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Ethiopia
– A Country Overview
Ethiopia
is a landlocked country in northeastern
Africa
with a history that spans 2,000 years. Christianity and Islam are
the country's two major religions, and the main languages spoken by
its 85.8 million people are Amharic, Arabic, Guaraginga, Orominga,
Somali, and Tigrinya.
Ethiopia
is one of the largest producers of coffee in
Africa,
with sugarcane, hides, oilseeds, and beeswax following as the
country's major exports. The majority of Ethiopians rely on farming
or herding for their livelihood, but environmental degradation has
resulted in frequent famine and drought.
 On
the development front, the government of
Ethiopia
has taken positive steps toward meeting the UN Millennium
Development Goals (MDGs). It has established the Plan for
Accelerated and Sustained Development to End Poverty in
Ethiopia
and worked with the UN country team to conduct an MDG needs
assessment and implement these goals locally.
Ethiopia
is one of only a few countries that has created a national
development plan focused on the MDGs.
As part of its MDG
commitment, Ethiopia
is working to improve the health of its people. The government aims
to reduce the country's maternal mortality rate from 673 deaths for
every 100,000 births to 600 per 100,000 by the end of this year. The
government is also working to combat malaria, the leading cause of
death in Ethiopia,
and has provided almost 10 million at-risk households with mosquito
nets.
Access to clean drinking water has increased by
5.2 percent between 2004 and 2006, from 42 percent to 47.2 percent
of the total population. Nevertheless, the majority of Ethiopians
are still without clean water, which is essential to improving
overall health.
Education is another primary
focus of Ethiopia's
development strategy. The combined literacy rate of women and men
between ages 15 and 24 is low, at 31.2 percent, leaving substantial
room for progress. However, since 2002, over 2,000 new schools have
been constructed, and the ratio of girls to boys in primary and
secondary schools is now 9 to 10, a demonstration of efforts to
empower women.
Projects seeking assistance
Rotary clubs in Ethiopia
sponsor three Rotary Community Corps, and there is one World
Community Service project in the country seeking support.
Rotary efforts include promoting education and
health care, including disease prevention.
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