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Left to Right: EGI Vice President for Operations Leul Yohannes, EGI Director of Marketing Ryan Olivieri, HSBA
Executive Director Denise Jillson, EGI President Samuel M. Gebru, EGI Event Manager Emily Weinstein. (Photo: EGI) |
The Ethiopian Global Initiative (EGI) formally joined the Harvard Square Business Association (HSBA) on Friday, October 21, 2011, in a meeting in Cambridge, MA, United States. Joining HSBA will bring EGI into a 101-year-old network of over 400 local and international organizations, universities, businesses and much more. EGI looks forward to developing relationships with members of HSBA and thanks HSBA's leadership for a warm welcome.
Saturday, July 30, 2011
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Somalis from southern Somalia carry their belongings
as they make their way to a new camp for internally
displaced people in Mogadishu Somalia, Saturday July
30, 2011. (AP / Farah Abdi Warsameh) |
Cambridge, Mass., United States
Roughly 100 million people inhabit the Horn of Africa, consisting of Djibouti, Eritrea, Ethiopia and Somalia. It is a region that is unfortunately known for the seemingly endless problems of wars, droughts, famines and diseases.
The Ethiopian Global Initiative is deeply concerned by the current drought and famine situation plaguing millions of people in the Horn of Africa. We applaud the international community’s efforts to quickly respond to the regional malnutrition and starvation of the people. The effects of famine also include the spread of epidemics and the increase of mortality rates.
It is nothing short of a scandal for humans to suffer from famine in the 21st century. With the technological and economic advancements over the past decades, famines, regardless of location, should be a thing of the past. Food security and healthcare must be placed as a top priority for governments in the Horn of Africa and other developing states.
The vulnerability of pastoralists, who are at the mercy of nature, and poverty are two important causes of drought and famine in the Horn of Africa. We at the Initiative believe that a long-term development strategy is necessary to combat the problems of food security. Emergency aid is indeed useful, but we encourage the Horn of Africa’s governments, intellectuals and diaspora to come together to find long-term solutions that are sustainable and meet the needs of the people.
Some of the poorest of the world’s poor live in the Horn of Africa, and it is not fair or justifiable to them to live at the hand of the international community’s generosity. The Ethiopian Global Initiative reaffirms its commitment to Ethiopia’s transformation, forming a long-term development strategy that focuses on economic prosperity, literacy, improved access to healthcare and the status of children, youth and women.
Samuel M. Gebru
President and Chairman
Leul Yohannes
Director of Operations
Important Information
© 2010 Ethiopian Global Initiative, Inc. Material may be republished with credit to this blog and/or the original author. The views and comments expressed in this blog are not necessarily those of the Ethiopian Global Initiative, Inc.
