Disaster Risk Management Commission Commissioner, Ambassador Sheferaw Tekelemarian highlighted the importance of using safety-net programs as an instrument to transit from dependence to self-reliance. Developmental Safety-net Program that was designed in 2005 to support those who were vulnerable to socio-economic problems in rural areas have so far benefited more than 8 million citizens across the country, the Commissioner remarked. The program was developed to assist those who were under chronic food security risk and enable them to acquire sustained source of income and ascertain their food security status. The first developmental safety-net program was designed to benefit more than 4.5 million citizens and support them to thrust out of dependency in a more sustained manner. Disaster Risk Management Commission Commissioner, Ambassador Sheferaw Tekelemarian said that assisting those who are in poverty does not mean that those who are subjected to man-made and natural calamities would be ignored. The Co mmissioner stated that when the Disaster Risk Management Policy was prepared the main objective was to provide effective support to those who need assistance and not to compromise the urgent assistance to those who suffer from man-made and natural disasters. Dependency syndrome has prevailed in the country for the last 50 years but it is necessary to develop and utilize available resources to come out of dependency in a more sustainable manner, he stressed. 'Emerging out of dependency is an issue of social justice and equity and supporting these vulnerable groups is one of the top priories of government development intervention programs,' he said adding that safety-net programs provide opportunities in which the most vulnerable groups would pull out of poverty in a more sustained manner and ensure their food security needs. He further stated that in Ethiopia safety-net programs are implemented as a transmission belt to enable vulnerable citizens to thrust out of poverty and become self-sufficient in their basic needs. Shiferaw stressed that those who wish to abuse safety-net programs should not be allowed to make them a permanent support system. The Commissioner noted that those who were enlisted in safety-net programs need to use this opportunity for employment generation and generate income to pull themselves out of poverty. He concluded that Disaster Risk Management Commission is preparing a proclamation and operational strategies for the implementation of the policy and those who were covered by the program by default need to withdraw from the program. Source: Ethiopian News Agency