Linked with The World Future Council, with How to feed Africa, with Feeding the world and restoring the land, and with When Northern Elephants Fight Over GMOs.
Tewolde Berhan Gebre Egziabher (born 1940) is an Ethiopian who won the Right Livelihood Award in 2000 « for his exemplary work to safeguard biodiversity and the traditional rights of farmers and communities to their genetic resources. » (full text).
He says: « I am local, rural, communal. And I find that the whole world is a community. We have made progress in asserting our local community rights globally. We shall continue to do so ».
He says also: « The elephants that are Europe and the US thus fight, and the grass that is Africa gets trampled ». (this link).
He received the Right Livelihood Award on 2000 « …for his exemplary work to safeguard biodiversity and the traditional rights of farmers and communities to their genetic resources ».
Tewolde Berhan Gebre Egziabher – Ethiopia
He is Counsillor at the World Future Council.
Read: all his articles at UNjobs.
Read: an open letter to Dr. Tewolde Berhan Gebre Egziabher.
Read: Facts to Consider when Receiving Genetically Engineered Food Aid.
Read: Paper from Ethio-Forum 2002 Conference.
And he says: (excerpt): … « My country is still very poor. I leave it to you young graduates with myriads of options ahead of you to bring sufficiency to every Ethiopian life. I would love it if you could change every child that begs for a meal to a student like you.
My continent is still the most down-trodden. I would love it if every African could be so respected that she/he would be granted a visa to any country in a matter of minutes. I would like to see the queues in every European and American Embassy gate in every African capital dissolve away. I would love to see all Embassy gates deserted. Life in my biosphere is still uncertain. I would love to be assured of a stable climate. I would love to see human and other forms of life fully protected from human adventurism. (full text).
Bio: Tewolde Berhan was born in 1940, graduated in 1963 from the University of Addia Ababa and took a doctorate from the University of Wales in 1969. He went back to the University of Addis Ababa and was Dean of the Faculty of Science, 1974-78. From 1978 to ’83 he was keeper of the National Herbarium, President of Aswara University 1983-91 and Director of the Ethiopian Conservation Strategy Secretariat 1991-94. Since then he has been General Manager of the Environmental Protection Authority of Ethiopia, which is effectively the country’s Ministry of the Environment …
… At the 1999 biosafety negotiations in Cartagena, Colombia, Tewolde was the spokesperson for the majority of the G77 countries, called ‘The Like-Minded Group’. These negotiations ended in deadlock, but reached a successful conclusion in Montreal in January 2000. Tewolde’s leadership of the Like-Minded Group in the negotiations played a key role in achieving an outcome – against strong US and EU opposition – that protects biosafety and biodiversity and respects traditional and community rights in developing countries. (full text).
Read: Another CV.
Contact: Tewolde Berhan, Environmental Protection Authority, PO Box 30231, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
links:
A Statement Made on Being Awarded an Honorary Degree, by Addis Ababa University, 24 July 2004;
Tewolde Berhan Gebre Egziabher:
- on the Africa database;
- on answers.com;
- on Encyclopedia;
- on the german wikipedia.