Livelihood insecurity among urban households in Ethiopia

This study is based on a survey of households undertaken in the last quarter of 2001 for ILO as part of the project entitled People's Security Survey (PSS). The main objective of PSS was to try to capture people's perceptions and normative values of "livelihood" security. The PSS consists of a research framework developed by ILO focusing on poverty, labor market experience, and access to social protection policies and institutions of representation. The main instrument employed here was an extensive questionnaire originally administered on a sample of 1609 households from both urban and rural areas. For the purposes of the present work, we have removed the rural households in the sample to give the study a wholly urban focus. The present work is thus based on the findings of the survey of 1202 urban households. The towns in which the survey was undertaken were Addis Ababa, Debre Zeit, Mojo and Nazareth. The findings of the study reveal a population that is fearful and anxious about its basic subsistence, which is dependent on low and insecure income, inadequate social services, a shrinking labor market, and which is faced with gloomy prospects. It was evident that the great majority of households are weighed down by livelihood insecurity, with the threat of iv impoverishment and loss of means for basic sustenance hanging over them as a matter of course. The study reveals a great deal ofpessimism on the part of many: pessimism about one's basic security, about employment opportunities, and the chances for self-improvement. Most households are doubtful if there will be economic growth, or if the problem of poverty will be successfully tackled. Respondents were ashed to give their opinion about government programs to reduce poverty on the one hand, and to promote economic growth on the other. Obviously success in reducing poverty and boosting economic growth will have a positive impact on employment and business activity, and respondents were aware that the two issues are closely linked with their own livelihood. A good majority thought that the government's efforts on both counts were unsuccessful: the figures were 64 percent and 59 percent respectively. Only about 28 percent thought the programs were successful

Democratic assistance to post-conflict Ethiopia: impact and limitations

There is a long history of donor relationship with Ethiopia going hack at least to the early 1940s. Since then, the number of bi- and multi-lateral donors providing assistance to the country has grown substantially. At present, the U.S., Japan and the Scandinavian countries are the major bilateral donors, while the World Bank, the EU and agencies in the UN system provide the bulk of the multilateral assistance. The international assistance that was offered to the country with the change of regime may be grouped into three categories: a) development assistance; b) humanitarian assistance; and c) assistance for democratization and good governance. Ethiopia has conducted a number of elections in the post-conflict period, the last one being in 2000. At present, the country is bracing itself for a third round of national elections in 2005. A comparison of election costs for selected African countries with Ethiopia shows that the cost of elections in Ethiopia has been quite low given the country's enormous size and its lack of experience in running democratic elections. Ethiopia has received considerable international electoral assistance since 1991 and such assistance has strengthened the capacity of the National Electoral Board and civil society and human rights organizations in monitoring and supervising elections. Donor assistance has also been provided to political parties to make the electoral process more competitive. However, the impact of such assistance in democratizing the election process has been limited because the ruling party has failed to broaden its political power base and provide a level playing field for all contestants. Human rights and advocacy organizations began to be established for the first time in the country following the fall of the Derg and the change of government. This has meant that the human rights record of the present government has been more systematically monitored and rights violations more extensively compiled than at any time in the past. Donor assistance to human rights has primarily been financial assistance to advocacy organizations on the one hand, and financial support as well as training and technical support to government institutions on the other. Assistance lias been provided for: a) preparatory work for setting up a government human right commission and ombudsman institution; b) reform of legal institutions, and training of law enforcement agencies; c) support to legislative bodies and training of legislators; d) financial support to civil society organizations active in monitoring human rights, human rights protection and advocacy. One of the first acts of the Transitional Government was to enact a press law, which turned out to have a dramatic impact on the country's media. At present, there are a large number of private papers published regularly. However, the free press is faced by a host of problems: structural, economic, and professional. International assistance to the media (both public as well as private) has been limited in scope, and relatively insignificant in terms of its impact. International donors have failed to make a strategic intervention in the media sector and have been limited to low level support with only limited results. Donor assistance to the democratization process in Ethiopia has been comparatively limited. In contrast, donors have invested heavily in the humanitarian and relief effort on the one hand, and in the socioeconomic development sectors on the other. Assistance to both sectors has been growing in the last ten years, and in particular assistance to the humanitarian sector has been increasing markedly in this period. On the other hand, financial support to civil society, especially local human rights and advocacy organizations, has been instrumental in enabling the growth of the voluntary sector in the country. Without such support, civil society would have faced serious difficulties, and its achievements, especially in the areas of human rights monitoring, training and advocacy, would have been more limited. On the other hand, the impact of international assistance on the democratization process in this country has been quite limited. The achievements registered to date in the areas of elections, human rights and press freedom have primarily been a product of local initiative, local organizations, and struggles by stakeholders

Legalising land rights : local practices, state responses and tenure security in Africa, Asia and Latin America

Miljoenen mensen wonen en werken op land waarop zij geen officiC+le rechten hebben. Hun bezit wordt vaak wel beschermd door niet-statelijke rechten die wortelen in lokale gemeenschappen. Ontwikkelingsdeskundigen en donoren hebben lange tijd zulke onofficiC+le regelingen als een hinderpaal voor ontwikkeling gezien en gewerkt aan invoering van individueel eigendom en complexe registratie, teneinde investeringen in land, huis en bedrijfje aan te moedigen en de productiviteit te verhogen. Deze aanpak werkt niet en daarom wordt nu gezocht naar een nieuwe, pluralistischer aanpak die probeert lokale regelingen te erkennen en waar nodig te verbeteren. In dit boek worden zulke nieuwe benaderingen onderzocht. Experts uit acht landen in AziC+, Latijns-Amerika en Afrika behandelen eerst de landwetgeving en -politiek van hun land en komen dan met een concrete gevalstudie van zo'n nieuwe aanpak. Steeds is de vraag wat zo'n nieuwe statelijke aanpak van landrechten betekent in het dagelijkse leven van kleine boeren (ruraal), van bewoners van onofficiC+le stedelijke wijken (urbaan) en van mensen die onder de rook van de stad wonen en werken (peri-urbaan). Hoe zeker voelen zij zich nu van hun rechten (tenure security), kennen ze de nieuwe regeling en kunnen ze zich er effectief op beroepen (legal empowerment), werken de overheidsinstanties controleerbaar (control of bureaucrats)? Millions of people live and work on land that they do not legally own in accordance with enforceable state law. The absence of state recognition for local property rights affects people's tenure security and impedes development. Efforts to legalise extra-legal land tenure have traditionally emphasised individual titling and registration. Disappointment with such approaches have led to a search for 'a third way' in land tenure regulation that will reconcile state perspectives with local land rights. This book contributes to the quest for a new pluralistic approach. It combines the description of land tenure regimes in Africa, Latin America and Asia with an analysis of designs, objectives, and actual implementation of specific legalisation programmes. This allows for conclusions on the relationship between various kinds of legalisations and tenure security and the challenges to improve the design and implementation of legalisation programmes9789048506699 (eisbn

Ethiopia : social and political issues

The complete book of eleven chapters is presented in four sections, respectively covering issues related to governance, health, gender and land. This document encompasses Chapters 1 and 2, which contextualize issues through provision of background history and politics of Ethiopia (Chapter1); and ethnicity, language and education (Chapter2)

Famine and survival strategies : a case study from northeast Ethiopia

This study importantly changes the focus to what happens before a famine comes, and how the peasants prepare for it. Paradoxically, the author concludes that it is in the years of recovery that the seeds of famine are sown. The study revolves around a case study in the awraja (district) in the Ambassel Wollo province in northeastern Ethiopia. The author also critically examines other literature on famine response.Contents: Section I: INTRODUCTION – 1. Objectives of the study – Organization of the study – Section II: Famine: behind the mountains – 3. Wollo and Ambassel: the setting – 4. The economy of Wollo – 5. The peasant mode of production – 6. Famine in Wollo -- Section III: SURVIVAL: COMMUNITY AND COOPERATION -- 7. The Community in Distress -- 8. Survival Strategies -- 9. Post Famine Recovery -- Section IV: BEYOND SURVIVAL -- 10. Neither Feast nor Famine </p

Agrarian reform in Ethiopia

This book is the first full-length study of the land reform and the resultant social changes in rural Ethiopia.Contents: 1. Introduction -- 2. The agrarian system under the old -- 3. The land -- 4. Peasants and peasant associations -- 5. Peasants and agrarian reform -- 6. Select bibliography</p