Ethiopia's schools have opened for the new academic year, but severe food insecurity in some regions has kept thousands of children out of class.

"This time last year we had already enrolled 2,300 students," said Solomon Desta, director of Bashiro primary school in Bona district of Sidama zone in the Southern region. "Now we have registered 1,800."

Solomon had prepared for 2,500 children because he was forced to send some children to other schools last year as Bashiro could not accommodate them all.

The school extended its registration deadline by 15 days from 1 September but still the numbers did not improve. "The turnout is the lowest of the last three years," Solomon told IRIN.

The parents of the children who had stayed away explained they could not send them to school because there was little or nothing to eat at home.

Shemna Hurufa village, also in Sidama zone, the only primary school for grades one to four, had planned for at least 800 students this season, but only 710 had registered by 26 September.

"Compared to the vastness of our kebele [ward], we expected many children [to register for school]," the director, Lema Harriso, said. "There are about 400 children of school age in our kebele, but only 260 of them are registered."

The school, Lema said, registered 860 children in September last year, but 200 had dropped out by the end of the school year in June.

These are just two of the many schools whose enrolments have been affected by food and water shortages in Ethiopia.

Below-average rains

According to the Famine Early Warning Systems Network (FEWS Net), extreme levels of food insecurity have persisted in southern and south-eastern Ethiopia. This is due to successive seasons of below-average rains, flooding in riverine areas, livestock disease, an army worm infestation, conflict, inadequate humanitarian assistance, and extremely high and rising food prices.

Oromiya, Southern, Tigray, Amhara, and Somali regions are the most food-insecure, with 297 woredas considered hot spots, where critical and serious levels of acute malnutrition have been reported.
All of Somali region, but mainly Fik, Warder, Gode, Dagabhur, Korahe, Liben and Afder zones, require urgent assistance given the rapid declines in food security conditions over the past 18 months, FEWS Net stated in a 29 September update.

The situation in these areas has proved dire for parents. "For poor families, the basic costs of school materials are now completely prohibitive," the NGO Save the Children said on 26 September.

"All money must go on finding food; in many cases children are not eating enough to be able to make the journey to school, and are unable to concentrate once they get there," it added.

Findings by the UN Children's Fund (UNICEF) in June showed a high drop-out rate this year in Oromiya, Tigray, Somali and Southern regions.

"Education has been disrupted in the drought-affected areas, resulting in decreased school attendance, increased drop-out rates, and teachers migrating from their assigned school as currently reported in parts of Oromiya, Southern and Somali regions," the agency said.

Malnutrition

A large number of children in Shemna Hurufa are also malnourished, with many receiving therapeutic assistance.

Amanuel Eleso, 25, took his brother Henok, 8, to the centre when he realised he was ill. "Our mother died six years ago. There is no one who can take care of Henok."

The eldest son with a weak, old father, Amanuel had taken Henok to live with his three children. Eventually he took in his 10- and 13-year-old brothers as well.

But the struggle to feed his brothers and his own children was too much. "Due to erratic rainfall, we do not produce enough maize," Amanuel said. "The next harvest will only cover three to four months."

Sidama zone depends on both short and main rainy seasons. The short season, belg, lasts from March to April and the main one from June to mid-September.
Aid workers say the two seasons have performed poorly this year. In Hwassa Zuria woreda, where Amanuel lives, a nutritional survey in May and June by the NGO Goal and the regional Emergency Nutrition Co-ordination Unit found high severe acute malnutrition rates of 5.5 percent with 1.6 percent oedema, and global acute malnutrition rates of 29.9 percent.

Across the country, the government estimates that 6.4 million Ethiopians will need relief food in the coming months, including 1.9 million in Somali region.

This number is in addition to the 5.7 million Productive Safety Net Programme beneficiaries in drought-affected areas, who receive food and cash, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), said.

High food prices

According to FEWS Net, prices have continued to rise, reducing food access for the urban poor, poor rural farmers, and pastoral and agro-pastoral populations.

"Cereal prices are extremely high compared to the same time last year, as well as the five-year average," FEWS Net said. "In Addis Ababa, the nominal retail price of white maize was 176 percent and 224 percent higher, respectively."

Amanuel said he could no longer afford to feed the children well. "When I took Henok for a medical check-up, they told me I should feed him properly," he said. "Where can I get the food they talk about?"

IRIN 

Fewer Ethiopian parents are subjecting their daughters to female genital mutilation and cutting (FGM), according to an NGO campaigning to eradicate the practice.

"The knowledge [that FGM is harmful] is increasing," said Abate Gudunfa, head of the Ethiopian National Committee on Traditional Practices (commonly referred to as EGLDAM - its name in Amharic]. "Children born more recently are safer."

A network of 40 NGOs, including EGLDAM, the government and international organisations, are involved in anti-FGM campaigns in Ethiopia. Policies have also been reviewed to ensure participants are punished.

"Prevalence, especially among newly born children is decreasing - meaning that more families have sufficient awareness and do not support this practice anymore," Abate added.

A 2007 survey conducted by EGLDAM found that prevalence across the country had dropped from 61 percent in 1997 to 46 percent.

Nine regions including Tigray, the Southern and Oromiya as well as two city administrations namely the capital Addis Ababa and Dire Dawa, showed the highest improvement.

Other regions recorded minimal change. "There is almost no decrease in Afar and Somali [regions] - the strongholds of infibulation," the survey noted.

Assessing prevalence among various ethnic groups, EGLDAM found a decrease in almost all. Some 29 groups reflected a 20 percent decline, of which 18 were located in the Southern Region.

"Those ethnic groups ...should be considered real success areas and given due attention as possible learning sites," EGLDAM said. "Six ethnic groups show about or less than 10 percent decrease and should be considered as groups of probable major resistance to change."

These included the Harari, Shinasha, Alaba and Hadia ethnic groups.

Old tradition

Female circumcision is one of the 140 harmful traditions still commonly practised in Ethiopia. Often female circumcision involves the removal of part of the clitoris or the clitoris and all or some of the labia.

In some cases, genitalia are sewn up, leaving a small hole for urine and blood to pass. When combined with excision, this is the most severe form of FGM, according to experts.

In some communities, the girls are secluded for a month with their legs bound together to immobilise them, as they wait for the bleeding to stop and scar tissue to form.

FGM is carried out on girls as young as 80 days old, particularly in the predominately Christian highlands, and up to 14 years of age in the lowland Muslim regions. Some excisors use the same knife or razor blade on all their victims, regardless of the danger of spreading infections.

Globally, an estimated two million girls are still at risk of undergoing FGM each year. Activists say FGM is deeply entrenched in society despite various efforts to stop it.

According to the Inter-African Committee, the practice is a serious health issue affecting women, helping to spread HIV/AIDS and responsible for high female mortality rates in Africa.

IRIN 

Bellissima, on bustling Gabon Street in the Ethiopian capital, Addis Ababa, could be just another upmarket café, except that each order comes with a packet of 'Sensation' condoms, and is served in 'Sensation' cups by staff wearing 'Sensation' T-shirts.

"I wanted to link business with a message for sexually active people," Bellissima's owner, Hayat Ahmed, 26, told IRIN/PlusNews. "I am the brand ambassador for 'Sensation' condoms in Ethiopia, and I want to spread the message that condoms can protect you from HIV/AIDS."

Hayat, a former beauty queen, has been involved in HIV/AIDS campaigns since she was crowned Miss Ethiopia in 2003 and subsequently named an HIV/AIDS ambassador.

Her face adorns billboards and she regularly appears on Ethiopia's only television station promoting condom use. "When I walk down the road even children recognise me," she said. "But they do not call me Hayat; they call me 'Sensation'."

Modelled on 'condom bars' in Asia, Bellissima handed out six boxes of condoms, each containing 48 packets of three-in-a-pack, within two days of opening its doors.

The free condoms have elicited mixed reactions, with older patrons tending not to like the idea, while younger ones love it and sometimes ask for a second packet.

"We have had young people come in and ask 'Is it true that you actually give free condoms?' and when we say, 'yes', their faces brighten up and they quickly order," said one waiter. "But we have also had people who get shocked when we bring the bill with a condom, some saying we are promoting immorality."

Guests do not have to take the packs home when they leave the restaurant. "It is your choice to take it or leave it," Hayat said. "We also plan to set up condom vending machines in the toilets."

Her campaign is supported by social marketing groups such as the non-profit organisation, DKT-Ethiopia, which sold almost 60 million condoms in 2007 and also launched a coffee-flavoured version of Sensation condoms. Ethiopia is widely thought to be the birthplace of coffee and it is very popular.

Hayat intends to open more cafés in the capital and other towns, and continue promoting various anti-HIV strategies, including abstinence and faithfulness. She might even expand the 'condom bars' concept to other African countries.
"A lot of people in Ethiopia are ashamed of talking about or using condoms," said. "Yet some companies put condoms in their toilets and when you go to look, each day, the boxes are empty. I don't care if the condoms are used behind closed doors or in public – as long as many people use them."

Ethiopia's HIV prevalence is estimated at over two percent among sexually active people aged 15 to 49. A report by the Federal HIV/AIDS Prevention and Control Office in March noted that between 2000 and 2005, condom use among males increased from 30.3 percent to 51.9 percent, and among females from 13.4 percent to 23.6 percent.

According to Ethiopian government data, half the public sector institutions and 20 percent of private businesses have mainstreamed HIV/AIDS prevention in their operational policies.

However, Philopos Petros, head of the Ethiopian Civil Service College's HIV/AIDS management unit, noted that "There are still educated people exposed to HIV and dying of AIDS," and said greater awareness was necessary.

"One person cannot change the world, but I want to make a contribution," Hayat said. "I have a name and the will, and I will use that."

PlusNews

Worsening malnutrition and the threat of disease outbreaks are compounding Ethiopia's humanitarian crisis. WHO is working with the Government of Ethiopia and health partners to support the 4.6 million people needing urgent emergency food relief nationwide.

The number of people who need food assistance is increasing noticeably in Ethiopia. Health risks are being compounded by the global food security crisis, the impact of drought on agricultural production and the country's weak health system. During the coming months, annual rains are expected to again cause large-scale flooding, increasing loss of crops and risk of disease.

"In humanitarian terms, the situation is unacceptable," said Dr Eric Laroche, Assistant Director-General for WHO's Health Action in Crises. "The health of millions of Ethiopians is worsening by the day, and the international community must act to support the country's government to ease this terrible suffering."

Growing demand for feeding centres

In three regions alone (Somali, SNNP and Eastern Oromiya), the number of government-run feeding centres has risen from 200 three months ago to 605 today. Some 75 000 children aged under 5 need therapeutic and supplementary nutrition support. WHO, UNICEF and nongovernmental organizations are supporting these centres.

Additional major factors affecting people’s health and livelihoods are a lack of access to safe drinking water, shortages of drugs and medical supplies and insufficient human resources. The areas affected by shortages are also at significant risk of disease outbreaks: diarrhoeal diseases, measles and meningitis. Cases of acute watery diarrhoea have been reported in 16 districts, and outbreaks of cerebrospinal meningitis in 37 districts. More than 7000 cases of measles have been registered in 38 districts.

WHO is working with Federal and regional government partners, UN agencies and nongovernmental organizations to:

• provide better health and nutrition services throughout Ethiopia using emergency mobile teams;
• deploy drugs, medical and nutrition supplies and staff for emergency action;
• plan the rolling out of outpatient therapeutic programmes; and
• strengthen disease and nutritional surveillance systems to enable rapid response.
WHO's response efforts include:
• strengthening disease and nutritional surveillance, particularly for severe acute malnutrition;
• preventing measles via immunization activities, including vaccinations and vitamin A supplementation;
• training and support for health staff and strengthening systems to address health needs;
• promoting water treatment, hygiene and sanitation interventions to stop the spread of acute watery diarrhoea and other communicable diseases; and
• providing urgently needed drugs and medical supplies to support health services and therapeutic feeding programmes.

WHO

On 15 and 16 April, 100 legal advisers of the Ethiopian National Defence Forces (ENDF) took part in a workshop on international humanitarian law (IHL) organized by the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) in Addis Ababa.

The participants came from several ENDF units in Addis Ababa, regional commands and training centres, and from all divisions around the country.

"Under IHL, legal advisers of the armed forces should be available to guide military commanders on the correct application of the provisions of the law," said Jürg Eglin, deputy head of the ICRC's delegation in Ethiopia. "They should also advise them on how to ensure that the forces under their command receive appropriate instruction in these provisions."

IHL is a body of law comprising the four Geneva Conventions of 1949 and their Additional Protocols of 1977, to which Ethiopia is a party, and various other international treaties. It regulates the means and methods of warfare, with the aim of striking a balance between military necessity and the principles of humanity. Under the provisions of IHL, persons who are not or are no longer taking part in a conflict must be spared and treated humanely.

The ICRC is responsible for promoting IHL throughout the world. It endeavours to make the basic principles of the law known to all bearers of weapons. In Ethiopia as elsewhere, the ICRC conducts exclusively impartial, independent and neutral humanitarian activities.

International Committee of the Red Cross 

The Ethiopian government and its humanitarian partners yesterday announced that a total of $67,737,459 is required to fund the country’s humanitarian response to the effects of the prevailing drought.

An estimated 2.2 million people are in need of emergency food assistance following inadequate rainfall in some parts of the country during the 2007 meher rainy season, which runs from June to October. In addition, about 947,000 vulnerable people will continue to receive assistance under the country’s Productive Safety Nets Programme – a relief-to-development project initiated by the government in 2005 in an attempt to end dependency on food aid.

Most of those affected by the effects of the dry weather conditions live in the Somali, the Southern Nations, Nationalities and People’s State (SNNP), Tigray and Oromia Regions.
“Conditions in Ethiopia have improved since the beginning of the year. Nevertheless humanitarian situations of various kinds remain of great concern to all of us,” said Vincent Lelei, head of OCHA, Ethiopia, speaking in Addis Ababa the launch of the Joint Government and Humanitarian Partners’ 2008 Humanitarian Requirement Plan.

“The continued collaboration by all humanitarian actors in Ethiopia for the benefit of the most vulnerable in the country is highly appreciated, and we look forward to strengthening this collaboration,” Mr. Lelei added.

The total food aid requirement for those in need is estimated at about 171,646 metric tonnes. Particular attention will also be paid to health and nutrition, water and sanitation, and agriculture to help address the adverse impact of the drought.

Drought in the Horn of Africa is also expected to lead to reduced crop harvests Djibouti, Eritrea, Djibouti, northern parts of Kenya and south-central Somalia.

OCHA

Tayech Ali arrived half an hour before the grain distribution centre in Gojam Berenda, in the capital, Addis Ababa, opened, but still had to queue for three hours before she could buy some wheat.

"I cannot afford to buy wheat from the market," Tayech, a single mother of five, told IRIN. "It is too expensive."

A beneficiary of an Ethiopian government programme that supplies 25kg of subsidised wheat monthly to low-income urban dwellers, Tayech has experienced this routine every two months since the initiative started in March 2007.

She qualified for the programme because she is a widow and former street vegetable vendor with no regular income. Standing in the queue at the grain distribution centre - one of 77 in the capital - Tayech said she was worried about possible disorder from the crowd, a frequent occurrence.

"I am not worried about the long line," she told IRIN. "But unexpected disorder could extend my stay in this place."

Ethiopian officials say the grain-subsidy programme was a response to the hardships faced by low-income urban dwellers because of escalating inflation rates - which they blame on the rising costs of oil and other commodities, including grain.

Speaking in parliament on 18 March, Prime Minister Meles Zenawi said: "While our current economic development is encouraging, worsening inflation has created a difficult situation for the low-income urban dwellers."

World commodity prices

Ethiopia is just one of the many African countries reeling from the impact of rising global commodity prices. According to the UN Economic Commission for Africa, rising food and energy prices could hurt Africa's growth in the 21st century.  
 
"Rapid escalation in food and energy prices, if not managed properly, could pose significant threats to growth and employment, good governance, peace and security," it stated in a paper, Meeting Africa's New Development challenges in the 21st Century, prepared for the annual conference of African finance ministers in Addis Ababa at end-March.

It attributed recent social disturbances in Cameroon, Burkina Faso, Senegal and Mauritania to rising staple food prices. The situation could also erode progress on achieving the Millennium Development Goals.
 
The number of food-insecure people, it noted, could rise worldwide by more than 16 million for every percentage increase in the real prices of staple foods, meaning 1.2 billion people could be chronically hungry by 2050. That is 600 million more than previously predicted.
 
In response, the ministers urged the African Union Commission and the African Development Bank to study the feasibility of setting up an oil fund to assist the continent’s low-income oil-importing countries to mitigate the effects of high prices.

They also committed to undertake "vigorous measures" to implement the comprehensive African agricultural development programme.

In December, the Famine Early Warning Systems warned that high cereal and commodity prices in Addis Ababa, and several other monitored markets, including Bahir Dar, Mekelle and Dire Dawa, would affect food security for many of Ethiopia's urban dwellers.

Market-related factors and decreased production would render an estimated eight million Ethiopians food-insecure this year, while 2.4 million acutely food-insecure people would require food and cash assistance.

Of these, 825,000 Ethiopian urban dwellers, including Tayech, already rely on wheat supplied through the government's distribution centres.
 
"There is food on the shelves but people cannot afford it," Josette Sheeran, executive director of the UN World Food Programme (WFP), said during a recent visit to Ethiopia and Kenya. Food insecurity among urban dwellers had created "a new face of hunger".
   
"People who were not previously vulnerable have become vulnerable in many different countries around the world," she said. There was more urban hunger than traditionally thought and it tended to hit hardest those earning less than a dollar a day.

Funding gap

The situation has also affected aid agencies. WFP, in an appeal to donors on 20 March, said soaring food and fuel prices had created a critical funding gap of US$500 million in its programmes as at February.

"In the three weeks since that announcement, food prices have increased another 20 percent and such increases show no sign of abating any time soon," the agency said.

Sheeran said WFP would try to assist the urban hungry by partnering with governments to break the hunger cycle. The plan would involve a shift from being a purely food-aid to a food-assistance agency.

"We will have broader tools to help countries deal with urgent hunger pressures that can be more sensitive to markets," Sheeran told journalists after addressing the African finance ministers.

Experts predict more difficult times ahead. "All indicators suggest that food prices are unlikely to fall any time soon and, in fact, may rise much more depending on countries' decisions about biofuels," says Mark Rosegrant of the International Food Policy Research Institute's (IFPRI).

For Africa's poor, whose meagre earnings are being eroded by inflation, the choices are often limited to either buying less food or buying cheaper, less nutritious food. "The result is the same - more hunger and less chance of a healthy future," notes WFP.