The poor are poorer. The generals are in charge. The Church is left to pick up the pieces.
Cardinal Berhaneyesus Souraphiel, president of the Ethiopian Conference of Catholic Bishops, is urging the world to help through the Church鱿鱼视频app Global Solidarity Fund.
鈥淚t is a very noble idea,鈥� Jesuit Refugee Service-Ethiopia country director Solomon Brahane told The Catholic Register in an email. 鈥淪howing solidarity for the war-affected people by mobilizing resources and funding humanitarian and development works is a good idea.鈥�
The Global Solidarity Fund has been raising money to address a variety of social needs since 2019. But it has recently been heavily promoted by Addis Ababa鱿鱼视频app Souraphiel as a way of healing the wounds of war. The cardinal wants humanitarian aid to support 鈥渢rue justice and also forgiveness among the people,鈥� Souraphiel told the La Croix International Catholic news website.
鈥淭he adverse effects of the war have been impacting millions in the country,鈥� said Souraphiel.
The Global Solidarity Fund is focused on longer-term solutions, hoping to bolster 430 Catholic schools run by diocesan clergy and religious congregations, and the new Ethiopian Catholic Higher Learning Institute 鈥� ECUSTA 鈥� on the outskirts of Addis Ababa.
Freedom House classifies Ethiopia as 鈥渘ot free鈥� with a Freedom Index score of 21. The war between the federal government in Addis Ababa and the Tigrayan People鱿鱼视频app Liberation Front in the north of the country killed approximately 600,000 Ethiopians, displaced millions and generated a stream of credible accounts of human rights abuses.
At the same time, the country is host to over one million refugees, including 400,000 from Sudan and 600,000 from Somalia, Eritrea, Yemen and Syria. Following a peace agreement signed in South Africa in November, tens of thousands of war-displaced Ethiopians are now returning from the Gulf Arab countries.
The United Nations Office for the Co-ordination of Humanitarian Affairs has identified over 20 million Ethiopians who need food aid now and another 4.4 million who need other kinds of assistance.
Getting aid and services to the people lays the groundwork for freedom, even if churches and their institutions are not political actors, said Argaw Fantu. Catholic Near East Welfare Association regional director in Ethiopia.
鈥淭he Church, whether the state is democratic or not democratic, but under whatever conditions that would allow us to serve the needs of the local people, the Church is always there,鈥� Fantu said on a WhatsApp call from Addis Ababa. 鈥淪o long as the state allows the Church to freely serve the needs of the local people.鈥�
CNEWA is not part of the Global Solidarity Fund, but has continued its work supporting Church-run schools and health clinics throughout the war.
鈥淭he language of the Church is 鈥榬especting the human dignity of the person.鈥� In that sense, what the Church is trying to do is basically to help the integral growth of the human person,鈥� Fantu said.
Money coming into CNEWA-Ethiopia from Canada and other donor countries 鈥渋s not enough to renovate or to replace those damaged facilities of the Church,鈥� Fantu said. On the other hand, the Ethiopian government and regional players are not interfering in CNEWA鱿鱼视频app work.
鈥淭he Church has the freedom to serve wherever the needs are. In this regard, there is no restriction from the government side,鈥� Fantu said.
Finding enough money to fix Ethiopia isn鈥檛 just a problem for the Church. The United Nations has appealed to donor nations for $4 billion and so far received $867.5 million, or 22 per cent of what鱿鱼视频app needed.
鈥淲e do want to help Ethiopia, and we have been helping Ethiopia,鈥� said Canadian Jesuits International executive director Jenny Cafiso.
Partnering with the Jesuit Refugee Service, CJI has funded projects to help forcibly displaced women and girls make it through the COVID-19 pandemic, run basic literacy programs for refugees stuck at the Ethiopian-Somali border in Dollo Ado, worked with urban refugees in Addis Ababa and run programs for Tigrayan Ethiopian refugees stranded in Kenya.
鈥淓thiopia indeed needs support to attend to the great need of the displaced population,鈥� said JRS eastern Africa regional director Andre Atsu in an email. 鈥淭he Church, faith-based organizations and the humanitarian actors have been pleading for help to support the needs (health, food, education, etc.) of people. 鈥� Now that the war is over, the urgency to look for funding is even greater.鈥�
Ethiopia is a Christian majority country with over half the population belonging to the Ethiopian Orthodox Church. Less than 10 per cent of Ethiopians are Catholics of either the Roman or the Ge鈥檈z Rite.
Canada鱿鱼视频app Minister of International Development Harjit Sajjan is touring Ethiopia, Egypt and Chad May 21 to 27 to visit Canadian-funded development projects. At the same time the United Nations Office for the Co-ordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UNOCHA) is warning that around seven million Ethiopians are threatened by cholera. The International Organization for Migration is requesting $25 million over the next six months in the face of 100,000 returning Ethiopians and 85,000 refugees expected to enter the country this year.
鈥淭here is peace in the air,鈥� Souraphiel told the Vatican News Service.