Ethiopia
Amref has worked in Ethiopia since the 1960s, supporting government and communities to create lasting health change.
Amref in Ethiopia
Amref has been active in Ethiopia since the 1960s and established a permanent office presence in 2002. Amref Ethiopia now operates projects in 12 states and two city administrations across Ethiopia.
What are the health challenges in Ethiopia?
Ethiopia faces health challenges driven by long-standing issues and emerging crises.
Communicable diseases such as malaria, measles, and diarrhoeal illnesses are serious public health issues, especially in areas with poor access to clean water, sanitation, and essential health services.
Malnutrition, particularly among children and mothers, continues to be a major concern due to food insecurity, drought, and outbreaks of violence and conflict.
Maternal and child mortality rates are high, and although progress has been made in recent years, access to quality healthcare remains uneven—especially in rural and conflict-affected regions. Outbreaks of preventable diseases have also increased due to disruptions in immunisation services.
- The current stunting rates (of under 5s). While this has fallen from 58% since 2000, the current levels are still among the higest globally.
Health workers per 10,000 people in Ethiopio, about 6 times less than WHO recommended levels.
“We are uncompromising in not just being a strong African regional partner, but also creating a network of strong local partners – that’s what is going to drive lasting health change.”
What does Amref do in Ethiopia?
We work to ensure health equity, reaching the most disadvantaged, marginalised, and vulnerable communities. To do this, we partner with government at the national and regional levels and local communities to identify their unique health needs. Together, we create solutions that work for these communities in their own contexts so that they can design, own and manage them in the long term.
Our programmes are designed to support community level interventions while strengthening health systems at the regional and national levels. We follow an integrated and multi-sectoral approach, to address the issues that link through our programmatic focus areas:
Our work in Ethiopia aligns to the national Health Sector Transformation Plan II, aiming to improve Ethiopia’s health systems to accelerate progress to achieve Health for All, response to health emergencies, and bring health services as close as possible to people in their local areas.
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Images: (banner) Udima Awol, a 19-year-old girl, lives in Jarra, Chifra, in Ethiopia’s Afar region (c) Amref Health Africa / Genaye Eshetu