Vol. 22 No. 35 Wednesday,july 1st , 2015 Pages 8, Price 2.00 NFA

A total of 416 students, 40% of whom are females, graduated this past weekend from the Asmara College of Health Science with Degree and Diploma.

They pursued studies in patient care, pharmacy, public health and health assistance.

Natnael Berhane, member of the MTN, South African Cycling Team, was crowned Champion of Eritrea 2015 after winning a cycling race that covered 190 kilometers.

Tesfom Okbamariam and Aman-uel Gebrezgiabhier stood second and third respectively.

Mr. john Terry, coach of the MTN team, appreciated the talent the professional cyclist Natnael demonstrated during the competi-tion. He also expressed his high re-gard for the country’s potential in the cycling race.

The Minister of Local Govern-ment, Mr. Woldenkiel Abraha, has called for higher operational cooperation and complementarity among institutions so as to ensure progress in the development drive.

He made the call at a meeting in Barentu city with heads of different institutions in Gash-Barka region.

The Minister underlined the need for active coordination among gov-ernment and PFDj bodies, as well as Associations with a view to at-taining the set development goals and ensuring the desired adminis-trative services.

The participants of the meeting put forth a number of views and recommendations as regards tack-ling shortcomings encountered in the development process.

Families oF martyrs in aqordet rehabilitated

As part of the ongoing process, the residents of Aqordet sub-zone rehabilitated 16 families of fallen heroes. Each family of the fallen heroes received 10 thousand Nakfa. Sheik Idris Zaid, Chairman of the Committee for Rehabilitating families of Mar-tyrs, said that the assistance provided for the families of the fall-en heroes is part of the high respect the society is giving to its martyrs.

446 students graduate From denden CommerCial sChool

A total of 446 students have graduated on 27 of june from Denden Commercial School in certificate in the domains of Mathematics, Secretarial Science and Book Keeping. In a speech he delivered at the occasion, Mr. Tesfai Seium, Director General of Vocational Education at the MOE, said that the Government of Eritrea is making substantial investment to produce profes-sionals in various fields of education. He further called on the graduates to strengthen participation in the nation building pro-cess with dedication. The representative of the graduating stu-dents on his part expressed appreciation for the opportunity they have been provided and expressed resolve to diligently serve the Government and people.

21 students graduate From halai teChniCal sChool

The Asmara-based Halai Technical School today graduated 21 students with Certificate. They pursued a 2-year course in Gen-eral Metal Works. Mr. Tesfai Syoum, Director General of Voca-tional Training at the Education Ministry, stated that the school is making significant contribution in nurturing skilled youths. A representative of the graduates expressed readiness to live up to expectation. It is known that 84 students graduated from Halai Technical School over the past three years

ministry extends dairy Cattle to Farmers in Central region

The Ministry of Agriculture has extended dairy cattle to 70 farmers in Laguen, Lamza and Adi-Hakefa villages in the Cen-tral region as part of endeavors to raise milk production. Reports indicated that the initiative would continue in the remaining sub-zones of the region and that 100 farmers would benefit from the program. 25 to 30 liters of milk could be obtained daily from the dairy cattle.

PiCtorial exhibition on eritrean Culture staged in Vienna City

A pictorial exhibition on Eritrean culture and living style is on display in Vienna, capital city of Austria. The contents of the exhibition comprise pictures taken by the renowned Austrian photographer, Peter jeger, in the course of his visit to Eritrea in February 2014. The Honorary Eritrean Consul in Austria, Mr. Syoum Gebrehaimanot, expressed appreciation for the Art-ist’s works that depict Eritrea’s correct image, including that of peace, mutual respect and the pace of the development drive. A number of Eritrean nationals living in Austria and citizens of the country observed the exhibitions.

inhabitants oF hamelmalo sub-zone eleCt area administrators

The inhabitants of Hamelmalo semi-urban center and the Ad-ministrative areas of Basheri, Berekentya and Kurrbabered in Hamelmalo sub-zone this week elected Area administrators. The newly elected citizens were called upon to strive for the realiza-tion of set development goals. The local inhabitants on their part stated that higher female participation in the election process at-tests to the growing awareness of the general public.

asmara College oF health sCienCe graduates 416 students

Speaking at the graduation cer-emony which was held at Asmara University, the Minister of Health, Ms. Amina Nurhusein, explained that the GOE continues to exert great effort and investment to ex-pand educational opportunities.

news brieFs

Prof. Berhane Girmai, Dean of the College, stated on his part that the graduating batch is expected to serve the people with dedication.

More than 2,000 students have graduated from Asmara College of Health Science since its opening in 2005.

minister Calls For higher oPerational

Coordination In the track race that was con-ducted on Friday, Daniel Tekle-haimanot was the winner of the gold medal.

Daniel Teklehaimanot and Mer-hawi Kudus, both representing the MTN team, are due to participate in the prestigious Tour De France, scheduled to begin this next Satur-day, july 4.

It is for the first time that Eri-trean cyclists are taking part in this world class cycling race.

natnael berhane ChamPion oF eritrea 2015

Natnael crossing the finish line

Min. Amina handing certificate to graduate

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Eritrea Profile, Wednesday july 1st , 2015 2

Kesete G/Hiwet

Eritrea’s remarkable achieve-ment in the health sector in the past twenty four years since indepen-dence is a matter of record. Its stel-lar record on health-related MDGs in fact conveys only a partial story. Insistence on prevention from the outset; focus on combating and gradually eradicating diseases with high incidence; spatial expansion of medical services to reach all parts of the country; heavy subsi-dies on essential drugs and public hospital bills have all combined to create a functional and affordable national medical services system firmly anchored on social equity and human dignity.

Indeed, in spite of resource limi-tations, much has been achieved as a result of workable policy precepts and appropriate operational ap-proaches. Human capital develop-ment is and remains a key pillar of this integrated matrix. In the event, the Seventh Commencement of the Asmara College of Health Scienc-es last Saturday, june 27th, assumes higher meaning in terms of this overarching backdrop.

The College has graduated, this year, a total of 416 students in de-grees and diplomas from its four schools: the School of Allied Health Professionals; the School of Nurs-ing; the School of Pharmacy; and, the School of Public Health. 212 of the graduates have acquired first degrees while 204 have completed the diploma programmes. Around 40% of the graduates are female.

The College’s School of Allied Health Science offers a four-year degree program course in Clinical Laboratory Science, a five-year de-gree program in Optometry and a two-year diploma program in five different fields such as technicians in medical laboratory, optometry, physiotherapy, radiology and den-tistry.

The School of Nursing provides courses in Ophthalmology, Mental Health, Midwifery, Anesthesia, In-tensive Care Nursing and a three-year diploma program in Compre-hensive Nursing. The School of Pharmacy has a five-year degree programme in pharmacy as well as two-year courses for a diploma in associated technical proficiency. The School of Public health on its part has a four-year degree program in public health. All in all, Asmara College of Health Sciences offers nine degree and seven diploma programmes.

The academic staff of the Col-lege is composed of both nationals and expatriates. While working to cultivate and consolidate its coop-erative ties and networking with similar colleges and universities worldwide, particularly in the ar-eas of joint research, the College nonetheless pursues a purposeful programme of localization to fully substitute, over a period of time, expatriate faculty, which is around 30% at the moment, with national staff. To this end, the College has and continues to send abroad out-

standing graduates for further stud-ies.

Quality is of course of para-mount importance. In this regard, the Dean of the College, Profess-sor Berhane Girmai, described the combination of measures that are pursued on a continuous basis to improve the standards and quality of education the College offers. Tracer studies to monitor relevance of programems and competence of graduates in terms of the job mar-ket; structured as well as lateral discussions with stakeholder public and private employer institutions are components in the tool box, Profess Berhane underlines. The

use of external examiners and the creation of linkages with reputed institutions of higher education are additional instruments to bolster quality assurance and the constant upgrading of standards. To this end, the College has established solid ties with the University of Florence, Italy, while preparatory steps have been taken to cultivate similar linkages with Sudanese, Chinese, japanese and German Universities.

In regard to teaching and learning facilities, Prof. Berhane stated that the College is fairly well equipped with the requisite facilities for a limited size of the student popula-tion. However, enrolment has been

increasing steadily by about 10% annually. Expansion and upgrad-ing of the facilities will thus become imperative in the years ahead.

The Minister of Health, Ms. Amna Nurhussien, who presided over the awards- giving ceremo-ny, for her part cautioned against complacency even as she noted Eritrea’s widely-acknowledged achievements in terms of the Mil-lennium Development Goals.

“The achievements we have made in the healthcare services should not make us feel relaxed. Indeed, we should remember that a very demanding task awaits us. Our objective is to ensure access of more advanced services to the Eri-trean society. This will be achieved provided that we stay on the track”, the Minister said.

Laudable achievements in Eri-trea’s healthcare services are of course the outcome of unremit-ting Government endeavours and substantial investment. Sustain-ability of the services remains a huge challenge partly because full cost-recovery mechanisms may not be introduced in the short-term until average household incomes increase in a substantial way. Dis-ease patterns will also change with time and associated life styles. In any case, human resource devel-opment will remain pivotal in all instances thereby accentuating the imperative of higher investment in health-related institutions of tertia-ry education in the country.

7th Commencement of ACHS

College of Health Sciences, Commencement Ceremony

Minister Amina congratulating a graduate

Eritrea Profile, Wednesday july 1st , 2015 3

Mela Ghebremedhin

Children represent the future of any society. Yet they are of-ten denied requisite protection and respect of their basic rights. This has prompted policy makers and civil society organizations to strive against child exploitative activities in many parts of the world. In fact, the protection of children is an international norm facing multiple challenges such as illegal adoption, trafficking, child labor, domestic violence. The list goes on.

Protecting children, thus, is key to any society’s well being. In Eritrea’s case this role, on a policy level, falls on the Minis-try of Labor and Human Welfare. In 2008, I had an opportunity to directly engage with the Minis-try through a study I conducted. Indeed, spending time with the most vulnerable segment of so-ciety, orphaned children, allowed me to understand the importance of carrying basic values, moral and empathy towards the less for-tunate ones.

These orphaned children were constantly waiting for someone to visit them and the common ques-tion to visitors were ‘are you go-ing to take me as your child?’

Seven years later, I still re-member these months of experi-ence with those children and I was curious to see the progress made by the Ministry. As a result,

after a visit and a fruitful discus-sion with Mr Mehretab Fissahaye, the General Director of the Min-istry of Labor and Human Wel-fare (MLHW); I was delighted to witness development in terms of infrastructure with the build-ing of solar power at the orphan-age center in Godaif, Asmara, as well as the construction of a well-equipped indoor playground. I still had some questions from a development policies perspective. Certainly, child protection is part and parcel of the nation-building priorities to subsequently ensure the well being of the society as a whole.

The Ministry plays a great role in responding to social issues by drafting policies and monitoring operations throughout the country while working in constant part-nership with international and lo-cal stakeholders particularly the Ministries of Education, Health, justice as well as Local Govern-ment.

The latter is perceived as the ‘implementer’ of the policies at grass-root level. Undoubtedly, Eritrean tradition and culture play a significant role in shaping and transferring core values of col-lectivism from one generation to another. Eritrean culture has, therefore, a pronounced impact in the drafting of policies and laws. Hence, the community is respon-sible for child protection. In point of fact, many international orga-nizations within the development sector tend to establish their pro-

grams on this approach.

Despite growing urbanization which is often associated with ascendancy of individualistic val-ues, Eritrean cultural norms still remain tilted towards traditional notions of collective welfare and well-being. This is interesting when looking at how these cul-tural codes are transformed into policies regarding child protec-tion.

The fact is a child is raised, not only by his/her parents but also by the community in which he/she lives. As Mr. Mehreteab explained, this perspective finds meaning in the GOE’s prioritiza-tion of children protection.

As the dignity of children is profoundly rooted, the vision is translated into the four main prin-ciples of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC), which GoE signed in August 1994: Every child has the rights to sur-vive, develop, participate and be protected. These basic principles were already put in practice dur-ing the armed struggle. Indeed, the EPLF implemented under-ground school; the ‘bet tim’hirti sewra’ or revolutionary school and organized food services for instance.

Clearly, policies in regard to the right of the child are tightly linked to the core social values of Eri-trean society under the so-called ‘haliot’, meaning the devotion to the wellbeing of others as your family member. This psychoso-cial value is enshrined in the Civil Code in which children are given the rights to life, survival, devel-opment and protection. In case of orphaned children, the responsi-bility is given first to the extended family and as a last resort to the orphanage center.

In spite of economic difficul-ties, the GOE continues to funnel substantial public investment for the provision of basic needs to-wards children and youth. These consist of free education and sub-sidized health care with emphasis on special access and protection of the less fortunate ones. As Mr. Mehreteab stressed: “investment in children has its own dynamics of payback. If we fail to do so,

it will have tremendous impact to the society later with growing criminal activities”.

As mentioned earlier, the dig-nity of children is enshrined in our cultural codes and reflected in social institutions. Indeed, con-certed efforts are made towards orphan children through differ-ent policies. Certainly, an orphan child starts his/her life with a ‘handicap’, thus, requires extra care.

As a well-known African prov-erb goes: “it takes a whole village to raise a child” and it portrays how the Eritrean society works. Therefore, when an orphan child could not be taken care by his/her extended family, the Minis-try of Labor and Human Welfare intervenes by firstly, contributing through income-generating activ-ity and grass-root monitoring.

As a last resort, the child would be taken care by the orphanage center. As a matter of fact, being raised within an institution may have consequences and create dif-ferences among children. Often the cognitive development would not be as fast as a child raised within a community or extended family. By taking this important aspect into account, the Ministry implemented a system of foster care and ‘group homes’ for or-phan children aged 5 and above.

“It takes a whole village... to raise a child”

continued on page 6

Investing in children, for a brighter tomorrow

Child protection, part and parcel of nation building

Eritrea Profile, Wednesday july 1st , 2015 4

Communitarian theory is dis-cussed here as the closest non main-stream, international relations theory that strongly captures the social real-ity of most African nations.

The ultimate argument is that since the assumption made by liberal political theory about human nature – driven by self-interest, individual-ism, etc – is in sharp contrast to the way an individual is viewed in the African context, the persistent cur-rent push for “liberal democracy” as the end all game is quite misguided and destructive.

Instead, what should be on offer is a political theory – in this case com-munitarian – that takes into account a culturally tailored democratization process – keyword: process – rooted in participation, obligations, com-munal bonds and a moral philosophy that recognizes people’s interrelated and interdependent roles.

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Communitarian theory empha-sizes community and society as the nucleus of social structures, and views individuals as socially con-stituted (MacIntyre 1981; Walzer 1984; Avineri and DeShalit 1992; Swift and Mulhall 1992; Sandel 1984, 1998).

The communitarian notion of the individual – as part and parcel of an extensive social network – bears very close resemblance to how indi-viduals are viewed in African societ-ies in general and the Eritrean con-text in particular.

More specifically, the Eritrean Government’s focus on social obli-gations and active communal par-ticipation and the way it appears to situate the ultimate common good above individual rights seems to resemble communitarian theory in its most moralistic and altruistic ele-ments.

This notion is quite different from the currently dominant liberal politi-cal theory, which places the right of the individual over the ultimate good of the community as a whole.

At the core of liberal political the-ory are works such as john Rawls’ A Theory of Justice. For Rawls, the principle of liberty, namely civil and political liberties, should be pri-oritized above all other principles. Rawls argues that each individual has an intrinsic dignity that should never be forfeited for the sake of her or his community. Society, as Rawls sees it, is a neutral ground within which individuals pursue their own interests. In other words, the indi-vidual is placed at the core of politi-cal liberal theory and the state acts as a neutral body there only to allow each individual to pursue her or his own end without endorsing a spe-cific notion of the good.

Now contrast this with the way communitarians view the role of the individual within society – especial-ly one that values social justice as its core – and the applicability of this view on the African context.

Communitarians emphasize the

importance of individual behavior based on the overarching good of the society instead of the individual-centered lives that a liberal state en-courages.

In other words, the individualism that is so rampant and sacredly up-held in liberal theory is reconsidered and the goal of most communitarian theorists is to create a society where human beings understand their in-terrelated roles in the community and their collective highest good.

Following this logic, Sandel (1998) argues that “the case for rec-ognizing a right depends on show-ing that such a right is implicit in the shared understanding that inform the tradition or community in ques-tion”.

Another way that rights are under-stood by communitarians is in the Aristotelian sense where he argues that “before we can define people’s rights it is necessary…to first deter-mine the nature of the most desir-able way of life”. In other words, this teleological view maintains that human rights “depend for their jus-tification on the moral worth or in-trinsic good of the ends they serve”; i.e. consider and define the common good prior to underlining the indi-vidual’s rights.

According to Amitai Etzioni, one of the leading communitarian theo-rists of our time,

Commitments to the common good and to a shared community are essential because effective collective decision-making often entails imposing on various par-ticipants sacrifices for the com-mon good (Etzioni, 2004)

In other words, in order for these sacrifices and obligations to be ac-cepted by the population, they need to be endorsed by shared values, and since principles of justice are based on common good values widely shared in a particular culture, it could be argued that a unified soci-ety can flourish – politically as well as economically – within a country where traditions are strong and civic duty is valued.

Although communitarians give due weight to human liberties they greatly emphasize social responsi-

bility and communal obligations as core values of any given society. This is not to say that communitar-ians do not recognize the need for individual human rights, but that rights cannot be identified indepen-dently from a shared understanding of a common good espoused by the community at large.

The logic behind communitarian theory’s rejection of the individual as the primary concern of governance is grounded on the understanding that people’s identities are derived from the web of relationships and dependencies that make up the com-munities within which they live.

In other words, the individuals’ sense of self is acquired over time from “communities of culture and language that [they] create, main-tain, and sustain” (Swift and Mul-hall, 1992). Therefore, communitar-ians argue, because individuals are part of, voluntarily and involuntarily, intricate social attachments, any for-mulation of a system of governance has to take into account the overall common good of these attachments and has to fit the social context with-in which the individuals exist.

Therefore, striving to achieve universally applicable principles of justice might seem futile if one is dealing with an infinite number of societies each with its own tradi-tions, values and customs, which dictate its understanding of justice and the common good. What com-munitarians argue for instead is the pursuit of a common good that takes into account such understandings of communal obligations and social contexts.

As long as the values commonly espoused by a particular community

define what is believed to be just or unjust within that particular commu-nity, and the ultimate goal is the com-mon good of the community, liberal political theory’s apprehension of communal obligations is misguided at best and at worst gives way to a global environment in which chaos and anarchy reign as individuals become increasingly egocentric and self-absorbed.

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Tying all of this to the Eritrean context, one can easily trace deep streaks of communitarian theory within this country’s experience with nation building and democra-tization. More specifically, the Eri-trean Government’s focus on social obligations and active communal participation and the way it appears to situate the ultimate common good above individual rights seems to re-semble communitarian theory in its most moralistic and altruistic ele-ments.

In Eritrea, collective thinking and wellbeing guide governance and po-litical arrangements, and so author-ity and political institutions depend for their justification on common values and shared understandings rather than on individual rights and preferences.

Rather than making the individ-ual the locus of the democratiza-tion project, democracy building in Eritrea attempts to respond to and be structured around the welfare of the highest common good and the Eritrean society as a whole has an egalitarian vision of democracy that calls for a deeper understanding and definition of the individual’s rights as well as role and obligations to society.

Common Good vs. Individual Rights

“We cannot justify political arrangements without reference to common purposes and ends …. and we cannot conceive our per-sonhood without reference to our role as citizens, and as partici-pants in a common life” (Sandel 1984).

Metkel Sewra

Rahba, symbol of unity

Toiling for common good

Eritrea Profile, Wednesday july 1st , 2015 5

Meala Ghebremedhin

Venture capital is a recent phe-nomenon expanded in the era of globalization driven by economic trade since the 1980s. Venture capital has both its positive and negative effects regarding its out-comes in financing development. Indeed, there are debates around the usefulness of this practice as a venture fund.

The idea behind venture capital may seem vague to many while most investors are taking into consideration their own interests prior to investment to less devel-oped countries. The values are of-ten debated among scholars while major businesses would push for such development policies.

What is venture capital?

Venture capital is an important aspect in the financial world. In-deed, understanding its mean-ing, methods and structure are significant. This recent phenom-enon influences the investment sectors and shapes the economic system. There are major compo-nents of Venture Capital industry and there are motivations behind this investment related to devel-opment.

In fact, according to Dervichi (2011), it is related to the will of someone to takes upon risk, there-fore, the actors are entrepreneurs with innovative ideas. Taking higher risks than average inves-tors is due to the multiple ex-traordinary risks, which are often: unproven technology, business environment fragility or at early stage and new management work-ing together.

These are all combined with fi-nancial risks taken at all time in which predictability of outcomes are hardly identifiable such as Apple or Facebook. It is therefore a risk capital where both loss and profit are considerable.

Any positive impact or aspect of venture capital on develop-ment?

Venture capital, when looked in relations to development, has sev-eral positive impacts. In fact, it is often argued that most investment

has a development impact. There are three reasons: firstly, venture capital will search for returns among the whole population from the richest to the poorest and, as a result, linking population that was previously ignored with market or purchasing power accessibility.

Secondly, it will increase the information flows resulting in exposing consumers with knowl-edge and goods and services.

Thirdly, a decreasing cost of technology, which gives access to remote areas as much as purchas-ing power exist. However, these three aspects that will be factors in whether or not investing at high risks.

The question of private equity and how to create value are main-streams for any venture capital-ist in developed and developing countries that will look at three sources of values, the organic growth, multiple choice or shift arbitrage and leverage regarding people, opportunities, context and deal which are all linked with sustainability in comparative ad-vantage.

In other words, the best deal for venture capital in develop-ing countries will be to have high reward on private equity and try-ing to ‘stabilize’ the risks. For in-stance, the investment in telecom towers in Ghana was a genuine investment, which African econo-mies depend on due to the enor-mous increase of access to mo-bile communication throughout the continent and, consequently, high competition and high profit for venture funds. However, ven-ture capital funds are also facing numerous challenges and criti-cism in relations to development and whether or not it contributes to it financially in less developed countries.

Critical analysis of venture capital’s impact on development

The emergence of venture capital did not only have posi-tive outcomes but also has been challenged by numerous reasons and also some negative assump-tions are matters of debate when it comes to its involvement in de-velopment especially concerning

less developed countries. Certain-ly, one of the challenges venture capital faces is regulations and legal norms and policies in coun-tries of investment which can be inadequate for it whether a British style or French/Latin style of laws are in practice.

Moreover, it is evident that the driving force of venture capital to invest is capital profits which does not always consider its impact in the country where it invests and also the moral issue. First of all, the question of taking risk is sub-ject to discussion, as many inves-tors would not invest in post-con-flict countries and instead focus-ing in more stable areas.

Despite the awareness of failure as a normal phase for any entre-preneur, it is still less probable as there is some research or, to be more crude, calculations done pri-or any decisions to invest. There is an identification of potential in-vestment made through vast net-work of offices worldwide, trav-eling and thematic investment. Even though there is willingness in having more clean energy and the use of venture fund as by some investors; there are calcula-tions on how best to get from the investment. For instance, what about solar energy in the Sahara desert to bring development, most entrepreneur would answer by saying: “yes it is a great idea, but we will need to have a pipeline to be able to bring back this energy towards us, in Europe”.

This type of answer from a social development perspective shows that the moral concern is com-pletely lacking and how the global system method creates wealth by taking the resources of the poor-est. In other words, sustaining the gap between losers and winners. As a result, there is skepticism on the real will of venture capital in financing development. The lat-ter is also a broad notion: does it mean equal distribution of share of wealth, access to employment and basic necessities? Economic growth? Or is it more about grow-ing power of elites in less devel-oped countries but also within the developed world? Therefore, the good concern of investors/entrepreneurs in financing devel-

opment by enhancing the impor-tance of having the same values in business and in life. Also the cre-ation of foundation as Rumi Ver-jiee (2011) explained. It is only a way of showing the solidarity to-wards the poorest but does it actu-ally create empowerment or keep the dependency relations between donors and receivers?

Indeed, there is a global issue on the impact investing fund has and as a result, many hybrid or-ganizations where charity or busi-ness goals are blurred with unco-ordinated innovation stage with far too many financial-first inves-tors around the world.

Venture capital for Eritrea’s development?

Venture capital is a phenome-non, which is exploding at global level especially with the interest towards emerging countries such as Brazil or India.

It is an interesting method in in-vesting where the amount of risks is high and dependent on innova-tion and young companies. How-ever, there is still a gap of will-ingness to invest in other parts of the world mainly the African continent.

The latter is only matter of debate concerning its natural re-sources or currently the commu-nication technology sector. How-ever, investing in clean energy will not be the priority as it is not conceivable to speak about envi-ronment without economic devel-opment first. It will be interesting

if there will be long-term aims behind venture capital instead of investing for a maximum of 3 to 5 years to then resell it. Plus, the positive aspects that are high-lighted hide important aspect of development. Indeed, it is impor-tant to draw attention that venture capital is a profit driven system rather than development driven. Therefore, the viability of venture capital in financing development is highly controversial.

Wouldn’t it be interesting to enhance regional trade as a way towards development prior to North-South trade relations, which evidently is beneficial to-wards the venture capitalist entre-preneurs in the North and elites in the South?

In regards to Eritrea’s efforts for

development, the use of venture capital would be matter of debate. In fact, countries with investment through venture capital methods would only focus on the interests of the investors with disillusioned impact to the concerned country. To strengthen this statement, the value of self-reliance and long-term development would clash with venture capital, as it would only focus on a 3-5 year period. The circle of investment would only create more harm to coun-try in phase of development by enhancing inequality among the people of Eritrea. Creating a sense of professionalism and en-trepreneurship, which respect the values of Eritrean culture, would be key to sustainable develop-ment of Eritrea.

Is Venture Capital a Viable financial Instrument for development?

Nakfa, Eritrea’s national currency

6Eritrea Profile, Wednesday july 1st , 2015

continued from page 3

Excerpts from Eritrea’s statement at the East African regional Countering Violent Extremism (CVE) conference that was held from June 25 to 27 in Nairobi, Ke-nya

Terrorism is a complex phenomenon that is a threat to international peace and secu-rity. In all continents, violent extremism, terrorism and all forms of bigotry and intol-erance are spreading. As witnessed in many countries, state failures are creating a pow-er vacuum that allows terrorist elements to obtain unsettling measures of power.

Eritrea strongly believes that violent extremism and terrorist acts constitute a flagrant violation of international law and human indecency. Eritrea reaffirms its un-equivocal condemnation of terrorism in all its forms and manifestations.

Eritrea also strongly believes that acts of violent extremism should not be associated with any single religion, nationality, civili-zation or ethnic group.

When combating violent extremism any action taken must be consistent with inter-national law. The United Nations, as well as regional organizations, should play an im-portant role in combating violent extremism and respecting the rules of engagement.

In the volatile region of the Horn of Af-rica, Eritrea remains a peaceful and stable country. Despite the ongoing security chal-lenges in the region and the unjust sanc-tions imposed on the people of Eritrea for political reasons, the Government of Eri-trea maintains social cohesion by pursuing a policy centered on inclusion having been victim to terrorist attacks in the past, spe-cifically in the nineties.

And it is from this experience, that in or-der to combat all types of extremism and terrorism, Eritrea, which is 50% Muslims and 50% Christian nation, was able to put in place various national legislative mea-sures and took concrete actions.

Eritrea has submitted its national report to the Counter Terrorism Committee, pur-suant to paragraph 6 of UNSC resolution 1373 (2001) as well as to UNSC resolution 1646 (2005).

In 2014, Eritrea has introduced proclama-tion no. 175/2014 titled “The Anti-Money Laundering and Combating Financing of Terrorism Proclamation”.

Eritrea is a party to the AU/ OAU Con-vention on the Prevention and Combating of Terrorism and other relevant regional conventions, including the CEN-SAD Con-vention on Mutual Assistance in Security matters which allows the members to take stringent and tough measures to prevent terrorism, hostile activities and organized crimes in various forms.

Furthermore, Eritrea has co-sponsored the recently adopted Security Council resolution on combating Foreign Terrorist Fighters.

To effectively combat the danger posed by terrorists, as the theme of the conference is calling upon us,

A unified global response is needed. •

Intensified cooperation on in-•formation sharing and exchanging of best practices among countries and other stake holders is also essential.

Underlining the need to effec-•tively prevent and control the spread of terrorism, equal emphasis and re-source should be devoted to the four pil-lars identified in the Global Counter Terrorism Strategy, including the root causes of terrorism or extreme violence.

Long standing inter and intra-state •conflicts as well as politically motivated unjust sanctions imposed against any de-veloping countries must also be addressed as part of the overall strategy in fighting all forms of terrorism.

Finally, sanctioning a developing coun-try will only perpetuate poverty and aggra-vate social and political crisis. Poverty and crisis as has been said many times before are issues that terrorists attempt to exploit. They use poverty and crisis as a means of recruitment. They also used them to justify their criminal activities.

We should fight all forms of violent ex-tremism collectively and comprehensively.

Eritrea’s Statement

at Countering Violent Extremism Summit

Foster care is a transition before adop-tion and it provides protection and basic necessities. The institution known, as ‘group home’ is a revolutionary one and Eritrea is one of the few countries that employs it. Indeed, after independence, group homes were created when the age limit of around 5-6 years was implement-ed for children to be placed in orphanage center.

Seven years ago, I visited one group home in the village of Tsaeda Christian, near Asmara. The group home consisted of a woman who took the responsibil-ity of orphan children as her own and a worker helped her. The GoE would provide the basic needs such as housing and food. The number of children could reach 12 within one family. The group home in this village is situated right at the center of town. It is a family house with plenty of rooms and the children are integrated within the local community. At the time of my visit, the administrator of the village came over and the children welcomed him by calling him ‘baba’. I was positively surprised of his dedica-tion to these children.

I still remember today how he ex-plained to me that these children who were left alone for different reasons have now a place to call home, a mother and a village to look after them. This group home shows how it has an impact not only on children but the community as a whole. The home was, in some sense, an incubator of empathy and generosity to the most vulnerable ones..

Child protection and development

“It takes a whole village...

are keys to Eritrea’s sustainable devel-opment. Orphaned children should be raised in conformity with the society’s code of conduct. With these consider-ations in mind, I asked Mr. Mehreteab the modalities the Ministry utilizes to monitor the adoption process.

My particular concerns emanated from the lack of rigorous monitoring practices in the adoption system in many parts of the world. While human rights activists point fingers on Eritrea in regards to its human rights records, one aspect, which is often neglected, is the strict policies in regards to adoption. International or-ganizations often tried to have the GoE as a signatory of international adoption convention.

However, as Eritrea believes in com-munity-based approach as the best meth-od to raise children, any parent who may wish to adopt would have to fulfill strict requirements. One amongst them is to be an Eritrean national whether living in the Diaspora or in the country. It is not sufficient to be of Eritrean origin but to also have close links with the community through the different local associations as well as the Embassy.

The protection and development of children in Eritrea is thus at the core of Eritrean policies in which the role of the community is prioritized and portrayed as a psycho-social ‘healer’. As children are the future of the society, this long-term approach will benefit generations to come.

Eritrea Profile, Wednesday july 1st , 2015 7

Rahel A.

Eritrea is a land endowed with natural and cultural heritage that appeals to tourists, from inside and outside the country. Beauti-ful landscapes in the highlands and lowlands, valleys, mountains, hills, and ridges are awe inspir-ing to anyone who happens to visit those places. The picturesque landscapes, which are season-ally blanketed by green carpets of grass, flowers and bushes, are breathtaking to the viewers and a soothing sight to the sore eyes.

The cultural relics including remains of houses and household utensils to architectural ruins, tracing their times to ancient hu-man civilizations are found in this very land, spreading in ev-ery corner of the country. There are different historical places: the Steles of Metera and Qohaito; the monasteries of Debre Sina, Ham and Debre Bizen; Mariam Dearit; the Liberation Struggle trenches in Nakfa; rock paintings in Karura; ancient ports of Zula and Adulis… the list goes on.

The Anseba Region is home to some of the most prominent histori-cal sites in the country, one of them being the Monastery of Debra Sina.

Situated in the Eritrean high-lands, just around 18 kilometers east of the town of Elabered, on

the Asmara-Keren road, the Mon-astery of Debre Sina is a site of pilgrimage by Eritrean Orthodox Tewahdo believers each year in the month of june.

This year, the commemoration was colorfully celebrated this past Sunday, june 28.

The pilgrimage centers on a church above the village where a vision of St. Mary was said to have been seen by shepherd girls be-neath a large boulder. The church is built adjacent to and over the rock where the vision was seen.

The Debre Sina pilgrimage in-cludes thousands of ordinary Eri-trean believers camping for one night in the village of Debra Sina, singing, drumming, chanting and celebrating the Virgin Mary.

The journey from Elabered to Debre Sina is quite an arduous one. One has to climb to the mon-astery through a steep slope dry weather road; very challenging for cars and buses to go through.

During the celebration in which I participated I wit-nessed more than 300 buses and countless smaller cars mak-ing their way to the monastery.

Many more pilgrims also go on foot the whole 18 kilometers, climbing the hill and carrying their food and drink. Even though the journey is exhausting, they manage to reach their destination safely.

I also witnessed the generos-ity of Eritreans. Inhabitants of the area, were offering free wa-ter and food to those who were climbing on foot. They welcomed these complete strangers to their house for shelter. Some of the inhabitants were also offering Siwa (traditional drink) to any-one who passed by their doors.

When we reached the monas-tery, everybody was so relieved to reach at the top of the mountain. Finding a parking lot was another difficult mission. After getting off the buses and cars, every-one starts packing and arranging their things, then walk for about a kilometer to the church, call the time carrying our belongings.

Once again, I observed the kind-ness of the youth and children of that area. They ask you if you need any help and offer their hands to support to carry your belongings. You feel so proud to be part of this harmonious and loving people.

The Pilgrimage to debre Sina

When we reached to our final destination, we could see down to where the buses were parked. There you can’t help but notice how all those buses made out that almost triangular shape of Eritrea. Everybody was happy and cheered with amazement.

The pilgrims were singing prais-ing song all the way the 83 kilo-meter starting from Asmara. The themes of their songs were God to bless Eritrea, peace to prevail, to have peace and love with one an-other, the safely to their respective homes and to have a good rainy season. What the mothers were asking St. Mary through their songs all the way were really heart touching and astonishing. Both Muslims and Christians make the pilgrimage to Debre Sina.

The landscape inside the mon-astery is unbelievable. Every rock you see seems to be carved out by a great architect. The pil-grims continue praying all the way into the night and the next day. Despite the freezing night air, the pilgrims were kept pray-ing and chanting praise hymns.

The older, inner part of the church (which unlike many monasteries in Eritrea is open to both men and women) is hewn from rock and, accord-ing to local tradition, is 2100 years old. The troglodyte dwell-ings of the 60 nuns and priests who live there can be visited.

One of the oldest religious sites in Africa, thought to date from the 6th Century AD, Debre Sina could play a great role in reviving the tourism industry in Eritrea. And for that to happen, we have to work hard towards developing the basic infrastructure and espe-cially the road that leads to the monastery.

The Ministry of Tourism has to work relentlessly to guarantee easier and more comfortable ac-cessibility to the place, so as to make it a tourist-luring site.Natural rock formation at Debre Sina

Debre Sina Monastery

Eritrea Profile, Wednesday july 1st , 2015 8

Prof. Tadesse Mehari, Executive Director of the National Commis-sion for Higher Education, gave an interview to the local media on the ongoing endeavors that the GoE is making to nurture professionals in various fields of education. Follow-ing is a brief summary of the inter-view.

On the increasing number of graduates and its impact on the nation’s HRD endeavors…

It has only been 10 years since the establishment of these institutions of higher education and in this rela-tively short period, they have been making a rather significant contri-bution. Despite all of our problems, these institutions have been gradu-ating from 2500 to 2700 students in degree and diploma annually, in ad-dition to some postgraduate levels.

On the number of graduates this year…

Although we don’t have the final statistical figures at hand yet, we are expecting for at least 2700 students to graduate this year. We have 59 departments in the degree program, 45 in the diploma and another 12 for the postgraduate program. We also have the medicine and den-tistry programs. So the number of graduates is inclusive of all these programs.

On the benefits of having almost eight colleges as opposed to a sin-gle university…

It is true Asmara University was the only university and it was pro-gressing well, with about nine fac-ulties (colleges) and some postgrad-

uate courses. But its facilities were limited. We could only accept not more than 1200 students in a given year, and these were students who scored 2.4 and above in the ma-triculation. Higher education was confined within Asmara but with the opening of seven new colleges in the 2004/2005 academic year, it was able to be distributed across the different regions in the country.

At present, we are accepting ev-ery year between 4000 – 5000 stu-dents for degree and diploma pro-grams. This is four times more than the number of students that Asmara University used to accept. In terms of the overall number of students, we had almost 5000 students, in-cluding those in the Paradiso and Halhale campuses. Today we have about 13,000 – 14,000 students in all these colleges, which is almost threefold. Although we cannot say this is adequate, we have at least ex-panded the opportunities for higher education across the country.

On the gender ratio among stu-dents…

There is a positive discrimina-tion policy implemented to encour-age female students with access to higher education by lowering by one scale the passing grade. We started with 25% and now almost 40% female students are enrolled. It shows progress but it is not enough for us.

On the location of the colleges and their conformity with the courses they offer…

The colleges were all established in the right place. If we take the Col-lege of Marine Sciences and Tech-nology for instance, Massawa was

selected as the base location because the college’s courses are directly related to the sea and aquatic sci-ences. Hamelmalo was chosen for the College of Agriculture because that’s where the Anseba River flows and has vast terrain for agriculture. Similarly, the Adi Keyih College of Arts and Social Sciences is situated in a historical place because it is the right place for courses like History, Archaeology and related fields.

On the colleges’ partnership with other institutions…

There are two kinds of partner-ships: internal and external. In-ternally, all colleges have strong relations with the line ministries and government institutions. The College of Agriculture, for exam-ple, has strong connections with the Ministry of Agriculture and the Halahale based National Agricul-tural Research Institute.

The course syllabuses, the de-sired expertise, the curriculum are all drafted in consultation with these internal partners. But that is not enough, and that’s where the external (or foreign) partners come in. The colleges make contact and build up relations with their foreign counterparts. This helps us in hav-ing globally recognized and com-petitive curricula, as well as equally competitive graduates with global standards of excellence. To achieve the latter, particularly in postgradu-ate studies and medicine, we bring in external examiners from abroad. They help us accredit our curricu-lums and the aptitude of our gradu-ates.

On the international recognition

and accreditation of the Eritrean higher education institutions…

For Eritrea, the recognition and accreditation depends on the pro-gram and the achievements of stu-dents within this specific program. For instance, the University of Asmara was linked with an institu-tion outside the country. As I said before, we have now partnerships with higher education institutions throughout the world and we are sending many of our students and graduate assistants abroad to com-plete their Masters or PhD and are often doing better than average stu-dents there.

On the number of graduates sent abroad…

We have so far sent about 350 graduate assistants with the aim to train abroad for their Masters and/or PhD. We have also started post-graduate programs locally in Eri-trean Institute of Technology and Hamelmalo College of Agriculture with about 60 graduates at Masters level and they are now working with the higher education system in Eritrea and being able to replace the expatriates. And we will further implement to other institutions.

On the availability of online pro-grams…

The only online learning platform we have is for the Masters level at EIT, which is funded by the Indian Government. We have also started peer education at Orotta School of Medicine but it is still at its early stages. We are also introducing tablets for education through the fundraising of the Diaspora with

250 already received. We are also working with introducing the digi-tal library system, which will allow students to have greater access to learning resources.

On the ongoing challenges and plans to overcome them…

One of our main problems is the lack of qualified national staff. We have been recruiting many expa-triate instructors. We have also re-cently signed a memorandum with some companies in Kenya and the coming academic year we will have Kenyan academics teaching here. We also have several Sudanese pro-fessors already teaching here. But this is not sustainable because we need to have our own national staff. So we adopted a strategy of send-ing graduate assistants abroad for further education so they can return home and assume their teaching po-sitions.

The other challenge is Internet connectivity, which challenges the functioning of the higher education system. In the future we are plan-ning to expand our higher education facilities and increase the number of institutions. We are also planning to implement private higher educa-tion system as long as it would pro-vide the guidelines and imperatives given by the national commission of higher education.

But although we are facing short-ages in national staff, those who are working are qualified and dedi-cated. The students are also of good calibers with great ambitious to pursue their studies. Also the role of the Government of Eritrea to al-low thousands of students to study for free is also strength.

Investing in Higher Education Key to Capacity development

Commencement ceremony at University of Asmara

Prof. Tadesse Mehari