Author Archives: advocacy4oromia
World Bank Group Statement on Current Situation in Ethiopia
Multiple conflicts combined with historic drought and other shocks have severely impacted millions of Ethiopians, jeopardizing the economic and social development progress the country has achieved in recent years.
Consistent with our strategy to remain engaged in situations of conflict and fragility and to support greater resilience of Ethiopia’s people, the World Bank Group (WBG) remains committed to continuing its partnership with Ethiopia for the benefit of all Ethiopians. Accordingly, the WBG is supporting Ethiopia to address its citizens’ demands for basic human services such as education, food security, health, clean water, livelihood support, women’s empowerment, and social and environmental protection across the country.
Over the past decade, our support has helped Ethiopia make significant progress in key human development indicators: primary school enrollments have quadrupled, child mortality has been cut in half, and the number of people with access to clean water has more than doubled.
The WBG seeks to ensure that activities it supports are responsive to the needs of all people in Ethiopia. In particular, our Environmental and Social Framework (ESF) is applied to all Bank-financed operations. Among key ESF principles are requirements for nondiscrimination, meaningful consultation, effective public participation, property rights, accountability, transparency, and good governance.
We continue to monitor the situation on the ground across the entire country, and we sincerely hope for stability and a permanent cessation of hostilities in order to facilitate accelerated, inclusive development.
First Tigray, now violence escalates in Oromia
Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed has been under increasing global pressure to negotiate with Tigrayan officials to stop the carnage in the region, says the writer. Picture: Eduardo Soteras/AFP
By Asafa Jalata
In November 2020 an outbreak of violence in Ethiopia’s Tigray region captured worldwide attention. The conflict was between Tigrayan forces and the forces of the Ethiopian government and its allies.
Since then, Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed has been under increasing global pressure to negotiate with Tigrayan officials to stop the carnage in the region. Even before fighting broke out in Tigray, though, the government had established military command posts in Oromia, Ethiopia’s largest state. Oromo people were protesting and calling for self-determination.
In Oromia’s latest wave of violence in June, Al Jazeera, the New York Times and Reuters reported that hundreds of people were killed by the Oromo Liberation Army in Wallaga. These news reports labelled all the victims Amharas, members of Ethiopia’s second-largest ethno-national group. The Oromo are the largest.
As a scholar of Ethiopian politics and society, I’ve researched and written extensively on the Oromo movement and identified the historical forces that have shaped its current politics. My understanding – taking into account the history of oppression of the Oromo in Ethiopia and numerous reports by rights groups of attacks against the community – is that the violence in Oromia is mainly driven by the federal government and its agents.
The Oromo Liberation Army is responding to state terrorism and gross human rights violations. Oromo voices are not represented in the Ethiopian government, the global system or the media. The federal government and its allies, particularly Amhara elites and forces, blame the Oromo movement for the violence.
This is a strategy to delegitimise the Oromo struggle for self-determination. The Oromo consider themselves a nation. They are estimated to make up between 35% and 50% of Ethiopia’s 115 million people. An exact figure is difficult to come by as the government doesn’t provide this data.
Ethiopia has about 80 ethnonational groups. The Amhara make up about 27% of the population. Their language, culture, history and religion have dominated other ethno-national groups. Their warlords and leaders have dominated Ethiopia’s political economy for almost 150 years.
Despite their numbers, the Oromo consider themselves colonial subjects. This is because, like other subjugated ethno-national groups, they have been denied access to their country’s political, economic and cultural resources. Habasha (Amhara-Tigray) warlords colonised Oromia.
The region was then incorporated into Abyssinia (the Ethiopian Empire) in the late 19th century. Menelik II, the Ethiopian emperor, established a form of colonialism that settled Amhara, Tigrayan and other ethnic soldiers in Oromia. Most Oromos were reduced to serfs, providing free labour and tax revenue.
The colonial government claimed about three-quarters of Oromo lands for its officials and soldiers. It granted the remaining quarter to Oromo collaborators. In the 1970s, to oppose political, economic and cultural marginalisation, Oromo nationalists created the Oromo Liberation Front.
Its military wing is the Oromo Liberation Army. They wanted national democracy and self-determination, and participated in the failed revolutions of 1974, 1991 and 2018.
The Ethiopian state has continued to subject the Oromo people to violence and human rights violations. Successive Ethiopian governments have caused deep social, political, cultural and economic crises in Oromo society.
The government and the Oromo Liberation Front have blamed each other for the latest outbreak of violence in Oromia, particularly in Wallaga. A sub-group of the Oromo, the Macha, live in Wallaga. They have been targets of the Ethiopian government and expansionist Amharas, who claim to be the original owners of the region.
During the famine of the 1970s, desperate Tigrayans, Amharas and Oromos from elsewhere settled in Wallaga. Amhara expansionists began to call all these people Amharas to justify their claim to the territory. Prime Minister Ahmed has taken the side of Amhara expansionists.
Ahmed came to power in 2018 mainly because of the Oromo struggle but later turned against the movement. His vision is of a centralised state rather than self-determination for Ethiopia’s different groups.
The state’s ideology of “Ethiopianism” has been used to justify the subordination of the Oromo and other colonised peoples. It has empowered the class that dominates the bureaucracy, army, culture, Orthodox Christianity and Ethiopian colonial-political economy.
The Oromo Liberation Army, which has been outlawed and labelled a terror group, asserts that the government has created a clandestine security structure that masquerades as the Oromo army. It says this structure is responsible for the latest attack and those before it.
Between December 2018 and December 2019, in southern Oromia, government soldiers displaced 80 000 Oromos and detained more than 10000. An Amnesty International report found that state soldiers executed 52 people over this period on suspicion that they supported the Oromo Liberation Army.
The government additionally took incarcerated Oromos through mandatory training for several months. These detainees were trained on the constitution and the history of the Oromo people. These “lessons” were intended to get the detainees to abandon the quest for nationalism.
A July 2022 Human Rights Watch report termed the government’s actions in western Oromia “abusive”. It documented communication shutdowns, executions and arbitrary detentions. The global community must pressure the Ethiopian government to reach peace with the Oromo Liberation Army. However, this will only be successful if a neutral body mediates on behalf of the UN.
Ahmed’s government is willing to negotiate with the Tigrayan defence forces mainly because of the pressure from global powers. However, it refuses to reconcile with the Oromo Liberation Front and is determined to solve a political problem militarily.
Ethiopia cannot be at peace without an independent reconciliation body that solves the Oromo political problem fairly and democratically.
* Jalata is professor of sociology and global and Africana studies at the University of Tennessee.
The article was first published in The Conversation.
Tigray has resisted Ethiopia’s far greater military might for two years – here’s why neither side is giving in
By Asafa Jalata
The Ethio-Tigray war started on 4 November 2020. For almost two years, the governments of Ethiopia and Eritrea – along with Amhara regional forces and militia – have waged war against Tigray’s regional government and society.
Tigray is a tiny ethnonational group that makes up about 6% of Ethiopia’s population of 121 million. Yet, it has been able to hold off well-armed military forces.
As a sociologist who has written extensively on the cultures of nationalism in the region, I have studied the deep and complex roots of this conflict. I believe that understanding its history is key to comprehending how Tigray has developed the resolve to hold off a far greater military might than its own.
Neither the leaders of Ethiopia and Eritrea nor those of Tigray accept the principles of compromise, peaceful coexistence or equal partnership. According to their political cultures, winners take all. It’s zero-sum politics.
The war today
The Ethiopian National Defence Force captured Mekelle, Tigray’s capital city, on 28 November 2020. The Ethiopian army was helped by Eritrean and Amhara military forces.
Abiy Ahmed, Ethiopia’s prime minister, congratulated his army and allied forces for what looked like a quick victory.
However, the Tigrayan Defence Force made a tactical retreat. Its troops moved to rural areas and used guerrilla operations supported by war veterans. This strategy demonstrated Tigray’s effective fighting force, which was first developed in the 1970s.
As a result, eight months after the start of the war, Tigrayan troops returned to their capital. The Ethiopian army retreated from Mekelle and other cities.
Tigrayan troops then invaded the neighbouring Afar and Amhara regions, and almost made it into Finfinnee (Addis Ababa) in November 2021. However, they soon retreated to their region.
Since then, Tigrayan forces have controlled and administered most of Tigray.
The Ethio-Tigray war has been devastating for Tigrayans. They have faced mass killings, military bombardment, rape, looting and the destruction of property. The conflict has denied them access to food, electricity, telecommunications, medicine, banking services and other necessities.
Yet they support the Tigray Defence Force. To understand why requires a deeper reading of Ethiopia’s history.
A complex history
Two Amhara emperors and one Tigrayan emperor laid the foundation of the modern imperial state of Ethiopia. The first emperor of Abyssinia/Ethiopia was Tewodros (1855-1868). He was followed by Yohannes IV (1872-1889) of Tigray and then Menelik II (1889-1913).
Under Menelik II, the Amhara state elite replaced Tigray’s leaders. They made Tigrayan society a junior partner in building the Ethiopian empire.
But Tigrayan nationalists believe their society was the foundation of the Ethiopian state.
Read more: Ethiopia’s war in Tigray risks wiping out centuries of the world’s history
In the last decades of the 1800s, the Ethiopian empire expanded from its northern core of Tigray and Amhara by colonising the Oromo and other ethnonational groups.
It established slavery, the nafxanya-gabbar system (semi-slavery) and the colonial land-holding system by taking the land of conquered people.
The nafxanya (gun-carrying settlers) elite – led by the Amhara – dislodged the Tigrayan elite from Ethiopian state power. Tigray was pushed to the periphery of an Amhara-dominated society. This created political rivalry between the two groups.
The status and living conditions of the Tigrayan elite and people deteriorated. This, along with several wars in the region, aggravated political, economic and social problems.
Accumulated grievances and many forms of resistance produced the Tigray People’s Liberation Front in 1975. It aimed to liberate Tigrayans from Amhara-led governments. This helped develop Tigrayan nationalism.
Tigray’s two nationalisms
Tigrayans maintain two forms of nationalism.
The first promotes Tigrayan autonomy, self-reliance and development.
The second is Tigrayan Ethiopianism. This theoretically maintains Ethiopia’s current geopolitical boundary, with its decentralised political structures where different population groups have some autonomy.
After building military power in the 1980s, Tigrayan elite dominated other ethnonational groups, particularly the Oromo, the empire’s largest ethnonational group.
Between 1991 and 2018, the Tigrayan elite controlled state power and the political economy. The Tigrayan elite created a pseudo-democracy. The Tigray People’s Liberation Front was the mover and shaker of the Ethiopian state.
The Oromo expressed their collective grievances with this political arrangement through the struggles of the Oromo Liberation Front. The Qeerroo/Qarree (Oromo youth) movement got involved between 2014 and 2018. This eventually dislodged Tigrayan leadership from Ethiopian central power in 2018.
Abiy was a member of the Oromo People’s Democratic Organisation, a subsidiary political party of the Tigray People’s Liberation Front. The Tigrayan Front, alongside its allied organisations, elected Abiy as Ethiopia’s prime minister in April 2018. He later turned on his support base.
Once he came to power, Abiy and his allies believed they wouldn’t stay in control if they did not destroy Tigrayan and Oromo nationalists. These were symbolised by the Tigray People’s Liberation Front, the Oromo Liberation Front and the Oromo youth movement.
Zero-sum politics
Tigrayan and Amhara elites express and practice Ethiopianism differently.
The Amhara elite dominated Ethiopia from 1889 to 1991. The Tigray People’s Liberation Front overthrew them in 1991.
The wealth and experience Tigrayan elite accumulated over nearly three decades increased their national organisational capacity. This has helped them in the current war.
The Oromo have rejected the dominance and tyranny of both these groups. They have carried out their liberation struggle.
Abiy and his Amhara collaborators are fighting Tigrayans, Oromos and others to control Ethiopian state power. Their winning the war in Tigray and Oromia would allow the Abiy regime to continue a modified version of Ethiopia’s pre-1991 policy.
For Tigrayans, losing this battle would be equivalent to losing political power and returning to victimisation, poverty and the threat of annihilation.
Uncertain future
Given their complicated political history, reconciling the central government and the Tigrayan regional government is challenging. Even if these two groups negotiate a peace deal, conflict will continue if the Oromo are left out of the process.
If Tigray and Oromia’s political problems aren’t correctly understood and resolved, conflicts will continue until the collapse of the Ethiopian state.
This language was banned in Ethiopia just 30 years ago. Now, it’s being taught at Stanford
Oct. 20, 2022, 11:30 p.m.
Afan Oromo, a native language of Ethiopia, is being taught at Stanford for the first time this fall as a part of the Stanford Language Center’s African and Middle Eastern Languages Program (AMELANG) offerings.
Ethiopian emperor Haile Selassie banned Afan Oromo from being spoken, taught, or administratively used in the country in order to subdue the Oromo people and culture in 1941. After the ban was lifted in 1991, a push to give new life to the language began in and beyond Oromia and Ethiopia, led by native-born and diaspora Oromians, as well as non-Oromians. This push has now reached Stanford’s campus.
Among Stanford’s sizable East African student population, Saron Samuel ’25 along with Eban Ebssa ’25 told The Daily they sought to connect more with their heritage and put in a special language request last winter to get Afan Oromo added as a class. While their request was initially denied, they were told if they got at least one more interested student, the class might get funding. The special languages petition allows students to work with the university to add courses on less popularly taught languages.
Samuel sprang to action: “I sent the form in multiple group chats, reached out to people I knew would be interested in taking the class and posted on social media,” she said.
When the two had three more students commit to the class, the AMELANG Program expedited funding and hired a new lecturer, Afan Oromo teacher Belay Biratu, during the summer.
The University was able to add the course after a generous contribution from the Center for African Studies and in response to student requests, according to Coordinator of Stanford’s AMELANG Program, Khalil Barhoum. Afan Oromo is offered in a three-course sequence this year and will be the third Ethiopian language to be taught at Stanford, along with Amharic and Tigrinya.
Biratu told The Daily that he first learned the language secretly in the ’80s. He and other interested learners would meet in secret to explore the language. Although he was eventually caught teaching it to younger students and was punished severely for his actions, Biratu said he believes it was worthwhile, because he now gets to continue to teach the language and culture to those who seek it.
“In general, my view on teaching Afan Oromo is about doing justice to the culture. It is not against anyone, or any group. It is about doing justice to the people who are using this language as their mother tongue,” he said. “It is my passion and honest conviction that teaching language is doing justice to human culture.”
Biratu began this quarter’s class with an introduction of the sounds in Afan Oromo. Unlike English, Afan Oromo is a phonetic language and pronunciation is integral to its mastery, he said. He continues by teaching vocabulary, grammar and other foundational blocks of language-learning.
Biratu and his students consider themselves to be “pioneers who are paving the way at Stanford” for a greater appreciation and utilization of Afan Oromo.
Hawi Abraham ’24 said she has been petitioning the Languages Department to add Oromo since her freshman year, but the petition was never successful until now. Like Samuel and other students, she sought to learn the language to connect with her heritage and her family.
“My grandma only speaks Oromo, and not knowing the language was blocking me from this connection with her in many ways,” she said.
Abraham said she was never able to learn the language because of the lack of resources. She recalled a time when her Bay Area community tried to mount an effort to offer a course in the language, but there were no teachers or materials available.
“That’s why when I got into Stanford I knew this was one of my only chances to finally learn,” Abraham said.
Abraham said that due to the language’s half-a-century ban, there’s a palpable sense of enthusiasm and pride, as well as triumph, in the classroom. “Every time I walk into class, there’s a genuine excitement in the air to get it right and make our communities proud,” she said. “My parents never got the chance to learn Oromo in school, so every time I walk into class, I am so grateful for the opportunity that I am given, that many were not afforded.”
“Every time I learn something new, I call my family and share it with them,” she added. “I want to show them that the youth are not giving up on their culture, we’re fighting for it.”
“I am now learning Oromo and Amharic, and hopefully Tigrinya in the future,” Samuel said.
Today, the language is widely recognized, as the most spoken language in Ethiopia and the third most spoken language in Africa, and it is the lingua franca of the Oromo region. Because the ban ended only three decades ago, Ethiopian universities and institutions are now working to standardize and teach the language. Biratu hopes Stanford will join the effort.
Feyera Hirpa, a native Oromian and current chairman in the Northern California Oromo Community, said he is excited about the addition of the new class at Stanford.
“The community is just so proud because Afan Oromo is now being taught at Stanford, one of the world’s best universities,” Hirpa said. “I hope, and share this hope with many members of the community, that this is the beginning of something large.”
Biratu shared similar sentiments: “When this kind of thing happens, the Ethiopian community is so happy, it has been a dream come true,” he said. “We are just so happy for Stanford.”
DHS Designates Ethiopia for Temporary Protected Status for 18 Months
Release Date: October 21, 2022
WASHINGTON – Today, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) announced the designation of Ethiopia for Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for 18 months. Only individuals who are already residing in the United States as of October 20, 2022 will be eligible for TPS.
“The United States recognizes the ongoing armed conflict and the extraordinary and temporary conditions engulfing Ethiopia, and DHS is committed to providing temporary protection to those in need,” said Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro N. Mayorkas. “Ethiopian nationals currently residing in the U.S. who cannot safely return due to conflict-related violence and a humanitarian crisis involving severe food shortages, flooding, drought, and displacement, will be able to remain and work in the United States until conditions in their home country improve.”
A country may be designated for TPS when conditions in the country fall into one or more of the three statutory bases for designation: ongoing armed conflict, environmental disaster, or extraordinary and temporary conditions. This designation is based on both ongoing armed conflict and extraordinary and temporary conditions in Ethiopia that prevent Ethiopian nationals, and those of no nationality who last habitually resided in Ethiopia, from returning to Ethiopia safely. Due to the armed conflict, civilians are at risk of conflict-related violence, including attacks, killings, rape, and other forms of gender-based violence; ethnicity-based detentions; and human rights violations and abuses. Extraordinary and temporary conditions that further prevent nationals from returning in safety include a humanitarian crisis involving severe food insecurity, flooding, drought, large-scale displacement, and the impact of disease outbreaks.
This will be Ethiopia’s first designation for TPS. Individuals eligible for TPS under this designation must have continuously resided in the United States since October 20, 2022. Individuals who attempt to travel to the United States after October 20, 2022 will not be eligible for TPS under this designation. Ethiopia’s 18-month designation will go into effect on the publication date of the forthcoming Federal Register notice. The Federal Register notice will provide instructions for applying for TPS and an Employment Authorization Document (EAD). TPS applicants must meet all eligibility requirements and undergo security and background checks.
Source: https://www.dhs.gov/news/2022/10/21/dhs-designates-ethiopia-temporary-protected-status-18-months
Oromos celebrate Irreechaa thanksgiving festival
(A4O, 2 October 2022), Thousands of Oromo people, Ethiopia’s largest ethnic group, came together in the capital on Saturday to mark the thanksgiving festival of Irreechaa; marking the end of the rainy season.
As well as traditional celebrations, including dipping flowers in water, the participants appealed for peace.
Violence has increased in the Oromia region due to long-standing complaints about a lack of political representation in Ethiopia’s federal government.
Armed militants and government forces are fighting in several locations in the region
College student, Hanan Dawud, said: “Justice should be served for those whose blood is spilt on the street and burned with their house.
“Our people should not suffer like this. Our farmers couldn’t send their children to school and farm their fields. We have to work together to solve this.”
University student, Latera Reta, added: “Currently, there is vast repression on the Oromo people. However, the Oromo people are not surrendering to it. We are overcoming oppression and securing freedom.”
Prime Minister, Abiy Ahmed said Irreechaa was a festival celebrated by all nations, nationalities and peoples of Ethiopia.
The Premier further urged Ethiopians to praise God for enabling them to overcome both manmade and natural challenges posed by enemies of the nation and welcome the brighter spring season.
He said the celebration promoted peace and love.
Irreechaa Festival Celebration Kicks Off At Hora Finfinnee
(A4O, October 1, 2022) – The Irreechaa Festival, the thanksgiving festival among the Oromo people has kicked off at Hora Finfinnee in the presence of thousands attendants, Aba Gadas, Haadha Siinqees, and guest from various countries.
Thousands from across the nation clad in colorful attires and costumes have gathered at Hora Finfinnee, God for the bounty of nature and the brighter spring season.
People in groups have flocked to Hora Finfinnee chanting songs, brandishing clubs painted in the Aba Gada tricolor of black, red and white.
Elders are calling Gada chant blessings in melodious intervals to the Almighty God while celebrants responding in a ritualistic manner.
Ethiopian Oromo’s quest for self-determination
By Bernard Muhia
19th Sept, 2022, Nairobi, Kenya.
No one is free until everyone is free! This statement by Fannie Lou Hamer, filled the air this past weekend at a bookshop in the heart of Lavington, Nairobi. Hamer, an African-American woman who pushed for the civil rights movement in the 1960s led in community organizing to get black people in America to register as voters despite police harassment and death threats from the Ku Klux Klan (KKK).
In an almost similar scene, a female storyteller from Ethiopia was doing the same last weekend. Soreti organized a solidarity session for her Oromo people from the south of Ethiopia. The session was set at a bookshop/ bookclub cafe where books were in shelves on the walls and this was very symbolic because the session was meant to be an exchange of knowledge, information and ideas. The Oromo word for book is “Kitaaba” which has Arabic influence and close to “Kitabu” which is book in Swahili, another language with Arabic influence. The Oromo are 60% Muslim and 40% Christian. Then there is a small population that practice Waaqeffannaa, the traditional Oromo religion.
Soreti spent over six hours moderating a very engaged audience made up of Kenyans and Ethiopians. Her sheer presence and eloquence inspired a deep exchange of ideas and information about the various conflicts in Ethiopia and specifically for the Oromo people. There are also Oromo people in Northern Kenya. The Ethiopian Oromo extend all the way to Addis Ababa. The name Addis Ababa means ‘new flower’ and was given by Empress Taytu Betul, wife to Emperor Menelik II during his reign. The Oromo call Addis Ababa “Finfinne”.
Emperor Menelik II, also known as Sahle Maryam was Emperor of Ethiopia from 1889 to 1913 when he died. Previously, he was the King of Shewa from 1866 to 1889. He amassed great power and was highly regarded outside of Ethiopia largely due to his defeat of the Italian invaders at the battle of Adwa. He continued to expand his empire through peaceful negotiations with neighbouring kingdoms and where that wasn’t possible, he exerted crushing military takeovers where the resisters were tortured, maimed and/or starved to death. This territorial expansion facilitated the creation of the modern empire-state of Ethiopia in 1898. Menelik expanded his empire-state to the south and east, into Oromo, Kaffa, Sidama, Wolayta and other kingdoms or peoples.
The Oromo still view the Ethiopian state as an extension and expansion of the Menelik empire. We say Ethiopia wasn’t colonized but the Oromo say they were colonized by Menelik II and have never been decolonized, that they are still being colonized even now, through the state.
Despite the seat of the African Union Commission being in Addis Ababa, there is so much oppression and state violence against almost all ethnic people all over Ethiopia including the Oromo and Tigray to say the least. It had gotten so bad that according to Soreti, speaking their native Afaan Oromo language was not permissible from 1941 under the Haile Selassie rule up until 1991 when the DERG fell. Their culture was considered inferior to those of other communities. Their community faces discrimination and underdevelopment despite being rich in resources. The resources are merely taken out of Oromia and used to develop other regions and very little is invested back. This is despite the fact that the Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed is from the Oromo community. His coming to power was meant to soothe unrest and the grievances of the minorities.
However, some view him as a puppet for the state. He was awarded the 2019 Nobel Peace Prize for his efforts at ending the 20-year post-war territorial stalemate between Ethiopia and Eritrea. He has since enlisted Eritrea in his onslaught of the Tigray region which borders Eritrea. Eritrea was once a province of Ethiopia but managed to gain independence and self-rule.
The Oromo desire for self-determination and justice. Justice in the Oromo language is “Haqaa” which is close to Haki which is Swahili for Justice. Haqaa, according to the crowd present on the day, means deciding their own fate, deciding how their resources are used and being free to express themselves in their language, their culture and their political aspirations.
Soreti talked about Pan-Africanism and the need for Africans to band together to fight injustice everywhere on the continent. She walks in the footsteps of other great Pan-Africanist women like Jeanne Martin Cissé from Guinea who was instrumental in the independence of Guinea. She went on to become the first African president of the United Nations Security Council in 1972. She lobbied for and passed two resolutions, one condemning Apartheid in South Africa and the second one condemning Israel’s aggression against Palestine.
The second Pan-Africanist woman that Soreti walks in the footsteps of is Funmilayo Ransome-Kuti (FRK) who was a Nigerian activist. She was the first woman to be in a high ranking position at the National Council of Nigeria and the Cameroons. She was also the first woman in Nigeria to drive a car. Funmilayo’s son, Fela Kuti, grew up to be a very popular musician and created Afrobeat, a political musical genre that was very Pan-Africanist. His mother influenced his music a great deal.
Women are often casualties of war, however women’s involvement in war has, according to Soreti, given them a greater chance at advancement and promotion on the basis of merit more than anywhere else in Ethiopian society. Women in Ethiopia still face many inequalities. The United Nations says that women’s participation at the political level has resulted in greater responsiveness to citizen’s needs, often increasing cooperation across party and ethnic lines and delivering more sustainable peace. At the local level, women’s inclusion at the leadership level has led to improved outcomes of projects and policies. On the contrary, if policies or projects are implemented without women’s meaningful participation it can increase existing inequalities and decrease effectiveness. Soreti has risen from being a mere storyteller to a political activist and a force to be reckoned with.
Members of the Mathare Social Justice Center who were present had a feminist chant in support of women which goes like this “Women on the frontline, organize, educate, liberate and celebrate. They also advocated for Oromo women to join both the political and military wings of the struggle.
As a first hand immersion into the Oromo culture, the crowd was treated to Ethiopian cuisine. The main dish which looked like pancakes was a flat bread called Budena. It was the colour of porridge (sorghum) and was served with stew known as Shiro.
There were Oromo present who didn’t speak English and thus the session was translated to Afaan Oromo. It was a cultural exchange that left everyone feeling more connected. It opened the eyes of the Kenyans in the room to the plight of Ethiopians.
Irreechaa 2022
The Melbourne Irreechaa organsiing Committee has announced that it will be celebrating this year’s Irreecha Birraa on October 2, 2022 at Wilson Botanic Park Berwick (668 Princes Highway, Berwick, Vic 3806).
The Committee also called on the Oromo community in Melbourne, Australia to celebrate the Oromo Thanksgiving event in a warm and beautiful manner.
Irreechaa Celebration to be Held in Melbourne, Australia
By Maatii Sabaa
(Melbourne, Irreechaa, August 30, 2022)-The Oromia Irreechaa Organising Committee in Victoria is preparing to celebrate Irreechaa in Melbourne on 2nd October.
Head of the Committee, Ob Abdeta Homa said the celebration is to strengthen and promote Oromo culture, particularly the Irreechaa celebration in Melbourne.
Advocacy for Oromia 