(The Nationalist, 25 March 2005)
Twenty years after Live Aid, there have been ten million child deaths in Ethiopia. As many children died of malaria in Ethiopia every six months as in the Asian tsunami, according to Archbishop Berhaneyesus of Addis Ababa. Since the Ethiopia famine of 1985 that killed over half a million people, almost ten million children under the age of five have died in Ethiopia from preventable diseases such as diarrhoea. That’s the equivalent of six planeloads of children every day. But annual debt repayments exceed its health budget.
The archbishop said that one million people would die in Africa this year from malaria, almost five times the number killed by the tsunami. A further half a million women would die in childbirth, and three million people from HIV/AIDS. The death of so many young people places a huge burden on the elderly.
‘These silent tsunamis happen daily, and the death toll is staggering’, said the archbishop. ‘Why is the international community so slow to react? If it happened in Europe, would the response be the same? What will it take before people open their eyes to this unnecessary human suffering?’ he asked.
Crop assessments in Ethiopia for 2005 showed that some seven million people would be in need of food aid. ‘Why is a country like Ethiopia always in the news with drought and famine? Is the international community not able to solve this?’ he asked. Ethiopia’s principal export is coffee, but the price paid to producers has fallen by 70% in the last five years.
The Ethiopian government also had to do its part, he said. ‘Africa is caught in a poverty trap, but Africans also need to help themselves through good governance and better policies. Solving Africa’s problems must be done in partnership’. If Ethiopia were to meet the targets of the UN’s Millennium Development Goals, it would need a doubling of foreign aid, he said.
‘Nearly half of Ethiopia’s population is under twenty years of age. They watch European TV; they have nothing at home, have no employment, and are frustrated. This will increase’. People may turn to violence as a means of having their voices heard. This could become a serious question of world peace. A solution depends on international will, response and contribution.
In its Lenten campaign, Trócaire is asking people to contribute to the help of the needy in Ethiopia. Please remember them; they need our help.