Photos: A free clinic for donkeys, vital to Ethiopia's economy
Ethiopia is believed to host the world's largest population of donkeys – one in five of the global total, according to the United Nations.
The humble donkey is a cornerstone of the national economy, and the Donkey Sanctuary – a free clinic run by a British charity – is crucial in Addis Ababa. Set near Merkato, the city's sprawling open-air market, it provides care for animals that are often indispensable to their owners' livelihoods.
Several dozen donkeys stand in enclosures at the clinic – some agitatedly kicking their legs, others hungrily tucking into their food. Caregivers and veterinarians move from animal to animal, treating a range of ailments including injuries, colic and eye conditions.
Among them is Guluma Bayi, 38, who had walked more than an hour and a half, leading his two donkeys to the clinic.
'It has been three weeks since my donkeys became sick,' said Guluma. 'One has a leg problem and the other has a stomach issue.'
Like many, Guluma depends on his donkeys for his livelihood, using them to transport jerrycans of water for sale in his community.
'After they became ill, I couldn't buy bread for my children,' he said. 'I begged a guy to bring me here.'
According to the UN Food and Agriculture Organization, Ethiopia was home to some nine million donkeys as of 2018. In this East African nation of approximately 130 million people, donkeys play a chief economic role, ploughing fields and transporting goods – offering a low-cost alternative to vehicles at a time when the price of fuel has soared.
Another regular visitor, Chane Baye, earns his living by using his two donkeys to transport sacks of grain across the city for clients. His income can range from 200 to 400 birr per day (approximately $1.50 to $3) – a decent sum in a country where a third of the population lives below the World Bank's poverty line of $2.15 a day.
The 61-year-old seeks out the clinic every three months or so – 'whenever they start limping or have a stomach problem', he said.
'Before this clinic, we used traditional ways to treat them,' he explained, describing how nails were once crudely removed from the animals' legs with a knife. He is grateful that his donkeys now have access to professional care for their injuries and infections.
At the clinic, vet Derege Tsegay demonstrates the less glamorous side of his work by performing a routine but unpleasant procedure – reaching deep into a distressed donkey's rectum, clad in a rubber glove.
Derege removes a large mass of stool that had accumulated in the animal's digestive tract.
'It happens often,' he remarked.
A lack of adequate food in the city frequently leads donkeys to ingest whatever they find – including plastic bags – which can wreak havoc on their digestive health.
Though the work is often challenging, Derege takes pride in what he does.
'I am proud of what I am doing … because I am trying to solve the problem of so many owners that rely on their donkeys,' he said with a smile.
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Al Jazeera
03-06-2025
- Al Jazeera
Why are humanitarian crises in African countries so ignored?
African countries have again topped the list of the world's most ignored crises, with nearly all of the worst-funded humanitarian challenges located in the continent in 2024, according to a new study out this week. Released on Tuesday, the report by the nonprofit Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC) lists Cameroon, Mozambique and a host of other African nations as some of the most burdened by violence and displacement, but also the most invisible to donors. The news comes as the United States, formerly the world's biggest aid provider, massively cut development funding this year. Aid agencies received only half of what they needed in 2024, and experts say further shrinking aid will likely make 2025 even more bleak for people in need. Eight African emergencies were previously ranked as the most ignored in 2023 as well. Millions of people who have been displaced and face food insecurity or lack shelter are receiving little aid because of 'donor fatigue', poor media coverage and little-to-no political resolution, according to the NRC's 2024 Most Neglected Crises report. The report defined countries in crisis as those that host or have more than 200,000 displaced people, and which have been declared to be in severe crisis emergencies. Of 34 countries analysed, the most 'invisible' according to the NRC report were: Cameroon, Ethiopia, Mozambique, Burkina Faso, Mali, Uganda, Iran, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Honduras and Somalia. Aside from funding, there was little progress on effective conflict resolution, disaster prevention and diplomatic engagement in all the affected countries, the report added. In general, aid funding dropped overall in 2024, the NRC noted. 'The shortfall between what was required to meet humanitarian needs in 2024 and what was delivered was a staggering $25 billion, meaning over half of all needs went unmet,' the report stated. 'Donor fatigue' and growing waves of nationalistic policies within traditional donor countries are causing the richest countries to reduce foreign aid funding, experts say. A lack of proximity to emergencies, analysts add, also affects attention. 'Too many crises across the continent remain in the shadows – ignored because they don't make headlines, or because they are not seen as of immediate strategic interest to international partners,' Christelle Hure, NRC's head of advocacy in West and Central Africa, told Al Jazeera. 'Crises that knock on Europe's door – as happened in 2015 [with mass immigration] – tend to receive the greatest media attention, while those far away remain not only out of sight but also out of mind,' Hure said. The West-Central African nation tops the list of the world's most neglected crises in 2024. In the English-speaking northeast and northwest regions of Cameroon, a protracted civil war which began in 2017 is continuing. That year, thousands took to the streets to protest against the appointment of French-speaking judges, and in general, alleged discrimination from the Francophone-majority government. Heavy crackdowns to suppress the protests soon saw armed groups springing up, declaring independence. The government in Yaounde, in turn, declared war. Both the rebels and government forces have targeted civilians. Hundreds have died, and thousands more are displaced internally or have fled to neighbouring Nigeria. 'The violence there is largely ignored because it's not a direct threat to the central government,' Beverly Ochieng, a security analyst with United Kingdom-based intelligence firm Control Risks, told Al Jazeera, adding that little has been done to negotiate peace. 'There was a feeling initially that some of the secessionist leaders were trying to lobby Donald Trump to support their cause but they've just not received any attention.' Meanwhile, in the northern Lake Chad Basin region, also connected to Nigeria, violence by the armed group, Boko Haram, has continued for years, displacing thousands. A US-backed joint force of the Lake Chad Basin countries has largely collapsed since the military governments in Niger and Chad pulled out, leaving Cameroon, Nigeria and Benin. Washington's shrinking of security presence and operations in African nations is likely to further destabilise the arrangement. Cameroon itself hosts refugees fleeing Boko Haram in Nigeria, as well as those from the Central African Republic fleeing fighting between two political groups. Together, some 1.1 million people are internally displaced, and 500,000 are refugees. 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The Fano armed group, which claims to represent the interests of the Amhara people, one of Ethiopia's significant ethnic groups, is fighting the federal army, which tried to disarm it after they both fought Tigrayan forces during the war. The Oromo Liberation Group, meanwhile, says it is seeking independence for the Oromo people, Ethiopia's largest ethnic group. Both groups have been met with force by the government in Addis Ababa, which has launched air strikes. Dozens of civilians have died in the fighting. In addition, drought and flooding have compounded food shortages. In the southern Gofa zone, heavy rains caused two landslides on July 21 that killed more than 200 people, the worst such landslides in the country. The Southern African country appears on the list for the first time this year. Political upheaval following hotly contested October elections saw protesters who supported the independent opposition candidate, Venancio Mondlane, shot dead by Mozambican state security. 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Some 120 people were killed, and about 155,000 buildings were damaged or destroyed. Since 2015, more than two million people have been displaced in Burkina Faso because of the activities of violent armed groups like the Jama'at Nasr al-Islam wal-Muslimin (JNIM), which wants to create a caliphate. Several of those groups now control close to half of the country, despite efforts by the military-led government to push them back with support from Russian forces. The rebels have held civilians suspected of supporting government forces under siege for more than two years, blocking entries and exits to now nearly 40 towns and cities. Massacres of villagers, however, have been blamed on both armed groups and government forces who are accused of attacking civilians perceived to be aiding the fighters. Neighbouring Mali is ranked fourth on the neglected crises list and faces a similar situation. Analyst Ochieng attributes shrinking aid to the three military-led countries of the West African Sahel, including Niger, partly to the hostile stances towards Western powers of the leaders there. All three have cut off Western allies which previously provided both military and humanitarian aid, particularly France. Their hostility has extended to humanitarian groups, sometimes perceived as being tied to Western nations, further limiting aid. 'These military leaders are focused on economic development and they don't even want to be seen as not being able to provide for their people … that makes it very difficult for any donors to approach them to provide help, or even for aid agencies to assess what the actual needs are,' Ochieng said. US President Donald Trump's sweeping aid cuts after he took office in January, and his decision to dismantle the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), the agency that distributes it, have prompted fears that humanitarian emergencies could worsen in 2025. As the world's biggest aid donor, the US distributed about $70bn in foreign aid yearly, particularly for healthcare. In 2024, the most aid went to Ethiopia, Jordan, DRC, Somalia, Yemen, Afghanistan, Nigeria, South Sudan and Syria. With those funds either reduced or halted altogether, aid workers worry that emergencies on the African continent could worsen. Other major donors are also making cuts, observers warn. In February, the UK cut foreign aid by 0.2 percent, while the Netherlands will slash 2.4 billion euros ($2.72bn) in aid from 2027. France, Germany, Belgium, Switzerland and Sweden have all announced reductions to their aid budgets since. 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Al Jazeera
27-05-2025
- Al Jazeera
Photos: A free clinic for donkeys, vital to Ethiopia's economy
Ethiopia is believed to host the world's largest population of donkeys – one in five of the global total, according to the United Nations. The humble donkey is a cornerstone of the national economy, and the Donkey Sanctuary – a free clinic run by a British charity – is crucial in Addis Ababa. Set near Merkato, the city's sprawling open-air market, it provides care for animals that are often indispensable to their owners' livelihoods. Several dozen donkeys stand in enclosures at the clinic – some agitatedly kicking their legs, others hungrily tucking into their food. Caregivers and veterinarians move from animal to animal, treating a range of ailments including injuries, colic and eye conditions. Among them is Guluma Bayi, 38, who had walked more than an hour and a half, leading his two donkeys to the clinic. 'It has been three weeks since my donkeys became sick,' said Guluma. 'One has a leg problem and the other has a stomach issue.' Like many, Guluma depends on his donkeys for his livelihood, using them to transport jerrycans of water for sale in his community. 'After they became ill, I couldn't buy bread for my children,' he said. 'I begged a guy to bring me here.' According to the UN Food and Agriculture Organization, Ethiopia was home to some nine million donkeys as of 2018. In this East African nation of approximately 130 million people, donkeys play a chief economic role, ploughing fields and transporting goods – offering a low-cost alternative to vehicles at a time when the price of fuel has soared. Another regular visitor, Chane Baye, earns his living by using his two donkeys to transport sacks of grain across the city for clients. His income can range from 200 to 400 birr per day (approximately $1.50 to $3) – a decent sum in a country where a third of the population lives below the World Bank's poverty line of $2.15 a day. The 61-year-old seeks out the clinic every three months or so – 'whenever they start limping or have a stomach problem', he said. 'Before this clinic, we used traditional ways to treat them,' he explained, describing how nails were once crudely removed from the animals' legs with a knife. He is grateful that his donkeys now have access to professional care for their injuries and infections. At the clinic, vet Derege Tsegay demonstrates the less glamorous side of his work by performing a routine but unpleasant procedure – reaching deep into a distressed donkey's rectum, clad in a rubber glove. Derege removes a large mass of stool that had accumulated in the animal's digestive tract. 'It happens often,' he remarked. A lack of adequate food in the city frequently leads donkeys to ingest whatever they find – including plastic bags – which can wreak havoc on their digestive health. Though the work is often challenging, Derege takes pride in what he does. 'I am proud of what I am doing … because I am trying to solve the problem of so many owners that rely on their donkeys,' he said with a smile.
Al Jazeera
23-05-2025
- Al Jazeera
South Sudan refugees in Ethiopia face ‘health catastrophe', charity warns
Doctors Without Borders, known by its French initials MSF, has warned of a looming 'health catastrophe' among South Sudanese refugees in Ethiopia, citing surging cholera cases and widespread malnutrition in overcrowded camps near the border. In a statement issued Friday, the charity said the local health system is overwhelmed and unable to cope with the needs of tens of thousands of new arrivals. 'With waterborne illnesses like cholera and acute watery diarrhoea on the rise, the risk of a public health catastrophe is imminent,' MSF said. The influx follows renewed violence in South Sudan, where a fragile power-sharing deal has broken down. Clashes between forces loyal to President Salva Kiir and rival groups aligned with First Vice President Riek Machar have intensified, forcing many to flee. Machar was placed under house arrest in March, further straining the peace process. Between 35,000 and 85,000 refugees have fled to Mattar, an Ethiopian border town, according to MSF. The organisation reported treating more than 1,200 cholera patients, warning that the disease can be deadly in up to 20 percent of cases if untreated. It also noted that more than 40 percent of malaria tests have come back positive, and nearly 7 percent of children under five suffer from severe acute malnutrition. Since February, more than 200 people with war injuries have arrived at MSF clinics in the area. MSF urged all parties to the conflict to ensure humanitarian access and called on international donors to increase support. 'Shelter, water and medical care are severely lacking in Mattar,' it said. The UN warned on Friday that the situation in South Sudan is deteriorating quickly and on the brink of a wider crisis. 'The escalating hostilities… portend a real risk of further exacerbating the already dire human rights and humanitarian situation,' said UN Human Rights Chief Volker Turk, urging all sides to pull back immediately. Between 3-20 May, fighting reportedly killed at least 75 civilians and injured dozens more. UN reports say the South Sudanese military carried out air, ground and river assaults in populated areas, including attacks on an MSF-run health facility.
