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Somaliland President meets with the Emir of Kuwait

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Hargeisa, 20 May 2009 – The Somaliland President, Mr.Dahir Rayale Kahin and his delegation currently visiting Kuwait met with the Emir of Kuwait, Sheikh Nawaf Al-Ahmed Al Jabir Al Sabah this past Tuesday, June 16th, 2009.

According to sources from the Horn of Africa Newspaper, the meeting took place at the offices of the Emir of Kuwait and was attended by the Kuwaiti Foreign Affairs minister, Mr. Mohamed Sabah Al Salem.

President Rayale and his delegation, which includes the Somaliland minister of Education and the presidential staff departed for Kuwait last Sunday at the invitation of the Kuwaiti government from the port city of Berbera.

The Somaliland delegation were also the guest of the Emir of Kuwait at a luncheon held in their honour attended by several prominent members of the Kuwaiti business community, according the Horn of Africa Newspaper sources in Kuwait City.

Qarannews

US Agency for International Development and Western Union Launch African Diaspora Business Program

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Hargeisa, 20 June 2009 – The United States Agency for International Development and Western Union have launched the African Diaspora Marketplace, a business-development program that will support the U.S.-based African diaspora in creating plans for sustainable start-up and established businesses in Sub-Saharan Africa. The program will also provide grant funding to between ten and twenty small and medium businesses with the strongest proposals for boosting economic opportunity and job creation in Sub-Saharan Africa through diaspora-driven development.

The initiative, which includes a research component, is designed to demonstrate the impact that entrepreneurs from the world’s diaspora or migrant communities can have on development in their home countries.

Proposals must be implemented in one of the following Sub-Saharan African countries where USAID has both on-the-ground presence and potential technical assistance programs for entrepreneurs: Angola, Burundi, Ethiopia, Ghana, Kenya, Liberia, Malawi, Mali, Mozambique, Namibia, Nigeria, Rwanda, Senegal, Sierra Leone, South Africa, Tanzania, Uganda, and Zambia. To participate, candidates must be a member (or members) of the Sub-Saharan African diaspora living in the United States as a U.S. citizen or permanent resident, and must have a local partner in the country of implementation.

A selection committee will review initial proposals and identify qualifying applicants who will be requested to submit a comprehensive business plan for evaluation. Program finalists will be provided with guidance and technical assistance in developing their business plans. The grant selection panel will evaluate final business plans and select grant recipients based on criteria that include the business idea and management framework, prospects for sustainability, capacity to leverage diaspora resources, and results orientation.

Grants will range from $50,000 to $100,000 each.

For complete program information, including the full list of eligibility criteria, visit the African Diaspora Marketplace Web site http://www.diasporamarketplace.org

Somalia: Government Calls for Immediate Military Intervention

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Hargeisa, 20 June 2009 – The speaker of the Somali parliament called the neighboring countries for an immediate military intervention within 24 hours to save the government from the Islamist. In a press conference in Mogadishu, Mr. Aden said the government is in a very dangerous situation of not saved from the armed militias.

The speaker called the international community and the neighboring countries to interfere the situation in Somalia and help government fight against the Alqaedah and their allies in the country. He said the Alshabab represent the terrorist in the country and want to make Somalia a base where they can attack other countries in the world.

This is the first call of its kind since the Sharif government was elected in Djibouti last year. The Alshabab militia wages an aggressive attack on the government in the country saying the current government is a puppet for the western countries and Ethiopia. Although the government voted for the Sharia Law to be ruled in Somalia but that did not stop the armed Islamist groups to continue their fighting against the government.

Sources close to IGAD told Somalilandpress the possibility of Kenya and Ethiopia intervention with the logistic and intelligence assistance of America in order to stop Alshabab militia from expanding to the country.

 

Somalilandpress.com

WARYA TV Gave Massive Coverage Of Silanyo’s Visit to Sweden

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The Stockholm based Warya TV gave unprecedented coverage to KULMIYE opposition party leader, Ahmed Mohamed Mohamoud Silanyo’s recent visit to Sweden.
The less than two-year-old Warya TV gave its audience a constant video and audio streaming broadcast from the various events making Silanyo’s two-day visit to Sweden as the most viewed Somali event in the history of cyberspace.

Warya TV website experienced an unprecedented user traffic levels in the first day of the event when Silanyo was being presented a gold medallion, the first of its kind, for his unflinching devotion and undaunted courage as the leader of the Somali National Movement (SNM) guerrillas that waged armed struggle against the military junta of the late Mohammed Siyad Barre, ending Barre’s 21 years of iron-fist rule in Somalia.

Warya TV recorded a phenomenal 180,000 hits in the first day of Silanyo’s visit to Sweden alone, which stands testament to the popularity of the former guerrilla leader among the Somalilanders in the Diasporas.

The pictures and video footages coming from Warya TV from the moment Silanyo set his foot on Stockholm-Arlanda Airport to the moment of his departure awed many who have witnessed the event. After his warm reception in London last month, Silanyo has been just as enthusiastically greeted – by politicians and Somaliland population alike – on his arrival in Sweden.
“Silanyo may have enjoyed a celebrity-like status that no Somali leader had enjoyed since the downfall of the last Somali government but, in fact, it was the Somalilander-Swedes who basked in the glory of a two-day visit by a man who is seen by many as a symbol of the struggle for Somaliland’s freedom,” said Kasim Abdulkadir, Director of Warya TV.

Warya TV also covered the highly publicised 18 May Somaliland Independence Day celebrations in Stockholm, which the Swedish Foreign Minister’s wife, Anna Maria Corazza Bild, and other dignitaries attended. The pictures and videos appeared in the popular Swedish.

Source:Warya

WHO IS FINANCING ERITREA?

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Hargeisa, 19 May 2009 – Some people try to dismiss the accusations of the IGAD, AU, UN, USA, and other organizations or countries against Eritrea’ s distractive role in Somalia, for supplying armaments, training, and other support to Al-Shebab and Tahir Aweys group to dismantle the internationally recognized TFG and AMISOM.

The main argument of these individuals is that Eritrea’s economy is going down the drain, where let alone to finance such forces in Somalia, it cannot even feed its oversized army of perpetual National Service recruits. Eritrea’s currency (the Nakfa) is valued at 40 to $1 and there is hardly anything to export from Eritrea because the government has gone to the extent of confiscating cereals from its peasant population to ration it to its civil servants and the security operatives. These people can be called as naïve or the simpletons who only read what is given to them by some quarters.

To really understand how the Eritrean government operates to get money, one needs to look into its systems that Shaebia has followed and perfected since its inception in 1977. The first principle it follows is to work as a commission agent to earn an income, with no qualms to any principles. This system can be demonstrated by stating only one example which the Eritrean government openly used on DR Congo’s government during the late President Kabila’s time. Eritrea had appointed Ambassador Andebirhan to both Brussels and Kinshasa then for good reason.

Here, one may think there is no logic to such an appointment because Brussels and Kinshasa are worlds apart to be covered by a single ambassador. But, the logic of the Eritrean government at the time was that its army and other cadres, which were in DRC in the name of assisting the Kinshasa government, were assigned to collect diamonds and other precious metals from the black market agents as much as it can and send it direct to Ambassador Andebirhan via diplomatic valise to Brussels to be sold in the Antwerp and Amsterdam markets. This scheme earned the Eritrean government a hefty income which enabled the government finances its invasion of Ethiopia and the Ambassador to pay in cash for the embassy premises in Brussels.

This kind of scheme can only be conceived by the Eritrean government which has no scruples about diplomatic ethic ate. Similarly, as the IGAD Communiqué of 20 May 2009 indicated, the Eritrean government is working as a commission agent for Al-Sheba, Hizbu-al Islam, etc. to provide the necessary training, armaments of all types and their transportation to various airfields in Somalia, fast boats to the pirates, etc.

In addition to this, countries like Qatar, Iraq, Saudi Arabia, Libya, Egypt (each for a different reason), and other movements like Hezbollah transfer their financial and armament support under the cover of Eritrea. The history of the Eritrean government to engage in such dealings can be traced to its relationship with the Darfur and Beja rebels of the Sudan, the Tamil Tigers of Sri Lanka, and other opposition groups in the region which is well documented within the UN reports and specific country/government documents. Last year, the Sri Lankan government was forced to appeal to the UN Security Council to stop Eritrea’s meddling in its internal affairs.

In conclusion, there is nothing that the Eritrean government will not do to earn foreign currency, especially these days. Some of its investments mainly in the Middle East, though not in the name of the State of Eritrea, have been greatly affected by the current financial crisis. Similarly, the 2% forced tax collected from its diasporas as a requirement to visit or even to support their families in Eritrea is drying up due to the strengthening movement and communication by the opposition. Another ill advised source of support is of course the recent financial aid from the European Commission, more than 120 million Euros with no conditionality of the Cotonou Agreement, three times the per capita allocation to Ethiopia (population 80 million) from the same source.

The irony of the EU assistance to Eritrea, in the name of engagement to use Commissioner Luis Michel?s terms, is that it has also pledged to give 60 million Euros to the TFG of Somalia which is being required to secure the whole country first before it is able to access the funds. It looks like the EU is determined to finance both warring sides in Somalia despite its public pronouncements to support the internationally recognized TFG.


By F. Tesfu
WaltaInfo

Somalia minister killed by bomb

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Beledweyne, 18 June 2009 – Somalia’s Security Minister Omar Hashi Aden has been killed in a suicide car bomb attack north of the capital Mogadishu, witnesses and officials say.

Somali diplomats were also reportedly among at least 10 people killed in the blast at a hotel in Beledweyne.

Somali President Sheikh Sharif Sheikh Ahmed blamed al-Shabab, which later claimed the attack. The guerrilla group has been accused of links to al-Qaeda.

On Wednesday, at least 10 people died when a mortar hit a Mogadishu mosque.

In Thursday’s attack, witnesses said a suicide bomber detonated an explosives-laden vehicle at the Medina Hotel in Beledweyne, some 400km (249 miles) north of Mogadishu.

map

Most of the victims were burnt beyond recognition after the explosion, a local medic was quoted as saying by the Associated Press news agency.

Abdulkarim Ibrahim Lakanyo, a former Somali ambassador to Ethiopia, was reportedly among those killed in the blast.

Mr Aden had recently moved to Beledweyne, a town close to the Ethiopian border, in an effort to stop Islamist insurgents gaining more ground in Somalia, the BBC’s Will Ross in Nairobi says.

Somalia has not had an effective national government since 1991 and some four million people – one-third of the population – need food aid, aid agencies say.

Al-Shabab belongs to a force of radical Islamic militants, which has been trying to topple the fragile UN-backed government for three years.

President Ahmed, a moderate Islamist, took office in Somalia in January but even his introduction of Sharia law to the strongly Muslim country has not appeased the guerrillas.

On Wednesday, Mogadishu’s police commander was killed during an attack on insurgent bases.

And the UN refugee agency’s representative to Somalia said the recent bloodletting in the failed Horn of African state was the “worst ever” in nearly two decades of chaos.

Source: BBC news

Somaliland: Electoral Hiccups

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Hargeisa, 18 June 2009 Unlike every other breakaway state in the world Somaliland is more functional than the territory it wants to decouple from. The fact that Somalia is the country it wants shot of makes its case even more compelling because today it is impossible to find a better example of a failed state.

Somaliland’s argument for recognition rests on two pillars: peace and democracy, but both are more fragile than they seem.

Sporadic fighting with its federalist eastern neighbor Puntland, which wants to stay part of Somalia but have a greater degree of freedom, kills soldiers and uproots civilians from time to time.

And in October last year the peace was violently shattered when coordinated suicide bombings here in Hargeisa ripped through the President’s office, Ethiopia’s trade mission and the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) headquarters. Human rights group have criticized the ensuing security clampdown.

But the most pressing worry is for Somaliland’s nascent democracy. Delayed Presidential elections are now due in September, more than a year late, but the pre-election process has been shambolic.

The seven-strong National Election Commission is widely viewed as incompetent, largely for its disastrous handling of the country’s first-ever voter registration exercise. “The voter register was supposed to prevent fraud,” said one exasperated civil society activist, “but the registration itself was fraudulent!”

Double and triple registration resulted in a register so bloated as to be un-useable: in the last Parliamentary election 675,000 people voted, four years on and the NEC has registered a frankly unbelievable 1.3-million throwing the prospect of free and fair elections into doubt.

There are, however, a couple of positive signs. The first is Somalilanders commitment to peace which has become a national characteristic that even a faulty election may not disrupt.

The second is the willingness of politicians to accept results in good grace: last time around the main opposition consented to a defeat by only 80 votes; recently the incumbent President, Dahir Rayale Kahin, told me: “I will run and whether I succeed or not I will accept the result.”

But if there are either dubious elections or further delays Somaliland’s hopes of – and argument for – international recognition will have suffered a major setback as will its reputation as an oasis of stability in a badly run region.


by Tristan McConnell for the Pulitzer Center

Ethiopia – A source country for trafficked people – State Department

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A woman holds the flags of the African Union and Ethiopia during celebrations to mark the Ethiopian New Year Sabir Olad/Wikimedia Commons
A woman holds the flags of the African Union and Ethiopia during celebrations to mark the Ethiopian New Year Sabir Olad/Wikimedia Commons

Washington, 18 June 2009 ) – Ethiopia is a source country for men, women, and children trafficked primarily for the purposes of forced labor and, to a lesser extent, for commercial sexual exploitation. Rural Ethiopian children are trafficked for domestic servitude and, less frequently, for commercial sexual exploitation and forced labor in agriculture, traditional weaving, gold mining, street vending, and begging.

Young women from all parts of Ethiopia are trafficked for domestic servitude, primarily to Lebanon, Saudi Arabia, and the UAE, but also to Bahrain, Djibouti, Sudan, Syria, and Yemen. Djibouti, Egypt, and Somaliland are reportedly the main transit routes for trafficked Ethiopians.

Some women are trafficked into the sex trade after arriving at their destinations. Small numbers of men are trafficked to Saudi Arabia and the Gulf States for low-skilled forced labor. While the number of registered labor migration employment agencies rose from 36 to 90 between 2005 and 2008, the government significantly tightened its implementation of regulations governing these agencies over the same period. This resulted in an increase in trafficked Ethiopians transiting neighboring countries rather than traveling directly to Middle Eastern destinations.

The Government of Ethiopia does not fully comply with the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking; however, it is making significant efforts to do so. While the Ethiopian government’s ongoing efforts to provide pre-departure orientation to Ethiopian migrant workers and partner with a local NGO to detect cases of child trafficking within the country are notable, its limited capacity to prosecute trafficking crimes is a continued cause for concern. Police investigators remain unable to properly distinguish trafficking cases from those of other crimes or to conduct thorough investigations, and the judicial system routinely is unable to track the status of trafficking cases moving through the courts.

Recommendations for Ethiopia: Improve the investigative capacity of police and enhance judicial understanding of trafficking to allow for more prosecutions of trafficking offenders, particularly perpetrators of internal child trafficking; institute trafficking awareness training for diplomats posted overseas; engage Middle Eastern governments on improving protections for Ethiopian workers and developing a mechanism to refer trafficking victims for assistance; partner with local NGOs to increase the level of services available to trafficking victims returning from overseas; and launch a campaign to increase awareness of internal trafficking at the local and regional levels.

Prosecution

While the government sustained its efforts to prosecute and punish international trafficking offenders and initiated investigations of internal child trafficking during the reporting period, prosecution of internal trafficking cases remained nonexistent. In addition, law enforcement entities continued to exhibit an inability to distinguish human trafficking from smuggling, rape, abduction, and unfair labor practices. Articles 596 through 600 and 635 of Ethiopia’s Penal Code prohibit all forms of trafficking for labor and sexual exploitation.

The Federal High Court’s 11th Criminal Bench was established in late 2007 to hear cases of transnational trafficking, as well as any trafficking cases discovered in the jurisdiction of Addis Ababa. In June 2008, the court sentenced a man under Proclamation 104/1998 to 15 years’ imprisonment and fined him $1,357 for illegally sending an Ethiopian woman to Lebanon where she was forced to work as a domestic servant and later thrown from a building by her employer. A second defendant received five years’ imprisonment and a $452 fine for facilitating the same woman’s trafficking for domestic servitude. In 2008, police at Addis Ababa’s central bus terminal received 899 reports of internal child trafficking, an increase over the previous year.

However, unlike prior reporting periods, the unit did not provide statistics on the number of cases referred to the prosecutor’s office in 2008 or the status of cases referred to the prosecutor’s office in the preceding year. Some local police and border control agents are believed to have accepted bribes to overlook trafficking.

Protection

Although the government lacks the resources to provide direct assistance to trafficking victims or to fund NGOs that provide victim care, police employ victim identification and referral procedures in the capital, regularly referring identified internal trafficking victims to NGOs for care. During the year, the Child Protection Units (CPUs) – joint police-NGO identification and referral units operating in each Addis Ababa police station – rescued and referred children to the CPU in the central bus terminal, which is dedicated exclusively to identifying and obtaining care for trafficked children.

In 2008, this unit identified 899 trafficked children, 75 percent of whom were girls. It referred 93 trafficked children to NGO shelters for care and family tracing and reunified 720 children with parents or relatives in Addis Ababa and in outlying regions. Local police and officials in the regional administrations assisted in the return of the children to their home areas.

The Addis Ababa city government’s Social and Civil Affairs Department reunified an additional 46 children with their families in the capital and placed 40 children in foster care in 2008. During the year, police in Dessie Town, Amhara region replicated the CPU’s social programs without international assistance. In July 2008, the government assisted IOM with the repatriation of Ethiopian trafficking victims from Dar es Salaam to their home regions. Ethiopian missions in Jeddah, Riyadh, and Beirut have offices that provide general services to the local Ethiopian community, including limited referrals for labor-related assistance.

The Ethiopian government showed no sign of engaging the governments of these destination countries in an effort to improve protections for Ethiopian workers and obtain protective services for those who are trafficked. The government made no effort to interview returned victims about their experiences in the Middle East.

Returned women rely heavily on the few NGOs that work with adult victims and psychological services provided by the government’s Emmanuel Mental Health Hospital. In 2008, there were no reports of trafficking victims being detained, jailed, or prosecuted for violations of laws, such as those governing immigration.

While police encourage trafficking victims’ participation in investigations and prosecutions, resource constraints prevent police from providing economic incentives to victims. In January 2009, the government passed the Charities and Societies Proclamation, which, among other things, prohibits foreign-funded NGOs from informing victims of their rights under Ethiopian law or advocating on behalf of victims; this proclamation may have a negative impact on Ethiopia’s protection of trafficking victims.

Prevention

Ethiopia’s efforts to prevent international trafficking increased, while measures to heighten awareness of internal trafficking remained limited. In May 2008, after a series of deaths of Ethiopian maids in Lebanon, the government officially banned its citizens from traveling to the country; the ban remains in effect. During the reporting period, the Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs (MOLSA), employing two full-time counselors, provided 18,259 migrating workers with three-hour pre-departure orientation sessions on the risks of labor migration and the conditions in receiving countries.

While these pre-departure preventative measures are commendable, they need to be matched by meaningful victim protection measures provided by the Ethiopian government in the countries to which the workers were destined. In addition, Private Employment Agency Proclamation 104/1998 governs the work of international employment agencies and protects Ethiopian migrant workers from fraudulent recruitment or excessive debt situations that could contribute to forced labor. These statutes prescribe punishments of five to 20 years’ imprisonment, which are sufficiently stringent and exceed those prescribed for other grave crimes, such as rape.

In 2009, an amendment to Proclamation 104/98 outlawing extraneous commission fees and requiring employment agencies to open branch offices in countries to which they send migrant workers was submitted to parliament for review. In January 2008, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs established a Women’s and Children’s Trafficking Controlling Department to collect data from Ethiopian diplomatic missions, NGOs, and police sub-stations on the status of migrant workers. Though this office has not yet issued its first report, in December it hosted an interministerial discussion on child trafficking and labor abuse for mid-level government officials from the Ministries of Labor, Justice, and Women and Children’s Affairs.

During the year, state-controlled Ethiopian Radio aired IOM’s public service announcements in four languages, as well as a program for listeners in Addis Ababa on the risk of trafficking through visa fraud. The Ministry of Education, in partnership with an NGO, revised primary school textbooks to include instruction on child labor and trafficking in the curriculum. Four teachers’ training colleges in Southern Nations Nationalities Peoples’ Regional State incorporated these topics in their teaching materials in 2008.

The government did not undertake efforts to reduce demand for commercial sex acts during the reporting period. Before deploying Ethiopian soldiers on international peacekeeping missions, the government trained them on human rights issues, including human trafficking. Ethiopia has not ratified the 2000 UN TIP Protocol.

Sources: US Department + Nazret

Somaliland: UCID Delegation Jets Off Abroad

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Hargeisa, 17 June 2009 – A high-level of delegation from Somaliland’s second opposition Party Ucid has flown out of Egal International Airport to number of countries including the United Arab Emirates, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, United Kingdom, Canada and the United States.

The delegation was led off by UCID Chairman and presidential candidate, Mr Faisal Ali Warabe and his vice-chairman, professor Mohamed Rashid Sheikh Hassan and Somaliland’s House of Representative’s chairman, Mr Abdulrahman Mohamed Abdullahi (Irro).

The party officials had no immediate comment about their trip.

Finance Minister & Minister of Interior
Finance Minister & Minister of Interior

Currently all the leaders are abroad, President Rayale led a delegation to Kuwait after an official invitation from the Kuwaiti leader – Kulmiye opposition party leader, Mr Ahmed Mohamud Silanyo is also touring a number of Scandinavian countries. Meanwhile the Finance Minister, Mr Hussein Ali Duale led his own delegation to Kenya to hold talks with EU and donor nations, while the Minister of Interior, Mr Abdullahi Ismael Ali flew to Addis Ababa with his own team, he will take part in a conference designed to address piracy challenges in the region.

Stay with Somalilandpress as stories develop…we will keep you posted.

Source: Somalilandpress

Afrikan Unity of Harlem: An Invitation to All Habesha

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Re: June 27, 2009 event at the P.S., 76 Elementary Auditorium
220 W. 121st Street
New York, New York 10027
Registrations start at 1pm
Event 2pm to 7pm

New York City, 17 June 2009 ( – You are called this day to gather in a historical and note praiseworthy meeting to reacquaint Habesha Afrikan families who for so long have missed each other during the recent years of disunity. With the efforts of Afrikan Unity of Harlem, Inc all will have the opportunity to see each other in a neutral and social environment firstly to build the fraternal spirit, then to discuss collective oneness, which will lead to Heart felt HABESHA UNITY!!!

The whole of Afrika detailing unity for the Horn will also be of focus for discussion to highlight ancient history and culture as one people, with noted guest speakers sharing their academic and cultural experiences. For centuries Habesha has fought outside forces that served to divide their families and tradition, and now are seen fighting one another. It is imperative to work toward reconciliation from past abuse that only serves systems whose structure dose not value the people as the higher good.

The over all purpose of the gathering is to reacquaint and bring back family bonds that stood in oneness to build such ancient civilizations that give birth to the whole world in art, religion, language, and human morality. We are confident that the gathering will crash the fake stories about Habesha people being divided based on ethical lines and bring forward a nation of God’s free people focused education, health, economics, history and culture for the benefit of Afrika’s children.

Afrikan Unity of Harlem, Inc (A.U.H.., Inc.) is requesting your participation on this day of June 27, 2009.. As a learned team, we believe that the community would greatly benefit from meeting you and learn your expertise concerning Africa and the unity of Habesha people.

This event will be in two parts. The afternoon session is set-aside for representatives from the Habesha community sharing the commonalities of the people based on history, culture, religion, and developmental efforts centered on unification. The late afternoon/evening period is set aside for celebrations with traditional music and socialization the Addis Café suitably located at 435 West 125th on Amsterdam Avenue, Harlem New York 10027..

You will also have the opportunity to inform the community on your expertise and express how it can strengthen African and Habesha people worldwide.

Please respond so we can announce your presence. Also you are invited to be a guest speaker on our internet web cast radio program which airs live globally, Tuesdays at 2pm EST. If you can or not make it, please send a reply or ask for directions.

“SAVING OUR HOME LAND AND REACQUAINTING OUR FAMILIES!!!”

Afrikan Unity of Harlem, Inc., a not for profit organizational catalyst to spearhead the empowerment and unity of All Afrikan people worldwide is calling all Habesha People (East Afrikan Peoples) in the Diaspora to the, “Saving our Homeland and Reacquainting our Families”, event held June 27 2009 (2001 Ethiopic) from 2 to 7 pm, at P.S, 76 Elementary School Auditorium 220 W. 121st Street New York, New York 10027

For thousands of years Habesha has proven a collective greatness by defeating all areas of colonization and foreign invasion, by God’s own design for Afrikan People to be free. In this new millennia time all must see that posterity needs family bonds to continue in the old faith of one united people moving collectively by the spirit, defeating all powers that be, who try to come in to change an ancient tradition which is the integrity of all.

“Is there hope for Afrika? Yes there is. Our future begins with our present. Africa’s present condition has its origins in Africa’s history. An honest collective acknowledgement of our history helps to encourage Afrikan unity. From history we are able to pinpoint mistakes and injustices that may have resulted in our present conditions,” says Ato Kassayi Hailu, President of Afrikan Unity of Harlem, Inc.

It has been a long time coming, for Habesha people to set down with one another to allow their children to meet and see each other. When we look to history we see that it has been the East Afrikan people who gave to the whole world culture, civilization and moral values that have been established throughout the earth. Our continent, Mother Afrika, is the museum of the world that has given birth to a free people.

Ato Kassayi agrees that, “All Habesha people must work for the integrity of East Afrikan countries. Forget about our personal political interest. Come out of your Ethnic trenches and collaborate with all Habesha for the benefit of all, based on our collective history as one Afrikan People.”

AVENUE:
Re: June 27, 2009 event at the P.S., 76 Elementary Auditorium
220 W. 121st Street
New York, New York 10027
Registrations start at 1pm
Event 2pm to 7pm

Sincerely,

Sister Ivory Ann Black II Woletta Sellassie
Executive Secretary
Afrikan Unity of Harlem, Inc

Office Phone: 212 531-0384 / Fax: 212-531-0382
Mobile: 414-429-2160
Website: afrikanunityofharlem.com
Blogesite: http://360.yahoo.com/african.unity
Radio/TV Program: Tuesdays starting at 2pm Est. watch live at afrikanunityofharlem.com