Ethiopia: Solidarity letter issued after GCAP cancellation

To:
His Excellency Prime Minister Meles Zenawi
The Prime Ministers Office
Fax number:   +251 1 552030 or +251 1 241194
 
His Excellency Seyoum Mesfin, Minister of Foreign Affairs
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs
Fax number:   +251 1 514300
Email:[email protected]

 
His Excellency Mayor Arekabe Iqubay, Mayor of the City of Addis Ababa
City Government of Addis Ababa
Fax number:   +251 1 553688
 
His Excellency Kemal Bedri, President of the Federal Supreme Court and Chairman of the National Election Board
National Election Board
Fax number:   +251 1 510025.
Email: [email protected]
 
 
SOLIDARITY LETTER AGAINST CANCELLATION OF THE LAUNCH OF THE ETHIOPIA CAMPAIGN ON
“Enough with Poverty”
 
We, civil society gathered here in Padua, Italy May 8th, 2005 as the International Facilitation group of the Global Call to Action against Poverty (G-CAP), hereby note that: At the 2000 U.N. Millennium Summit your government was one of the 189 Heads of State and Governments, on behalf of their people, that committed in the Millennium Declaration to free their fellow citizens from ‘…abject and dehumanising conditions of extreme poverty.’ In that Declaration, universal values of equality, mutual respect and shared responsibility for the conditions of all peoples and seeks to redress the lopsided benefits of globalisation are reaffirmed.  At the heart of the Declaration are human rights, peace, gender equity, environment and the pressing priorities of the Least Developed Countries and Africa.  Eight Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) emerged from this Declaration, firmly committing governments to an ambitious set of Goals and targets by a deadline of 2015.
 
Recognising that the Millennium Development Goals explicitly articulated—in Goal 8—that eradicating poverty and its underlying causes requires a global partnership for development.  In Goal 8, rich and poor country leaders recognized their shared role and responsibilities to eradicate poverty worldwide.  Developing countries pledged to strengthen governance, institutions and policies. Developed countries, for their part, committed to additional and more effective aid, more sustainable debt relief and increased trade and technology opportunities for poor countries. 
 
The plan by Ethiopia civil society to publically launch the Global Call to Action Against Poverty was intended to generate collective action meet the Millennium Development commitments. Civil society in Ethiopia is the first in the region to create public awareness of the MDGs and this we had been led to believe is a result of openness at the part of your government to address the MDGs. The decision to postpone the national launch of the Global Call to Action against Poverty by your government was therefore uncalled for.  Noting that the Ethiopian Government is a democracy, we would assume that such action would not find space in your government.   More so in the country that has been central in applauding the principles of the African Union and the economic empowerment of the African people.
 
The proposed launch of the G-CAP was an opportunity for both government and civil society to make international partners and the G8 to recognise the need to play a lead role in addressing poverty in Africa, and in Ethiopia in particular.
 
We would also like to bring to your attention that this campaign is supported by world leaders like President Lula and former South Africa Nelson Mandela.  All of these signals agreement towards this call to action against poverty.  It is therefore unlikely that this was going to cause any political problems in your country.
 
The G-CAP International Facilitation Group and civil society organizations in Ethiopia is open to dialogue and urge you to review your decision to postpone the launch to the G-CAP in Ethiopia.
 
We look forward to hearing from you.
 
 
 
CC:
AU President
President Mandela
President Lula
UN Secretary General
UN Millennium Campaign
All member states