Global freedom has continued its decline since 2008 according to the fifth annual Human Freedom Index (HFI), the most comprehensive measure of freedom ever created for a large number of countries around the globe.
The report-copublished by the Cato Institute, the Fraser Institute in Canada, and the Liberales Institut at the Friedrich Naumann Foundation for Freedom in Germany-measures a broad array of personal, civil and economic freedoms around the world and the extent to which basic rights are protected or violated.
New Zealand and Switzerland are the two freest countries on this year’s index, while Venezuela and Syria rank last. Ethiopia ranked 153 out of the total of 162 countries. The ranking is based on 76 distinct indicators of personal, civil, and economic freedom, using data from 2008 to 2017, the most recent year for which sufficient data are available.
The HFI captures the degree to which people are free to enjoy important rights such as freedom of speech, religion, association, and assembly, and also measures freedom of movement, women’s freedoms, crime and violence, and legal discrimination against same-sex relationships.
The authors–Ian Vasquez, director of the Cato Institute’s Center for Global Liberty and Prosperity, and Tanja Porčnik, a Cato Institute adjunct scholar and Fraser Institute senior fellow–also measure the rule of law, which they consider “an essential condition of freedom that protects the individual from coercion by others.”
The freest country in Africa is Mauritius (ranked 50th globally), followed by Cape Verde (52), Botswana (60), Seychelles (62), and South Africa (64).
The least free country in Africa is Sudan (159), preceded by Ethiopia (153), Democratic Republic of the Congo (152), Angola (151), and Central African Republic (150).
Some 61 countries increased their overall freedom ratings from 2008 to 2017, while 79 countries decreased their freedom ratings. Around 16 percent of the world’s population lives in the top quartile of nations in the index, while 35 percent lives in the bottom quartile of countries that have the lowest levels of freedom.
The authors also find that of the 12 major categories that make up the index, all but five have seen some deterioration. Religion, Identity and Relationships, and Rule of Law saw the largest decreases since 2008, while Sound Money saw the largest improvement.
Countries that have high personal freedom tend to exhibit high economic freedom. The freest countries in the world by quartile enjoy much greater income per person ($40,171) compared to those in the least-free quartile ($15,721). In addition, the authors find a strong correlation between human freedom and democracy.
“The evidence shows the importance of freedom in all its dimensions and how economic and personal freedom go hand in hand,” noted Vasquez.
“With the rise of populism, nationalism, and hybrid forms of authoritarianism, people’s rights and freedoms are under assault in many corners of the globe. Because of their inherent value and their contribution to well-being, those freedoms deserve the strongest defense,” said Porčnik.
Human Freedom Index Ethiopia the second least free country in Africa
Juniper glass factory opens
Juniper container glass plant is open for business. The new entrant to the Ethiopian market can make 200 million glass bottles a year for the national and regional market. The factory is located in Debre Birhan, approximately 130km from Addis Ababa near Habesha and Dashen beer factories.
The glass plant cost 100million USD for construction and equipment. Rama Construction built the factory on 21hct of land. They started in 2016 and took 18 month to finish. Yared Mulgeta special project manager said there were some delays but things are ready now.
The major raw materials required for the production of soda lime glass are silica sand, soda ash, marble/lime stone, and cullet are locally available except soda ash which is imported.
The critical project requirements of the envisaged project are raw materials, utilities, transport infrastructure, skilled and semi skilled labor, land, and other necessary infrastructures. Juniper sent its 140 employees to South Africa for training in making glass.
Yared said: “Juniper is importing soda ash from Kenya and 78percent of the input is silica sand obtained from the nearby areas.” the new factory is using oil and gas to melt the fossil fuel. Currently they make 200,000 glasses per day; when it starts producing with its full capacity however it reaches up to 600,000. 
The major end-users of glass packing materials are beverage bottlers. The Ethiopian market for glass packing materials is met both from import and domestic production. The growth on the performance of food & beverage manufacturing sub sector increased the demand to glass. Accordingly, the demand for glass packing materials is assumed to grow by 18% for the period 2015–2020, According to the ministry of trade and industry, 33,540 tons of glass has imported in the year of 2015, will increase to about 49.6 thousand tons by the year 2021.
Even though it is difficult to import glass containers from abroad due to the weight and high cost of transportation new entrants that produce glass packing materials, local production is losing its market share and facing difficulties.
The market share that could be captured by local producers is expected to increase from about 31.9 thousand tons in the year 2015 to about 110 thousand tons in the year 2025. The Ministry of Industry spend 12.9 million USD to import glass and glassware. The new glass manufacture is expected to increase the production capacity of the state to have enough supply the local market.
Fetlework G.egzihabher said local manufactures can do just as well as international producers.
Currently including Juniper there are six glass manufactures, Addis Ababa Bottle and Glass makes 250 million bottles per year, Daylight Applied Technologies 20,000 tones, Ethio Hanssam International Plc, Goda Glass & Bottling, in Tigray, Allied Chemical Plc also make glass.
Doha Forum 2019 ends with 75th UN anniversary celebration
The 19th edition of the Doha Forum 2019 has come to an end on Sunday December 15. The two-day forum, which is a global platform for dialogue, was held this year under the theme “Reimagining Governance in a Multipolar World”, in the presence of opinion leaders and policymakers from around the world, to discuss the challenges facing our world, and put forward applicable innovative solutions.
The two-day forum was attended by nearly 3,000 decision makers, policy experts and thought leaders, and included more than 250 speakers, as well as hosting a series of interviews and meetings on various points of view, which are broadcast throughout the year through the forum’s website.
The closing session witnessed a speech delivered by Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Islamic Republic of Iran Javad Zarif, in which he stressed the importance of the Doha Forum in providing a unique opportunity to reflect on ways to get us out of the impasse in the region.
He spoke of what he called the “perceptual turmoil” that deludes a person to benefit at the expense of his neighbor and that his security is based on chaos among others, and he indicated the disparity of powers and their disastrous consequences, citing as an example the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait.
The Iranian Foreign Minister stressed the importance of dialogue, respect for the sovereignty of States, non-interference in their internal affairs, rejection of force and methods of repression, and agreement on work teams to find solutions and establish cooperation and draw a road map for the future with the establishment of areas free of weapons of destruction, confidence-building between countries, water management, nuclear safety and freedom of maritime navigation.
He affirmed at the conclusion of his speech that the world has the opportunity to change course once and for all to improve people’s lives and enhance future generations, calling for seizing this opportunity.
After the speech of the Iranian Foreign Minister, the Doha Forum 2019 celebrated the 75th anniversary of the establishment of the United Nations by holding a session addressed by President of the United Nations General Assembly Tijjani Muhammad-Bande and Ban Ki-moon, the former Secretary-General of the United Nations, and a number of UN officials and organisations of public benefit.
Speakers noted that the United Nations, despite its crises and criticism, is a symbol of pluralism and is the basis on which the world rests on many issues that threaten humanity. It intervened to resolve conflicts and established many important principles for humanity, and promoted people’s awareness of climate change and environmental issues, ending slavery, empowering women and people with disabilities, and protecting children.
They stressed the importance of involving youth and women in achieving development goals and promoting pluralism and social inclusion through cooperation with civil society organizations and the private sector to put an end to what drives people to migrate and be displaced.
They emphasized that the United Nations is present everywhere in the world, especially the troubled ones, and the places of wars and disputes take risks to bring about change and play fundamental roles in stopping wars, reducing conflicts, reconnecting and interconnecting people.
After the celebration of the 75th anniversary of the establishment of the United Nations, President Nayib Bukele of the Republic of El Salvador, made a speech in which he stated that the civilization in which we live has fulfilled three basic criteria that allow humanity to reform all the fundamental problems.
He indicated that the first criterion is globalization, which has existed to remain despite the great losses it has caused in the world. It has eliminated thousands of jobs, destroyed cities and bankrupted institutions, but now the world has become globalized, and all of our lives are global in nature. He added that the second criterion is interconnectedness through the Internet, which its use expanded dramatically and millions of wealthy people emerged because of it and hit the economies of countries. Nevertheless, it evolved and became an important part of our lives we cannot live without, and the world has become amazingly interconnected so that the East interacts with the West. As for the third criterion, it is production, the world is living a productive revolution, and a person produces more than he consumes. Thousands of tons of food and medicine are received daily, while millions of people die from starvation and the lack of medicines.
He added that the riches in the world are sufficient to stop climate change and all the conflicts around the world and provide a decent life for all, noting that “the world is now globalized and connected, more productive than its consumption capacity, so we are obligated to create a world that civilizations dream about and generations enjoy in the future, but if we want that”.
Climate change hinders food security
Ethiopia ranks 97th out of 117 qualifying countries in the 2019 Global Hunger Index (GHI) with a score of 28.9 meaning there are many people in the country that are starving and climate change is making things worse.
Eight European states came together to create the report using four categories: undernourishment, child wasting, child stunting, and child mortality.
They look at caloric deficiencies and poor nutrition. The undernourishment indicator captures the nutrition situation of the population as a whole, while the indicators specific to children reflect the nutrition status within a particularly vulnerable subset of the population for whom a lack of dietary energy, protein, and/or micronutrients (essential vitamins and minerals) leads to a high risk of illness, poor physical and cognitive development, and death.
“The rank shows that we have a long way to go to meet our sustainable development Goals Particularly Goal 2, which is zero hunger.” said Kaba Urgessa, State Minister of Agriculture. He added that the country has the fastest growing economy in the region, it remains one of the poorest with 23 percent of the population living below the poverty line.
Though measuring hunger is complicated, the global hunger index (GHI) has been designated and used as a tool to compressively measure hunger at the global, regional and national level.
“We need to work together will all stakeholders to eradicate hunger,” the State Minister said.
According to the Minister, The entire dependency on the ratified agriculture, subsistence agriculture, low genetic potential of indigenous animals and poor animal husbandry practices ,limited access of water and animal feed the wide spread of diseases and parasites, are among the factors contributing to the problem of under nutrition. Ethiopia needs to improve irrigation practices as climate change is expected to impact 70pct of the population.
Poor feeding practices for infants and children is a major factor behind these troubling numbers.
GHI scores are calculated each year to assess progress and setbacks in combating hunger and to raise awareness and understanding of the struggle against hunger, Based on the report,822 million people are suffering from hunger around the world; this number has been rising for three years, and it represents a bitter setback. In four countries Yemen, Lebanon, Central African Republic, and Venezuela the GHI scores are now higher than in 2000.
