Birtukan Mideksa has been sentenced to life in prison. She spends her days and nights in solitary confinement in a two-metre by two-metre cell. She cannot leave it to see daylight or even to receive visitors. Previous inmates say the prison is often unbearably hot. Her crime: refusing to say sorry. The judge, aged 34, is the head of Ethiopia's most popular political party, the only female leader of a main opposition party in Africa.

Ethiopian religious leaders have called on the country’s government to amend the constitution and ban homosexuality, a law which was never mentioned in the constitution of that country before. In a meeting held in December 2008 in Addis Ababa, where heads of various congregations including the Roman Catholic, Ethiopian Orthodox and Protestant churches met, a resolution was made that seeks to end homosexuality which was branded as “the pinnacle of immorality.”

This publication from the Global Land Tool Network belongs to a series of research reports examining the changing landscape of land tenure security in developing countries. The intent is to provide up-to-date information to land professionals and policy makers working in the land sector and to raise awareness on what is being done at the country level.

The Ethiopian Government was one of the first to embrace the use of ICT as a way to change Government and improve the efficiency of the economy. The country has a burgeoning ICT sector but it is being held back by the impact of Government policy. However laudable the Government’s intentions, there is an overwhelming mismatch between its rhetoric and the results. Our correspondent takes a look at the elephant in the room that isn’t being dealt with.

Freedom House is an independent non-governmental organization that supports the expansion of freedom in the world. Freedom House functions as a catalyst for freedom through its analysis, advocacy and action. Freedom House seeks a Director for its Ethiopia Human Rights Technical Assistance Program to be based in East Africa.

Poverty poses a major obstacle for farmers in Ethiopia to adapt to climate change, Prime Minister Meles Zenawi said. "The poor do not have the necessary technology and resources, in terms of money and so on, to be able to change and adapt," Meles told a national climate change conference in Addis Ababa.

Ethiopia's parliament enacted a new law on nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) that criminalizes most human rights work in the country, Human Rights Watch has said. Human Rights Watch said that the law is a direct rebuke to governments that assist Ethiopia and that had expressed concerns about the law's restrictions on freedom of association and expression.

In a bamboo and matting shelter on the edge of the town of Awassa, rows of tiny children are struggling with Ethiopia's fiendishly complicated Amharic alphabet "Huh - HUH! Hoo - HOO! Hee - HEE! Ha - HA!" they chant in unision after their teacher.

A Chinese business company, ZTE, said it has been offering capacity building training to Ethiopians in a bid to enhance technology transfer and strengthen people-to-people relations between Ethiopia and China. ZTE country chief representative, Zhang Yanmeng told ENA on Wednesday that the company will offer training to 1,000 workers of the Ethiopian Telecommunication Corporation (ETC) on ‘Code Division Multiple Access’ (CDMA) network installations.

With a focus on Ethiopia, this paper identifies and analyses the types, prevalence, major causes and effects of violence against girls in schools. It also aims to assess the availability and effectiveness of policies, rules and regulations and concludes with recommendations on ways to reduce violence against school girls. Despite the legal provisions and efforts to reduce and eliminate violence against children, particularly girls, violence and abuse seem to be widespread in Ethiopia - taking place at home, in schools, and in the community at large.

Like many teenagers in rural Ethiopia, Shekuria Mume, 19, became pregnant, quit school and got married at 15. The birth of her first baby remains one of her most traumatic experiences, as an untrained traditional birth attendant (TBA) delivered her. "I had heard that some women die while giving birth so I was scared most of the time during my pregnancy; I didn't sleep much," Shekuria told IRIN.

United Nations humanitarian agencies are preparing to send emergency supplies to southern and eastern Ethiopia, where flash floods following heavy rains have displaced locals and damaged about 2,000 hectares of cropland. Food, water, health care and other non-food items are needed to help the inhabitants of the Somali and Oromiya administrative regions of Ethiopia, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) reported. The Southern Nations, Nationalities and People's Region (SNNPR) is also affected.

China offered a three-point proposal to boost its relations with Ethiopia, calling on the two sides to expand substantial cooperation to promote the all-round and cooperative partnership to a higher level. The offer was made during Chinese top legislator Wu Bangguo's official visit to the country from 8-10 November. China suggested that the two countries to work closer to maintain high-level exchange, cement substantial cooperation and strengthen the coordination on world affairs to safeguard the interests of the two and the other developing countries.

Reporters Without Borders condemns a violent attack on leading journalist Amare Aregawi on 31 October in Addis Ababa, in which he sustained serious head injuries. Aregawi edits The Reporter, a big-circulation newspaper published in Amharic and English-language versions.

The World Bank, acting as administrator for the Global Partnership on Output-Based Aid (GPOBA), has signed a grant agreement for US$8 million with the Ethiopian Electric Power Corporation (EEPCo) to support increased access to electricity in rural towns and villages with grid access, within the context of the Universal Electricity Access Program (UEAP) in Ethiopia.

The law has been twice revised since May 2008 but it has become more repressive each time. It is before the rubber stamp parliament and it will for sure be adopted as the Meles Zenawi regime has ordered it should be. The Charities and Societies proclamation that will set up the all powerful and arbitrary Charities and Societies Agency is aimed at banning NGOs working on human rights issues in Ethiopia (women's, children's, disabled person's rights, etc...)

Drought-hit Ethiopians are facing a worsening food situation as the cost of maize soars nearly three-fold in some areas of the Horn of Africa country compared to last year, the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) has cautioned. Migration by people from rural to urban areas in search of food is increasing, it noted, and aid agencies have identified critical malnutrition. A rapid assessment team said it found grave water and pasture shortages in some areas.

Ethiopia’s parliament should reject a draft law that would criminalize human rights activity and seriously undermine civil society groups, Human Rights Watch has said. Human Rights Watch called on donor governments to speak out publicly against the bill, which is expected to be introduced in parliament this month.

The number of Ethiopians needing emergency food assistance has jumped to 6.4 million from 4.6 million in June, the aid agency Oxfam said on Friday. Drought and high food prices have both contributed to the worsening crisis in Ethiopia and other parts of the Horn of Africa like Somalia and north Kenya, aid workers say.

With a focus on Ethiopia, this paper identifies and analyses the types, prevalence, major causes and effects of violence against girls in schools. It also aims to assess the availability and effectiveness of policies, rules and regulations and concludes with recommendations on ways to reduce violence against school girls.