Tag: Ethiopia

There’s a huge amount of variation in women’s political representation across Africa, a fact shown by the Inter-Parliamentary Union and UN Women’s map of Women in Politics. They argue that it’s not entirely coincidental that many of the countries making the greatest progress in including women in politics are making far less progress in terms of democracy. There may be no guarantee it promotes democracy. For example, several recent studies show that improving the representation of women in parliament has a positive impact on the health sector. Other researchers have shown that increases in the number of women in parliament are associated with a variety of positive health outcomes. In short, if expanding the political representation of women is to have an effect anywhere, it ought to be in the health sector (and, of course, in women’s rights). In the case of research showing the link between “quota shocks” and health spending, for instance, there is a correlation – but claims about causal effects remain questionable. It will also allow international donors to help women in politics make a positive difference. With this in mind, an ongoing collaboration between the University of Birmingham and the Westminster Foundation for Democracy – supported by the Institute for Global Innovation – has started to ask some important questions about women in African parliaments. It will also help female politicians in Africa to make a difference against the odds.

Abiy Ahmed, the prime minister of Ethiopia, has accelerated a radical reform programme that is overturning politics in the vast, strategically significant African country. Ethiopian prime minister vows to stick to reforms after explosion at rally Read more In recent days, Abiy fired the head of Ethiopia’s prison service after repeated allegations of widespread torture, and removed three opposition groups from its lists of “terrorist” organisations. “The youth [are] the active force behind the country’s growth. Now there must be a new model to make Ethiopia progress economically by creating more job opportunities for the youth while respecting political and civil rights,” said Befeqadu Hailu, a 37-year-old blogger jailed repeatedly for his pro-democracy writings. Last month, a grenade was thrown at a rally organised to showcase popular support for the reforms in Addis Ababa’s vast Meskel Square, where many among the tens of thousands supporters wore clothes displaying the new prime minister’s image and carried signs saying “one love, one Ethiopia”. To those who tried to divide us, I want to tell you that you have not succeeded,” Abiy said in an address shortly after the attack. At least 30 civilians and nine police officers were arrested. Another could be a faction opposed to the effort to find peace with Eritrea. Tiruneh, said shelves of books on religion, philosophy and science filled Abiy’s office. “Sadly we have been there for 27 years and we want that to change.

Look at the effects of the droughts in Syria, Darfur and Ethiopia. But is there any evidence for this link between climate change and conflict? The UN Refugee Agency reported that over 20 million people were displaced in Africa in 2016 – a third of the world’s total. East Africa is also a region with a long history of conflict and displacement. Our study suggests that the failure of political systems is the primary cause of conflict and displacement of large numbers of people. No single factor To test the climate-conflict hypothesis, we focused on the ten main countries in East Africa: Burundi, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Kenya, Mozambique, Rwanda, Somalia, Sudan, Tanzania, Uganda and Zimbabwe. Refugees make up a maximum of one third of the total people displaced in East Africa showing that most people are displaced in their own country. But in contrast to total displaced people and conflict, variations in refugee numbers, were found to be significantly linked to the incidence of severe regional droughts. So, even though displacement of people is linked to poverty and poor governance, it takes extreme weather events to force those people across international borders. Good governance is about protecting and looking after the most vulnerable people in society.