Madam, – Last year, Human Rights Watch (HRW) published a report claiming that aid to Ethiopia was being used for political purposes. That report was promptly and convincingly denied in detail by the Development Assistance Group which investigated the allegations and published its own report, and by NGOs and donor embassies in Ethiopia. Nobody involved in aid provision and distribution in Ethiopia has substantiated HRW’s claims, nor have any investigations by NGOs and others revealed any evidence that aid is being misused. The Minister of State for Overseas Aid, Peter Power, said that Irish Aid’s assessment did not support HRW’s allegations.
Similar allegations were investigated earlier and found equally wanting. I should perhaps add that any reliable evidence of misuse of aid is always promptly and carefully investigated.
None of this has unfortunately prevented the author of HRW’s report, Ben Rawlence, from continuing to repeat his claims. HRW apparently believes that repetition can substitute for evidence or truth. Now Mr Rawlence has even gone so far as to publicise HRW’s claims before an Oireachtas committee (Dáil Report, January 20th), months after the detailed published refutation of the allegations. This does not make them any more accurate or believable.
This is not the first time Ethiopia has been criticised by HRW on the basis of unsubstantiated allegations which have repeatedly been proved false.
Indeed, it appears that for some unexplained reason HRW is determined to try to stop aid to Ethiopia. It certainly seems prepared to do anything to achieve this aim.
May I therefore emphasise that aid to Ethiopia is most gratefully received and is efficiently used, as all our development partners can and do confirm.
In the past six years, Ethiopia has achieved double-digit growth. A major reason has been our efforts to ensure that aid is properly and effectively used. May I also assure you that this will continue to be the case. – Yours, etc,