Write a letter for the tribes of the Omo Valley

1. Write your letter, then 2. Complete it and 3. Mail it

The Lower Omo River in south west Ethiopia is home to eight different tribes whose population is about 200,000. They have lived there for centuries.

However the future of these tribes lies in the balance. A massive hydro-electric dam, Gibe III, has now been built on the Omo, and two further dams are being planned. This is destroying a fragile environment and the livelihoods of the tribes. The government is leasing out vast tracts of tribal land for plantations and forcibly resettling tribal people.

They have not been consulted about the dam and plantations and are losing their livelihoods based on the river’s natural flood.

How you can help

Write a letter to the Prime Minister of Ethiopia urging him to halt the Gibe III dam, the leasing of tribal lands for plantations, and the forced resettlement of indigenous communities.

HE Abiye Ahmed
P.O. Box 1031,
Addis Ababa,
Ethiopia

January 22, 2021

Your Excellency

I am extremely concerned to learn that the Ethiopian government is leasing out large areas of tribal lands in the Lower Omo region to state and private companies for sugar cane, palm oil and cotton plantations, and has built the Gibe III dam to sustain these plantations.

I am also concerned that the government is resettling the tribes in large villages, where they will have no access to land to plant crops and graze their livestock. The Kwegu people are reportedly starving as fish stocks dwindle and their forest and beehives have been destroyed by the Kuraz sugar plantations.

The Ethiopian Constitution guarantees people the right to 'full consultation' about projects which affect them. Tribal peoples in the Lower Omo region have not been properly consulted about the plantations, the villagization projects will destroy their their livelihoods if they go ahead.

I urge you to halt the clearing of tribal land for plantations and work on the Gibe IV and Gibe V dams, unless and until complete and independent social and environmental impact studies are carried out on these projects and the tribal peoples are fully consulted. In accordance with international law and the Ethiopian constitution, these projects should only continue if and when they give their free, informed and prior consent.

Yours sincerely,

Will my letter make a difference?
Yes. Time and again, letters from Survival supporters have called governments and organisations to account. Policies have changed and lives have been saved.

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