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Congressman Completes Visit to Ethiopia, Travels to Sudan
Representative Chris Smith meets with Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles
By Jim Fisher-Thompson
Washington File Staff Writer
Washington -- U.S. House of Representatives Africa Subcommittee Chairman Chris Smith (Republican of New Jersey) wrapped up a four-day official visit to Ethiopia August 17, urging Prime Minister Meles Zenawi to launch an investigation as soon as possible into post-electoral violence, and later visiting a clinic dedicated to women's health.
After his meeting with Meles, Smith also spoke to leaders of the political opposition, urging them to avoid boycotting Parliament as a protest of Meles' delayed investigation of the June violence that followed national elections.
Election results were not announced until the week of August 8, when the National Election Board of Ethiopia said that Meles' Ethiopian People's Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF) had won 318 seats in the 547-member Parliament.
"Each side has the ability to move forward in the wake of the election, and they must do so for the sake of the Ethiopian people," Smith said. "Opposition parties can play a very positive and effective role by actively participating in debates and other concerns of the country peacefully in Parliament. That is one major benefit of a two-party system."
According to his Washington staff, Smith also visited the Addis Ababa Fistula Hospital while in Ethiopia. The center performs simple surgeries to repair fistulas in women -- a painful condition, often caused by giving birth, that afflicts approximately 2 million women a year, predominantly in Africa. The condition causes nearly 8 percent of maternal deaths each year. Smith recently authored legislation that would provide $12.5 million to fund centers that treat thousands of women suffering from fistulas in Africa.
"Centers like the Addis Ababa Fistula Hospital will provide treatment and surgery that will allow hundreds of thousands of women to be physically cured and emotionally healed from this devastating condition, allowing them to return to normal life," Smith said.
From Ethiopia, Smith and House Africa Subcommittee staff member Gregg Simpkins traveled to Sudan. They plan to meet with Sudanese government leaders and the Sudan People's Liberation Movement (SPLM) to discuss continuity following the death of Vice President John Garang. They also will discuss prospects for the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) that created the national unity government.
In addition, the two will visit the troubled Darfur region and meet with Christian and Muslim religious leaders to encourage continuation of the peace process and a focus on overcoming the racial and ethnic divisions that caused the civil war, according to Smith's staff.
