Tuesday, May 28, 2013

Queen of Sheba Foundation. Petition to Recognize Emperor Haile Selassie I's Contributions to the OAU.

Rightfully Recognize Emperor Haile Selassie I's Contributions to the Organization of African Unity

The Ethiopian government and the African Union's disassociation of Emperor Haile Selassie I from the history of Pan Africanism and the Organization of African Unity is akin to disassociating Dr. Martin Luther King from the Civil Rights Movement

One of His Majesty Haile Selassie I's greatest accomplishments, and there were many, was to bring two differing political groups together to establish "an organization that wold unite all of Africa,"  In recognition of this great achievement thirty-two members of the OAU voted HIM  "Father of African Unity".  Today, the Name  of Emperor Haile Selassie I is barely mentioned and His accomplishments are no longer recognized in His own country nor by the by very organization which he caused to be established.   It is important that we remember him and boldly speak His Name and His accomplishments at home and abroad and separate history from politics because history must be free of political influence and ethnic ideologies.
To:
H.E. Dr. Jean Ping, Chairperson, African Union
His Excellency Hailemariam Desalegn, Prime Minister of Ethiopia
The Honorable Girma Wolde Giorgis, President of Ethiopia
Excellency John Dramani Mahama, President of the Republic of Ghana 
We appreciate Ethiopian President Girma's call for a statue to be erected in honor of Emperor Haile Selassie I's contributions to the Organization of African Unity OAU; most importantly it was refreshing to hear how President Girma's acknowledged of His Majesty as "The 1st Leader of Africa." We encourage the Ethiopian government and the African Union leadership to join with President Girma to insure His Majesty is granted his rightful place in OAU history and that His legacy as a great world statesmen is honored, in his own country and the world as Father of African Unity and the first President of the OAU. This would correct the AU and Ethiopia's past historical errors and omissions and send a message to the world that the Democratic Republic of Ethiopia realizes the importance of separating politics from true history even when the Government doesn't support it.

Those of us who remember recall that it was Emperor Haile Selassie I who played a pivotal role in the establishment of the OAU, not Kwame Nkrumah and it was His Majesty who was unanimously voted “Father of African Unity” by the original members of the OAU, not Kwame Nkrumah. Why then would the AU and the Ethiopian government continue to ignore to His Majesty contributions while bestowing their highest honors on Nkrumah, and in so doing rewrite the history of the OAU and the Pan-African Movement?

We are all pleased to see that Ethiopia is on a path of change and we pray it will continue, for the greatest good of all, regardless of ethnic group, political ideology or religion, for it is important for Ethiopia to separate the politics of ethnic prejudice and historical bias from its ancient and modern history because such thinking has no place in deciding the history of any nation.

May the Holy Spirit direct the Government of Ethiopia and the AU leadership to make the right decision to give Emperor Haile Selassie His rightful place in history as the Father of African Unity and the OAU's first president. AMEN.

Respectfully,
The Queen of Sheba Research Foundation 
Sincerely

Recognition of Emperor Haile Selassie I's Contributions to the OAU. March 28, 2013

BREAKING NEWS: Queen of Sheba Research Foundation charge the African Union with rewriting OAU and Pan-African History

>PRWEB.COM Newswire

Chicago, IL, March 28, 2013 - On the eve of the inauguration of the African Union’s (AU) 50th Anniversary Celebrations in Addis Ababa on March 21, 2013, Ethiopian President Girma sent a letter to the Ethiopian Prime Minister recommending that “a statue must be erected to commemorate the Emperor who was the first leader of Africa-- I think he deserves a statue.”

President Girma's letter was clearly referring to the AU and the Ethiopian government’s continued failure to recognize Emperor Haile Selassie I’s contributions to the OAU as a result, their actions prompted numerous Petitions on the internet.

President Girma's letter went viral over the internet receiving the attention of international scholars and historians who found his actions "refreshing" and "a welcomed change from the previous Ethiopian administration who had denied Emperor Haile Selassie I his rightful place in the history of the Pan African Movement and the OAU, for years".

The issue first began last year when the Ethiopian government and the AU inaugurated its newly constructed Headquarters in Addis Ababa with the erection of a statue, front-center, dedicated to Ghanaian President Kwame Nkrumah, for his contributions to African Unity, while Ethiopian King of Kings, Emperor Haile Selassie I’s pivotal contributions to African Unity and His significant role as the single unifying force behind the establishment of the OAU, along with his title as "The first leader of Africa", was ignored.

Barbara Miller, Queen of Sheba Research Foundation historian, referred to the matter as, "an unforgivable slight in His Majesty's own country." International debates spilled onto the floor of the Ethiopian parliament, where former Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi, who was also President of AU and had always been critical of Emperor Haile Selassie I, was said to have downplayed the issue. As a result, Emperor Haile Selassie I's accomplishments were stricken.

For those who are unaware, Emperor Haile Selassie's contributions to the OAU are well documented: It was Emperor Haile Selassie I, not President Nkrumah, who called and hosted the May 25, 1963 Conference of African Heads of State in Addis Ababa; and it was His Majesty’s electrifying speech that inspired two conflicting political groups (Casablanca and Monrovia) to lay aside their differences, come together, and establish an organization that would unite all of Africa, which they did:

    “The commentators of 1963 speak, in discussing Africa, of the Monrovia States,
    The Brazzaville Group, the Casablanca Powers and many more. Let us put an end
    to these terms. What we require is a single African organization through which
    Africa’s single voice may be heard, within which Africa’s problems may be studied
    and resolved.” Emperor Haile Selassie I, May 25, 1963

At the end of the speech, all 32 African leaders and founding fathers of the OAU were invigorated andas a result, they elected Emperor Haile Selassie I the first President of the OAU; and unanimously voted Emperor Haile Selassie I the “Father of African Unity".
Eric Nickerson, former Mayor of Dixmoor, Illinois and member of the Queen of Sheba Research Fuoodation noted, “just as no one can deny Dr. Nkrumah's role in the Pan-African Movement, no one should deny Emperor Haile Selassie I’s pivotal role in the establishment of the OAU, and those who continue to do so make the spirit of pan-African unity nothing more than an aberration.” 
      
On Friday, May 24, 2013, letters of encouragement from members of the Queen of Sheba Research Foundation were hand-delivered to the President and Prime Minister of Ethiopia, care of the Ethiopian Embassy in Washington DC; the letters praised President Girma’s position on the issue and encouraged the Ethiopian government to separate politics from history by correcting previous historical oversights, errors, and omissions and grant Emperor Haile Selassie I His rightful place in the history of the OAU/AU.

African-American historians believe that at the end of the day, the Ethiopian government would demonstrate to the world community that the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia supports the truth of history even when it may not always identify with it.

Read the full story at http://www.prweb.com/releases/2013/5/prweb10770461.htm


Read more: http://www.digitaljournal.com/pr/1269421#ixzz2UZyxkZTJ

Sunday, May 26, 2013

Brazil to 'Write Off' $900M in African Debt


 
Brazilian President Rousseff at the 50th anniversary of the African Union in Ethiopia (Simon Maina/AFP/Getty)













At the recent African Union summit in Ethiopia, Brazil's President Dilma Rousseff announced that she would write off or restructure $900 million in African debt to her country. BBC News reports that Rousseff hopes this move will further open business deals between Brazil and the resource-rich continent.
Congo-Brazzaville owes the most to Brazil - $352m - followed by Tanzania ($237m) and Zambia ($113.4m).
Some Brazilian companies have already negotiated deals in Africa, but not without controversy. 
Last month, hundreds of protesters in Mozambique blocked the entrance to a Brazilian coal mine in a row over a compensation deal agreed after they were displaced.
Human Rights Watch, a rights group, said farming communities had been resettled on arid lands and had suffered food shortages.
The Brazilian giant Vale, which owns the mine, and the government of Mozambique said improvements were being made.

Wednesday, May 22, 2013

United Nations Disaster Risk Reduction (UNDRR): Geneva, 22 May 2013. Support to disaster-proof schools and hospitals at Global Platform



Government ministers call for support to disaster-proof schools and hospitals at Global Platform

GENEVA, 22 May 2013 - Representatives from 35 governments who met with business executives and senior experts at the 4th Global Platform for Disaster Risk Reduction, have issued a call "to develop nationally agreed standards for hazard risk assessments especially of critical infrastructure (including schools, health centers, electricity and water supply systems, nodal ITC centres, road and transport systems) by 2015."

The call comes in a communique made public today by the UN Deputy Secretary-General, Jan Eliasson, following a High-Level Meeting which took place yesterday in the wake of revelations from the UN Office for Disaster Risk Reduction that economic losses from disasters are in the range of
$2.5 trillion so far this century. The High-Level Dialogue was moderated by Tarja Halonen, former President of Finland.

The UN Deputy Secretary-General, Jan Eliasson, said: "Who can forget the shocking fact that 97% of the schools in Port-au-Prince collapsed in the
2010 earthquake? It is of huge concern that the lives and education of millions of children living in seismic zones and flood plains around the world are at risk. Over the last ten years, earthquakes and tsunamis have killed almost 700,000 people, the majority of them children. Economic losses are also a deep concern.

"We have agreed today to support a global safe schools and safe health structures campaign in disaster-prone areas with voluntary funding and commitments to be announced at the World Conference for Disaster Risk Reduction in 2015. From national level data collected from governments by the UN Office for Disaster Risk Reduction we know that thousands of schools and health centres are damaged or destroyed in disasters each year. Hazard risk assessments are essential before investing in critical infrastructure which can lead to loss of lives if not disaster-proof."

Martin Dahinden, Director-General of the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation, and Chair of the Global Platform, said: "We believe that disaster risk reduction is essential to global efforts at poverty reduction and to achieve sustainable development. We have agreed to advocate for disaster risk reduction and the building of resilience to be a central part of the post-2015 development agenda together with mitigation and adaptation to climate change. All of which will be supported by a post-2015 framework for disaster risk reduction when the current Hyogo Framework for Action comes to a conclusion."

In addition to a campaign to start a global safe schools and safe health structures campaign in disaster-prone areas, the High-Level communiqué called on the private sector to integrate disaster risk in its risk management practices and for collaboration between the public and private sectors at local and national levels in risk management.

The following 35 countries were represented at the High-Level Dialogue:
Armenia, Belarus, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Burkina Faso, Cape Verde, China, Djibouti, Ecuador, Egypt, El Salvador, Fiji, Gabon, Haiti, India, Indonesia, Iran, Japan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Lebanon, Maldives, Morocco, Namibia, Netherlands, New Zealand, Saint Lucia, Singapore, Sri Lanka, Sweden, Switzerland, Tanzania, Thailand, Uganda, Uzbekistan and Viet Nam.

****
Download the High Level Communique here:


Read online: http://goo.gl/a1siF

Tuesday, May 21, 2013

November 1, 2007,” Pipeline Accident Report NTSB/PAR-09/01, October 14, 2009.


http://community.fema.gov/connect.ti/readynpm/view?objectid=84747


NEW EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT LESSON LEARNED: MISSISSIPPI PIPELINE RUPTURE

Terry Hardy 2 days ago   Reply
On November 1, 2007, a 12-inch-diameter liquid propane pipeline segment operated by Dixie Pipeline Company ruptured near Carmichael, Mississippi. It is estimated that about 430,000 gallons of propane was released. The resulting gas cloud drifted over a nearby residential area and ignited. Two people were killed, seven were injured, and four houses were destroyed in the explosion. The property damage exceeded $3.3 million. The NTSB found in its investigation that the rupture was caused by a failure in a weld that caused the pipe to fracture along the longitudinal seam weld, a portion of the upstream girth weld, and portions of the adjacent pipe joints. The NTSB also stated in its investigation that Dixie Pipeline Company’s oversight and evaluation of the effectiveness of its public education programs were inadequate. Dixie Pipeline Company distributed safety literature to stakeholders as part of its public awareness program. However, the company found after the accident that 10 addresses in this rural area were missing from the list used to distribute the safety data. This safety data described the pipeline hazards and what residents should do in case of an emergency. These ten addresses included the houses of two residents who were killed and other houses that were destroyed. In addition, the NTSB stated that Dixie relied on a contractor to perform the mailings, and did not assess the effectiveness of its awareness program. Dixie did not conduct surveys to find out if the customers received the mailings or whether they understood the guidance. The NTSB also stated that 911 operators were not invited to be part of the company’s outreach program for emergency responders. As a result, these 911 operators may not have had the proper training to recognize the hazards associated with a large release of propane, and therefore they were unaware of the actions to take in an emergency of this magnitude. Although it did not affect this emergency, the NTSB also noted that a radio signal repeater for the fire department, the primary radio system for the county dispatch, was not working. Communications cables of the radio signal repeater had been inadvertently disconnected during routine housekeeping. Following the accident the county implemented regular tests of the communications equipment.
Lessons Learned: Training is certainly much easier to conduct if it is limited to the personnel in one organization. However, real emergencies often involve personnel from multiple organizations including fire departments, police departments, emergency dispatch units, and so on. A failure to include these personnel in training could result in an ineffective and inappropriate response to a disaster.
U.S. National Transportation Safety Board, “Rupture of Hazardous Liquid Pipeline With Release and Ignition of Propane, Carmichael, Mississippi, November 1, 2007,” Pipeline Accident Report NTSB/PAR-09/01, October 14, 2009.

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