Premier notes steps made towards alleviating poverty

Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi has declared that the country stands on the brink of sustained poverty alleviation. Addressing a high-level meeting with donors at the weekend, he said that united action by the international community and the Ethiopian government would lay the groundwork. Donors have pledged some US $3.6 billion in support of the country’s poverty reduction strategy. “This is an important moment in the history of Ethiopian development,” he said. “After a decade of political and economic reform, I believe that the moment has come when our efforts can begin to make a sustained impact in alleviating poverty and increasing the economic opportunities of our people," he added. “This will be so if government and donors together forge a new partnership to take committed and decisive action.” “But we are also clear that although the goals are shared, the means of achieving them must be adapted to national conditions and contemporary political realities,” he said. He noted that agricultural growth was the only way that the country would end food insecurity. “The great challenge we face is to take measures that both meet the immediate crushing food need, but which also contribute to longer-term solutions,” Meles said. He also spoke of the need for mutual accountability and said the government in Ethiopia realised it had obligations to meet. “If our government is found to waste money, through corruption or incompetence, it should immediately be called to account," he said. “Together, we should put in place effective monitoring arrangements to ensure that both sides of our partnership act to maximise the impact of funds made available. “We are too poor a nation to afford waste,” the prime minister added.