Ethiopia shares its frontiers with 5 countries: Sudan, Eritrea, Kenya, Somalia, and Djibouti. It has border disputes with all above mentioned countries. However, the nature and the extent of the problem vary; based on the specific relations with individual country. This article focuses on the major Ethiopian wars of border with Somalia and Eritrea. The politics of post-independence Somalia during the early 1960s was dominated by public opinion to unify all areas populated by ethnic Somalis into one country, to realize the concept of "Greater Somalia". Somalia has border dispute with Ethiopia especially Ogaden, in the South East of the country. Somalia started the border war with Ethiopia in February 1964. The conflict was ended by fast and successful intervention of the Organization of African Unity. The second war of Ogaden erupted in July 1977. Somalia decided to invade Ogaden, when internal political problems in Ethiopia were intensified, after emperor Haile Selasse was over thrown by the military. The Superpowers were also involved in the war; The Soviet Union and its allies supported Ethiopia and the United States, the Somali side. During the second war of Ogaden, about 8,000 Somali soldiers have been killed. In the aftermath of the war more than 400 000 civilians have been displaced. Ethiopia won both, the first and the second war of Ogaden. The war between Ethiopia and Eritrea over the border dispute started in May 1998 and ended in December 2000. Tens of thousands of people have lost their life in the conflict. Different sources have provided different numbers of victims of war on both sides. Approximately from 70 000 to 100 000 from the Ethiopian side and 30 000 Eritreans have lost their life. The Organization of African Unity (OAU), and the United Nations, the United States of America and other countries have actively involved in the peace process to stop the war. After two years of war, both parties agreed to form an independent boundary commission whose decision would be final and binding. In accordance with the treaty of Algiers, Eritrea accepted the April 2002 decision by an international Boundary Commission delimiting its borders with Ethiopia; but Ethiopia rejected it. The Security Council on 31 June 2000, by its resolution 1312 established the United Nations Mission in Ethiopia and Eritrea (UNMEE), to verify the cessation of hostilities Agreement and assist in planning peace keeping. The Security Council of the UN unanimously adopted resolution 1827, on 30 July 2008, which terminated the mandate of the United Nations mission in Eritrea and Ethiopia. This decision came after Eritrea imposed restrictions on UNMEE, which could not carry out its mandate tasks. So far, there is no solution for the disputed areas, which means a war can be erupted again at any time.
This article investigates the source and evolution of nationalism in Ethiopia. Nationalism is defined on the bases of certain criteria, such as language culture and shared values within a specific ethnic group.Ethiopia is the multi-ethnic and multi-cultural country. There are more than 80 different ethnic groups and as many languages.The relations between these ethnic groups had never been smooth. The development of nationalism and violence goes back to the very historical foundation of the Ethiopian state, which is based on the forced incorporation of independent Southern nations. The centralized Ethiopian State in favor of a single ethnic group mainly (Amhara) imposed domination on other ethnic groups. On the background of this history, the Oromo Liberation Front (OLF), Tigraj Peoples Liberation Front (TPLF), Eritrean Peoples Democratic Liberation Front (EPDLF) among others, opened an armed resistance against the State. After along destructive fight, Eritrea became an independent country. Many other ethnic groups similarly, based on ethnic nationalism formed their own liberation fronts as the ultimate goal of independence, are still fighting. The fast growing process of ethnic nationalism in Ethiopia may cause the disintegration of the country, unless the genuine and equal participation of all ethnic groups in the political cultural and economic life of the country is guaranteed by law.
Jusqu'au XVIème siècle la législation dans l'Empire éthiopien était principalement fondée sur les règles du droit canonique, les commandements bibliques, et des éléments du droit coutumier. Il a fall au attendre l'apparition du premier écrit code juridique pour voir l’intégration du droit romain et byzantin dans la législation éthiopienne. La codification du droit en Ethiopie, qui a eu lieu dans les années 1924-1933 et 1950-1960, a exigé des codificateurs l’application des législations des pays du monde occidental. Pour la création du code criminel et du code civil, on a utilisé les codes des pays dont la législation s’appuyait sur le droit romano-germanique, aussi bien que ceux des pays dont la législation reposait sur le droit anglo-saxon. Le texte ci-dessous tente de repondre à la question: à quelle famille juridique appartient la législation éthiopienne contemporaine?
Le mariage semble être un élément commun à tous les milieux culturels dans le monde. Cependant, dans chacun de ces milieux, le mariage est perçu différemment. On dit souvent que l’Éthiopie est – ou l’était au moins jusqu'à présent – un bastion du christianisme. On pourrait donc croire que l'institution du mariage dans ce pays ressemble à celles des autres pays chrétiens. Pourtant les mariages en Éthiopie ont un caractère bien plus africain. On y accepte des liaisons variées, pas toujours sanctionnées juridiquement (conformément avec la loi européenne) et pas toujours monogamiques. Cet article parle des différents types de mariage pratiqués en Éthiopie depuis des siècles. Aussi bien les voyageurs du XIX-ème que les chercheurs du XX-ème siècles ont remarqué la diversité des liaisons et la facilité avec laquelle les Éthiopiens se marient et se divorcent. On a distingué six principaux types de liaisons et de nombreux types mineurs. De plus, chaque couche sociale préférait un seul type de liaison. Les mariages contractés par le clergé et l’aristocratie étaient différents de ceux contractés par la bourgeoisie ou encore par les commerçants. L’Ethiopie est un pays diversifié au niveau ethnique et la multiplicité culturelle fait que les coutumes liées au mariage sont très différentes. Les mariages chez les chrétiens d'Amhara n’ont rien à voir avec ceux des communautés musulmanes des Afars ou des Somaliens. Certains pratiquent ainsi «la taxe matrimoniale» tandis que d’autres doivent faire preuve de courage et de ruse pour gagner les faveurs des parents de l’élue de leur cœur. De nombreuses coutumes décrites dans l'article ne se pratiquent plus, alors que d'autres ont toujours lieu.
The paper deals with the foreign policy of Ethiopia toward Somalia and issues connected to the informal relations with Somaliland and its possible international recognition in particular. Somaliland is de facto state which declared its independence unilaterally as a response to the outbreak of the Somali civil war in 1991. Even though it managed to promote peace and stability in its territory, it has not been recognized by any state of international community yet. However, it has developed strategic partnerships and relations with European and African countries. The most important ally or partner of Somaliland in the Horn of Africa is Ethiopia. It cooperates with Somaliland in the field of economy, politics and security. However, due to certain political and geopolitical factors, Ethiopia is not willing to recognize Somaliland de iure and is dedicated to the idea of united Somalia. Therefore, the strategies Ethiopia uses when dealing with this de facto state and also the geopolitical factors why Ethiopia is still not willing to recognize Somaliland de jure will be analysed in this paper. The possibilities of future development of Ethiopia‑Somaliland relations will be evaluated considering geopolitical and political factors.
Ethiopia is the strongest regional power among the states of the Horn of Africa. It is the second most populous country on the continent. This article refers to the past and recent relations with neighbors of Ethiopia, regarding its dominant position. The military intervention in Somalia, the war with Eritrea and their post war relations, peacekeeping mission in the Republic of South Sudan and other relations at the regional level are thoroughly analyzed. Ethiopia deployed hundreds of its troops in Somalia, to oust rebel insurgents in 2006. Chaos and violence in the country, frag- mentation of the population along clan and sub-clan lines gave Ethiopia strong position to freely operate in Somalia without significant resistance. Generally Ethiopia withdrew its troops in 2009,but it returned several times with small scale troops. Another victory for Ethiopia was noted after the war between Ethiopia and Eritrea from 1998-2000 that claimed numerous injuries, dislocation of innocent citizens and left thousands dead. Following the weak- ness of Somalia and then Eritrea, Ethiopian, position in the Horn of Africa became stronger. Ethiopia also involved in case of stabilization of the Sudan Conflict by sending its troops to the region of Abyei, a border between Sudan and the Republic of South Sudan. Ethiopia may keep its present dominant position in the future, if it changes its internal political system to more open and fully democratic which could lead to positive changes of political and socioeconomic situations in the region.
This article examines the Polish-Ethiopian historical relations and problems appeared in the course of their relations. The article mainly refers to the process of efforts made to establish diplomatic, political, scientific, cultural and trade relations between the two countries to the end of 1960s. In the past, these relations were determined by the barrier of geographical distance as well as the lack of common interests of both countries. Even though, now days when the problem of distance does not appear as the major factor for multilateral relations between both countries, still the Polish-Ethiopian relations can be considered as unsatisfactory. The earlier contacts can be traced back to the period of the reign of king Jan Sobieski, who in the 17th century tried to establish the alliance of Christian countries against Turkey. Ethiopia was one of the countries he considered to contact for this purpose. The modern contacts and diplomatic relations started in 1930 during the coronation of Emperor Haile Sellasie I. During the Se¬cond World War, the Ethio-Italian conflict and pro Italian stand taken by Poland, led to the deterioration of Polish-Ethiopian relations. The diplomatic relation was renewed after the end of the Second World War. Even though different obstacles occurred in bilateral relations, and the achievements of the goals were not so satisfactory, both parties were determined to maintain their relations.
This article investigates and assesses the legal problem of political parties in Ethiopia. Ethiopian rulers have denied a legitimate role of political party and saw it as the threat to their power. The evolution of party system in Ethiopia can be divided into three periods: 1. During Emperor Haile Selassie's reign 2. The period of military rule 3. The Ethiopian People's Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF) led Government from 1991 up to the present. The first constitution of Ethiopia (1931), banned the presence of any political organization in Ethiopia. The Emperor was the head of the state, head of the government, and commander-in-chief of the Empire. He had absolute authority over the Imperial Military and bureaucracy. The Emperor had sole power to appoint and dismiss the regional governors and members of parliament. In 1974 the military government brought the absolute monarchical rule to an end. During the military junta all civilian opposition groups had been destroyed or forced underground. In most cases, political opponents were systematically targeted; there were human rights abuses, tens of thousands of people disappeared or were murdered in what was known as the „Red Terror" and hundreds of thousands were imprisoned. After the military government was overthrown by rebel groups in 1991, the Tigray People's Liberation Front (TPLF), created the coalition of EPRDF by involving several ethnic based political parties. During 1990s, a lot of political parties based on ethnic background, were formed. Many of them are delegalized. Those registered legally also cannot run their programme for political power, because of systematic restriction on them. Security forces of the ruling party commit politically motivated arbitrary killings, detention, torture and other forms of human rights abuse on political opponents. Ethiopia is de facto single-party sys- tem in which a dominant single political party forms the government and no other parties are permitted to run candidates for election; unfair laws and practices of the present minority government pre- vent the opposition from legally getting power.
Very good political and economic relations between Djibouti and Ethiopia can be treated as an exceptional case in such a conflict‑ridden region as the Horn of Africa. Ethio‑Djiboutian cooperation owes its ‘renaissance’ mostly to the consequences of the Eritrean‑Ethiopian War (1998‑2000) that left Ethiopia without direct access to a sea basin. Today, almost 90 per cent of Ethiopia’s imports arrive via the port of Djibouti, while Ethiopia receives 95 per cent of the Djiboutian regional exports. One of the major infrastructure projects that should even enhance this interstate cooperation is the renovation of the Addis Ababa‑Djibouti railway network. On the international level both countries are committed to the question of security, peace, and stability in the Horn of Africa (e.g. they are engaged in Somali and South Sudanese peace processes). The aim of the article is to analyze this specific personification of interstate cooperation, taking into account the conceptual framework imposed by the definition of ‘interstate cooperation’ proposed by Robert Keohane back in the 1980s. Moreover, the author attempts to look into the reasons behind the development of such good relations, seeking an answer to the question whether or not they are really mutually beneficial.
The mission in Ethiopia was one of the first missionary endeavours of the Society of Jesus. Thus, Saint Ignatius of Loyola, the Founder of the Order, gave to its preparation special attention as shown in his numerous letters. The article briefly recalls the historiography and the genesis of this mission in order to summarize the content of the most important of the Loyola’s letters in what concern the origins of this missionary enterprise and the strategy to be adopted by the Jesuits sent to Ethiopia.
Islam and Christianity have been present in Ethiopia from its beginning. The history of the religions and their interconnections in this area has been very eventful. It is a history shaped by conflicts as well as times of peace. The aim of the article is to analyse the common areas and border lines between Islam and Christianity in Ethiopia. Another aim is to discuss the main features indicating the close relations in everyday life and culture of Muslims and Christians in this part of Africa. This article, the first part of two, addresses the question from a geographical and historical perspective.
This work concerns Shashemenē – a city in southern Ethiopia, which is often and unofficially called the capital of the Rastafari Movement. The article contains some facts about this place and its history, description of living conditions there and the author’s personal impressions from the visit to this city. Moreover, there is a short paragraph about relations between Rastas and native Ethiopians.
The work of the Ethiopian Young Men’s Christian Association (YMCA), which commenced in Addis Ababa in the early 1950s and spread to eighteen Ethiopian cities until the early 1970s, revolved around the development of a ‘balanced manhood’ through social, recreational, spiritual and educational activities among boys and young men. Similar to the UK and American templates, it combined inward-looking character development and outward-looking religiosity with the idea of a ‘muscular Christianity’. In the 1930s, the American YMCA linked these aspects with concepts of the ‘modern’ YMCA member as a leader with specific character traits. This approach met with the post-World War II needs for ‘progressive’ citizens and leaders in Ethiopia. Incorporating sports as a morally positive activity became a powerful strategy for the creation of a distinct life style and a legitimate form of self-improving leisure for educated males in Ethiopian cities, notably Addis Ababa. The following paper discusses the establishment of the Ethiopian YMCA and its contribution to the production of the ‘modern man’ along three lines. The first part places the emergence of the YMCA sports culture within broader developments of physical education in inter-war and post-war urban Ethiopia. In the second part I will look at concrete activities which attempted to channel the energy of young males for the good of the nation. The conclusion will discuss the question in how far these activities built on religious arguments which supported or opposed existing notions of acceptable bodies and perceptions of useful self-improving leisure.
The first trading contacts between Poland and Abyssinia took place in the twenties of the 20th century, although more developed collaboration began during the Great Depression, when Poland’s previous trade partners introduced a number of trade quotas and securities limitations. This is when the great and populated Abyssinia came to Poland’s attention. Already in 1933 a representative of The State Export Institute, Bohdan Wojewódzki, went to Addis Abeba, where he noticed a vast number of possibilities for Polish export. Local society was also very interested in establishing some closer cooperation with Poland. The country wanted to discard the impact of the great powers of the Western Europe and to protect itself from the possibility of Italian aggression. On that account, Abyssinia was striving towards collaboration with non-colonial countries. An agreement of friendship, settlement and trade between Poland and Abyssinia was signed in December 1934. It contained a clause of the highest privilege. The possibilities of cooperation were terminated by Italian aggression.
The Ethiopian Ortodox Tewahedo Church played a significant role in the history of Ethiopia from ancient times, providing ideological legitimization for her emperors and influencing every sphere in the lives of the Christian population. After the revolution in 1974, the Church lost its privileged position in the country. In 1991 the new regime of EPRDF established ethnically based federalism, under which religion was effectively banned from politics. This situation poses a number of challenges for the EOTC. The Church has since suffered two major institutional crises: after separating with the Eritrean Orthodox Church and after the schism in the Ethiopian diaspora in the US. Without the previous support from the state, it has had to face competition from Pentecostal churches which have been gaining popularity over the last decades. It also seeks to reinvent its relations with the faithful, among whom appear movements (such as Mahbärä Qəddusan) which to some extent contest the teaching of the bishops.
This paper identified and examined saving behaviour and determinants of saving mobiliza-tion by the rural co-operators in Southern Tigrai Ethiopia. The input for the study was ob-tained from randomly selected 120 rural household savers from six purposively selected ru-ral savings and credit cooperatives. The result of the study using least squares method showed that savings mobilized is determined by household annual income, amount of loan borrowed and year of member stay in the cooperative. These factors therefore have to be considered in designing strategies aimed at improving the saving mobilization of coopera-tive members in the study area. Besides, economically feasible cooperative societies in the region should be encouraged among the rural households by supporting them with revolv-ing funds as they are more effective and efficient in mobilizing rural savings and provide collateral plus guarantor-based loans with low default rate. This will enable them to boost up their production output and increase their savings thereby stimulating the rural economy.
This study examined two key dimensions of women’s status (autonomy and intimate partners violence) in Southern Nations, Nationalities and Peoples Region (SNNPR) of Ethiopia based on regional data collected from five randomly selected zones and one city administration; namely, Sidama, Hadya, Gamo Gofa, South Omo, Bench Maji and Hawassa City Administration. The analysis revealed that while joint decision is fairly high, women’s independent decision making on key household domains is generally low. Significant proportions of women in the region are exposed to violence by their partners ranging from insult to heavy physical injury. The fact that nearly half of the women experienced insult and close to a quarter of them faced beating is indicative of the low status of women in society. The regression analysis indicated that seven variables determine the occurrence of violent acts against women in the study area, namely household size, education, access to radio, value of children index, wealth index and level of women autonomy. On the other hand, decision making autonomy is affected by wealth status, household size, access to radio and sex preference index. Finally, the study highlighted the importance of addressing the limited technical and operational capacities to implement gender policy and legal frameworks effectively and efficiently.
(Agro) pastoral communities who reside in the arid and semi-arid environments of Ethiopia are vulnerable to the impacts of climate change and variability specifically to the recurrent drought, floods and conflicts. From their long years of rich experiences of how to survive on such environmental pressures, (agro) pastoralists have also developed various forms of adaptation as well as coping strategies to the impacts of climate change and variability. Such strategies are closely guided and supervised by their customary institutions which have rich experiences in addressing the socio-economic/ cultural, political and environmental/ecological aspects. To mention some of the adaptation mechanisms in the study area are pastoral mobility; relying on traditional early warning mechanisms; area enclosures and preparing of hays/forage; diversifying livestock and selection of their species; the shift from pure form of pastoral to agropastoral production systems; and among others. Some of the coping strategies employed by the (agro) pastoralists are also their engagement in charcoal production and fire wood collections; the sell of their livestock, government support in the form of safety net and MERET project and their indigenous social support mechanisms; petty trading especially by women; brokering on livestock trade; engagement in contraband trade; searching for daily labor, and among others. The paper also tried to assess the roles of customary institutions in social support mechanisms to the problems posed by the impacts of climate change and variability to their age old traditional ways of livelihood mechanisms.
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