Ethiopian

Thursday, January 10, 2013

Ethiopia Hosts African Ministers of Health and World Experts to Spur Gains in Child Survival

African Leadership for Child Survival: A Promise Renewed

Since 1990, the number of child deaths in sub-Saharan Africa has dropped by 39%. Many African countries are within reach of the 2015 millennium development goal to reduce the under-five mortality rate by two thirds. Yet even with the availability of proven, inexpensive, high-impact interventions for maternal, newborn, and child health, their adoption is slow and high rates of childhood illness and death persist in a number of countries. In sub-Saharan Africa 1 in 8 children die before they reach their fifth birthday.

In an effort to catalyze global action for child survival, the Governments of Ethiopia, India, and the United States together with UNICEF convened the 'Child Survival Call to Action' in Washington, D.C. in June 2012. http://www.apromiserenewed.org/index.html. Under the banner of 'Committing to Child Survival: A Promise Renewed', more than 160 governments signed a pledge to renew their commitment to child survival, to eliminate all preventable child mortality in two decades.

Former SuperSport United and Orlando Pirates striker Fikru Tefera has signed a short-term deal with Premiership outfit Free State Stars.

The 26-year-old won two league titles with St.George in his native Ethiopian league before earning himself a move to Pirates in 2006.

However, his stay with the Buccaneers lasted for only a season and he subsequently secured a deal with United.

Tefera then made almost 50 appearances for Matsatsantsa until his departure in 2009, only to make a brief return in 2010.

The well-travelled forward has also played in Vietnam for Thanh Noa FC, as well as for Czech club FK Mladá Boleslav.

NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) — A two-time Pulitzer Prize-winning reporter has taken the first steps of an unimaginably long walk — a journey from Ethiopia to Argentina expected to last seven years.

Paul Salopek departed an Ethiopian village Thursday to begin a planned 21,000-mile (34,000-kilometer) walk that will cross some 30 borders and scores of ethnic groups.

Salopek's quest is to retrace humankind's first migration from Africa across the world in a go-slow journey that will force him to immerse in many cultures.

The Ethiopia-to-Argentina walk — which took human ancestors some 50,000 years to make — is called Out of Eden and is sponsored by National Geographic, the Knight Foundation and the Pulitzer Center for Crisis Reporting. Salopek plans to write one major article a year and give periodic updates.

www.wwlp.com

AfDB loan for Ethiopia Kenya link

The African Development Bank (AfDB) has approved a loan agreement of US$115 million to finance the construction of a cross-border electricity transmission link between Ethiopia and Kenya. The US$1.26 billion Ethiopia-Kenya power line project is a 1,068 km high-voltage transmission line with a power transfer capacity of up to 2,000 MW.

Upon completion the project will promote power, economic trading and regional integration further contributing to the Eastern Africa Power Pool (EAPP) countries’ social and economic development. According to AfDB, the project will position Ethiopia as the main powerhouse and Kenya as the main hub for power trade in the East African region.

In Ethiopia, the donkey is more than just a beast of burden.

The East African nation is home to more than 6 million donkeys and comes second only to China in global donkey sales. The country is both donkey heaven and donkey hell, but though the animal is highly prized, it can also be mistreated.

"In Ethiopia, there's a good saying: 'A farmer without a donkey is a donkey himself,' " says Bojia Endebu, a veterinary surgeon and seasoned donkey doctor. "Because the donkey does lots of work, so they are very valuable for Ethiopian farmers."

Endebu is in charge of The Donkey Sanctuary, which has clinics in four of Ethiopia's nine regions. The sanctuary began operating in 1986, and now offers free treatment at two stationary and seven mobile clinics.

"I can say donkeys are the backbone of transport in the rural community of Ethiopia," he says. "The objective of The Donkey Sanctuary ... is to improve the quality of life of the donkey in Ethiopia."

UPDATE 1-Ethiopia Dec inflation falls yr/yr, at lowest for 2012

* Year-on-year inflation in December at lowest for 2012

* African country plagued by high inflation in past four years

By Aaron Maasho

ADDIS ABABA, Jan 9 (Reuters) - Ethiopian inflation dropped in December to 12.9 percent year-on-year, its lowest rate of 2012, official data showed on Wednesday.

The government had targeted single-digit inflation in 2012, something it now hopes to achieve this year.

Inflation, which has been billed by the IMF as the country's biggest economic challenge, peaked at 36.3 percent last February, and has steadily declined due to rising agricultural output and government subsidies on a number of food items.

Last month's year-on-year inflation fell to 12.9 percent from 15.6 percent in November, according to the Central Statistics Agency.

ETHIOPIA: Concerns over HIV/AIDS funding cuts

ADDIS ABABA, 9 January 2013 (PlusNews) - Major projected cuts in US government funding for Ethiopia’s health sector could greatly undermine the progress the country has made in the fight against HIV, authorities and experts say.

“There’s an AIDS spending cliff in Ethiopia, and the government is already in free fall. Next year, Ethiopia will experience a 79 percent reduction in US HIV financing from PEPFAR [the US President's Emergency Plan For AIDS Relief],” wrote Amanda Glassman, a director at Global Health Policy and a senior fellow at the Center for Global Development.

Ethiopian government officials, however, told IRIN/PlusNews that, while they were concerned about the funding cuts, they had been expecting them.

“We are a bit concerned, but considering the current global financial crisis and the budget deficit in the US, we had anticipated this,” said Kesetebirhan Admassu, the new minister of health.