Ethiopian Famine 1983-1986
The 1984-85 Ethiopian famine was characterized by war and drought. It was an emergency with ethical and political dilemmas, bringing about operational and political division within the international community. Aid was misdirected and too little was done too late. Ultimately, more people were harmed than should have been. Responsibility lies with Ethiopia's revolutionary government, abused NGOs, the reluctant U.S. government, and a neglecting UN. This emergency was never fully resolved amidst a mix of success and mostly failure, leaving lasting impressions on the West.Periodic droughts, overpopulation, and governmental destabilization have caused such famines throughout the 20th and into the early 21st centuries (Varnis 44). Under severe famine and labor, student, and military discontent, Emperor Haile Selassie's government was deposed in 1974. The armed forces dissolved the parliament and established the communist Provisional Military Administrative Council, the "Derg". December 1974, the Derg announced its plan for a state controlled economy; all major companies and land were nationalized in 1975. Long-standing rebellion by the Eritrean Peoples Liberation Front (EPLF) and a new revolt by the Tigrayan Peoples
Early 1986, the Ethiopian government announced the end of its resettlement programs. Accepting that relief has an impact on internal wars frees agencies to make rational decisions based on analysis of the actual situation. (About Ethiopia, screens 6-7)In 1983-84, drought and disease destroyed crops in Ethiopia's breadbasket region, leaving five million people at risk of starvation and disease from a one million ton deficit of grain (Milner, par. 1993, the repatriation operation from Sudan followed the signing of a Tripartite Agreement. The Derg was engaged in widespread diversion and abuse of humanitarian aid; its counterinsurgency strategy of targeting civilians in Eritrea and Tigray exacerbated the famine (Duffield, par. This was a deadly way of blackmailing the population due to its physical weakness and the cold of the high, windswept plateau. Following Vice President Bush's visit to Khartoum in 1985 and meeting with Ethiopia's foreign minister, USAID assistance went through Catholic Relief Services and World Vision to government-held towns, an project known as Food for the North. NGO volunteers murmured condemnation of the government's methods but considered that their duty lay in their daily work; the superseding goal was helping victims while avoiding making political judgments about the circumstances. 3, 6-8)Over the 1980s, the ERD played a pivotal and often controversial role in channeling some $350 million of aid to Eritrea and Tigray. NGOs, by their nature and mandates, form contracts with people not with states. The areas of resettlement lacked adequate facilities or assistance. August 1989, UNHCR and WFP suspended aid in northwest Somalia after repeated efforts to stop aid diversion failed. Economic and agricultural policies contributed, but the principal cause of the famine was the Ethiopian counter-insurgency campaign in the north, which included scorched earth tactics, the requisitioning of food by armies, blockades of food, people in sieges, and enforced rationing of food (Cutts 114).
Common topics in this essay:
Ethiopia's Ethiopia,
ERD CBO,
WWI Rwandan,
NGOs IGOs,
Sudan Somalia,
Frontieres MSF,
UNHCR WFP,
NGOs Western,
World Bank,
Party NGOs,
ethiopian government,
human rights,
humanitarian aid,
ethiopian refugees,
eritrea tigray,
duffield pars,
food aid,
international community,
internal wars,
human rights abuses,
indigenous political,
peoples liberation front,
jean par 17,
catholic relief services,
relief services world,
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Acceptance Essays
