Oxfam Announces: Nestle Resolves Compensation Claim Against Ethiopia.Business Editors ADDIS ABABA Addis Ababa (ăd`ĭs ăb`əbə) [Amharic,=new flower], city (1994 pop. 2,112,737), capital of Ethiopia. It is situated at c.8,000 ft (2,440 m) on a well-watered plateau surrounded by hills and mountains. , Ethiopia--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Jan. 24, 2003 Ethiopia, a nation currently facing massive famine due to severe drought and the collapse of the global coffee market, reached an agreement today with the Nestle Corporation to settle a compensation claim that had become a source of public embarrassment. Nestle, the world's largest coffee company, claimed that Ethiopia owed it more than $6 million dollars. Oxfam disclosed in December that Nestle had turned down Ethiopia's initial $1.5 million offer to compensate for shares in a Nestle subsidiary, Elidco. Elidco was nationalized during the 1975 takeover of Ethiopia by a socialist regime called the Derg. In 1991, the current, more moderate government took power. According to according to prep. 1. As stated or indicated by; on the authority of: according to historians. 2. In keeping with: according to instructions. 3. Oxfam, when efforts by the World Bank to mediate MEDIATE, POWERS. Those incident to primary powers, given by a principal to his agent. For example, the general authority given to collect, receive and pay debts due by or to the principal is a primary power. the dispute stalled, the Ethiopian government approached Oxfam to help with the situation. Under today's agreement, Nestle will accept the initial offer of $1.5 million from Ethiopia, drop any further claims to compensation, and immediately give that money to famine relief A famine is a phenomenon in which a large percentage of the population of a region or country are so undernourished that death by starvation becomes increasingly common. In spite of the much greater technological and economic resources of the modern world, famine still strikes many efforts in Ethiopia. "Oxfam is pleased that Nestle has accepted the terms put forward by the Ethiopian government and has heard loud and clear that consumers care about how it treats the developing world," said Abera Tola Tola (tō`lə), in the Bible. 1 Son of Issachar. 2 Judge of Israel. , Oxfam America's representative in Addis Ababa. Tola added, "Nestle's actions demonstrate that the concerns of business do not have to be at odds with the needs of starving starve v. starved, starv·ing, starves v.intr. 1. To suffer or die from extreme or prolonged lack of food. 2. Informal To be hungry. 3. To suffer from deprivation. people." In December, Oxfam initiated a popular campaign that inspired 40,000 people to contact Nestle to demand that it abandon its claim against Ethiopia which is facing a drastic humanitarian crisis A humanitarian crisis (or "humanitarian disaster") is an event or series of events which represents a critical threat to the health, safety, security or wellbeing of a community or other large group of people, usually over a wide area. , and give the amount of the settlement to emergency feeding programs in Ethiopia. According to Oxfam, Nestle, which failed to produce credible evidence demonstrating a legal right to compensation, boasted $5.5 billion in profits in the last fiscal year. According to the 1999 World Development Report, the average Ethiopian earns less than $100 a year, making Ethiopia one of the world's poorest countries. The World Food Program estimates that 11-14 million Ethiopians are currently at risk of starvation, a number nearly double the population affected by the 1984 famine in Ethiopia that inspired the celebrity "Live Aid" and "We Are the World" benefits. Oxfam has been working with communities on the Horn of Africa Horn of Africa, peninsula, NE Africa, opposite the S Arabia Peninsula. Also known as the Somali Peninsula, it encompasses Somalia and E Ethiopia and is the easternmost extension of the continent, separating the Gulf of Aden from the Indian Ocean. since the famine in 1984, and is currently working in Ethiopia on several programs: emergency food distribution, connecting relief strategies to long-term development, conflict prevention, the current coffee crisis, and improved livelihoods for poor communities. |
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