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Spotlight: Yohannes Sisters From Ethiopia Showcase During NY Fashion Week

Published by Tadias Magazine September 8th, 2017 in Featured. Closed

(Courtesy of The Yohannes Sister's Couture)

Tadias Magazine
By Tadias Staff

September 8th, 2017

New York (TADIAS) – It’s fashion week in New York City and the Yohannes Sisters are here from Ethiopia to showcase their emerging brand this weekend at PLITZS New York City Fashion Week that will be held at Hotel Pennsylvania on Saturday, September 9th.

With designs labeled as Lioness Arising and Enat the talented siblings, Lily and Zeze Yohannes, who are based in Addis Ababa combine traditional Ethiopian design and fabric with Western aesthetics to create their own original style. As the fashion website Style Cartel points out: “by threading love into every nook and cranny, their designs are nothing less than majestic, empowering, and personally yours.”

(Photo: PLITZS New York City Fashion Week)

The Yohannes Sisters in New York. (Photo: Instagram)

The Lioness Arising collection symbolizes the “Ethiopian woman that broke barriers and was confident to be herself,” Lily Yohannes told Style Cartel during the 2014 Hub of Africa Fashion Week. “And the second [collection] is called “Enat” which means “mother” in Amharic, and we were honoring moms. I know moms are special, but Ethiopian moms specifically have been through so much. So this was our way of honoring them. That’s why we were basically using traditional materials to represent the Ethiopian woman.”

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If You Go:
PLITZS New York City Fashion Week
Hotel Venue – New York’s Hotel Pennsylvania
Sat, September 9, 2017
7:00 PM
401 Seventh Avenue & 33rd Street
18th Floor Grand Ballroom
New York, NY
Click here for more info

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17 Artists Cancel New Year Concerts

Published by Tadias Magazine September 8th, 2016 in Podcast. Closed

At least 17 singers have cancelled New Year concerts due to the ongoing protests. (Photo: BBC News)

BBC News

Many Ethiopian singers have cancelled their concerts to welcome in Ethiopia’s New Year, which falls this year on 11 September.

Ethiopians will be ushering in 2009 on Sunday as their calendar is more than seven years out of sync with the one used in much of the rest of the world.

But some singers are planning to put a dampener on the celebrations that take place on New Year’s Eve.

They say it would not be good to celebrate when people are mourning those who have died in recent protests.

At least 17 singers have backed out of gigs to be held in various venues in the capital, Addis Ababa, and other cities.

Oromo singer Abush Zeleke was among those who announced their decision on their official Facebook page.

And on Twitter have reacted to the news:

Some Ethiopian musicians who live abroad are following suit.

US-based singer, Abby Lakew, announced she had cancelled all her shows in Dallas, Atlanta, Chicago and Las Vegas:

I do not want to perform on any stage as of right now while my people are dying!!!
I will pray for peace and I believe in one love!!! All people should be treated equally, with the same rights, dignity and human rights.”

There has been an unprecedented wave of protests in Ethiopia in recent months.

Demonstrations began in the Oromia region last November and have spread elsewhere.

And over the weekend at least 23 inmates died in a fire at a prison where anti-government protesters were reportedly being held.

Protesters have been complaining about economic and political marginalization . (Photos: Reuters)

UPDATE: ‘Nearly 100 killed’ in Ethiopia Protests (BBC News)
Several dozen shot dead in weekend protests across Ethiopia (AP)

In Addis Ababa Security Forces Use Tear Gas to Disperse Protests (Reuters)
What is behind Ethiopia’s wave of protests? (BBC News)
Protests in Ethiopia’s Gonder City Signal Uncertain Future (VOA News)
Protest in North Ethiopian Region Signals Rising Discontent (Bloomberg)
Riots in Gonder Claim Casualties (DW Report — Jul 15, 2016)

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Joint Letter to UN Human Rights Council on Ethiopia

Published by Tadias Magazine September 8th, 2016 in Featured and Podcast. Closed

(Photo credit: Civicus.org)

HRW

Geneva, 8 September 2016

To Permanent Representatives of
Members and Observer States of the
UN Human Rights Council

RE: Addressing the escalating human rights crisis in Ethiopia

Your Excellency,

The undersigned civil society organisations write to draw your attention to grave violations of human rights in Ethiopia, including the recent crackdown on largely peaceful protests in the Oromia and Amhara regions.

As the UN Human Rights Council prepares to convene for its 33rd session between 13 – 30 September 2016, we urge your delegation to prioritise and address through joint and individual statements the escalating human rights crisis in Ethiopia.

An escalating human rights crisis in Oromia and Amhara Regions

The situation in Ethiopia has become increasingly unstable since security forces repeatedly fired upon protests in the Amhara and Oromia regions in August 2016. On 6 and 7 August alone, Amnesty International reported at least 100 killings and scores of arrests during protests that took place across multiple towns in both regions. Protesters had taken to the streets throughout the Amhara and Oromia regions to express discontent over the ruling party’s dominance in government affairs, the lack of rule of law, and grave human rights violations for which there has been no accountability.

Protests in the Amhara region began peacefully in Gondar a month ago and spread to other towns in the region. A protest in Bahir Dar, the region’s capital, on 7 August turned violent when security forces shot and killed at least 30 people. Recently, on 30 August, stay-at-home strikers took to the streets of Bahir Dar again and were violently dispersed by security forces. According to the Association for Human Rights in Ethiopia (AHRE), in the week of 29 August alone, security forces killed more than 70 protesters and injured many more in cities and towns across Northern Amhara region.

Since November 2015, Ethiopian security forces have routinely used excessive and unnecessary lethal force to disperse and suppress the largely peaceful protests in the Oromia region. The protesters, who originally advocated against the dispossession of land without adequate compensation under the government’s Addis Ababa Integrated Development Master Plan, have been subjected to widespread rights violations. According to international and national human rights groups, at least 500 demonstrators have been killed and hundreds have suffered bullet wounds and beatings by police and military during the protests.

Authorities have also arbitrarily arrested thousands of people throughout Oromia and Amhara during and after protests, including journalists and human rights defenders. Many of those detained are being held without charge and without access to family members or legal representation. Many of those who have been released report torture in detention. The continued use of unlawful force to repress the movement has broadened the grievances of the protesters to human rights and rule of law issues.

The need for international, independent, thorough, impartial and transparent investigations

Following the attacks by security forces on protesters in Oromia earlier this year, five UN Special Procedures issued a joint statement noting that “the sheer number of people killed and arrested suggests that the Government of Ethiopia views the citizens as a hindrance, rather than a partner”, and underlining that “Impunity … only perpetuates distrust, violence and more oppression”.

In response to the recent crackdown, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein, has called for “access for independent observers to the country to assess the human rights situation”. Ethiopia’s government, however, has rejected the call, instead indicating it would launch its own investigation. On 2 September, in a public media statement, the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights reiterated the UN High Commissioner’s call to allow a prompt and impartial investigation led by regional or international human rights bodies into the crackdown.

There are no effective avenues to pursue accountability for abuses given the lack of independence of the judiciary and legislative constraints. During the May 2015 general elections, the ruling EPRDF party won all 547 seats in the Ethiopian Parliament.

Ethiopia’s National Human Rights Commission, which has a mandate to investigate rights violations, has failed to make public its June report on the Oromia protests, while concluding in its oral report to Parliament that the lethal force used by security forces in Oromia was proportionate to the risk they faced from the protesters. The Global Alliance of National Human Rights Institutions has rated the Ethiopian National Human Rights Commission as B, meaning the latter has failed to meet fully the Paris Principles.

The High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs, Federica Mogherini, who met with Ethiopian Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn at the margins of the European Development Days in June 2016, has called on all parties to refrain from the use of force and for a constructive dialogue and engagement to take place without delay. On 28 August, after the EPRDF party’s general assembly, Prime Minister Hailemariam reportedly ordered the country’s military to take any appropriate measures to quell the protests, which he described as illegal and aimed at destabilising the nation. Following a similar call regarding the Oromia protests, security forces intensified the use of excessive force against protesters.

A highly restrictive environment for dialogue

Numerous human rights activists, journalists, opposition political party leaders and supporters have been arbitrarily arrested and detained. Since August 2016, four members of one of Ethiopia’s most prominent human rights organisations, the Human Rights Council (HRCO), were arrested and detained in the Amhara and Oromia regions. HRCO believes these arrests are related to the members’ monitoring and documentation of the crackdown of on-going protests in these regions.

Among those arrested since the protests began and still in detention are Colonel Demeke Zewdu (Member, Wolkait Identity Committee (WIC)), Getachew Ademe (Chairperson, WIC), Atalay Zafe (Member, WIC), Mebratu Getahun (Member, WIC), Alene Shama (Member, WIC), Addisu Serebe (Member, WIC), Bekele Gerba (Deputy Chair, Oromo Federalist Congress (OFC)), Dejene Tufa (Deputy General Secretary, OFC), Getachew Shiferaw (Editor-in-Chief of the online newspaper Negere Ethiopia), Yonathan Teressa (human rights defender) and Fikadu Mirkana (reporter with the state-owned Oromia Radio and TV).  

Prominent human rights experts and groups, including the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, have repeatedly condemned the highly restrictive legal framework in Ethiopia. The deliberate misuse of the Anti-Terrorism Proclamation’s overbroad and vague provisions to target journalists and activists has increased as protests have intensified. The law permits up to four months of pre-trial detention and prescribes long prison sentences for a range of activities protected under international human rights law. Dozens of human rights defenders as well as journalists, bloggers, peaceful demonstrators and opposition party members have been subjected to harassment and politically motivated prosecution under the Anti-Terrorism Proclamation, making Ethiopia one of the leading jailers of journalists in the world.

In addition, domestic civil society organisations are severely hindered by one of the most restrictive NGO laws in the world. Specifically, under the 2009 Charities and Societies Proclamation, the vast majority of Ethiopian organisations have been forced to stop working on human rights and governance issues, a matter of great concern that has been repeatedly raised in international forums including at Ethiopia’s Universal Periodic Review (UPR).

This restrictive and worsening environment underscores the limited avenues available for dialogue and accountability in the country. It is essential that the UN Human Rights Council take a strong position urging the Ethiopian government to immediately allow an international, thorough, independent, transparent and impartial investigation into alleged human rights abuses committed in the context of the government’s response to the largely peaceful protests.

As a member – and Vice-President – of the Human Rights Council, Ethiopia has an obligation to “uphold the highest standards” of human rights, and “fully cooperate” with the Council and its mechanisms (GA Resolution 60/251, OP 9). Yet for the past ten years, it has consistently failed to accept country visit requests by numerous Special Procedures.

During the upcoming 33rd session of the Human Rights Council, we urge your delegation to make joint and individual statements reinforcing and building upon the expressions of concern by the High Commissioner, UN Special Procedures, and others.

Specifically, the undersigned organisations request your delegation to urge Ethiopia to:

1. immediately cease the use of excessive and unnecessary lethal force by security forces against protesters in Oromia and Amhara regions and elsewhere in Ethiopia;

2. immediately and unconditionally release journalists, human rights defenders, political opposition leaders and members as well as protesters arbitrarily detained during and in the aftermath of the protests;

3. respond favourably to country visit requests by UN Special Procedures;

4. urgently allow access to an international, thorough, independent, impartial and transparent investigation into all of the deaths resulting from alleged excessive use of force by the security forces, and other violations of human rights in the context of the protests;

5. ensure that those responsible for human rights violations are prosecuted in proceedings which comply with international law and standards on fair trials and without resort to the death penalty;

6. and fully comply with its international legal obligations and commitments including under the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights, and its own Constitution.

Amnesty International
Association for Human Rights in Ethiopia
CIVICUS: World Alliance for Citizen Participation
Civil Rights Defenders
DefendDefenders (East and Horn of Africa Human Rights Defenders Project)
Ethiopian Human Rights Project
FIDH (International Federation for Human Rights)
Foundation for Human Rights Initiative
Freedom House
Front Line Defenders
Global Center for the Responsibility to Protect
Human Rights Watch
International Service for Human Rights
Reporters Without Borders
World Organisation Against Torture (OMCT)

Protesters have been complaining about economic and political marginalization . (Photos: Reuters)

UPDATE: ‘Nearly 100 killed’ in Ethiopia Protests (BBC News)
Several dozen shot dead in weekend protests across Ethiopia (AP)

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Obama Chides Wacky Trump for Putin Jibe

Published by Tadias Magazine September 8th, 2016 in Podcast. Closed

President Barack Obama says Donald Trump is "not qualified" to be president. (Photo: EPA)

BBC News

Barack Obama has chided Donald Trump as “wacky” and “uninformed” after the Republican candidate said Russia’s President Putin was a better leader.

Speaking in Laos, Mr Obama said that every time Mr Trump spoke it became clearer that the Republican contender was not qualified to be president.

In a televised forum on Wednesday, Mr Trump had praised Mr Putin’s “great control” and 82% approval rating.

Mr Trump and rival Hillary Clinton had taken questions from military veterans.

Mr Obama said: “I don’t think the guy’s qualified to be president of the United States and every time he speaks, that opinion is confirmed.”

The president pointed to the diplomatic work he had faced at both the Asean summit in Laos and the earlier G20 meeting in China.

He said: “I can tell you from the interactions I have had over the last eight or nine days with foreign leaders that this is serious business.

“You actually have to know what you are talking about and you actually have to have done your homework. When you speak, it should actually reflect thought-out-policy you can implement.”

Mr Trump had told the forum in New York that the Russian president had “been a leader far more than our president has been”.

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Related:
Hillary Clinton Rips Donald Trump for Lauding Vladimir Putin
2016 U.S. Election Cartoonists’ Perspective
Watch: This is What America Looks Like: Tefere Gebre Helps Immigrants to Vote

Tefere Gebre: Don’t tell me I’m not American – The True story of my journey from Ethiopia to the U.S.
Hillary Torches Trump: He is ‘Taking Hate Groups Mainstream’
How Can America Recover From Donald Trump’s Hatred and Paranoia?
What Will the Next US President Mean for Africa?
GOP Flight From Trump Continues

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Ethiopia: Measuring Women’s Rights and Roles

Published by Tadias Magazine September 8th, 2014 in Podcast. Closed

Konga, Ethiopia: Data on gender equality can highlight gaps and help monitor progress. (© Panos/A.)

Insights Magazine

By Sarah McMullan

What inequalities do women face in Ethiopia?

In rural Ethiopia, people say farming is a man’s job. In reality, women play a large role in agriculture from farm to table. Take a drive through the countryside, and you will see women planting, weeding, tending to gardens, and harvesting, among other farm activities. The markets are bustling with women selling produce and small livestock in addition to spices, honey, and shea butter.

Why, given their many contributions to agriculture, are women so often marginalized? To help shed more light on gender inequalities, researchers from IFPRI’s gender team and Research for Ethiopia’s Agriculture Policy (REAP) Program are analyzing national data to compare differences between male- and female-headed agricultural households, reviewing the literature on gender gaps in agriculture, and offering training on collecting sex-disaggregated data. Moving forward, the team will shift from comparing male- and female-headed households to showing other indicators that can lead to deeper analysis and understanding of women’s role in agriculture.

This work, says Seblewongel Deneke, director of the Gender Program at the Ethiopian Agricultural Transformation Agency (ATA), will generate evidence to help design and implement agricultural policies and programs. “Gender equality,” she says, “is recognized as a critical development issue in Ethiopia.”

Slow Progress

Over the past two decades, the Ethiopian government has started to chip away at gender inequality. An overhaul to family law provided stronger rights for women in terms of land ownership, inheritance, and marriage. The government introduced a requirement that land certificates include the name and picture of both the husband and wife. According to Cheryl Doss of Yale University, who serves as the gender team leader of the IFPRI-led research program on Policies, Institutions, and Markets, “When men and women have secure property rights, they experience lower vulnerability and are better able to cope with shocks.”

Girls’ access to education has also improved. In 2000, Ethiopian schools enrolled 71 girls for every 100 boys; by 2007, the number of girls enrolled for every 100 boys had risen to 87. A recent World Bank study found that when women have access to education, the entire household experiences better health, nutrition, and education.

Read more »
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Ethiopian Immigrant to UK Reveals How She Overcame ‘Hostility’ and Stigma

Published by Tadias Magazine September 8th, 2014 in Podcast. Closed

(Image: flickr_lcars)

Mancunian Matters

By Heather McComb & April Curtin

08 Sep 2014

Jalene* is a young migrant from Ethiopia who, when offered a visitor visa to the UK, jumped at the chance to gain a good education in a Western country that would welcome her with open arms.

Or so she thought.

Four years on, Jalene has decided to reveal all to MM about her struggles, as she worked to achieve a dream and battle against the ultimate enemy: the British immigration system.

Set with an ambition to better herself and achieve a higher education at Manchester University, it was this aim which proved to be the first of many obstacles that she faced.

“Pursuing education was severely tough, the main reasons being that I have not been allowed to work and I’m not entitled to any state support except for a few months at the initial stage,” she told MM.

“A partial tuition fee waiver scholarship from the University of Manchester and the incredible support by some charity organisations and friends let me survive and finish my study – I graduated a couple of days ago in a master’s degree.”

In spite of her outstanding achievement, Jalene believes other people in her situation are not so lucky.

“My experience shows that such cases [as hers] are extremely rare, principally due to severe challenges and barriers,” she said.

However, Jalene also said that despite the challenges and stress, being in education helped her ‘to keep optimistic and positive’.

Read more »
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How Ethiopia Solved Its Abortion Problem

Published by Tadias Magazine September 8th, 2014 in Health. Closed

Zebiba waits for her abortion to be completed. (Photo: Heather Horn/GlobalPost

Global Post

By Heather Horn

ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia — Zebiba, 28, sits in her purple headscarf in the small clinic room, the cramping already beginning. She took the tablets early this morning. She is three months pregnant.

By 2 p.m., her abortion should be complete. She will return to her two children, now at school. She is divorcing their father, who has taken a second wife.

Thus far, she has refused pain medications. Her relief at the ease of this termination is palpable. “She was nervous coming here,” says the nurse.

A generation ago, botched abortions were the single biggest contributor to Ethiopia’s sky-high maternal mortality rate. Doctors in the largest public hospital in Addis Ababa, where Zebiba lives, still remember the time when three-quarters of the beds in the maternal ward were reserved purely for complications from such procedures.

Then, in 2005, the country liberalized its abortion law.

Today, it’s hard to find a health provider who’s seen more than one abortion-related death in the past five years. Although access to safe procedures and high quality care could still be expanded, doctors say that, increasingly, those who need an abortion can get one safely.

But this success story has a catch: abortion is still illegal. Only under very limited circumstances is it allowed, and Zebiba’s case does not fall into one of the specified categories.

Many of the women whose lives doctors and NGOs have saved in the past few years have been ushered through a legal loophole — and it’s possible that’s what the government intended all along.

Read more at globalpost.com »
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African Union Meets in Ethiopia For Ebola Crisis Talks

Published by Tadias Magazine September 8th, 2014 in Featured. Closed

African Union commission Chair Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma. (Credit: Standard Media)

Standard Media

Updated Monday, September 8th 2014

African Union chiefs held an emergency meeting Monday to hammer out a continent-wide strategy to deal with the Ebola epidemic, which has killed over 2,000 people in west Africa.

“Fighting Ebola must be done in a manner that doesn’t fuel isolation or lead to the stigmatisation of victims, communities and countries,” AU commission chief Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma, speaking at the opening of the meeting.

Dlamini-Zuma told the executive council of the 54-member body, meeting at the bloc’s headquarters in the Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa, of the urgent need to “craft a united, comprehensive and collective African response” to the outbreak.

The meeting came as hopes rose of a potential vaccine to provide temporary shield against Ebola.

A novel vaccine tested so far only on monkeys provided “completely short-term and partial long-term protection” from the deadly virus, researchers reported in the journal Nature Medicine.

The study endorsed approval for tests on humans, which would begin in early September, with first results by year’s end.

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Africa’s Green Revolutionary: Eleni Gabre-Madhin, CEO Ethiopia Commodity Exchange

Published by Tadias Magazine September 8th, 2012 in Featured. Closed

Eleni Gabre-Madhin, founder and outgoing CEO of the Ethiopia Commodity Exchange (ECX). (Ventures Africa)

Ventures Africa

VENTURES AFRICA – Dr Eleni Gabre-Madhin, an Ethiopian economist and founder and outgoing CEO of the Ethiopia Commodity Exchange (ECX), is an African woman who saw in need, a powerful opportunity. Using her training as an economist and researcher, she has facilitated Ethiopia’s Green Revolution, putting the country on the map as a food producer.

“In 1984–85, the year of the famine that killed nearly a million Ethiopians, I was an undergraduate at Cornell. At dinner one night, other students started throwing food. And suddenly—shocking myself—I got up on a chair and I screamed, “Stop doing this! In my country people are starving!” In that moment, I knew that I owed my country something.”

Yet Eleni did not return to her home country for the next 20 years. Instead she pursued her education, graduating with Bachelors and Master’s degrees in Economics from Cornell University and Michigan State University, USA, respectively. She received a Ph.D. in Applied Economics from Stanford University (also in the US) and went on to hold a variety of senior positions in leading economic organisations.

Continue reading at Ventures Africa.
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Miss Africa USA Searching for Miss Ethiopia

Published by Tadias Magazine September 8th, 2011 in Featured and News. 1 Comment

Fifi Soumah of the Republic of Guinea was the winner of last year's Miss Africa USA crown. (H Greaves Photography)

Tadias Magazine
By Tadias Staff

Thursday, September 8, 2011

New York (TADIAS) – Organizers of the Miss Africa USA pageant say that Ethiopia remains unrepresented as they prepare to crown the 2011 Queen at their annual event in Silver Spring, Maryland in November.

“Right now we are still searching for a candidate to represent Ethiopia,” Constance Nkwantah, Communications Director of the pageant, told Tadias Magazine.

According to Ms. Nkwantah the scholarship pageant is open to delegates from all 54 countries. Past winners have gone on to join forces with Habitat for Humanity, Concern USA, as well as Russell Simmons’s Diamond Empowerment Fund, to help raise money for various causes benefiting communities in Africa and the United States.

Below is our recent interview with Constance Nkwantah:

Tadias: Please tell us a bit about the Miss Africa USA Pageant. When was it launched and what is the objective?

Constance Nkwantah: Miss Africa USA Pageant is a Scholarship and Beauty Pageant and our mission is to empower young girls as Goodwill Ambassadors promoting positive causes in their home countries and the world. It showcases African cultures and diversity, bringing together all African nations in a grand celebration.

Tadias: How many African countries are represented at the upcoming contest?

CN: Our closing date is Sept 30th and the competition is open to all 54 countries. We are looking at up to 25 countries for the 2011 Pageant.

Tadias: Is Ethiopia one of them?

CN: Right now we are still searching for a candidate to represent Ethiopia. Ethiopia has very beautiful and intelligent women and it will be great to have a representation. Last year Ethiopia was well represented and we hope this year will not be different. We encourage all ambitious and dynamic young women aged between 18 and 30 to participate. We are still accepting applicants up until Sept 30th.

Tadias: How do you select the girls? What is the criteria to participate?

CN: Our selection is done via an application process, then we audition the girls and carry out interviews for each country in order to make a final selection.

Tadias: How do you answer critics who say that beauty pageants are demeaning to women?

CN: Miss Africa USA Pageant has never received such a criticism because we focus on the substance of a woman rather than the physical appearance of a woman or her sexuality. The Miss Africa USA Pageant preserves the African culture and therefore we do not have bathing suits as a segment of the competition which is what draws criticism. Rather, we focus on leadership skills and talent. Our Queen has huge responsibilities.

Finalists at the 2010 Miss Africa USA Pageant. (Photo credit: H Greaves Photography)

Some of the contestants at the 2010 Miss Africa USA Pageant. (By H Greaves Photography)

Sofia Bushen (L) was a finalist representing Ethiopia at the 2010 Miss Africa USA contest, held July 24, 2010 in Silver Spring, MD. (Photo: H Greaves Photography)

Tadias: What are the challenges you face as a pageant organization?

CN: Over the last couple of years, it has been difficult to get new sponsorships so a lot of the financial commitments are met by personal sacrifice. We appeal each year for sponsors to keep the pageant going and will continue to do so. We are grateful to Western Union and our presenting sponsors who have been there over the years. We hope to win back MoneyGram this year and other corporate sponsors. The pageant is very costly to produce and we need the support of the community.

Tadias: Could you share with us some success stories of pass winners of Miss Africa USA Pageant or other participants?

CN: Our focus is on promoting goodwill. The current Queen Fifi Soumah from the Republic of Guinea is right now in Guinea to launch her Foundation called TEARS AWAY. She is focused on promoting education of young girls. The United Nations statistics show that 81% of girls in Guinea cannot read and write. Miss Africa USA Fifi Soumah has established a scholarship program to help these young girls go back to school and get an education. She herself is a student at Montgomery College in Maryland. And In 2008 Miss Mfonobong Essiet of Nigeria completed her medical project where she donated a 40ft container of medical equipment and supplies to five different hospitals in her country. It was a very successful project. She is currently a medical student studying to be a Cardiac Surgeon.

Tadias: What should people expect at 2011 MISS Africa USA Pageant?

CN: The 2011 pageant is full of excitement. On the 12th of November we are having the African Banquet at the Hilton Hotel in Silver Spring Maryland. We have invited members of the African Diplomatic Core, community leaders and our sponsors and VIPs to be our guests at the official opening of the pageant. Finalists will be presenting their platform projects. The following day at the same loaction, we will host the final competition and a coronation ceremony. It’s a red carpet affair showcasing the culture, beauty and diversity of Africa. The entire family can attend.

Tadias: Is there anything else you would like to share with our audience?

CN: We are asking the community to come out and support the 2011 finalists who are representing Africa. We thank Tadias for the opportunity to reach out to the Ethiopian American community.

Tadias: One more thing, we understand that you’ve partnered with Nollywood Critics to present The 2011 NAFCA: “The African Oscar.” Can you tell us more about it?

CN: The awards is open to African Film Makers and the executive producer Dr. Victor Adeyemi is very open to collaborate with film makers from all over the continent. I would encouarage all film makers and actors who are interested in participating to contact us for more information.

Tadias: Thank you.
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If You Go:
The 2011 Pageant is slated for Sunday November 13th from 5pm – 11pm. Tickets are $45 in advance and $50 at the door. Tickets start selling on Friday, September 9th via the website www.missafricaunitedstates.com. The African Banquet takes place on Sat Nov 12 and tickets are $100 each. Both events will take place at the Hilton Hotel 8272 Colesville Rd, Silver Spring, MD. Free parking is available.
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Watch: Miss Africa USA 2010 Introduction Dance (Video courtesy of Miss Africa USA)