Peer Recognition

UNFPA Ethiopia’s work has been acknowledged by peer development organizations; government ministries; donors; and local, regional, international and development media.

The Ministry of Youth and Sports of the GoE recognized the Fund for its work in 2008. In 2004, the Ethiopian Nurses Association awarded the fund recognition.

Presently, UNFPA’s Berhane Hewan Project, addressing early marriage in Amhara Region of Ethiopia, will be featured in the Global Giving Website (www.globalgiving.com/girleffect).

Over the past year, international development wire service, IRIN, has featured the work of UNFPA Ethiopia several times:

Need to focus on maternal, child health - top AU official

ADDIS ABABA, 4 February 2009 (IRIN) - Countries in Africa should promote maternal, infant and child health and report on progress, in order to curb high deaths rates on the continent, a senior African Union (AU) official has said. “We will launch a movement to promote maternal and child health in the continent," said AU Commissioner for Social Affairs Biencé Gawana. "It will be an advocacy campaign... together with partners like UNFPA [the UN Population Fund] and UNICEF [the UN Children’s Fund]," she told reporters.

http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=82741

ETHIOPIA: New initiative against FGM/C

SEMERA, 1 December 2008 (IRIN) - Like most pastoralists in the remote Afar region of northeastern Ethiopia, Ahmed Mohammed made sure his daughter was circumcised seven days after her birth.

http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=81753

ETHIOPIA: Saving lives with trained birth attendants

DIRE DAWA, 3 November 2008 (IRIN) - Like many teenagers in rural Ethiopia, Shekuria Mume, 19, became pregnant, quit school and got married at 15. The birth of her first baby remains one of her most traumatic experiences, as an untrained traditional birth attendant (TBA) delivered her…Although Shekuria survived, many Ethiopian women are not so lucky. According to the 2005 Demographic and Health Survey, the country has one of the highest maternal mortality rates in the world, with 673 deaths per 100,000 live births. 

The UN Population Fund (UNFPA) estimates that 25,000 maternal deaths occur in Ethiopia annually and at least 500,000 women suffer pregnancy-related disabilities such as fistula.

http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=81264

Recently, a documentary film, “Child Brides in Ethiopia,” directed by Andi Gitow and produced with the support of UNFPA, was voted the Best Feature in the 2007 CNN International World Report Awards.  (http://www.unfpa.org/public/global/pid/54)