Background:

Eritrean officials give insights to their government’s social and educational development programmes and an assessment on current social statistics. Turning to the Eritrean-Ethiopian War, he talks from an Eritrean point of view about the course of the war, the role of the OAU, EU and UN, and general efforts for peace. He also briefly addresses the Hanish Islands conflict with Yemen.

For more information, please refer to the tape Eritrean Officials on Governmental Labour and Social Programmes: 

http://www.arabwestreport.info/en/eritrean-officials-governmental-labour...

Side A: 

The Director of the Presidential Office, Eskaim Menkarios, lines out the the structure of Eritrean programmes aimed at social and educational development: these are internationally and missionary supported and include private literacy programmes for women; adult education programmes by the Ministry of Education, and also Catholic services who are running social and education programmes. Since the Eritrean constitution of 1997 is new, the governmental strategy on education programmes is still in the setup stage. Unemployment is higher in the central region because many from outer regions are migrating to the central region. In other regions there are programmes in which food is given for work. The illiteracy rate is 80%, according to Menkarios. Volunteer programmes in infrastructure project work together with local communities; a small wage is given. Other volunteer programmes are cooperative (house-building, other communal needs) where no money is given. There are also student programmes in ecological fields with a little stipend for them. Among the main problems in programme work is the lack of funds.

Yemane Ghebre Meskel is also working in the presidential office. He meets the delegation for the Minister of Information who is unexpectedly out of town. He addresses: border conflicts with Ethiopia; the surprise it meant to the Eritrean administration and the (peaceful) way they first dealt with it; the Joint Border Commission; the OAU (Organisation of African Unity) framework and the reason why the Eritrean government had not rejected it but not accepted it either; the timeline of interaction with the OAU; the elements of the OAU framework; the Ethiopian position; his interpretation of Ethiopian motivation for their acting.

Side B: 

Meskel continues and addresses found documents that prove advanced Ethiopian territorial and regime-change plans; the meetings of Eritrean opposition groups supported by Ethiopia whose identity is dubious; the role of the United Nations and the European Union; his interpretation of the Ethiopian agenda, assuming a regime-change was not their plan from the beginning; the influential role of TPLF (Tigrayan People's Liberation Front) in Ethiopia; his estimation of Eritrean and Ethiopian casualties in military confrontations in February/March 1999; the difference in Eritrean and Ethiopian military goals and means; the economic impact of the war; international pressure on and famine in Ethiopia; the relative OAU inactivity; his estimation of 100,000 soldiers being in action on both sides; religious associations’ attempts to solve the conflict; the role of the United States and other major countries; the Hanish Islands conflict with Yemen.