The World Health Organization (WHO) has delivered more than 71 metric tonnes of essential medical supplies to conflict-affected areas of Tigray, Amhara and Afar, as it scales up emergency health operations to address growing humanitarian needs caused by ongoing hostilities.

WHO said it was working with national and regional health authorities and humanitarian partners to maintain essential health services, strengthen disease surveillance and expand emergency medical assistance in areas affected by insecurity and displacement.

The medical shipments include emergency health kits, cholera response materials, reproductive health kits and medicines for noncommunicable diseases.

WHO has also strengthened emergency coordination mechanisms, deployed technical teams and expanded operational support across the three regions. Its activities include disease surveillance, outbreak investigations, vaccine distribution, emergency preparedness and coordination of public health interventions.

The organization said it was working with United Nations agencies, including the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UNOCHA), UNAIDS, the International Organization for Migration (IOM), the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR), UNICEF and the UN Population Fund (UNFPA), alongside government institutions and other humanitarian partners.

The coordinated response aims to improve the delivery of essential health services and medical supplies to communities whose access to healthcare has been disrupted by conflict and displacement.

Through support for mobile health and nutrition teams and existing health facilities, WHO and its partners are helping communities access primary healthcare, maternal and reproductive health services, disease prevention and treatment for communicable and noncommunicable diseases.

The organization is also supporting emergency referrals and strengthening outbreak response capacity and public health monitoring systems in areas where insecurity continues to affect healthcare delivery.

WHO’s emergency response is supported by contributions from donors, including the United Nations Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF) and the European Union through its European Civil Protection and Humanitarian Aid Operations (ECHO).

According to WHO, the funding has enabled the delivery of essential medicines and medical supplies, strengthened disease surveillance systems, supported mobile health and nutrition teams and helped sustain critical services for conflict-affected and displaced populations.

#ADVERTORIAL | DStv For Business

Hotels now sell far more than a place to sleep. Here is how DStv for Business is helping Addis Ababa’s hotels turn in-room entertainment into a better guest experience as COP32 approaches.

Not long ago, a hotel’s promise was simple: a clean room, a hot meal and a key that worked. Guests now expect much more, and over the past decade the industry has quietly caught up.

Today’s traveller wants connectivity that never drops, food and drink that feels chosen rather than merely available, spaces that suit both work and rest, and staff who remember their preferences. Wellness facilities, thoughtful design and seamless technology were once luxuries. Now they are the starting point. Business and leisure travel have blurred, too. The same guest may close a deal at noon, watch a match at six, and expect the hotel to serve both versions of themselves without friction.

The way guests judge has changed as well. A stay is no longer assessed privately at checkout. It is rated publicly, in detail, within hours, and those scores shape the next thousand bookings. Hotels compete on experience, not just on price or location, and every touchpoint, from the front desk to the restaurant to the room itself, is part of the product.

Of all the things that now define a stay, entertainment may be the most personal, because it is what guests turn to when the day is done. After the flight, the meetings or the sightseeing, a guest expects the match, the news, a film and the children’s channel to be waiting in the room, without effort. For many travellers, the room is where the stay is really lived. It is where they unwind, catch up with home and quietly decide whether they will come back.

Range matters, because hotel guests are never one audience. A European visitor wants familiar sport and a favourite series. A business traveller wants current affairs and documentaries. A family wants Ethiopian and African films. A group of friends wants the Premier League, the UEFA Champions League, LaLiga, local leagues and motorsport, all carried by SuperSport. A lineup that serves only one of these audiences lets the others down.

That thinking is behind DStv for Business Stay, the in-room offering designed to make a hotel or lodge the best place for families, business travellers, sports lovers and kids. Channel packages can be tailored to each property’s character, so a busy international business hotel and a family-friendly lodge need not carry the same lineup. Crisp high-definition pictures and a well-set-up screen make the difference between a television that is simply switched on and one that makes a room feel like a welcome.

When it works, guests barely mention it. When it doesn’t, they remember, and they write about it.

Few cities have more reason to care than Addis Ababa. It is home to the African Union and the UN Economic Commission for Africa, and Ethiopian Airlines makes it one of the continent’s great crossroads. The capital has more than 500 hotels, most of them small, independently run properties, yet only around 25,000 accommodation beds. With COP32, the United Nations climate summit, due in November 2027 and more than 80,000 international delegates expected, the city plans to raise capacity above 80,000 beds.

The industry is already building. Ethiopia has nearly 6,000 rooms across 34 hotels in its development pipeline, and close to 80 percent of those rooms are under construction, the highest share in Africa. Major brands are expanding, including a planned Hilton Garden Inn within the Hilton Addis Ababa compound and an additional Sheraton-branded hotel within the Sheraton Addis compound.

But capacity is only the first test. When every new tower offers a comfortable mattress and a decent breakfast, rooms become a commodity, and the difference is made in the hours between meetings. Addis Ababa has already shown it can host large gatherings, with more than 50 international and continental events in six months last year. What decides whether those visitors come back is the experience inside the hotel.

Several of the country’s best-known names have already made that investment. Ethiopian Skylight Hotel, owned by Ethiopian Airlines Group and a short drive from Bole International Airport, is among the largest hotels in Africa and welcomes guests from every continent. Radisson Blu Hotel, Addis Ababa, sits in the Kazanchis business district at the centre of the city’s diplomatic and corporate life. Haile Grand Addis Ababa, part of the Haile Resorts group, and Lewi Resort and Hotel have also chosen DStv for Business, as has Boston Partners, the group behind the Kuriftu resorts, which are known for leisure and family stays. Their guests are very different, from airline passengers and delegates to holidaymakers and families, but they share a conviction that entertainment belongs at the centre of the stay.

The principle behind that choice is simple. A guest who walks into a room where the match, the news, the film and the children’s channel are all ready and looking their best feels that someone has paid attention. That sense of care is what turns a good stay into one worth recommending.

For Ethiopian hoteliers, the practical steps are straightforward. Start with the evening hours between seven and eleven, when guests return to their rooms and what is on the screen shapes how the whole stay feels. Then match the package to the property, thinking about who actually sleeps with you, whether business travellers, families or sports fans, and plan around major fixtures and large events. Finally, listen to your guests. Track their feedback on in-room entertainment and notice how it changes during big match weeks and busy conference periods.

With COP32 about a year away, the window to prepare is open. Guests don’t simply book a bed. They book an evening, a mood, a reason to linger. The hotels that understand this, and equip every room accordingly, will be ready long before the first delegate lands.

To find out how DStv for Business Stay can work for your property, contact DStv for Business today via dstvbusiness@dstvethiopia.com or visit our web site https://www.dstv.com/business/en-et/dstv-business-packages/

Ethiopia could lose up to $453 million in coffee export revenue as strict European Union (EU) environmental rules threaten shipments failing to meet traceability, geolocation, and legal compliance standards, according to a new study by ODI Global.

​The report, titled The Case of EUDR in Ethiopia: How to Secure Climate, Trade and Development Goals, and Overcome Risks of Market Exclusion, warns that the EU Deforestation Regulation (EUDR) poses severe risks to Ethiopia’s coffee sector, with far-reaching consequences for rural livelihoods, foreign exchange earnings, and overall economic stability.

According to the study, potential export losses could range from $160 million—if 20% of EU-bound shipments are excluded—to $453 million in a worst-case scenario involving a 57% market cutoff. Even if affected coffee is redirected to alternative buyers, Ethiopia stands to lose between $42 million and $118 million due to lower market prices compared to premium European rates.

The study stresses that compliance demands impose disproportionate financial burdens on developing nations reliant on smallholders. Ethiopia is particularly vulnerable because around four million small-scale farmers account for 95% of its coffee production, mostly operating on plots under one hectare.

The EU represents approximately 30% of Ethiopia’s coffee export market. Across the country, an estimated 15 million people depend on the coffee value chain, while nearly a quarter of the population relies on the sector directly or indirectly.

The report outlines three major compliance obstacles: incomplete geolocation data, supply-chain traceability gaps, and legal verification hurdles.

EUDR requires precise geographical coordinates for every production plot. However, mapping individual farms costs between $4 and $7 per plot, with verification adding another $5 to $12. Applied across millions of fragmented farms, these costs create a heavy burden. Consequently, exporters are prioritizing pre-certified farmers, leaving up to 20% of smallholders at risk of market exclusion.

Local collectors and informal traders handle 57.4% of marketed coffee. While these intermediaries complicate documentation, excluding them without workable alternatives could disrupt traditional trade networks and harm farmers reliant on rapid cash payments.

To address these vulnerabilities, the Ethiopian Coffee and Tea Authority (ECTA), alongside the Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Agriculture, has launched a three-year national action plan. Key initiatives include farm data collection, digital supply-chain tracking, and upgrading the Coffee Market Information Management System into the Ethiopian Coffee Traceability Management System (ECTMS).

However, ECTMS is not yet fully operational, and geolocation coverage remains limited. By July 2024, only 200,000 hectares had been mapped out of an estimated 860,000 hectares under cultivation—roughly 23%. Land documentation gaps also persist, alongside uncertainties regarding how the EU classifies Ethiopia’s traditional forest and semi-forest coffee systems.

The study show that, disruptions in coffee exports could worsen Ethiopia’s foreign currency shortages. Coffee generates roughly 35% of national merchandise export earnings, with 11% tied directly to EU sales. Export declines could reduce total national foreign exchange earnings by up to 8.5%, pressuring the birr and driving domestic inflation.

Financial institutions also face major credit risks. Exporters and cooperatives may struggle to service seasonal procurement loans if denied access to premium EU markets.

To mitigate these threats, ODI Global urges flexible bilateral engagement with EU authorities, technical support for smallholders, expanded environmental financing mechanisms, and fairer price-premium distribution across the coffee supply chain.