VZCZCXRO5583
RR RUEHROV
DE RUEHDS #2381/01 2110749
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 300749Z JUL 07
FM AMEMBASSY ADDIS ABABA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 7222
INFO RUCNIAD/IGAD COLLECTIVE
RUEHLMC/MILLENNIUM CHALLENGE CORP WASHINGTON DC 0058
RUCPDOC/DEPT OF COMMERCE WASHDC

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 ADDIS ABABA 002381 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPARTMENT FOR AF/E AND AF/EPS 
LONDON, PARIS, ROME FOR AFRICA WATCHER 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: ECON EAID KMCA ET
SUBJECT: ETHIOPIA: CONFERENCE EXAMINES PROGRESS TOWARD MDGS 
 
ADDIS ABAB 00002381  001.2 OF 002 
 
 
¶1. (U) SUMMARY: At a half-day seminar, GOE and NGO officials 
discussed Ethiopia's progress towards achieving the Millennium 
Development Goals (MDGs).  Participants highlighted that Ethiopia 
had integrated and streamlined MDGs into national development 
polices and programs, such as the 2002-2005 Sustainable Development 
for Poverty Reduction (SDPRP) and the 2005-2010 long-term Plan for 
Accelerated and Sustained Growth to End Poverty (PASDEP).  The 
conference concluded that many countries in Africa are not likely to 
meet the MDGs; GOE officials stated that while Ethiopia's progress 
to date was in line with MDG targets, current efforts had to be 
doubled for Ethiopia to meet the MDGs by 2015.  While Ethiopia's 
recent achievements are encouraging, Ethiopia's human development 
indicators remain low, and the country continues to face major 
challenges and constraints in the provision of basic services. 
Ethiopia's strengthening of policies--in sectors such as health, 
education, and water and sanitation--has led to an improvement in 
some of the human development indicators, albeit from a low base 
line.  END SUMMARY. 
 
¶2. (U) The July 13 conference was organized by the Ethiopian 
International Institute for Peace and Development (EIIPD), an 
Ethiopian NGO led by Professor Kinfe Abraham.  Kinfe discussed the 
MDGs' adoption by the September 2000 UN Millennium Summit in New 
York, and how monitoring mechanisms included progress report from 
the UN Secretary-General to the UN General Assembly.  He noted that 
Ethiopia was one of five countries selected to review its progress 
towards achieving the MDGs. 
 
----------------------------------- 
GOE'S 5-YEAR PLAN IN LINE WITH MDGS 
----------------------------------- 
 
¶3. (U) Getachew Adem, Head of the Planning and Research Department 
of the Ethiopian Ministry of Finance and Economic Development 
(MOFED), said that as the GOE's primary role was fighting poverty, 
it had welcomed the development of the MDGs in 2000 and had 
integrated them into various national policies and programs, 
including the medium-term SDPRP and long-term PASDEP plans and 
programs.  The five-year PASDEP, now in its third-year of 
implementation, focused on building implementation capacity, 
accelerating economic growth, addressing population pressure, 
unleashing the potential of Ethiopian women, improving 
infrastructure, enhancing human development, and managing risks. 
MDG targets tracked with these PASDEP objectives, so implementation 
of the PASDEP would mean progress in the MDGs.  Getachew asserted 
that performance indicators to date--in terms of poverty; expansion 
in education, health, and water supply coverage; and others--were in 
line with PASDEP and MDG targets.  However, challenges included a 
decline in external inflows, regional disparity, as well as quality 
problems in education and health services.  He concluded that if 
current efforts were doubled in the remaining eight years, Ethiopia 
would meet MDG targets by 2015. 
 
¶4. (U) Dr. Hailesellasie Equbagizi, representing WHO, said that 
while health indicators-- including under-five mortality, maternal 
mortality, and HIV/AIDS prevalence--were encouraging, progress to 
date suggested a long way to go to meet the MDGs. 
 
¶5. (U) Dr. Yemane, a Columbia University researcher, presented a 
progress report on the Millennium Village Project in Ethiopia. 
Ethiopia was one of ten countries selected for this pilot project. 
The project in Ethiopia was started at Korora village, to improve 
health services, water supply, education, and other services for 
5,000 beneficiaries, but had since expanded to ten more villages 
encompassing over 50,000 beneficiaries.  While the project was 
improving the lives of beneficiaries, it was too early to assess its 
success or failure. 
 
¶6. (SBU) COMMENT. Prof. Kinfe Abraham's EIIPD is an Ethiopian NGO 
that conducts training for the Ethiopian foreign ministry (MFA), and 
whose conclusions may reflect those of the GOE.  For example, the 
Transitional Federal Government of Somalia's (TFG) Ambassador to 
Ethiopia and PermRep to the African Union was a featured speaker at 
an EIIPD workshop earlier this earlier, which explained Ethiopian 
national interests motivating Ethiopia's military intervention in 
Somalia. 
 
--------------------------------------- 
COMMENT: IMPROVEMENT FROM LOW BASE LINE 
--------------------------------------- 
 
¶7. (SBU) COMMENT CONTINUED.  While Ethiopia's MDGs are streamlined 
into its national development policies and programs, the challenges 
to meeting those goals are great, and include the quality of 
education and health services, disparities among Ethiopia's regions, 
the country's dependence on foreign inflows, low implementation 
capacity, and resource gaps. 
 
ADDIS ABAB 00002381  002.2 OF 002 
 
 
 
¶8. (U) The GOE's commitment to poverty reduction and to the MDGs is 
evidenced by the continuous rise in pro-poor expenditure, and in the 
strengthening of policies in key pro-poor sectors, such as health, 
education, and water and sanitation.  This, and increased spending 
on poverty-oriented sectors in the context of macro-economic 
stability, have led to an improvement in some of the human 
development indicators, albeit from a low base line. 
 
¶9. (U) The expansion in gross primary school enrollment has been 
particularly significant, rising from 30 percent in the early 1990s 
to 91 percent now.  Although Ethiopia still has one of the world's 
highest prevalence of child malnutrition, the prevalence rate is 
declining steadily.  Access to potable water has also improved over 
the past five years, and more children in Ethiopia are being 
immunized against diseases such as measles, which has contributed to 
reducing child and infant mortality. 
 
¶10. (SBU) While recent achievements are encouraging, Ethiopia's 
human development indicators remain low, and the country continues 
to face major challenges and constraints in the provision of basic 
services.  Although primary school enrolment has expanded 
enormously, the available resources are not adequate to ensure 
improvements in educational outcomes.  The resource constraints in 
the education sector are evidenced by congestion in schools. 
Access to education for children with special needs, and for 
children from pastoral areas, remains limited.  The limited access 
to water is partly due to the inadequate capacity of rural water 
schemes, as many of them are malfunctioning, and existing water 
schemes lack adequate funding for maintenance or operating costs to 
sustain water supply.  Lack of clean water and sanitation has also 
contributed to the high morbidity rates in Ethiopia. 
END COMMENT. 
 
YAMAMOTO