Civil war has created ‘very severe needs’, the UN warns, while a blockade aimed at hurting Houthi rebels has made the situation worse

Six-year-old Salem Abdullah Musabih is held by his mother in an intensive care unit in the Red Sea port of Hodaida. Photograph: Abduljabbar Zeyad/Reuters

Tuesday 4 October 2016 19.51 BST
Last modified on Wednesday 5 October 2016 02.01 BST 

Dozens of emaciated children are fighting for their lives in Yemen’s hospital wards, as fears grow that civil war and a sea blockade that has lasted for months are creating famine conditions in the Arabian peninsula’s poorest country.

The UN’s humanitarian aid chief, Stephen O’Brien, described a visit to meet “very small children affected by malnutrition” in the Red Sea city of Hodeida. “It is of course absolutely devastating when you see such terrible malnutrition,” he said on Tuesday, warning of “very severe needs”.

More than half of Yemen’s 28 million people are already short of food, the UN has said, and children are particularly badly hit, with hundreds of thousands at risk of starvation.

There are 370,000 children enduring severe malnutrition that weakens their immune system, according to Unicef, and 1.5 million are going hungry. Food shortages are a long-term problem, but they have got worse in recent months. Half of children under five are stunted because of chronic malnutrition.

A sea blockade on rebel-held areas enforced by the Saudi-coalition supporting the president, Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi, stops shipments reaching most ports.

Its effects can be seen in centres such as the Thawra hospital, where parents cram waiting rooms seeking help for hungry and dying children. In April, between 10 and 20 children were brought for treatment, but the centre is now struggling with 120 a month, Reuters reported.

A woman waits to weigh her son in an intensive care unit in Sana’a. Photograph: Khaled Abdullah/Reuters

The crisis may get worse after Hadi ordered changes at the central bank. Aimed at squeezing the funds of Iranian-backed Houthi rebels, the move could leave ordinary Yemenis short of cash and make food shortages worse by depriving traders of the financial cover the bank has offered.

Ibrahim Mahmoud, of Yemen’s Social Development Fund, told Reuters only an improvement in the country’s financial system and an emergency aid effort could prevent the spread of hunger.

“If there is no direct and immediate intervention on behalf of the international community and state organisations, we could be threatened by famine and a humanitarian catastrophe,” he said.

Oxfam’s humanitarian policy adviser, Richard Stanforth, said: “Everything is stacked against the people on the brink of starvation in Yemen. The politicisation of the central bank and attempts by the parties in the conflict to use it as a tool to hurt one another ... threaten to push the poorest over the edge.”

Hadi moved the central bank headquarters from Sana’a, the capital currently controlled by Houthi rebels, to the southern port of Aden which his government holds. He also appointed a new governor, who said the bank had no money.

“It risks leaving the salaries of more than a million Yemenis unpaid. There may be a long-term effect on the Houthis, but the immediate effect will be on normal people trying to put food on the table,” the Yemeni economic analyst Amal Nasser said.

The sea blockade and daily airstrikes, which have hit civilian targets including hospitals, are part of a campaign to push rebels out of the capital.

There have been widespread calls for an independent inquiry into the conflict, including from senior British MPs. More than a third of Saudi-led bombing raids are thought to have hit civilian sites, and human rights groups say violations are also being perpetrated by Houthi rebels.

Source=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/oct/04/yemen-famine-feared-as-starving-children-fight-for-lives-in-hospital

This article will deal with learning in partnesrhip building inside the Eritrean opposition diaspora either they are political or civil society organizations. The main point of this article is if we have learned over the past 15 years in building partnership and co-operation in our struggle to bring changes in our individual and organizational making.

What is learning? Learning is when we understand and interpret the reality that surrounds us, internally and externally and try to change it.

The focus of this artilce is on the individuals and organizations who were involved in building partinership during the past 15 years. ( 1999-2016) How the structure, process and cultures of the building partnership was in the opposition camp do they succeeded or failed in creating sustainable partnership/co-operation? What were the factors that made learning difficult in the opposition forces?

This articel will try to discuss on this two above mentioned questions.

1. The Opposition has structural obstacles to learning

Looking at the political and civic organizations structure on can identify that all of them are organized on the lines of various identities. ( religious, ethnic, cultural, clan and geographical) Building partnership( EDA, ENCDC.......... ) among these various identities was difficult, it is not because of the diverse identities but failed in building a structure accommodating these identities and the interests and rights of the stakeholders in the partnership.

Partnership was not appreciated by the leadership of the various political and civic organizations. All were involved blaming each other for the failed outcomes and this has resulted in a very serious learning block. To overcome this weakness that hamper learning the Eritrean Opposition need soul searching and work for common purpose that guarrantees future peaceful co-existance to all citizens without discrimination in Eritrea.

2. Partnership work process and culture

The Eritrean experience of partnership building that started in 1999 by political oppositions in diaspora was extermely narrow only confined by its leadership but it gradually developed to include all political organizations and civil society movements later from 2008 to broaden its potential partnership and expand its network.

In the past 15 years, the attempts to build alliances , coalitions and partnership were failed because of narrow-minded political and civic elites. Partnership building is not a one time work activity but is a process with a comprehensive work programmes designed appropriately that satisfy people's needs and wishes. Partnership building needs commitment and implementation of the accords adopted by consensus. What makes a partnership successfull is when the partners participate in programme activities and contribute to positive outcome.

In any organization, learning takes place through work experience and discussions with colleagues. Observing the Eritrean diaspora opposition at local, regional and global level, there is no culture of working together. In the past 15 years we have developed a culture of animosity and intolerance and has been strong enough to exclude and supress each other. It is this culture of work that hampered the common efforts to build a strong partnership.

3.  What were the factors that made learning difficult in the opposition forces?

The Eritrean diaspora opposition whether they are political or civic movements have difficulties in learning to be good learners. Learning is not only individual but organizations must also learn. Any organization that does not learn cannot change themselves and their surrondings. Building partnership, alliances and coalitions in the Eritrean Opposition Diaspora were characterized by unclear or conflicting objectives that has created difficulties for the grassroots of the partner organizations to co-ordinate and harmonize their efforts and activities towards the common goals. The main factors behind this sad situation of the diaspora opposition is the political cynicism- the attitude of mistrust of each other lack of faith and hope on each other, relationship based on personal cults- clans, internal organisational weakness and lack of knowledge and skills to learn to understand and change your surroundings for the benefit of the public not for the individual interests.

What should be the exit strategy from this sad situation of the struggle from dictatorship to democracy?  To remedy these defects all the oppositions forces must search new approaches targeting the salvation of the Eritrean people from the ugly policies of the totalitarian system of governance in Eritrea and lay foundations for building a democratic society in the long run.

References:

1. EGDI, Learning in Development Co-operation

“ብህግደፍ ዘይተሰምዐ እምበር፡ ዘይተገብረ ግፍዒ የለን”:: እዚ ኣበሃህላ በቲ ሐደ ወገን ንስፍሓትን ዕምቆትን በደል ጉጅለ ህግደፍ ኣብ ልዕሊ ህዝቢ ኤርትራ፡ በቲካልእ ወገንድማንሓባኢባህሪናይቲጉጅለዘመልክትእዩ። ህግደፍ ኣብ ልዕሊ ህዝቢ ኤርትራ ክፍጽሞ ዝጸነሐን ዘሎን በደላት ክሳብ ክንደይ ንምስሉ ኣብ ቅድሚ ሕብረተሰብ ዓለም ደዊንዎ ከም ዘሎ ይርደኦ እዩ። እንተኾነ ከምቲ “ኣመል ምስ መግነዝ” ዝበሃል ካብዚ ናይ በደልን ትምክሕትን  ታኸይላ ወጺኡ ኣብ ናይ ፍትሒ ዓለም ክነብር ኣይከኣለን። ናይ ህልውና ጉዳይ ስለ ዝኾኖ ግና ሓቀኛ ምስሉ ሓቢኡ ክቐርብ ካብ ምፍታን ዓዲ ኣይወዓለን።

ሓደ ምምሕዳር ኣብ ቅድሚ ሕብረተሰብ ዓለም ተቐባልነት ክረክብን ዘይክረክብን ካብ ዝውስኑ ረቛሒታት እቲ ቀንድን መሰረታውን ህዝቡ ዘመሓድረሉ ኣገባብን ዝኽተሎ ስርዓትን እዩ። ድምጺ ህዝቡ ሰሚዑ ዘስተማቕርን ፍትሓዊ መስመር ዝኽተልን ምምሕዳር፡ ምስሉ ኣብ ቅድሚ ሕብረተሰብ ዓለም’ውን ሓሚቑ ኣይሓምቕን። ኣብ ልዕሊ ህዝቡ ጸሊምን ጨካንን በሰላ ዝፈጠረ ስርዓት ኣብ ቅድሚ ሕብረተሰብ ዓለም ጽቡቕ ምስሊ ክህልዎን ካብ ተነጽሎ ክድሕንን ግና ዘበት እዩ። እዚ ክበሃል እንከሎ፡ ሓደሓደ፡ ካብቲ ጉጅለ ረብሓ ዝደልዩ፡ ህዝባውነት ዘየብሉ ዝምድና ንምፍጣር ነቲ ኣብ ልዕሊ ህዝቢ ዝፍጸሞ ገበናት ጓስዮም ግዚያዊ ዝምድና ክገብሩ ኣይረኣዩን ማለት ኣይኮነን። ንኣብነት ኣብዚ እዋንዚ ዝኾነ መንግስቲ ምስ ጉጅለ ህግደፍ ዝምድና ዝፈጠረ  እንተተዓዚብና በዚ ኣቐዲሙ ዝተቓነየ ዘይርትዓዊ ኣገባብ ንጉዳይ ህዝቢ ግዳይ ዝገብር ምዃኑ ክንስሕቶ ኣይግበኣናን።

ኣብዚ ቀረባ መዓልታት፡ ኣቶ የማነ ገብረኣብ ዝመርሖ ልኡኽ ስርዓት ህግደፍ ካብ ኤውሮጳ ክሳብ ኒውዮርክ ሰላሕ ክብል ንዕዘብ ኣለና። ምስ ገለ መንግስታት ኣብ ዝገብሮ ርክብ ካብ ዘልዕሎም ጉዳያት ሓደ፡ ጉዳይ ኤርትራውያን ስደተኛታት እዩ። እተን ሃገራት ነዚ ናይ ስደተኛታት ዛዕባ ዘልዕላኦ ምስቲ ብጻዕቂ ስደተኛታት ዝገጥመን ዘሎ ሰፊሕ ዝርዝር ዘለዎ ጾር ኮንደኾን መስተርሆ ንረኽበሉ ካብ ዝብል እዩ። ጉጅለ ህግደፍ ብወገኑ ነዚ ዛዕባዚ ዘልዕሎ “ምምሕዳረይ  ጠንቂ ስደት ኣይኮነን” ዝብል መልእኽቲ ከመሓላልፍን ካብ ክውንነት ክሃድምን ስለ ዝደለየ እዩ። ንእግረ መንገዱ ገለ ዓቐን ገንዘብ ብጉልባብ ምጥያስ ምሽማት’ውን ዝጽበዮ እዩ። እዚ ዛዕባ ናይተን ሃገራት ድኹም ጐኒ ተናኺፉ ዝምዝምዘሉ ልስሉስ ቦታ ምዃኑ ከኣ ይርዳእ እዩ። እተን ሃገራት ኣብ ቀረባ ስለ ዘለዋ ውሽጠን ብምሕደራ ህግደፍ ሕሩር እንዳሃለወ፡ ክሰምዓኒ ይኽእላ እየን ካብ ዝብል፡ ብዙሕ ግና ዘይትግበር መብጸዓ ከም ዝኣትወለን ከኣ ተኸታቲልና ኣለና። ግደ ሓቂ ንምዝራብ ግና እቲ ኣብ ኤርትራ ዝመርሕ ዘሎ ጉጅለ ህግደፍ ክሳብ ክንደይ ጠላምን ኣብ ዝወዓሎ ዘይሓድርን ምዃኑ ኣይኮነንዶ ብደረጃ መንግስቲ ብውልቀሰብ’ውን ዝብጻሕ ደርሆ ጻሕቲራ እትረኽቦ ናይ ኣደባባይ ምስጢር እዩ።

ኣብዚ ቀረባ መዓልታት ናይ ብሓቂ ድዩ ናይ ሓሶት ካልእ ኮይኑ፡ እቲ ጉዳይ ምጽራይ ገበነኛታት  ብዝምልከቶም ኣካላት ከም ገበነኛ ዝፍለጥን ንዲክታቶር ኢሳያስን ግፍዑን ክትክእ ውጥም ቅልቅል ዝብል ዘሎ ዝመስል፡ የማነ ገብረኣብ ኣብ ዋሽንግቶን ናይ ኤርትራውያን ኣኼባ ክገብርዩ ዝብል ምልክታ ቀሪቡ ነይሩ። ከምቲ “መርዓዊ ዘይሓዛስ ዓርኪ ይሕዛ” ዝበሃል ከኣ “ኣቐዲምኩም ሕቶታት ኣቕርቡ” ዝብሉ ኣሰለፍቲ ተዋፊሮም ነይሮም። እቲ ተቐላቒሉ ዝነበረ ሕቶታት ገሊኡ ምስ ግላዊ ረብሓ ዝተሓሓዝ ክሳብ “መሬት መስርሒ ገዛ መዓስ ኢኹም ትህቡና?” ዝብል ፈኲስ ሕቶ ዝርከቦ ነይሩ። እቲ ካልእ ሕቶታት እውን ከከም ሓታቲኡ ዝተፈላለየ ነይሩ። ብመሰረቱ ግና ኣብ ኤርትራ እቲ ጸገም ሕቶታት ናይ ምቕራብ ዘይኮነ፡ ሕቶታት ናይ ዘይምምላስ እዩ። ጉዳይ ሕቶ ተተላዒሉ ደኣ እታ ሃገር ንገዛእ ርእሳ ኣብ ትሕቲ ምልክት ሕቶን ቀራና መንገድን  እንድያ ዘላ። ኣብ ኤርትራ ዘሎ ህዝብስ ኣእላፍ መላሲ ዝሰኣኑ ሕቶታት እንድዩ ዘለዎ። ብመሰረቱኽ ካብቲ ከበድቲ ገበናትን መርኣያ ሕማቕ ምምሕዳርን ህግደፍ ናይ ህዝቢ ሕቶታት ብግብሪ ዘይምምላስዶ ኣይኮነን።

ስለዚ ኣብዚ ከነስተውዕለሉ ዝግበኣና፡ ጉጅለ ህግደፍ ንምድህላል ተዘይኮይኑ ብኹሉ መምዘኒ፡ ብዓቕሚ ይኹን ብባህሪ ሕቶታት ክምልስ ኣይክእልን እዩ። ቅድም ኣብ ዝተወሰነ ግዜ ሕቶታት ኣቕሪብካ እቲ ጉጅለ ክምልሰልካ ምጽባይ ንቡር ነይሩ ክኸውን ይኽል። ሎሚ ግና ጉጅለ ህግደፍ ሕቶ ኣቕሪብካሉ መልሲ ክህበካ ምጽባይ፡ ምድህላልን ነብስኻ ምዕሻውን ጥራይ እዩ። ምናልባት ግና ዝሕተቶ ሕቶታት ምስ ሰምዐ ደሓር እንታይ ዓይነት መጠበሪ ወይ መህደሚ መልስታት ክስንዕ  ዝመሃዞ ተንኮል ይኸውን።

ሓደ ዘገርም ጉዳይ ናይ ዋሽንግቶን ኣኼባ የማነ ገብረኣብ ምስራዙ ምስ ተገልጸ፡ “ስለምንታይ ከምኡ ይኸውን?” ኢሎም ዘጉባዕብዑ ኤርትራውያን ምጉቡዕበዖም እዩ። እዞም ኤርትራውያን እቲ ኣብ ኣሜሪካ መጺኡ ዘይምልሶ ሕቶታት ንምስማዕን ኣመሳሚሱ ገንዘቦም ንምዝማትን ዝወጠነ ግና ዘይሰለጦ መንግስቲ ህግደፍ፡ ኣብቲ ቀዳምነት ክህቦ ዝግባእ ኣጀንዳ፡ ኣብ ህዝቢ ኤርትራ ናይ ምዝራብን ምሕታትን ጥራይ ዘይኮነ፡ ዓው ኢልካ ናይ ምስዓልን ተኣሲርካ ኣብ መደቀሲኻ ናይ ምግልባጥን መሰል ከምዘየፍቅድከ ይፈልጡዶ። እቲ “ኣነ ርትዓዊ እየ” ዝብል ኤርትራዊ እምበኣር፡ ክሓቶ ዝግበኦ ሕቶ “ስለምንታይ ኣኼባ የማነ ገብረኣብ ኣብ ኣሚርሪካ ተኽልኪሉ?” ዘይኮነ “ስለምንታይ ህዝብና ኣብ ገዛእ ብቓልሱ ዘውሓሳ ሃገር ናጻ ሓሳብካ ናይ ምግላጽ መሰሉ ዘይተኽብረሉ?” ዝብል ተዝኸውን ክንደይኮን መምሓረሉ።

ብዕለት 26/09/2016 ውርይቲ ኣፍራይትን ኣዳላዊትን ፊልም ወ/ሮ ሰሲል ኣለግራ ዝተባህለት ፈረንሳዊት ባርባራዊ ጉዕዞ ዘርእስታ ፈልም እቲ ዘካሕክሕ ግፍዕታትን ዓዘባታትን ኣብ ልዕሊ መንእሰያት ስደተኛታት ኤርትራውያ ካብ ሱዳን ሊብያ ግብጺ ክሳብ ሲናይ ዝተጋጠመ ዝገልጽ ፍልም ኣብ ከተማ ዮተቦርግ ብፍሉይ ንማሕበር ፈረንሳውያን ተቀማጦ ዮተቦርግን ፡ መራሕ መደብ ራዲዮ ድምጺ ሓርነት ኣብ ሽወደን ሓው ጸሃየ ቀለታ፡ ገለ ኤርትራውያን ደለይቲ ፍትሕን ዝተሳተፍዎ ኣብ Le Pain Français ንሰዓትን ፈረቃን ተራእያ። ድሕሪ ምርኢት ወ/ሮ ሰስልያን ሓደ ካብቶም ተዋሳኣይ ኣብታ ፍልም ፡ ግዳይ ናይዚ ዓዘባ ህያው ምስክር ዝኾነ መንእሰይ ሮበል ቀለተ ቀሪቦም ናይ ሕቶን መልስን ተወሳኺ መብርህን ተዋሂቡ ። ኣብዚ ኣገዳሲ ምሸት ኣዳላዊት ፊልም ወ/ሮ ሰቺሊያ ኣትሪራ ዝገለጸቶ ብተመክሮይ ትብል ፡ ኣብ ሓያሎ ኩርናዓት ዓለም ማለት ኣፍጋኒስታን፡ ኢራቅ ፡ሱርያ ኩርዲስታን፡ ነፓል፡ ዳርፎርን፡ ኣብ ጽዕጹዕ ዉግእ ዝተካየደለን ሃገራት ሲኢለን ሰኒደን ግና ከምዚ ኣብ ልዕሊ ኤርትራውያን ዝተፈጸመ ኢሰባዊ ንግዲ ደቂ ሰባትን ዓዘባታትን ከቢድ መሪር ግፍዒ ሪኤ ኣይፈልጥን ብምባል ፡ኤርትራውያን ግና ዝተጋጠሞም ዓዘባ ብድፍረት ክዛረብሉ ወይ ክገልጽዎ ጌና ኣይከኣሉን ዘሎዉ በለት። ቀጺላ ንሕና ወይ ዓለም ክንሕግዞም እንተኮናን፡ እዚ መላኺ ስርዓት ኢሳያስ ኣብ ሕጊ ክቀርብ  እንተኮይኑ ክዛረቡሉ ኣሎዎም ኢላ ተሪር ጸዊዓታ ኣቅሪባ ። ንጽባሒቱ  ምስ ራዲዮ ድምጺ ሓርነት ኣብ ሃገር ሽወደን ብቋንቋ እንግሊዝ ሓተታ ጌራ ደጊማ ዓውታ ዘሎዎ ጸዊዒታ ኤርትራውያን ዝተጋጠመኩም ግፍዒ ንገሩ ብምባል ኣድራሻ ብምግዳፍ ተፋንያ። እዛ ኣስካሕካሒት ፊልም ኣብ ከተማ ሃልምስታድ ፡ ከተማ ኦረቡሩ፡ ርእሲ ከተማ ስቶኮልምን እውን ትርኤ ኣላ።