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| >> Regional Overview >> Ethiopia Overview | |||||||||||||||||||||
IntroductionDuring 1999, promoting regional stability in the Greater Horn of Africa was a primary interest of the United States. Accordingly, it supported the efforts of the Organization of African Unity (OAU) to resolve the Ethio-Eritrean border conflict. It also responded generously to the emergency food and non-food needs of the approximately eight million Ethiopians, whose chronic food insecurity made them especially susceptible to the drought of 1999, and the approximately 315,000 Ethiopians displaced by the country's border conflict with Eritrea. American assistance to drought-affected Ethiopians prevented deaths and helped stabilize a situation that might otherwise have led to large and potentially destabilizing population movements, thereby serving the humanitarian interests of Ethiopia and the United States. The United States also has interests in promoting broad-based economic growth and democracy in Ethiopia because of the potential contributions such activities make to regional stability. The continuing Ethio-Eritrean border conflict has slowed Ethiopia's development efforts. Donors, including the United States, and international financial institutions delayed non-project assistance (budget-support) programs. The United States refused to release approximately $13 million in non-project assistance to the Government of the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia (GFDRE) for health and basic education programs. However, the United States and other aid agencies have continued on-going project assistance, i.e., activities for which the funds are not transferred to the government. Generally speaking, USAID project assistance activities achieved the results expected for FY1999. Regarding progress toward a solution to its border conflict with Eritrea, Ethiopia was the first to accept the "framework" and the "implementation modalities" agreements put forth by the OAU. However, it posed questions to the OAU about a "technical arrangements" agreement and will review an OAU response before taking any further action. Ethiopia has thus far pursued international diplomacy to resolve its conflict with Eritrea avoiding, thereby, an even greater man-made crisis with potentially significant human costs. Finally, elections for the national parliament and regional governments are scheduled for May 2000. Early indications are that an increasingly active opposition will participate. Nevertheless, chronic food insecurity, compounded by the recent drought, is the key development problem faced by Ethiopians. USAID development assistance is integrally linked to supporting goals for regional stability, economic development, democracy, and humanitarian assistance. The Development ChallengeFinally, elections for the national parliament and regional governments are scheduled for May 2000. Early indications are that an increasingly active opposition will participate. Nevertheless, chronic food insecurity, compounded by the recent drought, is the key development problem faced by Ethiopians. USAID development assistance is integrally linked to supporting goals for regional stability, economic development, democracy, and humanitarian assistance. 1 USAID's program is designed to complement the GFDRE's efforts to address these problems. During FY1999, for example, USAID restructured its agricultural development program to focus on increasing rural household production and productivity and increasing the efficiency of agricultural markets. The re-structured agricultural program includes new emphases on applied, on-farm agricultural research and extension services and access to micro-credit and microenterprise development. It continues support for policy reform and the development of business-based, democratically managed farmer cooperatives and independent agricultural retailers. It also better integrates P.L. 480 Title II Food for Work and related activities with other agriculture development activities. At current growth rates, Ethiopia's population will almost triple to 145 million by 2025, yet approximately one-fourth of Ethiopia's children currently die before their fifth birthday, and the maternal mortality rate is estimated to be one of the highest in the world. More than four million people in Ethiopia are HIV positive, and the HIV/AIDS epidemic threatens to reverse five years of economic growth. USAID's approach to these problems emphasizes: a) policy reform (increased public expenditures on preventive and primary health care and health care financing reform); b) the expansion of integrated health and family planning services; c) an aggressive HIV/AIDS prevention program throughout the country; and d) strengthened delivery of preventive, primary health care services to the 11 million people in the Southern Nations, Nationalities and Peoples Region. During FY1999, major increases in contraceptive prevalence rate (36.7% vs. a baseline of 4.1%), antenatal care (86.8% vs. a baseline of 62.2%), tetanus toxoid vaccination (93% vs. a baseline of 65.8%) were achieved in project areas. Through an innovative grant to the Ethiopian Orthodox Church, HIV/AIDS prevention efforts will target half of Ethiopia's 60 million people. USAID's approach to increasing primary enrollments is directed at strengthening the system's financing and administrative capacity, increasing public investment in primary education, improving teacher training and the quality of educational materials, and increasing community involvement in school management and support. The most notable achievement for this objective in FY1999 was the increase in primary school enrollments to 46% nationally (from 24% in 1996). In addition, the GFDRE maintained its high level of commitment to basic education by sustaining its share of the public budget despite the border conflict with Eritrea. As Ethiopia's democratic transition has proceeded, USAID has focused on supporting the decentralization and improvement of government budgeting, accounting and public expenditure planning functions, on strengthening the independent judiciary, and on strengthening Ethiopian non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and improving the environment in which they operate. During FY1999, progress in each of these areas was satisfactory or better. In-service training in the revised government accounting system commenced at federal and regional management training institutions. Substantial progress was made toward improving government budgeting procedures. A public investment program, linking capital and recurrent budgets for the first time, was tested at the federal level and plans were made for it to be piloted in the regions. USAID reached agreement with the GFDRE on the redesign of its successful judicial training program in a manner that will meet the training needs of the judiciary in a sustainable fashion. USAID's continued support to Ethiopian civil society expanded to creating partnerships with 85 Ethiopian NGOs, while at the same time USAID contributed to improvements in the environment in which NGOs operate, including improvements in the registration process and the adoption of an NGO Code of Conduct. Finally, USAID maintains a capacity to respond to emergency situations and continues to support efforts to build the capacity of the national and regional governments to respond to crises. In FY1999, the United States provided over 82,000 metric tons (MT) of commodities valued at $36 million of Title II non-emergency resources to over half a million Ethiopians in the country's chronically food insecure districts. It also provided 237,160 MT of emergency humanitarian food assistance valued at $82 million. Of this amount, 191,500 MT, valued at $66.0 million, assisted approximately eight million Ethiopians affected by drought. The balance, 45,660 MT valued at $16.0 million, assisted the approximately 315,000 Ethiopians displaced by the Ethio-Eritrean border conflict. The latter also received non-food assistance valued at $1,350,700. Field assessments and nutritional surveys demonstrated that timely delivery of emergency food aid prevented mass migration of people, successfully addressed the nutritional needs of the war displaced, and allowed Ethiopia to avoid a serious humanitarian crisis, all significant results. 1Calculations derived from the 1998 Agency Performance Report (March 31, 1999), Data are generally 1996 or older. Other DonorsAs of mid-1999, the United States ranked first among bilateral donors to Ethiopia, followed by Germany, Japan, Ireland, the Netherlands and Italy. Major multilateral donors include International Development Association, the United Nations Development Program, the World Food Program and the World Bank. USAID continues, in collaboration with other leading bilateral and multilateral donors, to support the GFDRE's education and health sector development programs and its civil service reform program because they are consistent with USAID's strategic objectives. USAID coordinates its support for judicial reform and strengthening with that of the Canadian International Development Agency. In FY1999, USAID signed a new strategic objective agreement supporting the GFDRE's new food security program, one of the first such agreements.
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