Ethiopia News

Addis Ababa. 25 November 2014 -- As in the past, the United Nations delivering as One in Ethiopia supported and took part in the 14th Edition of the Great Ethiopian Run on 23 November 2014, organized this year with the theme, "Empower Women, Empower a Nation".

UN heads of agencies were present at the event to participate in special ceremonies or participate in the Run.  Among those present were Mr Eugene Owusu, UNDP Representative, UN Resident Coordinator and UN Humanitarian Coordinator, and Dr Pierre M'pele-Kilebou, WHO Representative. 

The UN Global Road Safety Week, commemorated in Addis Ababa with the theme, Save Kids’ Lives (#SaveKidsLives) brings students and teachers of schools with high risk for road accidents due to proximity to heavy road traffic together with officials from the Ministries of Health and Transport, the Addis Ababa Bureaus of Education, Health and Transport and the Federal and Addis Ababa Traffic Police as well as WHO for a dialogue on saving children’s lives from road accidents.

As part of its commitment to provide technical support to Ethiopia’s efforts to ensure the health of its people, the WHO Ethiopia Country Office engages in supportive supervision of research and health intervention across the country. On 7-9 May 2015, a WHO delegation led by Dr Pierre M’pele, WHO Representative, was on mission in Lalibela of Amhara Region in northern Ethiopia for supportive supervision of the ongoing non-communicable diseases (NCD) STEPs Survey. 

GAMBELLA. 1 December 2014. The 26th World AIDS Day was commemorated in Gambella Town on 30 November to mobilize people to know their HIV status and seek treatment services. A total of 3383 people were tested at the HIV Counselling and Testing (HCT) campaign held in Gambella Stadium in an attempt to break the Guinness World Record on ‘Most people being tested for HIV in single venue for eight hours’. Out of those tested, 82 (2.4%) were positive and linked to health facilities for support and further follow up.

2 JUN 2015 | ADDIS ABABA - A national stakeholder’s workshop was held today to validate the National Strategy and Plan of Action for Pharmaceutical Manufacturing Development in Ethiopia.

Addis Ababa. 8 December 2014 – The 20th Session of the Joint Advisory Forum (JAF) of the African Programme for Onchocerciasis Control (APOC) kicked off in Addis Ababa today with the theme, “Building partnerships to achieve the accelerated elimination of Preventive Chemotherapy NTDs in the African Region,” bringing together governments, development partners, civil societies, non-governmental organizations, the research community and academia. 

The International Day of the Midwife was celebrated globally on 5 May 2015 and commemorated in Ethiopia on 7 May 2015 with the theme, “Midwives for a better tomorrow.”

With the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) coming to an end in September 2015, this is indeed a special year to highlight the role of midwives in the achievement of MDG 4 and in the progress towards the achievement of MDG 5 in Ethiopia. The recognition of midwives this year is key also in light of the world’s move to the UN Sustainable Development Goals beyond 2015.

Addis Ababa. 14 December 2014 – Represented African countries and development partners agree to step-up action to ensure elimination goals of lymphatic filariasis (also known as elephantiasis) by 2020 and ohchocerciasis (also known as river blindness) by 2025, and the control and eventual elimination of other neglected tropical diseases (NTDs). 

The external assessment team that conducted the final Polio outbreak assessment in Ethiopia on 8-12 June 2015 confirmed that Ethiopia has successfully interrupted polio transmission. This encouraging conclusion was received nearly two years after the outbreak was confirmed in the Horn of Africa and outbreak activities initiated to respond to and interrupt Polio transmission.

Addis Ababa. 29 December 2014 – Korea International Cooperation Agency (KOICA) and the World Health Organization Country Office for Ethiopia (WCO) joined forces in the effort to heighten Ebola virus disease (EDV) preparedness in Ethiopia. KOICA’s support to WHO will contribute to strengthening the capacity of the Ethiopian health system to prepare for Ebola in line with the country’s EVD outbreak preparedness plan.