The original 1984 Feed The World logo was based on a pencil sketch by Bob Geldof after watching a BBC television news report by Michael Buerk from famine-stricken Ethiopia. Geldof was so moved by the plight of starving children that he decided to try and raise money using his contacts in pop music.
Aid money used by rebel groups to buy weapons In March, 2010, Martin Plaut of the BBC reported that a large amount of the money was spent on weapons instead of food, due to rebels posing as merchants. He quotes people associated with the Tigrayan People's Liberation Front, who claim aid organizations such as the Relief Society of Tigray were used to funnel money to the rebels. He interviewed Gebremedhin Araya who claimed he posed as a merchant selling grain, got money from Christian Aid, and gave it to the TPLF. Plaut also interviewed Aregawi Berhe who claimed the TPLF and allies 'fooled' aid workers, and that large amounts of money were spent for weaponry and political activities. Plaut also quotes a 1980s CIA report entitled 'Ethiopia: Political and Security Impact of the Drought', which claimed aid money was being diverted to military uses.
Berhe, who is a high-ranking TPLF commander living in exile in The Netherlands, told Deutsche Welle that “the rebel movement, TPFL, had received the money under false pretences – through its development arm, the so-called ‘Aid Association of Tigray’ (MARET). But MARET belonged to the party. So after the aid from donors and aid charities was collected, it was made available through the budget of the party’s central committee – for logistics and financing of the resistance.”
The original 1984 Feed The World logo was based on a pencil sketch by Bob Geldof after watching a BBC television news report by Michael Buerk from famine-stricken Ethiopia. Geldof was so moved by the plight of starving children that he decided to try and raise money using his contacts in pop music.
ReplyDeleteAid money used by rebel groups to buy weapons
ReplyDeleteIn March, 2010, Martin Plaut of the BBC reported that a large amount of the money was spent on weapons instead of food, due to rebels posing as merchants. He quotes people associated with the Tigrayan People's Liberation Front, who claim aid organizations such as the Relief Society of Tigray were used to funnel money to the rebels. He interviewed Gebremedhin Araya who claimed he posed as a merchant selling grain, got money from Christian Aid, and gave it to the TPLF. Plaut also interviewed Aregawi Berhe who claimed the TPLF and allies 'fooled' aid workers, and that large amounts of money were spent for weaponry and political activities. Plaut also quotes a 1980s CIA report entitled 'Ethiopia: Political and Security Impact of the Drought', which claimed aid money was being diverted to military uses.
Berhe, who is a high-ranking TPLF commander living in exile in The Netherlands, told Deutsche Welle that “the rebel movement, TPFL, had received the money under false pretences – through its development arm, the so-called ‘Aid Association of Tigray’ (MARET). But MARET belonged to the party. So after the aid from donors and aid charities was collected, it was made available through the budget of the party’s central committee – for logistics and financing of the resistance.”