Search

This study aims to explain the patterns of species richness and nestedness of a terrestrial bird community in a poorly studied region. Twenty-six islands in the Dahlak Archipelago, Southern Red Sea, Eritrea. The islands and five mainland areas were censused in summer 1999 and winter 2001. To study the importance of island size, isolation from the mainland and inter-island distance, I used constrained null models for the nestedness temperature calculator and a cluster analysis. Species richness depended on island area and isolation from the mainland. Nestedness was detected, even when passive sampling was accounted for. The nested rank of islands was correlated with area and species richness, but not with isolation. Idiosyncrasies appeared among species-poor and species-rich islands, and among common and rare species. Cluster analysis showed differences among species-rich islands, close similarity among species-poor and idiosyncratic islands, and that the compositional similarity among islands decreased with increasing inter-island distance. Thus, faunas of species-poor, smaller islands were more likely to be subsets of faunas of species-rich, larger islands if the distance between the islands was short. Species richness and nestedness were related to island area, and nestedness also to inter-island distances but not to isolation from the mainland. Thus, nestedness and species richness are not affected in the same way by area and distance. Moreover, idiosyncrasies may have been the outcome of species distributions among islands being influenced also by non-nested distributions of habitats, inter–specific interactions, and differences in species distributions across the mainland. Idiosyncrasies in nested patterns may be as important as the nested pattern itself for conservation – and conservation strategies based on nestedness and strong area effects (e.g. protection of only larger islands) may fail to preserve idiosyncratic species/habitats. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper contributes a conceptual and empirical reflection on the relationship between human smuggling, trafficking and kidnapping, and extortion in Libya. It is based on qualitative interview data with Eritrean asylum seekers in Italy. Different tribal regimes control separate territories in Libya, which leads to different experiences for migrants depending on which territory they enter, such as Eritreans entering in the southeast Toubou controlled territory. We put forth that the kidnapping and extortion experienced by Eritreans in Libya is neither trafficking, nor smuggling, but a crime against humanity orchestrated by an organized criminal network. The paper details this argument and discusses the implications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: To estimate Eritrean national blood demand and demand satisfaction and to assess the associated trend of blood and blood products usage. Background: Estimating blood demand to determine collection goals is a challenge in many low‐income countries, including Eritrea. Methodology: This study was a 5‐year survey of a representative sample of hospitals and was conducted in the National Blood Transfusion Center of Eritrea. Four referral hospitals in Asmara were selected. Blood bank registers and blood request papers were reviewed retrospectively from 2013 to 2017 to determine the number of components requested and the number and units issued. Data were calculated for annual trends in the difference between request and issue of blood products and the annual national estimate. Results: The largest met‐demand percentages were seen for International Organization for Cardiac Centre Asmara (IOCCA) (88.63%) followed by surgeries (79.49%), active bleeding (73.76%) and anaemia (67.82%), which were mostly requested for adult patients (>40 years). The mean value of requested products and issued products per patient were 2.50 (±0.972) and 1.81 (±0.839), respectively. The calculated correlation coefficient for the difference between demand and demand satisfaction was strong (R2 = 0.967), implying an increasing linear difference. It was estimated that nearly 72% of blood component demand was met over the 5 years. Conclusion: Even though there was an increase in blood collection over years, the Eritrean National Blood Transfusion Services (NBTS) still falls short in satisfying the full demand. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Food security is about ensuring that all people at all times have both physical and economic access to the basic food they need. In a number of African countries chronic malnutrition and transitory food insecurity are pervasive. Like most African countries, Eritrea is also a victim of the problem of food insecurity. Based on this historical and recurrent food insecurity in Eritrea, an attempt is made in this paper to assess the possible causes of food insecurity in the country. Furthermore, the paper captures the available food security policy proposals of Eritrea and eventually draws conclusions and extends possible recommendations and policy remedies suited to the country. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article examines the role of education in nation‐building in postcolonial Africa. The postcolonial African nationalist leaders faced formidable challenges in building new nations out of disparate ethnic, religious, cultural, and linguistic groups, particularly as regards the two intimately related processes of deconstruction and construction. While deconstruction entailed dismantling the structures, institutions, and power relations of the colonial period, construction entailed replacing them with relevant national institutions, structures, authorities, and mechanisms. Education was to advance the process of construction and transformation as a pedagogical instrument for cultivating a national identity by fostering integration and cohesion. One of the nationalist leaders' biggest mistakes, however, was to adopt a homogenizing strategy of nation‐building. The paper subscribes to the conception of heterogeneity as a nation‐building strategy, where ethnic and civic (sub‐national and national) layers constitute the nation. The overall focus of the article is a conceptual and theoretical analysis of the nexus between education and nation‐building in postcolonial Africa. The central argument is that education plays a decisive role in nation‐building in Africa. Eritrea is selected as an empirical case study to advance this argument. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Afar is undergoing the final stages of continental rifting and hosts the triple junction between the Red Sea, Gulf of Aden, and Main Ethiopian rifts. To better understand the nature of the crust and continental breakup in the region, we calculate teleseismic receiver functions across northeastern Afar and the Danakil microplate, using new data from a regional deployment in Eritrea. We estimate the Moho depth and bulk crustal VP/VS ratio using the H‐κ stacking method. The heterogeneity of our crustal thickness estimates (∼19–35 km) indicates that the Danakil microplate has undergone stretching and crustal thinning. By investigating the relationship between crustal thickness and topographic elevation, we estimate the regional crustal bulk density as ρc ≈ 2,850 ± 20 kg m−3, which is higher than expected, given the crustal thickness of the region. We show that topography is 1.5 ± 0.4 km higher than would be expected due to crustal isostasy alone. We propose that this topography is supported by the same hot mantle upwelling suggested to be responsible for the onset of rifting in East Africa. Uplift is generated due to the presence of a hot thermal anomaly beneath the plate and by thinning of the lithospheric mantle. Our results are consistent with a number of independent constraints on the thermal structure of the asthenospheric and lithospheric mantle. Evidence of melt within the crust is provided by anomalously high VP/VS ratios of >1.9, demonstrating that magma‐assisted extension continues to be important in the final stages of continental breakup. Plain Language Summary: Afar is an area of northern Ethiopia that extends into Eritrea. It hosts three tectonic plate boundaries that are pulling apart from one another (rifting) as continental breakup is occurring. These rifting processes have led to a complicated tectonic history; isolating a small microcontinent (the Danakil) and giving rise to volcanism across the region. To better understand the nature of the crust, we study seismic data to estimate the crustal thickness and the ratio of seismic wave speeds. Our results indicate that the crust shows substantial variation in thickness, meaning that the Danakil microplate has undergone crustal thinning. We use our results to determine that dynamic mantle processes are responsible for supporting the elevation of the region. We also show that partially molten rock (magma) is likely to be present in the crust beneath northeastern Afar and the Danakil microplate, which is evidence that magma assists with continental breakup. Key Points: Receiver functions produce the first estimates of Eritrean bulk crustal propertiesThe crust of Afar and the Danakil microplate is denser than global average and highly heterogeneousEvidence found for melt within crust and for support from hotter mantle propping up topography beneath Afar and the Danakil microplate [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

While there is little doubt that highly skilled workers in many Least Developed Countries (LDCs) are scarce, it is also true that many highly trained professionals have left LDCs to go and work in the developed world. The latter, known as the “brain drain,” or simply human capital flight, is not at all a new phenomenon; it has only become more pronounced in recent years. This paper delves into the causes, challenges, and prospects of the phenomenon of the “brain drain” in LDCs, by taking Eritrea as a case study. In so doing, it demonstrates that deteriorating economic conditions, lack of good governance and political instability are the root causes of the “brain drain” in LDCs such as Eritrea. The paper also highlights the impact of the “brain drain”, and suggests some of the measures that may be put in place by governments of LDCs in order to redress the situation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper analyses whether the effects of monitoring and social ties of the group leader and other group members on repayment performance of groups differ, using data from an extensive questionnaire held in Eritrea among participants of 102 groups. We hypothesize that the monitoring activities and social ties of the group leader have a stronger positive impact on the repayment performance of groups. The results show that social ties of the group leader do have a positive effect on repayment performance of groups, whereas this is not true for social ties of other group members. We do not find evidence for the hypothesis that monitoring activities of the group leader have a stronger positive impact on group repayment performance. All variables measuring monitoring activities, either of the group leader or the other group members, are found to be statistically insignificant. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses the efforts made by the U.S. National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), the U.S. Council on African Affairs (CAA), and African American activists such as actor and singer Paul Robeson in advancing self-determination in African countries Somalia, Libya, and Eritrea between 1945 and 1949. The author argues that the critical assessment of African American scholar W.E.B. Du Bois regarding the efforts of the NAACP overshadowed and undervalued the role the NAACP played in African self-determination. The article examines tensions between leftist and conservative African Americans. It also discusses financial aid delivered by the NAACP to organizations such as the Somali Youth League (SYL).

Objective This paper describes determinants of insecticide treated net (ITN) ownership and use in malarious areas of Eritrea. With ITN distribution and re-treatment now free for all living in these areas, we examine barriers (other than cost) to access and use of ITNs. We explore the differences between use of an ITN as a proportion of all households in the survey (the roll back malaria indicator), and use of an ITN as a proportion of those households who already own an ITN. Methods A modified two-stage cluster design was used to collect data from a sample of households ( n = 2341) in the three most malarious administrative zobas (zones or provinces). Logistic regression was used to analyse the data. Results Our findings suggest environmental heterogeneity among zobas (including program effects specific to each zoba), perception of risk, and proximity to a clinic are important predictors of ITN possession and use. Among households with at least one ITN, 17.0% reported that children under five were not under an ITN the night before the survey, while half of all such households did not have all occupants using them the night before the survey. The number of ITNs, as well as zoba, was also significant determinants of use in these households with at least one ITN. Conclusion Current efforts to disseminate ITNs to vulnerable populations in Eritrea are working, as suggested by high ITN ownership and net-to-person ratios inside households. However, the gap between ITN ownership and use, given ownership, is large, and may represent lost opportunities to prevent infection. Closing this gap requires concerted efforts to change behaviour to ensure that all household members use ITNs as consistently and correctly as possible during and following the rains. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines the 1998–2000‘border’ war between Eritrea and Ethiopia and its continuing legacies from the perspective of food security.1 Focusing on the food crisis that hit both countries during the same period and was allowed to develop into a famine in southeast Ethiopia, it argues that this was linked with the war in more ways than hitherto recognised. Such connections can be appreciated only by taking a longer-term view of the decline of the rural economy of which this food crisis was part, factoring in the role played by this and other conflicts that have flared up in the region. An analysis of this kind might have helped donors and aid agencies to respond more effectively both to short-term humanitarian needs in the midst of an inter-state war and to the need for longer-term support for food security in a region beset by endemic conflict. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper presents the results of the 2002 Eritrea Demographic and Health Survey (2002 EDHS) conducted by the National Statistics and Evaluation Office, Asmara, Eritrea, within the framework of the Demographic and Health Survey of ORC Macro. Data for the nationally representative 2002 EDHS were collected from 9,389 household and complete interviews were carried out among women aged 15-49. The fieldwork took place between the last week of March and the first week of July 2002. The paper discusses the general characteristics of the surveyed population. Statistics are presented on the knowledge, use and methods of contraception among the respondents. Also, the types of assistance during delivery are analyzed.

In this paper we describe for the first time encounters of Verreaux's eagle (Aquila verreauxi ) with hamadryas baboons (Papio hamadryas hamadryas ) in the central highlands of Eritrea (15° 22′ N, 38° 58′ E, 2300 m). During 12 h of observation on 4 days, we observed four encounters of Verreaux's eagles with baboons, of which three can be classified as possible attacks. The baboons always responded with alarm calls. In three cases some immatures rushed to adult group members and clung to them, particularly to the adult male. Adult males threatened the eagle, and the whole group did not flee. The response of baboons towards smaller raptors like tawny eagles (Aquila rapax ) and black kites (Milvus migrans ) was very different. The adult baboons gave no alarm barks but scanned the raptors. The permanent presence of a pair of Verreaux's eagles in the home range of the baboons may represent a considerable predation pressure, at least for immature baboons. Am. J. Primatol. 47:61–66, 1999. © 1999 Wiley-Liss, Inc. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Understanding the crustal structure and the storage and movement of fluids beneath a volcano is necessary for characterizing volcanic hazard, geothermal prospects and potential mineral resources. This study uses local earthquake traveltime tomography to image the seismic velocity structure beneath Nabro, an off‐rift volcano located within the central part of the Danakil microplate near the Ethiopia‐Eritrea border. Nabro underwent its first historically documented eruption in June 2011, thereby providing an opportunity to analyze its post‐eruptive state by mapping subsurface fluid distributions. We use a catalog of earthquakes detected on a temporary seismic array using machine learning methods to simultaneously relocate the seismicity and invert for the three‐dimensional P‐ and S‐wave velocity structures (VP, VS) and the ratio between them (VP/VS). Overall, our model shows higher than average P‐ and S‐wave velocities, suggesting the presence of high‐strength, solidified intrusive magmatic rocks in the crust. We identify an aseismic region of low VP, low VS, and high VP/VS ratio at depths of 6–10 km b.s.l., interpreted as the primary melt storage region that fed the 2011 eruption. Above this is a zone of high VS, low VP, and low VP/VS ratio, representing an intrusive complex of fractured rocks partially saturated with over‐pressurized gases. Our observations identify the persistence of magma in the subsurface following the eruption, and track the degassing of this melt through the crust to the surface. The presence of volatiles and high temperatures within the shallow crust indicate that Nabro is a viable candidate for geothermal exploration. Plain Language Summary: Understanding the structure of the crust and the distribution and movement of fluids beneath a volcano allows for the assessment of volcanic hazard, geothermal potential and possible mineral extraction. To identify different regions of the crust and differentiate between fluids, we use the fact that the speed of seismic waves depends on the material they are traveling through. For example, seismic waves will travel through magma (molten, or liquid, rock) at lower speeds than in the surrounding rock. The focus of this study is Nabro volcano in Eritrea, which erupted in 2011. We use earthquakes that have been automatically detected following the eruption to image the structure of the crust in the form of 3D variations in seismic wave speeds. This identifies a volume of magma stored at depths of 6–10 km below sea level, which fed the eruption. Above this, we observe a region of rocks that are likely remnants of earlier eruptions at Nabro, with fractures containing gases at high pressure. The source of this high pressure is the release of gas from the magma storage zone. The presence of hot fluids means Nabro could be used as a source of geothermal power in the future. Key Points: 3D seismic modeling reveals the structure of the magmatic and hydrothermal systems beneath Nabro volcano in EritreaThe primary melt storage region feeding the 2011 eruption is located at depths of 6–10 km below sea levelDegassing from the magma storage zone causes overpressure in partially saturated, fractured intrusive complex above [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Refugees children and families cope with the complexities and opportunities of living in a new country. Based on in‐depth interviews with Eritrean parents in Israel and the social workers who serve them, this article explores the relationship between exclusionary state policies, the negative social construction of refugees and parenthood experiences. It presents two main types of unparenting, which can be defined as the interrelation between structural power and the intimate parent–child relationship: direct unparenting, reflecting the physical and psychological impact on parenting of family deportations and welfare interventions in at‐risk situations and more veiled unparenting, reflecting the accrual of a lack of legal status and rights and its impact – and that of racism – on the lack of parental resources such as time, income, education, emotional availability and, ultimately, the ability to 'be parents'. Such precariousness further impairs parents' mental recovery, which in turn negatively impacts children's well‐being. Still, parents' resilience is demonstrated by their ability to manage work, family and community life. We conclude by noting a dearth in the research on the impact of socio‐political and legal contexts of the familial sphere, as well as the need to politicize social work practice with refugee children and families. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper tries to identify the correlates of poverty in urban Eritrea using an estimation technique (the DOGEV model) that also allows for the inclusion of a measure of 'persistence' in poverty levels from cross-sectional estimation. The results suggest that 17 percent of the probability of being moderately poor and 22 percent of the probability of being extremely poor in Eritrea was attributable to this 'persistence'-a predisposition toward poverty likely due to latent attributes related to past experience of poverty itself. The results also suggest that, in the post-war economy of the mid-1990s, those with vocational training fared best among all education groups. Being a war veteran also had a strong negative association with the poverty-reflecting successful attempts to support that group. The receipt of remittances also reduced the likelihood of poverty; though receipts from outside Eritrea had a much stronger effect than receipts from within Eritrea. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study explores the teleconnection between the boreal summer precipitation for the central highlands of Eritrea, with respect to global sea‐surface temperature (SST) and atmospheric parameters (winds, pressure, humidity, and vertical velocity) as indirect indicators of atmospheric circulation. The central‐highland summer (Jul–Aug) precipitation (1914–2015) is significantly negatively correlated with the Atlantic Niño (ATL3) index. Similarly, with a 2‐month (May) or 1‐month lead (Jun), SSTs over the equatorial Atlantic (Gulf of Guinea) are inversely correlated with the central‐highland summer precipitation. Moreover, the regional atmospheric circulation reveals that the boreal summer precipitation series has a significant positive correlation with the westerly wind over the Gulf of Guinea at 700 hPa and a negative correlation with the Tropical Easterly Jet (TEJ) at 200 hPa. Overall, these findings depict the African Walker circulation cell, whereby a low‐level westerly wind flows from the Gulf of Guinea across central Africa, coupled with a rising branch over north‐eastern Africa, and reverses as an easterly wind at a higher level. These significant correlations between Atlantic Ocean SST as the precipitation‐driving factor enabled the development and validation of an area‐specific seasonal precipitation prediction model, as precipitation in this region is temporally and spatially highly variable. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Supervised deep learning models have become a popular choice for seismic phase arrival detection. However, they do not always perform well on out‐of‐distribution data and require large training sets to aid generalization and prevent overfitting. This can present issues when using these models in new monitoring settings. In this work, we develop a deep learning model for automating phase arrival detection at Nabro volcano using a limited amount of training data (2,498 event waveforms recorded over 35 days) through a process known as transfer learning. We use the feature extraction layers of an existing, extensively trained seismic phase picking model to form the base of a new all‐convolutional model, which we call U‐GPD. We demonstrate that transfer learning reduces overfitting and model error relative to training the same model from scratch, particularly for small training sets (e.g., 500 waveforms). The new U‐GPD model achieves greater classification accuracy and smaller arrival time residuals than off‐the‐shelf applications of two existing, extensively‐trained baseline models for a test set of 800 event and noise waveforms from Nabro volcano. When applied to 14 months of continuous Nabro data, the new U‐GPD model detects 31,387 events with at least four P‐wave arrivals and one S‐wave arrival, which is more than the original base model (26,808 events) and our existing manual catalog (2,926 events), with smaller location errors. The new model is also more efficient when applied as a sliding window, processing 14 months of data from seven stations in less than 4 h on a single graphics processing unit. Plain Language Summary: Seismic monitoring increasingly relies on automated signal processing as the rate of data acquisition grows. Supervised deep learning models have proven to be effective for detecting and characterizing seismic events, but training such highly parameterized models generally requires large amounts of manually labeled data. Once trained, however, these models extract general seismic waveform features that can be used to train new models with more limited training data. In this work, we use the generalized knowledge of seismic data from a model trained on millions of earthquakes in California to train a new model for detecting volcanic earthquakes at Nabro volcano, Eritrea, a recently active and, prior to its 2011 eruption, poorly monitored volcano. Using a small training set of waveforms, the new model more accurately detects phase arrivals and noise than off‐the‐shelf applications of two baseline models. The new model is efficient, processing 14 months of data in less than 4 h. It is also effective, detecting more volcanic events and showing improved levels of S‐wave arrival picking. The result is smaller event location errors than even our manual picks. This level of efficiency and consistency highlights the role that machine learning can play in volcano‐seismic monitoring. Key Points: Transfer learning using existing model trained on California earthquake data produces effective new model for monitoring at Nabro volcanoNabro transfer learning model shows improved S‐wave picking resulting in smaller location errors than even manual phase picksChanging task from classification to segmentation results in more efficient model processing 14 months of data from seven stations in 4 h [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The demand for food production has been constantly increasing due to rising population. In developed countries, for example, the emergence of regional production of old grains that are rarely utilized, along with the production of commonly consumed grains, has gained importance in recent years. These grains, known collectively as ancient or heirloom grains, have offered both farmers and consumers novel ways of cultivation and products with interesting taste, characteristics and nutritional value. Among the 30 000 plant species known, only five cereals currently provide more than 50% of the world's energy intake – bread wheat (Triticum aestivum), rice (Oryza sativa), sorghum (Sorghum bicolor), millets (Panicum sp.) and maize (Zea mays). The excessive utilization of these selected species has a great potential to cause genetic losses and difficulty in bridging future agricultural demands. Teff (Eragrostis tef), an ancient grain extensively cultivated in countries like Eritrea and Ethiopia, provides promising alternatives for new food uses since its nutritional value is significantly higher than most others cereal grains. The absence of gluten allows flexibility in food utilization since it can be directly substituted to gluten‐containing products. The grain also offers an excellent balance of essential amino acids and minerals, which can fulfil the recommended daily intake and eliminates the need for fortification and enrichment. This review provides a general overview of the physical properties and nutritional composition of teff grains related to processing and applications in the food and feed industries. The current status of teff utilization, as well as the challenges in production and commercialization, and future opportunities is presented and discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article reports on the approval of the integrated development plan for 2012 by the Eritrean government. The move came following the presentation of a working paper by President Issayas Afewerki that outlined the country's political, socio-economic, and cultural strategy. The country has plans to expand electrification and reinforce power-generating resources.

Focuses on the poor state of Eritrea's economy. Socioeconomic impact of the 1998-2000 border war with Ethiopia; Government officials' issuance of an Interim Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper and a national food security strategy; Country's domestic food production for 2004; Growth of macroeconomic imbalances; Progress made in reducing the overall fiscal deficit.

Despite its environmental and scientific significance, predicting gully erosion remains problematic. This is especially so in strongly contrasting and degraded regions such as the Horn of Africa. Machine learning algorithms such as random forests (RF) offer great potential to deal with the complex, often non‐linear, nature of factors controlling gully erosion. Nonetheless, their applicability at regional to continental scales remains largely untested. Moreover, such algorithms require large amounts of observations for model training and testing. Collecting such data remains an important bottleneck. Here we help to address these gaps by developing and testing a methodology to simulate gully densities across Ethiopia, Eritrea and Djibouti (total area: 1.2 million km2). We propose a methodology to quickly assess the gully head density (GHD) for representative 1 km2 study sites by visually scoring the presence of gullies in Google Earth and then converting these scores to realistic estimates of GHD. Based on this approach, we compiled GHD observations for 1,700 sites. We used these data to train sets of RF regression models that simulate GHD at a 1 km2 resolution, based on topographic/geomorphic, land cover, soil and rainfall conditions. Our approach also accounts for uncertainties in GHD observations. Independent validations showed generally acceptable simulations of regional GHD patterns. We further show that: (i) model performance strongly depends on the amount of training data used, (ii) large prediction errors mainly occur in areas where also the predicted uncertainty is large and (iii) collecting additional training data for these areas results in more drastic model performance improvements. Analyses of the feature importance of predictor variables further showed that patterns of GHD across the Horn of Africa strongly depend on NDVI and annual rainfall, but also on normalized steepness index (ksn) and distance to rivers. Overall, our work opens promising perspectives to assess gully densities at continental scales. © 2020 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In recent years, a growing number of studies have highlighted the role of technology in facilitating the circulation of the information and images that underpin migrants' journeys and aspirations. However, less attention has been paid to the social circumstances that obstruct these communication flows. Based on ethnographic work in Italy and Eritrea, in this article I show that, despite the technological possibilities that are available, contacts between Eritrean refugees in Italy and their families back home are often extremely limited. This is not the result of infrastructural under‐development, but of a bundle of social and family expectations that my informants perceive as overwhelming. My respondents in Italy maintained many transnational relationships with friends and acquaintances around the world, but generally not with their parents in Eritrea. While revisiting the literature on the moral economy of transnational families, I show that my informants' attempts to move onwards from Italy emerge from their wish to reconnect with their left‐behind kin. Only by reaching the final destination of their geographical and moral journey can they support their families back home. Only this can give them respect in the eyes of their community and restore transnational communication with their families. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Traditional attempts to delineate floristic regions are typically based on the qualitative analysis of species distribution, often ignoring the phylogenetic relationships among their taxa. Ethiopia and Eritrea are in the Horn of Africa, known as one of the world's biodiversity hotspots. We quantitatively classified the flora of Ethiopia and Eritrea into meaningful geographical units by analyzing the taxonomic and phylogenetic β‐diversity at genera, total species, and endemic species levels at a scale of 0.5° × 0.5° grid cells. Hierarchical clustering was used to quantitatively delimitate the flora and analysis of similarities was used to test the significant difference between the derived groups in taxonomic composition and phylogenetic relatedness. In total, two floristic subprovinces, five floristic districts, and 13 floristic subdistricts, as well as three centers of species endemism associated with three floristic subdistricts were identified. Our results also showed that the species diversity, endemism, and turnover of the highlands in Ethiopia and Eritrea were much higher than the lowlands, indicating that the floristic differences are closely related to the topography of the East African Rift. In this study, we provided a scientific framework for the composition and relationships of the floristic units in the Horn of Africa, and similarly provided a scientific basis for better conservation of the diversity in this region. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Meteorological series (daily precipitation, minimum and maximum air temperature) for Asmara (Eritrea) for the last 100 years (1914–2015) are analysed. The data were quality‐controlled and homogenized using publicly available data from surrounding countries as well as newly recovered data from 12 stations in Eritrea. Overall, the Asmara data showed a consistent pattern and there were no outliers outside of four standard deviations from the corresponding reference. Climate indices were calculated using the program RClimDex. Overall, 8 indices for description of the air temperature data and 10 for precipitation data were calculated. The analyses of averages and indices reveal large climatic variations in the central highlands of Eritrea. The results indicate significant changes in air temperature since 1943, with daily minimum and maximum air temperature increasing at a similar rate of 0.22 and 0.19°C/decade, respectively. The diurnal air temperature range shows a non‐significant decreasing trend over the study period. No significant variation was found in the annual total and the seasonal precipitation over the last century. Significant trends were detected for some daily precipitation indices, although the lack of reference series prevents an evaluation of their reliability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Over the past four decades, governments in the least developed countries ( LDCs - a categorization adopted by the United Nations) have been attempting to improve the skills and knowledge of their public servants by providing local and international training programs. Despite these training activities, however, many LDCs continue to experience acute shortages of high-level technical and managerial skills. This is because LDCs are increasingly unable to retain trained personnel employed in the public sector, resulting in a 'brain-drain'. The present study critically assesses that part of a major human resource development project implemented in Eritrea, an LDC, between 1998 and 2005, which provided overseas scholarships for 674 public servants. Almost two-thirds did not return to Eritrea, and the study seeks to establish the reasons for nonreturn. It identifies from the literature five factors that appear to influence return and examines the relationship between these and nonreturn. Economic and political conditions and lack of peace and stability were significant in explaining changes in nonreturn. The results point to the areas of change needed to enable LDCs to retain highly qualified nationals. These areas involve significant changes in government policy, but training providers themselves may be able to take some steps to minimize the lack of benefit from their human resource development investment. The conclusion is that the retention and effective utilization of trained people by LDCs remains challenging. In theoretical terms, the concern of this study can be seen as a macro-level expression of the transfer problem. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article focuses on the significance of the Horn of Africa during the Cold War, which comprises of several geostrategic factors. It states that Iran, as Eritrea, has shown political pragmatism in terms of foreign policy. It mentions various factors of the Eritrea-Iran alliance such as its link due to the Eritrea-Ethiopia border conflict, Somalia's global war on terrorism (GWOT) policy and the diplomatic isolation of Eritrea.

In 1998, seven years after Eritrea's independence from Ethiopia, renewed war between the two countries created rigid borders where fluid boundaries previously existed. This border making was not only an attempt to physically delineate the border between the two countries but was also a symbolic process that attempted to definitively differentiate Ethiopian from Eritrean. However, alternative nationalisms were formed in the spaces that lay in between the two nations by people who inhabited those spaces. The national identities of Eritreans born in Ethiopia, known as Amiches, ran counter to state-produced forms of nationalism in both Ethiopia and Eritrea. Amiches defined their understanding of belonging by imagining attachments to two different national spaces. In this article, I use the concept of liminality to explore the dangers that Amiches experienced when confronted with this border-making process and the sense of community that emerged from their liminal state. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Access to pediatric surgical care in many sub-Saharan African countries is strongly limited by lack of medical facilities, adequate transport system, and trained medical and nursing manpower. The mortality rate for major congenital abnormalities remains extremely elevated in this area of the world. Strong efforts have been spent during the past decades to elevate the level of pediatric surgery standards in these countries through cooperation programs acting through periodical medical missions or supporting local medical teaching institutions. This is a report of a partnership between an Italian Medical Institution and the Eritrean Ministry of Health with the goal to improve pediatric surgical standard of care in the country. Methods: During the past 4 years, teams composed of two pediatric surgeons, a pediatric anesthetist, and a pediatric nurse regularly visited the Orotta Medical and Surgical Referral Hospital of Asmara (Eritrea) to offer modern surgical treatment to children with major congenital abnormalities and to offer academic training to local medical and nursing staff. The team worked in local health structures. A total of 714 patients have been visited and 430 surgical procedures have been performed during 35 weeks of clinical work. Among them were 32 anorectal malformations, 11 Hirschsprung's disease cases, 8 bladder extrophies, and many other major surgical problems, such as congenital intestinal obstructions, obstructive uropathies, and solid tumors. Results: The standard of care has been based on the principle of researching sustainable solutions. Surgical options and timing of each procedure have been decided to reduce hospitalization and the recourse to temporary stomas, indwelling catheterization, and prolonged intravenous feeding. Posterior sagittal anorectoplasties (PSARP) and posterior vagino-anorectoplasty (PSVARP) were performed for anorectal malformations, introducing minimal technical variants to reduce the need for postoperative nursing. Endorectal pull-through of functional stoma was the treatment of choice for patients with Hirschsprung's disease because frozen sections were not possible. Eight late-referred bladder extrophy cases were all managed by internal diversion (Mainz II pouch). Solid abdominal tumors always came to observation weeks or months after the first symptoms appeared. No CT scan was available and indications of surgery were based on clinical symptoms only. Only 11 of 18 cases were resectable, and only 5 of them with favorable histology survived, 2 after adjuvant therapy abroad. A large number of hypospadias were observed at the mean age of 4.5 years. Failures of previous attempts at correction were frequently found. The postoperative complications rate progressively decreased with the use of dripping stents to avoid the risk of accidental catheter removal or kinking. Conclusions: On the basis of our experience, major pediatric surgery in many under-resourced areas of sub-Saharan Africa can be developed, taking care to adapt surgical options to local conditions. Late referral of many congenital abnormalities, the impact of local culture, difficulties to establish regular follow-up, and shortage of facilities and medical devices must always be kept in mind before transferring modern protocols of management. Strong efforts have been devoted to train local medical and nursing staff to establish pediatric surgical manpower to cope with a still largely unanswered demand of care in this area of Africa. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Reports on Eritrea's receipt of an International Development Association (IDA) grant for a HIV/AID, tuberculosis, malaria and reproductive health project. Objectives of the project.

Poverty, one of the world’s most serious problems, is particularly severe in Africa. Eritrea is a 16-year old nation that gained its independence from Ethiopia in 1993. The country’s economy was doing relatively well between 1993 and 1997. Eritrea was then exposed to numerous challenges such as drought, famines and recurrent war. As a result, poverty has become more rampant in a country where over 66 per cent of people live below the poverty line. Some families live on remittances. The government has taken some poverty alleviation measures. However, it has not mitigated poverty due to a lack of resources and a poorly implemented poverty alleviation programme. This article attempts to explore the incidence of poverty. It also provides details of poverty surveys that have been conducted since independence. It discusses various poverty challenges and provides some policy implications for development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article offers world news briefs related to government policies. An appeals court that ruled on a corruption case against Jacob Zuma, the man expected to be the next South African president, has resumed. An opposition in Zimbabwe has decided on January 30, 2009 to join a government with President Robert Mugabe that ended a political deadlock that has worsened an economic and humanitarian crisis. Meanwhile, an Eritrean movement was launched during a two-day conference in London, England.

The article discusses a study which examines the attitudes and preferences with respect to literacy and scripts in multilingual and multiscriptal Eritrea. According to the author, only an assessment of people's attitudes in Eritrea regarding literacy and scripts can make it possible to understand their opinions on the country's mother tongue education policy. A brief description of the language and literacy landscape is provided. The study shows that in multilingual and multiscriptal contexts the selection of a script for unwritten languages should assess the prevailing script and literacy attitudes of its users.

Copyright of Tropical Medicine & International Health is the property of Wiley-Blackwell and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

This study critically discusses the practices and challenges of converting the former Eritrean fighters into civil servants and their management afterwards. The study finds that, although both categories of the Eritrean civil servants (ex and non-ex-fighters) have been working together since independence, ex-fighter civil servants were given special privileges in a number of human resource management (HRM) practices, such as recruitment and selection, placement, promotion, training and compensation. That is, the political involvement in the management of the ex-fighter civil servants was considerable, which in turn has led to a certain degree of politicisation in the civil service. The Eritrean experience draws a number of lessons with regard to process, treatment within the workplace and different perceptions on the part of the two categories of civil servant. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Public policy transcends the domain of domestic policies and encompasses or even determines the type of relations that countries build with each other. It is well known that policies are nothing but decisions of governments as formal authorization on the given issue at hand. In other words, policy is a sum total of decisions made by the authority and hence it involves what governments actually do and not what they intend to do. Public opinion is a powerful criterion especially in democracies. It is provided in the constitutions and the people's role in policymaking is confirmed through this. Political parties, mass media, newspapers, and such others claim to represent public opinion. Rationality is another criteria in policymaking in which the leadership takes supposedly rational decisions on different issues of concern particularly those relating to foreign affairs. The criteria on political and economic situation depends on the actions of politicians, the legacy of the past, the nature of government organizations/institutions, and the constraints posed by domestic economic situations and conditions. Although policymakers enjoy complete independence from external control, unfortunately Third World countries such as those in Africa are not free to make their policies due to various reasons such as interdependence, and the domestic political and economic situations, compelling them to take a cue from external factors or power centers. The many conceptual models of public policy offer a wide variety of understanding on how they can be applied to different countries and to different situations. In fact, most policies are a combination of rational planning, instrumentalism, interest group activity, elite preferences, systemic forces, game planning, public choice, political processes and institutional influences. However, at times we find not all of these may be applicable to all countries. It in effect depends on the rational calculations of the countries in question how they would make or have their policies consonant with their national interests. The case of Eritrea and Ethiopia is a classic example that fits into the above paradigm and in which to enquire how their policies varied in spite of being friendly neighbors but later turning into hostile foes. What went wrong and how? Was it a product of their policy failures or was it due to historical debacles? This article therefore is an attempt to explore the current state of relations between Eritrea and Ethiopia in the light of the above-mentioned conceptual framework by showing how their mutual policies were not compatible enough to solidify their initial cordiality and friendliness. In order to do this a brief sketch of historical background is provided to help understand and analyze the impact it had on contemporary policies between them. The internal political dynamics and ideological doctrines of Eritrea are the focus of next discussion. The period of cordiality and later the period of hostility are discussed next. Finally, recent trends and future prospects are put forward. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aim We determined the present and past distribution, and the abundance, of Boswellia papyrifera in Eritrea, and the environmental and land-use factors determining its distribution limits. Location Eritrea, in the Horn of Africa. Methods In 1997 a Boswellia field survey was conducted in 113 village areas covering four administrative regions. Species occurrence was related to rainfall, air temperature and length of growing period. Additionally, the relationship between the abundance of Boswellia trees and selected physical and chemical soil factors, topography and land-use types was determined for five study areas (with a total of 144 plots) situated along an altitude gradient of 800–2000 m a.s.l. Results The geographical distribution of B. papyrifera was limited to the south-western and southern parts of the country between 800 and 1850 m altitude receiving a mean annual rainfall of 375–700 mm, with a growing period of 45–100 days. Species abundance was affected by, in order of importance: altitude, land-use intensity and soil organic matter. Most trees were found in hilly areas; tree density increased from the foot slope to the hill summit; no trees occurred in valleys. Land-use intensity, especially agriculture, fallow and grazed areas, had a profound negative effect on tree abundance. Natural regeneration of the species was promoted in areas where grazing by livestock was not allowed or regulated. Main conclusions The distribution of B. papyrifera in Eritrea has decreased during past decades, mainly due to an increasing human population, resulting in the conversion of woodlands into agricultural fields and increasing livestock pressure hindering natural regeneration. Consequently, Boswellia trees are found mainly in hilly areas on steep slopes with shallow soils of low fertility. The species appears to be able to adapt to these harsh growing conditions: in adjacent countries it was also found in comparable growth habitats. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

One central pillar of the Eritrean revolution is the modernization of gender roles within Eritrean society, through education. This article, based on ethnographic style research, looks at the personal experiences of young women in Eritrean secondary schools. These girls’ journeys are discussed in terms of gender resistance, exemplifying modernity, and gender accommodation, exemplifying tradition. It is argued that these categories are not as dichotomous as claimed by the education policy agenda: in contrast, many young women strive to find a balance between the two. Ultimately, the success of the Eritrean model of the modernization of gender roles should be measured in terms of having created an environment in which women are able to strive to fulfil their aspirations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study critically analyses and discusses the way Eritrean civil servants are trained and utilized. This study shows that, except for specific areas, scarcity of skilled civil servants could not be considered as a major problem as it was in the early 1990s. The major challenge for the government would rather be how to utilize the existing staff effectively, particularly the expertise of the ex-trainees. In addition, the findings highlight the practices and challenges of civil service training and labour utilization in most sub-Saharan Africa nations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Discusses the role of the Internet and information technology in politics and society in Eritrea. Ways in which new forms of technological and geographical mobility are changing economic, political and social conditions in the region; Analysis of pertinent topics and relevant issues; Implications for ethnology.

The large fertility decline observed in Eritrea between the mid-1990s and the early part of the new century is examined using data from two detailed national household surveys. Little evidence is found that this decrease infertility signals the beginning of a sustained decline. Rather, the results indicate that one of the outcomes of the military mobilization and displacement associated with the 1998-2000 border conflict with Ethiopia was a steep reduction in the proportion of women exposed to the risk of pregnancy. Part of this reduction was due to delayed age at marriage, but it came about largely because married women were less likely to be living with their husbands in 2002 than in 1995. Projections of the number of births that could occur if women implement their stated reproductive intentions and a postwar "baby boom" results show that the health system may be facing an increased demand for child health services over the next several years. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Discusses economic assistance projects of the United Nations to Burundi, Chad, Eritrea, Ghana, Kenya, Madagascar, and Tanzania. Food security and sustainable land management; Housing for poor families; Loans for rural electrification and energy distribution; Thermal power plant; Electricity generation; Poverty reduction; Emergency credit.

Explores the relationships between nationalism and transnationalism in constructions of Eritrean nationhood. Analysis of the ways by which Eritreans in diaspora construct nationalism and participate in Eritrean affairs from their transnational locations; Significance of nationalism in a transnational era.

The article focuses on the plant ecology of the coastal areas of northern Eritrea that is about 220 miles long and is about 20 miles in width. It accounts the geomorphology of the area together with the soils. It likewise tries to correlate vegetation type with general levels of salinity using figures given for the percentage sodium chloride in a range of soils. Moreover, it classifies the area on geomorphological grounds and divides it according to soil types and plant communities. The basis for the classifications is also discussed.

The article reports that according to activists in Eritrea, people of the country have been adversely affected by introduction of new banking rules in the country following a currency change in 2015, as of October 2016.

The article reports on the offensive action of the Ogaden National Liberation Front (ONLF) at the Ogaden region in Ethiopia. The group states that their forces have entered towns where troops and military hardware of the military are distributed. The group aims for the independence of Somalis in the Ogaden region and is funded by the government of Eritrea. On the other hand, Berhanu Nega, the former leader of Unity and Democracy Party is accused of coup d'etat in the country.

The article offers world news briefs. The Eritrean government was requested by the European Union (EU) to release all political prisoners in Brussels, Belgium. The Ministry of the Interior in Ghana has enforced new curfew hours on the Bawku Municipality after the fights between the Mamprusis and Kussasis. The United Nations (UN) Security Council decided to extend the UN peacekeeping mission (UNMIL) to provide assistance to the 2011 presidential and legislative elections in Liberia.

The article reports on the unresolved conflict between Ethiopia and Eritrea five years after United Nations peacekeepers were deployed to the two countries on a peacekeeping mission. The latest crisis was set off by Eritrea's decision to ban UN helicopter flights, rendering the mission blind to alleged troop build-ups and movements in the border region.

Reports that the United Nations (UN) has warned Eritrea to cooperate with its peacekeeping force patrolling the border with Ethiopia. Claims of UN that its staff have been illegally detained; Eritrea's accusations that several peacekeeping forces committed serious crimes; Claims of Eritrea that UN is destabilizing the region; Peace problem between Eritrea and Ethiopia.