Our Unresolved Challenge

We all have been taught that as food, shelter and clothing are the basic human needs for survival, especially for developing countries, we might think that food is the principal need of all. That being accepted as the fact, the right to exercise a free life is a challenge for the people of most third world countries. Since the time of introduction of democracy to our world, part of the world we know as democratic practice universal declaration of human right announced by the united nation. It is a stunning truth that developing countries are way behind practicing those articles despite the fact that majority are the members of the declaring organization. We may ask nevertheless as how unfortunate are those countries labeled as the third world. They have all the laws on paper but are unable to practice them alongside the challenge of securing food for their people. How is that possible for a country be unlucky both in fulfilling basic human needs and human right as we have to separate them into two entities? In my country, we all are made to believe that our Ethiopia is heaven in the essence of perfect natural resources, beautiful landscape, and amazing ethical people. Thanks to the new technologies and globalization people are becoming aware that the Ethiopia that was created in our mind is not really utopia any longer and has never been. For the majority of us who have got the chance to visit foreign countries, it is becoming clear that our democracy is pseudo. Our resources are not indeed properly used by the people for the people. Most of the households do not even have a toilet. Even in major cities, Just the center looks pretty clean. The roads are the main reasons for frequent traffic accident which is the primary cause of killing in the country. Governmental offices have three times official breaks and countless meetings and out of office marks everywhere. Those who are concerned about their country and raise their voice against governance or policy are either labeled as terrorists and removed or they are put on a watch list. The law enforcement often seems to be a tool to go against the public instead of for it. There are a number of occasions where my country has been the title of breaking news in many global news agencies. Protest here and there, the government tried to stop it, the conflict between the public and law enforcement officials and loss of valuable life and destruction of property are the current burden that is pulling back the country in bold. For decades, the Ethiopian government has been announcing the fastest growth rate in the whole continent. In the last two five-year transformation plans, it was aimed to achieve more. However, the government even admitted is incapability to fulfill the majority of planned strategies of all sectors. A major focus was given to agriculture, securing food. But the last two years were the time when government requested help from outside. Among many strategic plans, ensuring gender equity was a big concern. However, the achievement was unbelievably insignificant. In most of the countryside, there is still marriage between a man and underage girl which is against the stated law. There are many frequent incidences of girls who are kidnaped from school by the local group of men to be a wife for one of them which is a local term called ‘telefa’. On a number of occasions, women are victims of rape and other associated sexual harassments. Though the government is providing support called ‘affirmative action’ by which girls are encouraged to go to school and reduce drop out, the number of successful female students are still very low especially when it comes to further higher degree level education. Among the many reasons early marriage is the most notable one. And again, for most of the females, they are mistreated by their husband. Some are able to speak loud that their marriage has to end because they are raped by their husbands. When a wife prosecutes her husband, she is asked for evidence which in most cases is unable to be provided. The marriage that ends in such a way leaves the woman in a difficult situation where she maybe raising children as a single mother and never marry again while the man is always free to do whatever he wants to do. Apart from the above-mentioned human right dysfunctionalities in my country, child labor is a very critical one. Children who are brought to the city in the hope of having better life and education end up in business centers or are abused to work at home. Some are sold to business owners or they are sent to the street to beg. For such an evil purpose some may be made disabled. Some are forced to run away and be stays in the street. In general, in the third world countries, human right is not part of the human basic need. Instead, it is taken as a secondary need where people seek it as a luxury when they are not craving for food. However, the fact is, the presence of an unlimited supply of food doesn’t make people eat. Thus, developing countries must ensure human rights parallel to securing food.