ETHIOPIA: Overview
Current Projects | Publications | Feature Stories
 Current Conditions
Ethiopia is the second largest country in sub-Saharan Africa with a growing population that is currently at 82 million people—more than half of whom are under the age of 25. Eighty-four percent of Ethiopians live in rural areas where access to modern health care is often limited and harmful traditional practices, such as early marriage and female circumcision, are prevalent.
Meeting Diverse Reproductive Health Needs
Pathfinder International has worked in Ethiopia since 1964, when the organization gave a small grant for family planning activities to a group that would eventually become the Family Guidance Association of Ethiopia, now the nation’s largest family planning provider. Pathfinder’s work greatly expanded in 1995 with the opening of our Ethiopian country office.
Pathfinder’s is fully committed to promoting integrated health services in Ethiopia. Our work focuses on expanding access to and use of reproductive health services with a strong focus on:
Successful Approach
This past year, Pathfinder Ethiopia supported 5 million reproductive health counseling visits that led to nearly 1.8 million new family planning users. Pathfinder’s reputation in Ethiopia is built on on its success in delivering quality, community-based family planning and reproductive health services; strengthening government systems and initiatives; bolstering the capacity of NGOs, health professionals and facilities; and ultimately serving the hard-to-reach and marginalized populations. This includes a commitment to meeting the needs of youth, whose numbers continue to grow in the country.
Current and Recent Projects in Ethiopia
Integrated Family Health Program: A USAID-funded program that supports the efforts of the Government of Ethiopia to improve family planning/reproductive health services and maternal and child health in four regions of the country.
HIV/AIDS Care and Family Planning/Reproductive Health Support: A project working to reduce the spread of STIs and HIV/AIDS and increase access to family planning/reproductive health services and information.
Empowerment of Ethiopian Women Project: In this ongoing project Pathfinder works with local partners to improve the health, rights, and social status of adolescent girls and women.
Prevention of Cervical Cancer in HIV Positive Women: A five-year initiative to increase access to cervical cancer prevention services among HIV-positive women in Ethiopia. Pathfinder is working with the Ministry of Health to promote education and awareness of cervical cancer.
Community Prevention of Mother-To-Child Transmission: In this initiative, Pathfinder serves as a technical subcontractor to IntraHealth to increase the use of prevention of mother-to-child transmission services through the creation of a community-based, integrated model that is tailored to the Ethiopian context.
Support for Fistula Repair Services: Pathfinder supports surgical repair services for women suffering from obstetric fistula which includes paying for their transportation, diagnostic testing, and essential personal items.
Family Planning and Reproductive Health Services: A USAID-funded project that partners with local organizations to support family planning and reproductive health activities in four regions.
Safe Abortion Services in Ethiopia: A project to improve access to quality abortion and postabortion care services in Ethiopia. The initiative coincided with the revision of the Ethiopian National Legal Code on abortion to accommodate improved reproductive health rights of adolescent and adult women.
Youth-Friendly Postabortion Care: A one-year project addressing unsafe abortion among adolescent women in Angola, Ethiopia, Ghana, Kenya, Nigeria, Mozambique, Tanzania, and Uganda.
Access to Family Planning through the Private Sector: A project that worked from 2002-2006 to increase affordable and sustainable access to reproductive health and planning services through the private, for-profit sector.
The Carter Center Accelerated Health Officer Training Program: A project that oversaw the renovation of 17 training hospitals in support of the Carter Center's effort to improve the quality of university-level health science education in Ethiopia.
Back to top 
|
