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27 January 2007
ADDIS ABABA- Prime Minister Meles Zenawi said that the government is exerting utmost effort to address the capacity limitation the pastoral areas face in executing development plans.
Speaking at the launching of the 9th Ethiopian Pastoralist Day celebration under the theme “More Commitment for Good Governance and Sustainable Pastoral Development in the New Ethiopian Millennium,” at the House of Peoples’ Representatives yesterday, Meles said that since the pastoral community have not equally benefited from the economic development as the other segments of the society due to lack of execution capacity to implement development plans, the government is putting maximum effort to enable them overcome the problem.
Meles said that though the tasks accomplished over the past years and the outcomes are encouraging, considerable effort is still required over the coming successive years to enable the pastoral community equally participate in the development effort and share the benefit as well.
According to Meles, in addition to assisting the pastoral areas in building their execution capacity for the implementation of development projects, the government is exerting utmost effort to coordinate neighbouring states for the rapid execution of development activities in these areas.
Presenting a report on the major activities carried out in the pastoral areas over the past year, Federal Affairs Minister Siraj Fegessa said that various activities have been carried out in the areas of rural development, health, education and good governance, among others.
The Minister said that in 1998 E.C, over 13 million birr budgetary support was given to carry out various development programmes particularly in the Afar and Somali states, adding that 27 million birr has been allocated for this Ethiopian year.
Siraj further said that safe drinking water coverage in the Afar State reached 41.1 per cent in 1998 from 16 per cent in 1996 and is expected to increase to 51.9 per cent at the end of this budget year.
The Minister also said that the health service coverage in the Somali State grew to 44 per cent in 1998 from 34.25 per cent in 1996. It is expected that the coverage would rise to 50 per cent at the end of this year. In the Afar State the coverage grew to 45 per cent in 1998 from 36 per cent in 1996 and is expected to rise to 60 per cent by the end of this budget year, he added.
According to Siraj, from 1998 to date over 500 alternative basic education centres have been opened and are giving service.
Meanwhile, a bulletin made available on the occasion said that the objectives of marking the Day include creating awareness of problems of the pastoral community and finding solution through discussion with other partners, and deliberating on issues concerning pastoralists and facilitating the means by which the development gap between the pastoral areas and other parts of the country could be narrowed, among others.
On the occasion, representatives of pastoralists from the Somali, Afar, Southern Nations, Nationalities and Peoples as well as Oromia states presented performance report.
The celebration concludes today with the adoption of resolution, following thorough discussion on the reports presented yesterday.
by Dayan Tadesse - Ethiopian Herald