EasterNile

  The United Arab Emirates has provided urgent humanitarian aid to people affected by the recent earthquake that rocked the Indonesian island of Sulawesi recently. The initiative was launched on the directives of His Highness Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the UAE Armed Forces, with the monitoring of H.H. Sheikh Hamdan bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Ruler's Representative in the Al Dhafra Region and Chairman of the Emirates Red Crescent (ERC), to support those affected by the earthquake and offer them urgent relief aid. The ERC implemented the directives of the leadership by preparing an ambitious relief programme, which aims to provide large quantities of shelter materials, food, medical supplies and other basic needs to thousands of people affected by the disaster. The ERC coordinated with the UAE Embassy in Jakarta and relevant Indonesian authorities to ensure the fast delivery of the aid, to meet the needs of those affected b

  Noor Dubai Foundation announced that is has treated 16 million Ethiopians for trachoma - one of the main Neglected Tropical Diseases (NTDs). As a member of Neglected Tropical Disease NGO Network (NNN) and the International Coalition for Trachoma Control (ICTC), Noor Dubai Foundation has invested $2.8 million towards fighting trachoma in Ethiopia over the last eight years. The Trachoma Elimination Programme has distributed 87 million doses of medicine covering over 16 million people. The programme has also conducted 356,620 eye surgeries, trained 49,950 health workers and 37,032 teachers, and built over 300,000 latrines. In celebration of the World NTD DAY, which is marked on 30th January, the foundation aims to support control of blinding infective eye diseases, especially the NTDs. It has focused its efforts in fighting trachoma in the Amhara region in Ethiopia, the region with the highest burden of trachoma in the world. In collaboration with the Carter Centre, the pr

  Ethiopia has long been considered one of Africa’s economic  wunderkinds . Until recently, it had relative political stability in comparison to other countries on the continent. And with an average GDP growth rate of  10 percent in the past decade  and a government that  instituted policies friendly to foreign investors , the country was able to attract  South and East Asian clothing manufacturers , which sell to international brands, such as Calvin Klein, Levi’s, and H&M. But for the past two months, violent conflict in Ethiopia’s northern Tigray region fueled by ethnic power politics has threatened the country’s stability. According to the  International Crisis Group , the violence has likely killed thousands of people, including many civilians, displaced more than a million people internally, and led some 50,000 people to flee to Sudan.  The scale of the conflict could scare off foreign investment in the country’s garment industry, a  sector that is hugely important to Ethiop

  Egypt warned Ethiopia against prolonging the negotiations on the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD), saying it should not continue to build the dam without reaching an agreement that addresses its fears regarding its share of the Nile River. Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry asserted that his country does not negotiate for the sake of negotiating, stressing that Egypt will not accept the consolidation of the status quo on the ground. Egypt will not be a hostage to the efforts to impose hegemony on the Nile River, he declared before parliament. Egypt, Ethiopia, and Sudan have been holding negotiations to resolve the dispute over the GERD for about ten years, without reaching an agreement despite the involvement of the United States, World Bank and African Union. Egypt and Sudan are demanding a “legally binding” agreement that regulates the filling and operating of the dam, which is built on the main tributary of the Nile, and its reservoir capacity is set to reach about 74 billion cu

  The United States says all soldiers from Eritrea should leave Ethiopia´s embattled Tigray region "immediately." A State Department spokesperson in an email to The Associated Press late Tuesday cited "credible reports of looting, sexual violence, assaults in refugee camps and other human rights abuses." "There is also evidence of Eritrean soldiers forcibly returning Eritrean refugees from Tigray to Eritrea," the spokesperson said. The statement reflects new pressure by the Biden administration on the government of Ethiopia, Africa´s second-most populous country with 114 million people and the anchor of the Horn of Africa, and other combatants as the deadly fighting in Tigray nears the three-month mark. The AP this week cited witnesses who fled the Tigray region as saying Eritrean soldiers were looting, going house-to-house killing young men and even acting as local authorities. The Eritreans have been fighting on the side of Ethiopian forc

  The Tigray war has turned into an all-out conflict, pitting Tigrayan forces loyal to the Tigray People’s Liberation front (TPLF) against Ethiopian federal troops, the Eritrean army, Amhara militia and – as  revealed  last week – Somali soldiers. Despite what would seem to be overwhelming odds against them, the Tigrayans appear to be holding their own in large areas of the region. Both Eritrea and Somalia routinely deny any involvement in the war, but the  evidence  of their presence is strong.  On December 8, Reuters  reported  that “a U.S. government source and five regional diplomats” told them the US believes Eritrean soldiers have crossed into Ethiopia. The EU and UK support this assessment. A senior Ethiopian general  confirmed  that Eritrean troops were in Tigray. Major General Belay Seyoum, head of the Northern Command,  described  the presence of foreign forces on Ethiopian soil as “painful”. The alliance has its origins in the ending of hostilities between

  Israel’s diplomatic mission to Abu Dhabi officially opened on Sunday with the arrival in the United Arab Emirates of head of mission Eitan Na’eh, the Israeli Foreign Ministry said in a statement. Na’eh, formerly Israel’s ambassador to Turkey, will head the temporary mission until an ambassador is appointed and a permanent site for an embassy can be found. In the meantime, the mission will operate out of temporary offices, to be inaugurated in the coming days, according to the Foreign Ministry. Israeli Foreign Minister Gabi Ashkenazi wished Na’eh and the rest of the mission staff success, saying, “The opening of the delegation will allow for the expansion of bilateral ties between Israel and the Emirates for the maximum and rapid realization of the potential inherent in these relations.” Ashkenazi also expressed his gratitude to Abu Dhabi Crown Prince Sheikh Muhammad bin Zayed and UAE Foreign Minister Sheikh Abdullah bin-Zayed for extending their hospitality to Israel’s re

  A delegation from the Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan Foundation has opened two hospitals in the Republic of Somaliland. The first, is the "Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan Hospital," in the city of Berbera, northwestern Somalia, and the second, is a specialised hospital for women, childbirth and neonatal care, in the city of Burao, the second largest city in Somaliland. The move comes in line with the directives of President His Highness Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan, and the support of His Highness Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the UAE Armed Forces, and the direct follow up of H.H. Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Presidential Affairs and Chairman of the Foundation. The gesture - implemented by the Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan Foundation - is part of the UAE's humanitarian initiatives to alleviate the suffering of underprivileged people, especially given

  Dubai Electricity and Water Authority (DEWA) and Emirates Global Aluminium (EGA) has announced a new global milestone placing the UAE as the first country in the world to produce aluminum using the power of the sun. The milestone supports the vision of Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al-Maktoum, vice president and prime minister of the UAE and ruler of Dubai, to make Dubai the most sustainable city in the world and to take the lead in the development and application of scientific and technological advances in the energy sector.  DEWA will supply EGA’s smelter with 560,000 megawatt hours of solar power yearly from the Mohammed bin Rashid Al-Maktoum Solar Park, sufficient to make 40,000 tons of aluminum in the first year with the potential for significant expansion. EGA will supply solar aluminum to global customers under the new product name CelestiAL. Saeed Mohammed Al-Tayer, managing director and CEO of DEWA and vice chairman of EGA, said: “This global achievement of both DEWA and

  Ethiopian Orthodox Christians across the Horn of Africa nation on Tuesday marked Epiphany, a colorful religious and cultural commemoration of the baptism of Jesus. In the capital Addis Ababa, which was beautified with flags, symbols of the church, and portraits of saints, the two-day celebration began on Monday afternoon. Thousands of singing and chanting Christians accompanied the priests of the capital’s 78 churches who were ceremoniously taking the Holy Tablets (Tabots) to designated public spaces in various parts of the city where the celebration took place. Church leaders, officials, and tens of thousands of people of all ages attended the hours-long main celebration at the city’s spacious sports complex, Jan Meda. Ethiopian Orthodox Church Patriarch Abune Mathias, who sprinkled the holy water on the participants, said the Epiphany provides an opportunity to believers to live a life of unity, apology, and spirituality. “It is our duty to protect and promote our culture and belie

  A looming mass hunger crisis is added to an already-grim humanitarian situation as civilians bear the the brunt of the costs of conflict More than 4.5 million people, including 2.2 million IDPs need emergency food aid in Ethiopia’s Tigray region, according to the Tigray Emergency Coordination Center (ECC) meeting that convened in early January, a looming mass hunger crisis in a region where food security was already under threat, and where memories of famine that  killed 1 million  in past decades, linger.  After nearly two and a half months of fighting, the security situation in the Tigray Region remains “dire”, according to the UN, with millions left without adequate access to healthcare, food, and water. The government continues to block mobile network and internet access in the region, except for some areas in the south and west, making it difficult to obtain and verify information about the humanitarian situation on the ground. Although the government permitted human

  The United Arab Emirates (UAE) said it is looking forward to the de-escalation of the current border tension between Ethiopia and Sudan. The UAE also highlighted the key role of both countries in ensuring the stability and prosperity of Africa and the entire region. In its statement, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation commended the solid ties between the UAE and the two countries, stressing the importance of their cooperation and dialogue, in addition to It also called for giving priority to talk of cooperation and partnership between the two neighbouring countries in a way that meets the hopes and aspirations of their peoples to achieve security, stability and prosperity.

  The European Union has suspended budget support for Ethiopia worth 88 million euros ($107 million) until humanitarian agencies are granted access to people in need of aid in the northern Tigray region. In a blog post published on Friday, the EU’s top diplomat Josep Borrell said Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed now needed to live up to the Nobel Peace Prize he was awarded in 2019 by doing all it takes to end the conflict in Tigray. “We are ready to help, but unless there is access for humanitarian aid operators, the EU cannot disburse the planned budget support to the Ethiopian government,” Borrell said. Abiy’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment. In December, the government’s task force for Tigray said it had reached a deal with the United Nations in which Addis Ababa would call the shots on access for aid agencies. Conflict erupted in Tigray on Nov. 4 between Ethiopian federal forces and the party ruling the northern region. Thousands have

  Ethiopia thanked China for its support in the fight against Covid-19 and mitigating the economic impacts caused by the pandemic, which has killed more than 2,000 people in the country so far. 'We thank the government and companies, including the Jack Ma Foundation, for their collaboration in the fight against the global scourge,' Ethiopian Deputy Prime Minister Demeke Mekonnen said during a meeting with Chinese Ambassador Zhao Zhiyuan. Mekonnen expressed his hopes that Chinese authorities will consider alleviating the debt of some projects affected by the global economic situation, in order to help the State continue its growth. Zhiyuan and Mekonnen, who is also Minister of Foreign Affairs, discussed the trilateral negotiations surrounding the Great Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) and the current circumstances in the regional state of Tigray, among other topics. Regarding the GERD, the foreign minister highlighted Beijing's position, which promulgates the principle of ma

The conflict in Ethiopia’s northern Tigray region - pitting the Ethiopian and Eritrean armies against rebel Tigray forces since 4 November - has caused concern over its humanitarian toll, with tens of thousands of Ethiopians fleeing to neighbouring Sudan and allegations surfacing of  violent crimes  against civilians. In recent weeks, outrage has poured in on social media as news emerged that the conflict had also touched one of the region’s most revered religious heritage sites: the historical al-Nejashi mosque in the area of Wukro. One of Africa’s oldest mosques and touted as a potential Unesco World Heritage site, al-Nejashi has been mourned as one of the casualties of the chaos of war - while belated government vows to repair it have been treated with suspicion. Worrying rumours Since fighting began in Tigray over two months ago, the area has been cut off from the rest of the world due to internet and phone outages. Ethiopian authorities have also barred journalists

Year 2020 was a year no one will forget so soon, not because of many events it came with but because for those that lost loved ones to the cold hands of corona Virus, it will be an unforgettable year for them and many other people all over the world. With damage done to world economy, scientist all over have been scrambling for the development of vaccines to counter its effect, with success recorded at the tail end of 2020, many countries have proposed 2021 as a year of massive vaccination of their citizens. UAE is one of the countries with massive achievement in vaccination of it's citizens, vaccinating over 1million people in first ten days of 2021. With efforts like that of the gulf Nation by other countries, the world may be crawling away from the menace of covid-19 in the first quarter of 2021.

  Sudan warned Sunday it cannot continue the "vicious cycle" of negotiations with Egypt and Ethiopia in the long-running dispute over Addis Ababa's controversial Blue Nile mega dam. Last week, the three countries had agreed to hold further talks to agree the filling and operation of the vast reservoir behind the 145-meter (475-foot) tall hydropower Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD). But the latest meetings between foreign and water ministers "failed to reach an acceptable agreement to resume negotiations", Khartoum's state-run SUNA news agency said Sunday. Sudan's water and irrigation minister, Yasser Abbas, warned that Khartoum cannot "continue this vicious cycle of indefinite talks". Tensions have been high in the Nile basin ever since Ethiopia broke ground on the dam in 2011. Ethiopia, the second most populous country in Africa, says the hydroelectric power produced by the dam will be vital to meet the power needs of i

  Feleg Tsegaye was born to exiled Ethiopian parents in the United States. When he was 24 years old, he moved to Ethiopia to start the country’s first-ever online restaurant delivery service. Prior to leaving the U.S, he worked at the US Federal Reserve Bank. In 2015, he launched  Deliver Addis,  an online restaurant delivery service in Ethiopia which allows customers to place orders from their favorite restaurants and also discover new ones. For Tsegaye, it was his own way of not only creating jobs in his country of origin but to change the way Ethiopians dine. “What really prompted me to pursue this was the fact that we were creating a completely new industry that did not exist in Ethiopia,” Tsegaye told  How We Made It In Africa . “It’s about getting customers what they want in the convenience of their homes and offices. It’s also about generating business for small and medium enterprises – like restaurants that cannot afford space or a good location – and creating jobs for

 Amhara State Investment Bureau is preparing a ten-year investment plan in a bid to create more jobs and facilitate technology transfer in agro-processing, agriculture, and infrastructures as well as power supply, according to the State's Investment Bureau. Speaking to The Ethiopian Herald the Bureau's Promotion and Communication Director Yihenew Alem, the investment flow to the state is growing year by year as the State is endowed with rich resources and heritages that could give any investor high return. The bureau is ready to provide all available incentives to the investors and make all the necessary collaboration for the success of their investment, he expressed. "The state has untapped investment opportunities in the livestock sector in particular in livestock farming, meat processing and animal feed processing," he underlined. In 2019 more than 14,727 investment projects have been licensed in the State of Amhara with an aggregate capital of over 2