2160 tons of emergency humanitarian food aid from China distributed
2160 tons of emergency humanitarian food aid donated by the Government of China are being distributed among IDPs in northern Ethiopia, demonstrating the deep friendship between the two countries and their peoples.
As President Xi Jinping indicated, the everlasting spirit of China-Africa friendship features sincere friendship and equality, win-win for mutual benefits and common development, fairness and justice. In this spirit, China will stand firmly with Ethiopia and other African countries, earnestly implement the outcomes of the FOCAC conference, and jointly build a China-Africa community with a shared future in the new era.
UNFPA, UNICEF call for renewed commitment to end female genital mutilation in Ethiopia
UNFPA and UNICEF jointly call for an increased investment of resources by the Government of Ethiopia and development partners to accelerate implementation of the National Costed Roadmap to End Child Marriage and Female Genital Mutilation amid a prolonged COVID-19 pandemic and humanitarian crisis. The call was made in connection with the observance of the International Day of Zero Tolerance against Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) today under the theme, “Accelerating Investment to End Female Genital Mutilation.”
Ethiopia has made remarkable progress in the last decade in the reduction of FGM prevalence among girls and women aged 15-49 from 74 per cent in 2005 to 65 per cent in 2016. However, Ethiopia is still a home to 25 million circumcised women and girls. This accounts for the largest absolute number in Eastern and Southern Africa and makes up 12.5 per cent of the 200 million women and girls who have undergone FGM globally. The prevalence of FGM among adolescent girls aged 15 to 19 has dropped from 62 per cent in 2005 to 47 per cent in 2016.
The National Costed Roadmap, which aims to end FGM by 2025, has an objective of sparing an estimated 3.6 million girls who are at the risk of undergoing FGM. The Government of Ethiopia is leading in costing and domestic financing the initiative pledging a 10 per cent annual budget increment in funding its National Costed Roadmap for FGM and child marriage. This is critical in decreasing dependence on external funding and assuring sustainability.
“Africa cannot outsource its healthcare security to the benevolence of others”
African Development Bank Group President Dr Akinwumi Adesina has said that the most important lesson of the Covid-19 pandemic for Africa is the need to build a defense mechanism against external shocks, especially in healthcare and financial security.
“Investing in health is investing in national security,” Adesina told African leaders, at the opening of the 35th African Union Assembly in the Ethiopian capital. “Africa cannot afford to outsource the healthcare security of its 1.4 billion citizens to the benevolence of others.”
The Bank chief said the continent needed $484 billion over the next three years to address the socio-economic impacts of the Covid-19 pandemic and support economic recovery.
Adesina outlined three strategic priorities for an African healthcare defense system: building quality healthcare infrastructure; developing the continent’s pharmaceutical industry; and increasing the capacity of vaccine manufacturing. He added that the African Development Bank planned to invest $3 billion to support Africa’s pharmaceutical and vaccine manufacturing capacity.
