Ethiopia
February 7th and 8th, 2008
The Ethiopia launch had more than 300 participants from non-governmental organizations (NGOs), international agencies, as well as representatives from the government, academic and health care sectors who gathered in Addis Ababa on Thursday, February 7, 2008 for the Ethiopian launch of The Lancet’s Series on Maternal and Child Undernutrition.
The event was significant because it was the first time the Government of Ethiopia launched a National Nutrition Strategy. The National Nutrition Strategy is a multi-sectoral plan for addressing the cross-cutting issue of nutrition. The event was also important because it provided an opportunity for representatives from five of the key ministries—the Ministry of Rural Development and Agriculture, the Ministry of Education, the Ministry of Water Resources, the Ministry of Health, and the Ministry of Finance and Economic Development—to publicly endorse the National Nutrition Strategy. During the event the Deputy Prime Minister also attended to demonstrate the support from the Prime Minister’s office.
The all-day event began with an opening ceremony, which included remarks by H.E. Dr. Shiferaw Teklemariam, State Minister for Health; H.E. Dr. Tedros Adhanom, Minister for Health; Dr. Robert Black, Lead Author of The Lancet’s Series; Cyndi Lewis, Senior Program Officer at The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation; Bjorn Ljungqvist, Ethiopia Country Representative for UNICEF; Venkatesh Mannar, President of Micronutrient Initiative; Glenn Anders, Ethiopia Mission Director for USAID; H.E. Dr. Sintayehu WoldeMichael, Minister for Education; Ato Simon Mechale, Director General for Ethiopia’s Disaster Prevention and Preparedness Agency; and the Guest of Honor was H.E. Ato Addisu Legesse, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Rural Development and Agriculture. Following the opening remarks, the participants took part in a press briefing and technical presentations on The Lancet’s Series and the status of nutrition in Ethiopia.
The launch event was attended by more than 17 journalists from international outlets such as Reuters, BBC, Agence France-Presse, Bloomberg, EFE, and more than a dozen of Ethiopia’s leading print, television, and radio outlets.
On Friday, February 8, 2008 participants took part in field visits to witness first-hand the successful health and nutrition efforts underway.
Electronic Press Kit
For additional information, please email info@globalnutrition.org.