I recently attended a presentation given by a veteran Ethiopian ambassador with extensive experience in the Middle East. His account of how Ethiopians are often perceived abroad left me not just disheartened, but profoundly disturbed. In one host country, he recalled being met with the reductive stereotype that most Ethiopians are domestic workers. \u201cEven my children were not exempt,\u201d he said. \u201cI witnessed it with my own eyes.\u201d<\/p>\n
Regrettably, I wasn\u2019t entirely shocked. I, too, have encountered similar reactions. Expatriates\u2014especially those from the developed world\u2014often recount the disbelief they face from friends and family when they choose to work in Ethiopia, even temporarily. \u201cAre you serious? What will you eat? Is it even safe?\u201d These questions are all too common. Ethiopians living abroad report countless instances of this kind of dismissal or patronization.<\/p>\n
These misperceptions aren\u2019t limited to the Global North. A fellow African once remarked to me, \u201cAh, Ethiopia\u2014the country whose migrants perish en masse trying to reach Europe.\u201d The comment still echoes in my mind, years later.<\/p>\n
For too long, I naively hoped Ethiopia could escape the stigma of its past\u2014particularly the 1984\/85 famine that seared the country into global consciousness as a place of despair. But here we are, four decades later, grappling with crises far more complex and devastating. Hunger has evolved into widespread malnutrition. Internal displacement, ethnic conflict, and insecurity have compounded our challenges.<\/p>\n
According to a recent United Nations report, 10.2 million Ethiopians\u2014including over three million internally displaced persons\u2014are severely food insecure. 3.6 million are at imminent risk of losing food assistance, while some 650,000 women and children may lose access to life-saving malnutrition treatment. Alarmingly, 55 percent of children under five are malnourished.<\/p>\n
Experts say it takes decades\u2014often over a century\u2014to build a nation\u2019s reputation, yet only weeks to destroy it. I remember a moment from my time at the Deutsche Gesellschaft f\u00fcr Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ), the German development agency. When GTZ was merged with two lesser-known entities and rebranded as GIZ, management hesitated. GTZ, they argued, had become synonymous with quality\u2014like Mercedes-Benz or BMW. A brand, after all, is a promise built over time.<\/p>\n
The same principle applies to national image. \u201cCountry of origin\u201d effects are real. According to scholars like Barrister and Saunders, a country\u2019s reputation is shaped not just by its products but by its history, politics, cultural identity, and technological standing. When Germany was forced to label its exports \u201cMade in Germany\u201d after World War I, the intention was to warn buyers. Ironically, the label became synonymous with quality and engineering excellence.<\/p>\n
Ethiopia has known similar moments of prestige. Take Ethiopian Airlines, for instance. When Flight ET302 tragically crashed in March 2019, CNN described the carrier as operating from a \u201creputable, major hub with a strong safety record.\u201d Aviation analyst Richard Quest went further: \u201cWhen you\u2019re unsure about another airline,\u201d he said, \u201cyou choose Ethiopian.\u201d<\/p>\n
That level of trust isn\u2019t built overnight. It is earned through relentless commitment to excellence over years. A sterling reputation doesn\u2019t just boost market share\u2014it offers resilience in times of crisis. This applies not only to companies, but also to individuals.<\/p>\n
I\u2019ve felt firsthand how reputation can open\u2014or slam shut\u2014every door. I\u2019ve faced repeated setbacks simply for lacking the \u201cminimum threshold\u201d of perceived credibility.<\/p>\n
This is why the damage to Ethiopia\u2019s image should concern us all. It affects not just diplomats and officials tasked with representing us on the world stage, but every Ethiopian abroad and at home. The ambassador\u2019s painful experience wasn\u2019t his alone\u2014it was a symptom of a national reputation in free fall.<\/p>\n
There was a time when Ethiopia stood tall on the world stage. In October 1963, Emperor Haile Selassie was welcomed to the United States with full honors. President John F. Kennedy declared: \u201cWe welcome a man whose place in history is already assured\u2026 There is no guest who gives us greater pride and satisfaction than your presence here today.\u201d<\/p>\n
That was then. Today, Ethiopia faces a reputational deadlock\u2014overshadowed by instability, mistrust, conflict, and displacement. The world no longer sees us through the lens of our historical grandeur, but through the prism of our present turmoil.<\/p>\n
We must recognize that national reputation is a shared asset. Either we rise together or fall together. Our historical achievements mean little if they do not translate into present credibility and future potential. Restoring Ethiopia\u2019s image\u2014of dignity, reliability, and hope\u2014is not a cosmetic exercise. It is an existential imperative.<\/p>\n
The time to begin is now.<\/p>\n
Contributed by Selamawit Kidane<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
I recently attended a presentation given by a veteran Ethiopian ambassador with extensive experience in the Middle East. His account of how Ethiopians are often perceived abroad left me not just disheartened, but profoundly disturbed. In one host country, he recalled being met with the reductive stereotype that most Ethiopians are domestic workers. \u201cEven my […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"editor_plus_copied_stylings":"{}","ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1932],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-45150","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-speak-your-mind"},"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thereporterethiopia.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/45150","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thereporterethiopia.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thereporterethiopia.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thereporterethiopia.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/10"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thereporterethiopia.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=45150"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.thereporterethiopia.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/45150\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thereporterethiopia.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=45150"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thereporterethiopia.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=45150"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thereporterethiopia.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=45150"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}