Werder (woreda)
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Werder is one of the 47 woredas in the Somali Region of Ethiopia, named after its administrative center, Werder. Part of the Werder Zone, its boundaries shown by official sources vary. On the OCHA map for the Somali Region (copyright 2003), Werder is bordered on the south by the Gode Zone, on the west by the Korahe Zone, on the north by the Degehabur Zone, on the east by Danot, and on the east by Geladin.[1] However on the map of the Ethiopian Disaster Prevention and Preparedness Agency (copyright 2006), Werder extends east to the national border with Somalia separating Geladin from the Korahe Zone, which shares its boundary on the entire south and east sides.[2]
Before 1960, the only water available during the dry season in Werder woreda were the Werder wells and those in its vicinity: Welwel, Gerlogube, Afyerado, Ubatale, Wafdug and Yo'ub. Ogaden, Majeerteen and Isaaq pastoralists watered from these wells. In the years after 1960 the construction of private birkas (underground concrete water tanks), which greatly increased after 1970. While this allowed the area that was previously grazed mainly in the wet season to now be grazed throughout the dry season, it has also led to a serious decline in the native species most favored for fodder and grazing in this woreda.[3]
The woreda was geatly affected by Ethiopian military actions. According to Human Rights Watch, in late May and June of 2007, the Ethiopian army and Regional authorities forced the inhabitants of numerous villages within a 60-kilometer radius of the administrative center, including Aado (Caado), Arowela, Daratoole, Dhurwaa-Hararaf, Lahelow, Neef-Kuceliye, Qamuuda, Ubatale, Wa’di, Ubatale, Wafdug and Yo'ub. Over the following weeks, many of these villages were then burned: Daratoole in mid-June; Lahelow in late June; Neef-Kuceliye on 23 June; Aado and Wa’di in mid-July.[4]
[edit] Demographics
Based on figures published by the Central Statistical Agency in 2005, this woreda has an estimated total population of 123,625, of whom 68,158 were males and 55,467 were females; 14.85% or Werder of its population are urban dwellers, which is greater than the Zone average of 9.2%. Information is not available on the area of Werder, so its density cannot be calculated.[5] This woreda is primarily inhabited by the Majeerten-Ogaden, both sub-clans of the Somali Darood clan.[3]
The 1997 national census reported a total population for this woreda of 98,699, of whom 55,320 were males and 43,379 were females; 12,309 or 12.47% of its population were urban dwellers. The largest ethnic group reported in Werder was the Somali 98,447 (99.9%).[6]
[edit] Notes
- ^ Map of Somali Region at UN-OCHA (PDF file)
- ^ Map of Somali Region Disaster Prevention and Preparedness Agency (PDF)
- ^ a b "Changing Pastoralism in the Ethiopian Somali National Regional State (Region 5)", UNDP Emergencies Unit for Ethiopia report, dated 30 May 1998 (accessed 22 December 20080
- ^ "Collective Punishment: War Crimes and crimes against Humanity in the Ogaden area of Ethiopia's Somali Regional State" (pdf), Human Rights Watch Report (2008), pp. 40, 47 (accessed 14 May 2009)
- ^ CSA 2005 National Statistics, Tables B.3 and B.4. Rural population numbers are believed to be underreported for this Region.
- ^ 1994 Population and Housing Census of Ethiopia: Results for Somali Region, Vol. 1 Tables 2.1, 2.12 (accessed 10 January 2009). The results of the 1994 census in the Somali Region were not satisfactory, so the census was repeated in 1997.
