one to deny that. But some of the aid is coming from countries and enclaves who actively try to undermine Somalia's federal government.

[The Zack]

What Ethiopia did to Somalia overweighs than what Eritrea did and yet the Somali prime minister visited there last week, also Ethiopia hosts AU meetings that are supposed to help. Basically your analogy doesn't work. Eritrea has every right to help us and its appreciated.

[Thankful]

Fair enough. I won't open the whole Ethiopia debate. I will just say that they were invited by not only the TFG but also the Puntland government. I understand that many are enraged by their intervention, but please don't make the mistake of thinking that there are not equally (if not more) people that celebrated them and other AU military support. I mean anyone fighting Al Shabaab - a group that admits to using bombs loaded with Fuel to burn students - will definitely have support in Somalia.

 

The TFG needs to take every and all aid that is offered. However, most governments would reject an offer from another country that supports a internationally recognized terrorist group.

[Xaaji Xunjuf]

Guys Eritrea does not border Somalia they have no interest to harm the Somali people of Somalia i think they just want to help.

[PasserBy]

Burundi, Chad, DR Congo, Eritrea alarmingly hungry – Report

 

Page last updated at Friday, October 14, 2011 11:11 AM // Leave Your Comment

The latest report to be released on the state of the world’s hunger, the 2011 Global Hunger Index report, has described four countries in sub-Saharan Africa as experiencing extremely alarming levels of hunger.

Themed “The challenge of hunger: taming price spikes and excessive food price volatility” the report states that a total of 26 countries have levels of hunger that are alarming or extremely alarming.

 

Released in Washington DC for the sixth year, in advance of World Food Day which falls on October 16, the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI), Welthungerhilfe, and Concern Worldwide jointly produced report classifies Burundi, Chad, the Democratic Republic of Congo and Eritrea, all countries in sub-Saharan Africa, as countries with extremely alarming levels of hunger.

The report also tags Benin, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Congo Republic, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Kenya, Malawi, Mali, Mauritania, Myanmar, Namibia, Nepal, Nigeria, Sri Lanka and Vietnam, as having serious levels of hunger, while Angola, Bangladesh, Djibouti, Ethiopia, Haiti, India, Mozambique, Niger, Sierra Leone and the Yemen Republic are described as experiencing alarming levels of hunger.

 

Classification of the countries was based on three equally weighted indicators: the proportion of people who are undernourished, the proportion of children under five who are underweight, and child mortality rate.

 

The report, however, provides a picture of the past, not the present, because up-to-the-minute data are still not available.

That notwithstanding, the Global Hunger Index (GHI) Report 2011, states that growing demand for biofuels, extreme weather and climate change, and increased financial activity through commodity futures markets are the main causes of high and volatile food prices.

 

These challenges, it states, are exacerbated by historically low levels of grain reserves, export markets for staple commodities that are highly concentrated in a few countries, and lack of timely, accurate information on food production, stock levels, and price forecasting, which can lead to overreaction by policymakers and soaring prices.

“This humanitarian tragedy also underscores one of the main motivations behind the global hunger index—the need to provide information,” stressed Wolfgang Jamann, Secretary General at Welthungerhilfe. He added that “although information will not fill people’s stomachs, addressing the problem of hunger requires timely data about where and why hunger is occurring.”

For his part, Klaus Von Grebmer, Lead Author of the report and IFPRI Communications Director, stated, “the poorest and most vulnerable people bear the heaviest burden when food prices spike or swing unpredictably.” “This report calls for action on several fronts to build resilience and mitigate the effects of volatility, particularly in countries where hunger is most severe,” he added.

Also commenting, Tom Arnold, Chief Executive at Concern Worldwide said, “The current crisis in the horn of Africa, while not unaffected by global prices, highlights the vulnerability of millions of poor people around the world to weather and other shocks, as well as the need to address the root causes of hunger.”

To tame food price volatility and protect the poor against future shocks, the report makes several policy recommendations focused on the three levels of action.

These are, addressing the drivers of food price volatility; which is tackling global market characteristics affecting volatility, including building up stocks by coordinating international food reserves and sharing information on food markets as well as building resilience for the future.

“To tackle the main drivers of excessive volatility, policymakers need to curtail biofuels subsidies and mandates, discourage the use of food crops in biofuels production, regulate financial activity in food markets, and reduce the incentives for potential excessive speculation in food commodities,” said Maximo Torero, co-author of the report and Director of the Markets, Trade and Institutions Division at IFPRI.

He further subscribed that policymakers “also need to invest in climate change adaptation and mitigation and safeguard smallholder farmers against extreme weather-related shocks.”

To build resilience to changing food prices, it is crucial to strengthen social protection systems, improve emergency preparedness, and invest in sustainable small-scale agriculture. Policymakers also need to improve livelihood opportunities for both the rural and urban poor, and strengthen the provision of basic services, such as education, healthcare, and sanitation, the report recommends.

Lead Author Klaus Von Grebmer, however said; “We already know a great deal about how to reduce vulnerability and effectively tackle poverty and hunger, now is the time to apply this knowledge so that everyone, everywhere, has access to sufficient, safe, and nutritious food at all times so that they can live healthy and productive lives.”

The 2011 Global Hunger Index (GHI) is calculated for 122 developing countries and countries in transition for which data on the three components of hunger are available.

This year’s GHI reflects data from 2004 to 2009—the most recent available country-level data on the three GHI components.

By Edmund Smith-Asante

[PasserBy]

At UN, Gabon Begins Move for More Sanctions on Eritrea in UNSC

 

By Matthew Russell Lee, Exclusive

 

UNITED NATIONS, October 14, updated -- For days as the Eritrean Permanent Representative Araya Desta has been checking and re-checking the Security Council, Gabon's Permanent Representative Nelson Messone has been speaking to other member's ambassadors one by one.

 

When Inner City Press asked Messone what project he was working on, Messone laughed it off. Desta meanwhile said that the next step would be Eritrea's submission of its "comprehensive response" to charges that it, among other things, planned to bomb the Africa Union summit in Addis Ababa. "We will never give in," Desta told Inner City Press.

 

On Friday morning outside the so-called "horizon briefing" of the Council by the UN Department of Political Affairs, sources told Inner City Press that the topics in the closed meeting included Somalia, Madagascar and "sanctions."

 

 

Then Inner City Press heard that Gabon would be circulating a draft resolution for new sanctions on Eritrea.

[The Zack]

Ethiopia = hunger and famine (that is what it is known for).

[oba hiloowlow]

Zack sheekada ma fahansano eritrea waxey mucaawinadda uu siineyso somalia waa only politically sheeko waaye waxba kama jiro istustus kaliya waaye, wuxuu uu taageersanyahay neh wax kale mahee ONLF bey taageero siiyaan and why is that? Ujeedada waxa waaye in ethiopia ay ku mashquusho somalida wax kale mahaa eritrea and ethiopia same shit waaye waxba isma dhaaman in my eyes.

[Abdul]

Both Eritrea and Ethiopia were fighting proxy war in Somalia.They were supporting different groups and didnt care how many somalis died in the process.

[The Zack]

oba hiloowlow;751659 wrote:

Zack sheekada ma fahansano eritrea waxey mucaawinadda uu siineyso somalia waa only politically sheeko waaye waxba kama jiro istustus kaliya waaye, wuxuu uu taageersanyahay neh wax kale mahee ONLF bey taageero siiyaan and why is that? Ujeedada waxa waaye in ethiopia ay ku mashquusho somalida wax kale mahaa eritrea and ethiopia same shit waaye waxba isma dhaaman in my eyes.

You are the last person to educate anybody about what Eritrea's intentions are, the fact that you repeated the same analogy I posted on this very thread proves that. And do me a favor, leave the brave ONLF warriors out of this discussion, at least they fight against the xabashis, not bend over for them as your Shariif Canbe does.

 

Abdul;751660 wrote:

Both Eritrea and Ethiopia were fighting proxy war in Somalia.They were supporting different groups and didnt care how many somalis died in the process.

true daat!