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    Map of Ethiopia
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    QUICK FACTS: ETHIOPIA


    Size: 1,127,127 square kilometers - almost twice the size of the U.S. state of Texas

    Population: 76,511,887

    Religions: Muslim, 45-50 percent; Ethiopian Orthodox, 35-40 percent; animist, 12 percent; other, 3-8 percent

    Life expectancy: 49 years

    Average annual income: $180 USD

    Population below poverty line: 39 percent

    Ethnic groups: Oromo, 40 percent; Amhara and Tigre; Sidamo; Shankella; Somali; Afar; and Gurage

    People living with HIV/AIDS: 4.4 percent, adult prevalence rate

    (Source: U.S. Central Intelligence Agency, World Factbook 2008; The World Bank 2006)



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    Ethiopia


    The nation with the highest incidence of blindness in the world, Ethiopia has enlisted the help of The Carter Center to preserve the sight of millions of Ethiopians.
     
    Read about the Center's work in Ethiopia: Ethiopia Public Health Training Initiative,Guinea Worm Eradication Program, River Blindness Program, Trachoma Control Program, Agriculture Program, and Malaria Control Program.
     
    Read about the Center's peace work in Ethiopia. 



    Building Hope

    As Africa's oldest independent nation, Ethiopia has had a wide variety of governing institutions, from monarchy to military occupation to Marxist state, and finally, a capitalist democracy. The Carter Center's relationship with Ethiopia has been equally diverse, having assisted the nation with disease eradication and control programs, increasing food production, conflict mediation, and the promotion of human rights. Working together, a brighter future for the Ethiopian people is on the horizon.


    Fighting Disease

    Ethiopia Public Health Training Initiative
    Preventing many African nations from realizing their full potential, disease is a formidable and often deadly adversary. Because most African countries have little funds to devote to national health care, the majority of villages and towns are without adequate medical services. However, in Ethiopia, a nation where less than half of the population has access to modern medicine, a partnership among The Carter Center, the Ethiopian Ministry of Education, the Ethiopian Ministry of Health, and seven universities and colleges is changing a desperate situation into a legacy of hope. The goal of the Ethiopia Public Health Training Initiative is to contribute to improving the health of Ethiopians by enhancing the quality of training and education that health workers receive.

    In 1991, Prime Minister Meles Zenawi invited President Jimmy Carter to assist with a program that would train health workers for Ethiopia. Six years later, the initiative was launched. Today, The Carter Center works with seven Ethiopian universities to prepare health care professsionals to serve 90 percent of the Ethiopian population in more than 620 rural health centers. This undertaking is part of the Ethiopian government's plan to open more health centers, expanding modern health care to millions of villagers located in rural communities. Primary goals include strengthening the teaching capacity and skills of health science faculty, development of culturally specific health-related teaching and learning materials, and improving classroom environments. In short, the initiative strives to support the training of urgently needed health professionals by Ethiopians and for Ethiopians.

    The Ethiopia Public Health Training Initiative's objectives to improve the education of health professionals in the country are accomplished through workshops, training seminars, and conferences on the various college campuses. In the workshops, Ethiopian teaching teams analyze the essential tasks necessary to manage specific health problems and construct training modules that include the necessary knowledge, attitudes, and skills needed for health teams to carry out their roles in typical rural Ethiopian settings. The initiative assists the college teams in revising and testing draft materials at the campuses between periodic workshops, prior to final publication for use in the field.

    Assisting Ethiopian partners since September 1997, The Carter Center has facilitated 565 workshops and completed more than 70 training modules on topics such as HIV/AIDS, malaria, diarrhea, pneumonia, trachoma, protein-energy malnutrition, and various other endemic health problems. Also, more than 140 sets of lecture notes for use as lesson plans within medical classrooms have been completed, with more in development.

    By 2010, the initiative expects to collaborate in production and distribution of the following training and learning materials:

    • 72 core classroom training modules for multidisciplinary teaching of health students on major diseases, proper health processes, and problems faced by rural health service centers and community-based health programs in Ethiopia
    • 143 sets of lecture notes that complement the training modules
    • 10 training manuals that serve as training and in-service reference materials on complicated and chronic conditions most often seen in the rural health centers

    The Ethiopia Public Health Training Initiative is making significant contributions to sustainable capacity-building in seven higher education medical institutions. It is laying a solid foundation, with participating individuals clearly expressing their ownership of the process and products.

    Other projects of the initiative include: the reproductive health program, drought assistance program, development of teaching and learning materials for the developing health extension worker program, and administration of the Accelerated Health Officer Training Program.

    President Carter and The Carter Center have found that the model of training, curriculum development, and classroom enhancement demonstrated over the last ten years by the Ethiopia Public Health Training Initiative is a system that could be beneficial to other countries facing similar types of challenges regarding human resources for health care. The initiative is currently investigating methods to replicate its successes in several other countries. Read the Summary Proceedings of the Ethiopia Public Health Training Initiative Replication Conference (PDF).

    In 2008, classroom materials were provided to each of the seven partnering universities:

    • USD $150,000 worth of text and reference books (approximately 2,000 books)
    • Computers, printers, and a photocopier
    • 10-15 periodical and international scientific journal subscriptions for each university
    • Classroom demonstration materials and basic laboratory equipment, such as anatomical models and microscopes

    READ PROFILES:

    Ethiopia Experience Provides Surprises, Strengthens Commitment to Health Initiatives >

    Ethiopian Staffer Relishes Role in Health Training Initiative >

    New Director a Quick Study in Ethiopian Health Needs >

    Learn more about Ethiopia Public Health Training Initiative.

    Updated January 2010

     

    Eradicating Guinea Worm Disease
    Current status: Endemic
    Indigenous cases reported in 2008: 41


    When The Carter Center began working with Ethiopia's Ministry of Health to eradicate Guinea worm disease in 1990, there were 2,333 reported cases of the disease, concentrated mostly in districts of Gambella region and of the Southern Nationalities, Nations, and Peoples region (SNNPR). Transmission of Guinea worm disease in the SNNPR was interrupted in 2001. In 2007, Ethiopia reached a milestone by reporting zero indigenous cases for 12 consecutive months. Unfortunately, transmission of the disease resumed in 2008 when  the country reported 41 indigenous cases.  The unexpected resurgence of Guinea worm diseases in Gambella region during 2008 demonstrates the constant need for vigilance in eradication efforts. The Ethiopia Guinea Worm Eradication Program is part of a larger international effort – spearheaded by The Carter Center – working since 1986 to eradicate this painful and debilitating disease.


    Guinea worm disease, also known as dracunculiasis, is a parasitic disease that has affected people since biblical times. Guinea worm is contracted when humans drink water contaminated with the infected larvae of microscopic water-flea-like organisms called copepods. Once ingested, the larvae mature, but patients show no immediate symptoms of infection. 

    After growing for about one year, a thread-like, whitish Guinea worm burns a hole from inside, breaks through the skin, and forms a sore on the person carrying it. Traditionally, the infected person wraps the Guinea worm around a small stick and extracts it by rolling the 2- to 3-foot worm on it, a slow and painful process that takes many weeks.

    The emerging Guinea worm often causes fever, nausea, secondary infection, and burning pain, earning the parasite one of its nicknames, "the fiery serpent."


    In collaboration with the Ministry of Health, the strategy for interrupting transmission of Guinea worm disease from Ethiopia relies on an active surveillance system in high-risk areas to detect all cases and prevent each patient from contaminating additional water sources (case containment). One of the goals of the Guinea worm program is to change behavior and mobilize communities to prevent contamination of sources of drinking water. Approaches include: distribution of nylon filters to strain out the water fleas that host the Guinea worm larvae; monthly treatment of stagnant sources of drinking water with ABATE® larvicide; and advocacy with water organizations for provision of safe sources of drinking water. Community-elected village volunteers are trained by the program to carry out monthly surveillance and interventions.

    In 1995, as part of the effort to provide safe water to communities with Guinea worm disease, 15 hand-dug wells were completed in South Omo, with an additional 40 wells constructed by a partnering nongovernmental organization, Norwegian Church Aid. Later, additional wells were dug in Itang and Gog woredas of the Gambella region. The Ethiopian Water Resources Development offices also have provided training on the use of Vonder drilling rigs to develop a village-level capacity to construct hand-drilled wells.

    During the mid-1990s, committees were formed to work with communities to identify factors affecting community participation as well as coordinate efforts to reach people displaced by tribal conflicts from Akobo village. Approximately two-thirds of Akobo's total population were said to have abandoned their homes and resettled in relatively inaccessible woredas (hamlets) of Jikawo and Itang. Following this shift, some 20 volunteers from Akobo were trained on surveillance, health education, and the use of nylon filters. A UNICEF-donated motorboat assisted with reaching some of the most difficult areas.

    Since 1996, a reward system has been established in all endemic areas using resources provided by Health and Development International to improve the detection and reporting of cases. If a case is reported before the worm emerges, both the patient and the person who brings the case to the attention of the health worker receive 100 birr, about $10 USD. The reward system further strengthens eradication efforts by encouraging people with cases to report early and remain at a health facility during the duration of their illness to prevent contamination of water sources. Patients who stay at the health facility receive three meals a day, a place to sleep, and free quality medical care until all worms are removed.

    Major constraints on program efforts include: maintaining surveillance throughout the Gambella region, including districts that periodically become inaccessible due to insecurities and heavy rains during the peak transmission season. Because Sudan remains the most endemic country in the world, migration of people between Sudan and Ethiopia remains a risk for continued transmission of Guinea worm disease in Ethiopia. In 2007 and 2008 , additional cases were imported from Southern Sudan to Ethiopia. Ethiopia must monitor migration across its borders and strengthen surveillance and cross-border collaboration with Sudan in the final push to eradicate the disease from the world.

    Learn more about the Carter Center's Guinea Worm Eradication Program.

    Updated July 2009

     

    Controlling River Blindness
    Onchocerciasis, commonly known as river blindness, was first reported in southwestern Ethiopia in 1939 by Italian investigators. However, Ethiopia was not alone in its burden of this parasitic disease. River blindness is endemic to 37 countries in Africa, Latin America, and Yemen. Transmitted by the bites of black flies found near fast-flowing rivers, onchocerciasis causes severe itching, eye damage, and sometimes blindness.


    After being approached by the Ethiopia Ministry of Health to be a partner, The Carter Center started fighting onchocerciasis in Ethiopia in 2000. Today, the Center's River Blindness Program continues to work in partnership with Ethiopia's Ministry of Health as well as a consortium of international agencies, nongovernmental organizations, and private companies.


    After being approached by the Ethiopia Ministry of Health to be a partner, The Carter Center started fighting onchocerciasis in Ethiopia in 2000. Today, the Center's River Blindness Program continues to work in partnership with Ethiopia's Ministry of Health as well as a consortium of international agencies, nongovernmental organizations, and private companies.


    Studies conducted in the 1970s reported that, in addition to southeastern Ethiopia, the northwestern part of the nation also was endemic. A complete national survey begun in 1997 and finished during 2004 determined that onchocerciasis was much more widespread than originally believed. Nine regions surveyed for river blindness were shown to be endemic, with 7.3 million people at risk and more than 3 million already infected.

    After the government of Ethiopia created a national plan to fight onchocerciasis in 1999, The Carter Center was invited by the Ministry of Health to join the effort to fight the disease in 2000. That same year, the National Onchocerciasis Task Force was established by Ethiopia's Ministry of Health with a mission to: mobilize and educate onchocerciasis-endemic communities; coordinate Mectizan® tablet procurement and distribution, and coordinate all partners in the program. Mobilization efforts began in 2000 in the Kaffa and Sheka zones of the Southern Nations, Nationalities and Peoples region. The Carter Center and the African Programme for Onchocerciasis Control (APOC) play a critical role in supporting the Mectizan distribution program in these areas. The program went on to expand into other areas, doubling treatments each year until reaching scale in 2004.

    In partnership with the Ministry of Health and APOC, The Carter Center now assists program activities in eight of the 10 endemic zones in the country: Bench Maji, Gambella, Illubabor, Jimma, Kaffa, Metekel, North Gondar, and Sheka. By the end of 2008, 95 percent of the ultimate treatment goal (the eligible population) was reached and 100 percent geographic coverage was achieved. In other words, 2,983,055 Ethiopians in all 14,268 targeted villages received Mectizan treatment and health education for control of river blindness.

    The onchocerciasis program in Ethiopia is completely dependent on external financial support, as there is no specific item in the government's budget dedicated to river blindness control. Thus, more funding will be needed to continue to provide treatment and prevention education.

    Learn more about the Carter Center's River Blindness Program.

    Updated May 2009

     

    Controlling Trachoma
    The rate of blindness in Ethiopia is thought to be the highest in the world. It is estimated that 2.8 million Ethiopians suffer from low vision, while 1.2 million people are blind. One of the major causes of loss of sight is trachoma - accounting for approximately one-third of all cases of blindness and visual impairment in Ethiopia.


    The Carter Center supports trachoma control in six African countries in partnership with trachoma-endemic communities, ministries of health, the Lions Clubs International Foundation, Pfizer Inc., and the Conrad N. Hilton Foundation.

    The leading cause of preventable blindness in the world, trachoma is an excruciating bacterial disease endemic to the poorest countries of the world.  Over time and through repeated infections, trachoma leads to the permanent scarring of the inner eyelid, deforming the lid and causing the lashes to turn inward and press painfully against the sensitive eye. Although not typically a fatal disease, severe trachoma is disabling, debilitating, and eventually leads to blindness.

    The World Health Organizations recommends the implementation of the SAFE strategy for trachoma control: Surgery to correct scarring from advanced trachoma, Antibiotics to treat early trachoma infections, Facial cleanliness to prevent disease transmission, and Environmental changes to improve hygiene and sanitation.


    Widespread and debilitating, trachoma is a major public health problem in Ethiopia. The Ministry of Health estimates that 1.3 million Ethiopians are in need of immediate surgery to prevent blindness and the entire population of 71 million is at risk of infection.

    In October 2000, The Carter Center, with funding from the Lions-Carter Center SightFirst Initiative, accepted the Ethiopian government's invitation to work on controlling trachoma in the Amhara region in the north. The initial intervention area included four districts with a total population of more than 1 million. In 2006, the Trachoma Control Program reached almost 4 million people, 22 percent of the Amhara region. In 2007, the program expanded and now covers all 153 districts, reaching the entire at-risk population. The program is able to implement at scale through a deep partnership with the local Ethiopian Lions Clubs. The Ethiopian Lions Clubs play a key role in the implementation and advocacy of trachoma control in Ethiopia.

    When the program began in the Amhara region in 2000, prevalence surveys were conducted to gauge the extent of the disease. They found approximately 88 percent of all children aged one to 10 years had active trachoma and an estimated five percent of people had trichiasis (blinding trachoma requiring corrective surgery). These numbers far exceed the intervention criteria set by the World Health Organization: 10 percent of children with active trachoma and a trichiasis rate of 0.1 percent in the general population.

    To reduce the number of people currently living with trichiasis, The Carter Center works with the Amhara Regional Health Bureau to provide corrective eyelid surgery. Since 2001, 626 surgeons have been trained and more than 146,000 people have received trichiasis surgery to relieve them of the dreadful pain associated with this condition. In 2008, 185 new surgeons were trained by the program to conduct surgery during regular health center visits, surgery camps, and outreach surgical campaigns.

    The Carter Center also supports the Ministry of Health to conduct mass distribution of antibiotic for trachoma control. Zithromax® (azithromycin), donated by Pfizer Inc., and tetracycline eye ointment, purchased by The Carter Center, are distributed through outreach campaigns to prevent and stop the transmission of trachoma infection. Adults and children older than six months of age are treated with azithromycin while infants and self-reporting pregnant women receive tetracycline eye ointment.

    In 2003, The Carter Center began coordinating mass distribution of antibiotics to trachoma-endemic communities in one pilot district, reaching approximately 100,000 people. Since the first district, the geographic coverage of antibiotic distribution has expanded, with more than 12.6 million people receiving azithromycin in 2008. To date, more than 27.6 million doses of azithromycin and 1.5 million doses of tetracycline have been distributed in Ethiopia alone.


    MALTRA Weeks Big Success in Amhara Region, Ethiopia
    The Amhara region of Ethiopia has adopted an innovative approach to mass distribution of antibiotics for trachoma control. In collaboration with the Lions Clubs of Ethiopia and the Amhara Regional Health Bureau, The Carter Center has facilitated a series of health prevention weeks, "MALTRA" weeks—the word combines malaria and trachoma—to show how simple public health interventions can enable millions of people to protect themselves and their communities from these devastating diseases. The first MALTRA week was held in November 2008 and covered the western half of Amhara. Thousands of volunteers and health workers visited villages and conducted health education, provided doses of azithromycin to fight trachoma, and tested for and treated malaria. November's MALTRA week success resulted in the distribution of approximately 4.8 million doses of antibiotic among other achievements. In April 2009, the second MALTRA week was held, beginning on World Malaria Day (April 25) to cover eastern Amhara, with a total of 4.7 million people treated with antibiotics.
    Learn more about the MALTRA weeks.

    To ensure sustainable progress towards trachoma control, The Carter Center and the Amhara Regional Health Bureau work in tandem to deliver health education to communities and schools. A total of 3,361 communities currently benefit from regular health education. The Carter Center has trained more than 76,000 people in trachoma control education, including thousands of Health Extension Workers placed by the Health Bureau in local communities.

    To strengthen community health education, The Carter Center and the regional health and education bureaus developed a trachoma prevention curriculum and corresponding health education materials to cover all components of the SAFE strategy with an emphasis on "facial cleanliness" and "environmental sanitation." Each lesson encouraged students to identify other problems related to hygiene in their own communities and come up with their own solutions. In 2004, the curriculum was translated into Amharic and printed with support from local Lions Clubs. Learn more about the SAFE strategy.

    To improve environmental sanitation and control the flies that can transmit trachoma, the program promotes household latrine construction and use. This is accomplished through several channels: routine latrine promotion during health education led by Health Extension Workers and the construction of model latrines in public gathering places.

    Since 2002, more than 1 million household latrines have been constructed in the Amhara region with Carter Center assistance. This incredible achievement has been possible due to the leaders' vision and the commitment of the entire community.

    This hard work continues to benefit millions of Ethiopians at risk of trachoma. The Amhara Regional Health Bureau, the Federal Ministry of Health and the Ethiopian Lions Clubs continue to work together to control trachoma.

    Read the Atlanta Journal-Constitution News Story: Latrine Program a Hit, published on
    March 5, 2005 >

    Read the Transactions of the Royal Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene Expert Article: Risk Factors for Active Trachoma in Children and Trichiasis in Adults: A Household survey in Amhara Regional State, Ethiopia (PDF) >

    Read the Transactions of the Royal Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene Expert Article: Evaluation of Three Years of the SAFE Strategy for Trachoma Control in Five Districts of Ethiopia Hyperendemic for Trachoma (PDF) >

    Watch the CNN Impact Your World Feature on the Carter Center's Trachoma Control Program >

    Learn more about the Center's Trachoma Control Program.

    Updated September 2009

     

    Increasing Food Production
    Ethiopia's government is strongly vested in finding lasting solutions to the country's chronic food insecurity. Food security in Ethiopia is a matter of life and death. More than 5 million people depend on food relief each year, even when weather and market conditions are favorable. With population growth of about 1.8 million each year, an additional 340,000 metric tons of food grain are needed annually just to maintain per capita food grain consumption at its present level.

    Sasakawa-Global 2000, a joint venture between the Carter Center's Agriculture Program and the Sasakawa Africa Association, has been helping Ethiopian farmers since 1993 to improve agricultural production. SG 2000 has supported regional departments of agriculture in high-potential agricultural areas of the country, helping them to more effectively assist farmers in maintaining high levels of food crop production. The government has been very active in promoting agricultural modernization, and as a result, Ethiopia today has one of the strongest agricultural production records in Africa. 

    Over the last few years, SG 2000's Ethiopia program has been promoting and demonstrating the use of the broad bed and furrow maker, as well as conservation and minimum tillage technologies. In 2007, the government targeted areas where adoption had looked promising and scaled up the process to involve thousands of farmers. Meanwhile, the program continued to emphasize the promotion of quality protein maize (QPM), rice, line planting of wheat, water harvesting, and new post-harvest and agro-processing technologies.

    Although improved production technologies have led to marked increases in crop yields in recent years, the payoff after harvest has been less significant. "This is largely due to post-harvest losses resulting from poor handling systems, both in the field and in storage, higher labor requirements, use of primitive tools and techniques, and poor quality agricultural products," says Dr. Aberra Debelo, project coordinator of SG 2000's Ethiopia program. "The price of most raw materials also fluctuates according to supply and demand, which is beyond the control of the farmer. This can mean that marketing middlemen intrude, and the farmer loses out."

    Now, however, the introduction of post-harvest and agro-processing technologies, in collaboration with SAA's agro-processing program, means that farmers get a better deal. The new technology increases efficiency, minimizes crop wastage, and reduces the drudgery of traditional processing. Thanks to these approaches, production is increased, farmers can realize the gains brought about by improved production techniques, and they can process and market the quality produce that consumers demand.

    Ethiopia must continue to be diligent when monitoring food security programming to improve quality of life and prevent famine. The nation is not alone in this struggle: The Carter Center and its international partners are dedicated to building hope in Ethiopia – hope for a future in which lives are no longer threatened by famine
     
    Learn more about the Carter Center's Agriculture Program.

    Updated May 2009

     

    Controlling Malaria
    Using the same community-based networks already established for Ethiopia's river blindness and trachoma control programs, The Carter Center has expanded its support for health work in the country to include malaria control initiatives. Malaria is the single largest cause of death in Ethiopia, the largest and most populous country in the Horn of Africa.

    The initial focus of the Carter Center's Malaria Control Program, launched in January 2007, was to assist Ethiopia's Ministry of Health in its goal to protect all 50 million Ethiopians at risk for malaria through free distribution of long-lasting insecticidal mosquito nets to cover the entire malaria at-risk population by July 2007.

    By purchasing the balance of nets needed by the national program — 3 million of Ethiopia's estimated total 20 million nets — and by coordinating net distribution and health education on malaria in the Amhara, SNNPR (Southern Nations, Nationalities, and Peoples region), and Oromiya regions, the Center is helping to protect 18 million people at risk (36 percent of the total population at risk in Ethiopia) in more than 100 districts (woredas) and several hundred malarious localities called kebeles. In addition to long-lasting insecticidal bed net distribution, the Center is working with other partners to assist with health education and evaluation of the national program. The Center managed two large representative household surveys in 2006 and 2007, which showed that the proportion of households in malarious areas owning at least one net increased threefold, and the average number of nets per household increased fourfold. The massive scaled-up insecticidal net campaign will assist Ethiopia in moving toward its ambitious goal of eliminating malaria.

    In the southwest region of the country, bed net distribution and net replacement for malaria control are being combined with the country's river blindness program. In the Amhara region, bed net distribution and health education are being coupled with trachoma control initiatives, which now include biannual "MALTRA weeks" at which malaria diagnosis and treatment are offered during azithromycin distribution.

    Evidence now shows that the large scaling-up of malaria prevention, testing, and treatment across the entire country in 2006 and 2007 may have reduced the number of cases of the disease. However, without constant attention to malaria prevention activities, the disease's resurgence in endemic areas remains a threat. The Carter Center has been working with the Ethiopia government to improve and sustain the targeting of control efforts.  In addition, the Center has assisted with new guidelines for malaria surveillance and epidemic detection to ensure that outbreaks are dealt with quickly, and the impact on public health minimized. 

    View Slideshow: Malaria Control in Ethiopia >

    Read the article: Individual, household, and environmental risk factors for malaria infection in Amhara, Oromia, and SNNP regions of Ethiopia (PDF).

    Learn more about the Center's Malaria Control Program.

     
     

    Waging Peace


    Strengthening Civil Society
    The Center's Democracy Program has supported the efforts of civic leaders in Addis Ababa to convene discussions about the most pressing and contentious political and social issues facing the country.  The group set an ambitious agenda of modeling constructive dialogue on issues such as media policy, ethnicity, and the future of the country's economic development. The Carter Center provided support to the first phase of the project, which focused on facilitating public discussions based on well-researched facts, in a forum that demands respect for opposing viewpoints.  The group sought broader dissemination of their model discussions via radio, Internet, and print publication. They also anticipated partnerships with educational and other institutions to widely replicate this model of discussions.

     

    Mediating Conflict
    In 1988, former U.S. President Jimmy Carter visited Addis Ababa to consult with Ethiopian dictator Mengistu Haile Mariam. On a subsequent visit to the region, President Carter met with Eritrean and Tigrayan revolutionary leaders who had been engaged in a 30-year war with the Ethiopian government. At the invitation of both sides, President Carter presided over peace negotiations between the Ethiopian government and the Eritrean People's Liberation Front at The Carter Center for 12 days in September 1989. These mediations marked the first time the parties agreed to negotiate without preconditions in the presence of a third-party mediator.

    These negotiations were reconvened in Nairobi, Kenya, in November 1989. Despite having made some progress, the parties continued to fight. In May 1991, Tigrayan forces reached the capital city of Addis Ababa, forcing Mengistu to flee the country. Eritrea became an independent nation in May 1993.

    A 1991 conference of the leading forces in Ethiopia set the course toward full democracy under President Meles. Subsequently, all but President Meles' Tigrayan groups withdrew from the transition government. Although Ethiopia was well on its way to achieving democratic practices, elections in 1992 were flawed. Eager to help the country deepen its democratic practices, President Carter invited all sides to The Carter Center in February of 1994 for a dialogue.

    Read more about the Carter Center's Conflict Resolution Program.

     

    Intervening for Human Rights
    President Carter and The Carter Center have a long history of interaction with the current and past governments of Ethiopia. In August 1988, President Carter interceded on behalf of 30 Ethiopian Jews and 220 Somali prisoners of war in his first meeting with Ethiopian dictator Mengistu Haile Mariam. They were released a month later.

    In 1992, President Meles Zenawi, who assumed office in May 1991, requested President Carter's help to incorporate strong mechanisms for the protection of human rights into the structure of the Ethiopian state. With these goals in mind, the Center worked with various Ethiopian government ministries in 1992 and 1993 to prevent human rights violations. Training and assistance were provided to: conduct fair trials against officials of the former regime, design a human rights training program for law enforcement personnel, and increase awareness within the judicial system of human rights issues.


     

    Election Reports

    Ethiopia 2005 National Elections: Final Statement on the Carter Center Observations, Sept. 15, 2005 (PDF)
    The Carter Center was pleased to accept the invitation of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia to observe the 2005 parliamentary elections in Ethiopia. The May 15 elections were for 524 of the country's 547 constituency-based seats in the national Parliament. The remaining 23 seats in the Somali region were elected separately in votes held on Aug. 21.

    Carter Center Postelection Statement on the Ethiopia Elections, June 9, 2005
    The Carter Center joins other members of the international community and Ethiopian citizens in expressing its deep alarm and sorrow at the violence, injuries, deaths, and violations of human rights that have occurred since June 6 in Addis Ababa and elsewhere in Ethiopia in the aftermath of the May 15 national elections.

    Postelection Statement on Ethiopia Elections, June 3, 2005
    The Carter Center's May 16 postelection statement, based on observations of the polling process in Addis Ababa and selected locations in eight regions, expressed some concerns and noted that for the first time in history, the majority of Ethiopian voters were presented with choices when they went to the polls.

    Ethiopia Elections: Jimmy Carter Trip Report, Postelection Statement
    The Carter Center thanks the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia for its invitation to observe the May 15, 2005, national elections and all those who welcomed us and took the time to contribute to our understanding of Ethiopian politics and the electoral process.

    Typical household latrine in the Amhara region, Ethiopia.
    Photo credit: Carter Center/L. Rotondo

    Typical household latrine in the Amhara region, Ethiopia.


     
    Former U.S. President Jimmy Carter meets with village chiefs in the Gara Rikta district of Ethiopia to discuss Ethiopia's record-breaking harvest.
    Photo credit: Carter Center/R. Grossman

    Former U.S. President Jimmy Carter meets with village chiefs in the Gara Rikta district of Ethiopia to discuss Ethiopia's record-breaking harvest.

    The Carter Center's Global 2000 program in collaboration with the Sasakawa African Association works to end hunger in developing countries by teaching farmers to become self-reliant through the use of modern agricultural technologies. Since the program's inception in 1986, more than 8 million African farm families have learned new farming practices that have doubled or tripled their grain production.



    The four children of farmer Mamo Tesfaye of Afeta, in the Jimma region of southwest Ethiopia, sleep under chemically impregnated nets to prevent being bitten by malaria-carrying mosquitoes.
    Photo credit: Carter Center/L. Gubb

    The four children of farmer Mamo Tesfaye of Afeta, in the Jimma region of southwest Ethiopia, sleep under chemically impregnated nets to prevent being bitten by malaria-carrying mosquitoes.  The Carter Center's efforts in Ethiopia will help protect 18 million people at risk.


     
    Carter Center-Assisted Trachoma, Malaria, and River Blindness Control Zones in Ethiopia.
    (Click to enlarge)


    The Carter Center's malaria control initiatives use the same community-based networks already established for Ethiopia's river blindness and trachoma control programs, shown above.