Ethiopia

Ethiopia has a population of 72 million with one of the world’s highest incidences of malnutrition. Poverty is the cause of many of Ethiopia’s problems where one third of the population survives on less that 1 U.S. dollar a day.

Malnutrition affects a large portion of the population particularly children where more than 5 per cent of children suffer from malnutrition. Malnutrition plays a large role in approximately 250,000 deaths of children under age five each year.

Malnutrition is associated with poverty, household food insecurity and inadequate care of children.

It is poverty that deprives children in their early years of life to adequate food, clean water, and medicine. Preliminary results from the 2000 Ethiopia Demographic and Health Survey (DHS 2001) indicate roughly that one out of every 20 children born alive die in their first month of life, one out of ten die before reaching their first birthday and one out of six die before reaching their fifth birthday. Ethiopia ranks 21st in the world in under-five mortality rate.

Malnutrition poses such a fatal problem to children because it weakens their ability to resist attacks of infectious diseases. It also has a negative impact on children's cognitive development. Fifty two per cent of children in Ethiopia are stunted, 11 per cent suffer from wasting, and 47 per cent suffer from being severely and moderately underweight. 15 per cent of infants are born with low birth weight and this low birth weight is closely associated with maternal nutrition.

In addition, only about a quarter of households in Ethiopia have access to safe water. Only 6 per cent of households currently have access to adequate sanitation facilities. Approximately 2.5 million people need emergency water supplies and sanitation.

Ethiopia is also home to more than 4.5 million orphans and other vulnerable children. Orphans have lower school attendance rates, poorer nutrition and higher rates of illness.

Even with all these problems, only 6 per cent from the central government expenditure is allocated to health and 16 per cent to education.

The aftermath of Ethiopia’s landmark May 2005 parliamentary elections has laid bare the deeply entrenched patterns of political repression, human rights abuse and impunity that characterize the day-to-day reality of governance in much of the country. This dispiriting reality has come as a shock to many international observers who had viewed the electoral process with a great deal of optimism. The run-up to the May elections witnessed displays of openness and genuine political competition unprecedented in Ethiopia’s long history. But many Ethiopians experienced these limited openings in a context still dominated by heavy-handed government efforts to suppress and punish any form of political dissent. Worse, the aftermath of the May elections has been marred by seemingly intractable controversy and displays of government brutality that threaten to reverse the gains yielded by the electoral process (Human Rights Watch).

Torture, arbitrary detention and excessive use of force by police are among many human rights violations that have been reported to be occurring in Ethiopia. Journalists in the private media have been at risk of arrest and prosecution for exposing issues in the country. Several thousand people have remained in long-term detention without charge or trial on suspicion of supporting armed opposition groups. Prison conditions are harsh and many prisoners were held incommunicado or were feared to have “disappeared” in secret prisons. The long series of trials continued of members of the former Dergue government on charges including genocide. Some trials were concluded and the first death sentences against defendants were imposed. There have also been death sentences in ordinary criminal trials.

Reports continue to be received of arrests of government opponents; arbitrary and indefinite detention without charge or trial; police shootings of criminal suspects with impunity; torture and ill-treatment of prisoners; detentions of government opponents suspected of links with armed opposition; and “disappearances” among detainees allegedly at risk of torture in secret detention centers.

The government began a series of legislative and other reforms to improve the administration of justice, with international assistance. The problems included long court delays; insufficient trained and competent judges; weak independence of the judiciary; lack of an effective, independent bar association; and poor access to justice, particularly for women.

There is also a large problem with female genital mutilation in Ethiopia that is continuously practiced on women and girls in many regions despite the presence of public education programs by government and non-governmental organizations. Women face dangers of domestic violence, rape and forced marriage because the law has allowed rapists to escape punishment by marrying their victim.

Children are also victims of harmful practices such as circumcision, abduction and early marriage, physical punishment and labor exploitation.

Ethiopia has the largest HIV/AIDS infected population in the world.

The HIV epidemic has evolved in Ethiopia from two reported AIDS cases in 1986 to a cumulative total of 147,000 by mid-2003. It is currently estimated that 1.5 million people are living with HIV and AIDS; about 96 000 are children aged under 15 years. Estimated national adult HIV prevalence in 2003 was 4.4% with 12.6% urban prevalence and 2.6% prevalence in rural settings. The gender distribution of HIV/AIDS is estimated at 3.8% for males and 5% for females. There were an estimated 539,000 AIDS orphans (children having lost one or both parents) in 2003; a cumulative total of 90,000 adults and 25,000 children had died of AIDS by end of 2003. At least 720,000 children have lost one or both parents to HIV/AIDS. Because of this, children in Ethiopia are orphaned as a result of the rampant spreading of HIV/AIDS. This has increased the number of child-household family and the burden of the elderly particularly the grandparents and community.

The major diseases affecting children under-five are acute respiratory infection, diarrhoeal diseases, measles, malaria and malnutrition and are responsible for 70 per cent of childhood morbidity and mortality. Pneumonia kills 140,000 children each year. Children in Ethiopia die from childhood diseases that could easily be prevented through immunization and basic health services.

Children are also susceptible to retrieving HIV/AIDS because many of them who are working and living on the street are vulnerable to the danger of contracting diseases like sexual transmitted diseases, HIV/AIDS and other acute and chronic health problems. Girls are even at a greater risk because they are exposed to rape, sexual assault, pregnancy and prostitution.

It was estimated that some 245,000 people living with HIV and AIDS were in need of antiretroviral therapy in 2003; this number increased to 265,000 in 2004. Currently, 13,100 people are receiving antiretroviral treatment. There is a prevalence of poverty in Ethiopia and more individuals need free aid when 12,000 people pay for the treatment and only 1,100 receive treatment free of charge. Fortunately, a program for provision of free antiretroviral treatment for 30,000 people living with HIV and AIDS was launched in January 2005.

HIV/AIDS is a large problem in Ethiopia but malaria is the actually the leading cause of sickness and death in Ethiopia, afflicting nearly 5 million people per year. It has recently begun spreading to areas where it was not previously a serious problem because it is being spread much faster than it is being cured. The disease is also beginning to prove resistant to the relatively cheap medicine Fansidar, making more expensive treatments necessary.

Ethiopia has a high level of chronic food insecurity and is vulnerable to acute food insecurity, primarily caused by drought, environmental degradation and low access to and availability of food. At the beginning of 2006, there were high concerns over the food security and humanitarian situation in southern Somali region and the Borena zone of Oromiya becase the as the rains have largely failed and this increases the precarious situation of already vulnerable pastoralist communities.

With five major droughts in just two decades, many families never have time to recover from one calamity before another befalls them, wiping out crops, animals and what few assets they have managed to scrape together. Hundreds of thousands of people face a struggle for survival year after year.

Overgrazing, deforestation, and poor agricultural practices have contributed to soil erosion so severe, particularly in the Tigray and Eritrea regions, that substantial areas of farmland have been lost to cultivation. As of 1994, 600,000 acres of arable land were washed away each year. The combined effects of severe drought and a 17-year civil war have also added to Ethiopia's environmental problems.

Ethiopia's forests are also endangered. Each year, the nation loses 340 square miles of forest land. Its forests and woodland decreased by 3.4% between 1983 and 1993. The government did not begin forestation and soil conservation programs until the early 1970s. Agencies responsible for environmental matters include the Ministry of Agriculture, the Forestry and Wildlife Development Authority, and the Ministry of National Water Resources.

The nation's water supply is also at risk. Access to safe drinking water is available to 12% of the rural population and 81% of city dwellers. Ethiopia has 110 cubic kilometers of renewable water resources with 86% used in agriculture. The nation's cities produce 1.3 million tons of solid waste per year.

Only about 5% of Ethiopia's total land area is protected. In 2001, 35 of Ethiopia's 255 mammal species were threatened. Of 626 bird species, 20 were endangered. One type of reptile in a total of 188 species and 125 plants in a total of 6,500 were also threatened with extinction.

Endangered species in Ethiopia include the simian fox, African wild ass, Tora hartebeest, Swayne's hartebeest, Waliaibex (found only in Ethiopia), waldrapp, green sea turtle, and hawksbill turtle.

Ethiopia has one of the lowest primary-education enrollment ratios in the world.

Much of the reason for this is attributed to the lack of access to basic and quality education and educational materials in Ethiopia. This affects the cognitive development of the child in the early years of life and beyond. Female enrollment/attendance compared to male is low. This hinders the development and life style of the child and the youth in particular, the family and the society at large forming a vicious circle of ignorance and stagnation. Only 31 percent of female adult aged 15 and over can read and write. And only 49.2 percent of male adults aged 15 and over can read and write.

Until the mid-1970s, the illiteracy rate of Ethiopia was among the highest in the world. Following the 1974 Revolution, an ambitious literacy program benefited millions of Ethiopians, both children and adults; the adult literacy rate in 1990 was reported to be 66 per cent. The sequence of general education in Ethiopia is six years of primary school, four years of lower secondary school and two years of higher secondary school.

Addis Ababa University was established in 1950 as a university college, but is now a full-fledged university which confers its own degrees in a wide range of disciplines, and also has a graduate school. The Alemaya College of Agriculture near Harar, founded in 1954 as part of Addis Ababa University, became an independent Agricultural University in 1985.

In addition, there are 16 junior colleges offering specialized training in agriculture, technology, trade and commerce, and teacher education. Seven are in Addis Ababa, and the other nine in provincial towns in various parts of the country.

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