BY ADDISALEM MULAT
It could not be denied that American election attracts the attention of every Tom, Dick, and Harry residing in every nook and cranny of the world at the drop of a hat in view of the fact that it determines the fate of the entire world beyond a shadow of a doubt.
Some years back when the outgoing President Donald Trump came to office, most people residing a broad range of the continents of the world got furious and set in motion giving up hope on politics.
Over the passage of time, Trump embarked on interfering in what did not concern him, moving all the continents of the world into uncharted territory and turning the lives of people into a living hell every once in a while.
It goes without saying that he was committing a considerable amount of fouls on numerous occasions. A case in point, Donald Trump withdrew from Paris agreement and exposed Africans to a wide spectrum of troubles.
As learnt from The Conversation website, Africa has already felt the effects of Trump’s climate change denials. Some years ago, he cancelled the US support for the Green Climate Fund which led to budget cuts in research and the cancellation of donations to the multilateral environmental funds.
“Researchers have warned that perhaps the greatest threat presented by the US’ disengagement is that it will demotivate other states from addressing the causes-and effects-of climate change. This would hit poor countries the hardest,” as stated on the website.
Similarly, Trump left no stone unturned to distort the former glory of the world within the shortest possible time. The world was getting off track once in a great while. To cut a long history short, the whole thing was missing the desired goal time and time again.
In the same way, without taking its impacts into consideration, President Trump managed to bring to an end the United States of America’s support for the World Health Organization (WHO).
Notwithstanding the fact that Africa cumbersomely dependent on World Health Organization’s skillfulness and leadership in the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic surfacing in the length and breadth of the world, Trump ended up giving the cold shoulder to the existing reality on the ground.
Regarding the issue, The Hill reported that while COVID-19 has struck much of the globe with the force of a Category 5 hurricane, the impact on Africa so far has been far less deadly. The number of confirmed cases exceeds plentiful, and the consensus is that the continent’s testing rates are distressingly low, distorting our understanding of the actual spread of the virus.
“If the coronavirus is not adequately contained, it will likely afflict the continent for a very long time. And while all segments of society will suffer, women and children, in particular, could be severely impacted by what one UN official calls “the Crisis within a crisis.”
Africa’s battle with COVID-19 is far from over, and the collateral damage is mounting. The secondary impacts- poverty, hunger, disease and violence-disproportionately suffered by women and children could be staggering.”
Speaking of which, as time went by Trump ended up banning Muslim majority countries such as Iran, Libya, Syria, Yemen, Somalia, Nigeria, Myanmar, Eritrea, Kyrgyzstan, Sudan, Tanzania and what have you. This being the case, the news spread in every corner of the world like wildfire and made him the talk of the entire world.
Following Trump’s decision all and sundry were expressing their disappointment worldwide time and again. The whole lot was getting off track over and over again. Sadly as he was not in the position to lend his ears, most people were suffering from a wide spectrum of anguishes and pains.
When Trump ran for the second election, most Americans made up their mind not to vote for him. They were dreaming of taking revenge on him. However, when the right time came everyone did not vote for him.
In due course, as Trump’s efforts went for nothing, he ended up facing unexpected problems almost immediately. To be honest, the election turned out to be the talking points of everyone worldwide.
When the news of Joe Biden’s victory was broke out, everyone residing in the length and breads of the world grew out to be infinitely happy; they all felt on top of the world.
President Joe Biden in his inaugural speech said,
“ … My whole soul is in it.
Today, on this January day, my whole soul is in this:
Bringing America together.
Uniting our people.
And uniting our nation.
I ask every American to join me in this cause.
Uniting to fight the common foes we face:
Anger, resentment, hatred…
Extremism, lawlessness, violence.
Disease, joblessness, hopelessness.
With unity we can do great things. Important things.
We can right wrongs…”
His speech was able to win the hearts and minds of everyone in the twinkling of an eye and turned out to be the headlines of most print and electronic media outlets of the world.
As per Biden Administration website, Key Biden executive actions managed to launch an initiative to advance racial equity, end “1776 Commission” revoke order that aims to exclude undocumented immigrants from census, re-engage with World Health Organization, preserve/fortify DACA that helps “Dreamers”, reversed travel ban targeting primarily Muslim countries, combat discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation, gender identity , end harsh and extreme immigration enforcement, and things of that sort.
As things stand at present, Africans expect a lot from President Joe Biden administration.
It is to be recalled that the previously good relations between Ethiopia and US missed the strategic alliance target when President Trump took side with Egypt on the construction of the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam and halted US funding to pressure Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed (PhD) into a compromise.
Ilhan Omar, Member of Congress said, “This week we started a new chapter in America. President Joe Biden and Vice-President Kamala Harris will build back a better world for all Americas. I can’t wait to work with the Biden-Harris administration to implement meaningful change for the 5th District and Americans across the country. We will have the opportunity to carry out the most progressive agenda our country has ever seen. This is our chance to create the America I dreamed about as a refugee- a country where anything is possible,”
“President Biden within hours of taking the oath of office was able to revoke the Muslim ban. This xenophobic ban will be remembered as a moral stain on our country. Next, we must pass the No Ban Act to ensure no future president has the power to ban people based on their religious affiliation ever again,” she added.
“After months of conversations with the progressive movement, Joe Biden took swift action on some of the greatest threats facing our country, including protecting Dreamers, reentering the Paris Climate Agreement, a pause on student loan payments, and reinstating (DED) for Liberians. This is just the beginning.”
Therefore, the continent of Africa will secure a wide spectrum of advantages from the World Health Organization (WHO), the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), the African Development Bank (AfDB) and the World Trade Organization (WTO). What is more, debt cancellation is highly expected under the leadership of President Biden.
The Ethiopian Herald January 27/2021
