WASHINGTON, December 20, 2007 – The World Bank’s Board of Executive Directors today approved a US$215 million International Development Association (IDA) grant to the Government of Ethiopia to continue protecting and promoting the delivery of basic services by sub-national governments while deepening transparency and local accountability in service delivery. The current financing supplements the US$215 million already committed over the past 18 months of implementation of the Ethiopia Protection of Basic Services (PBS) Program, bringing the total IDA financing of the PBS project to US$430 million.
The project has the following components:
Component 1 – Basic-Services Program, comprises two sub-components:
Subcomponent 1(a)—Promoting the Delivery of Basic Services by Sub-national governments—will continue to support the delivery of basic services (in health, education, agriculture and natural resources, including water) provided by regional and local governments.
Subcomponent 1(b)—Pilot Local Investment Grant (LIG)—will support the scaling-up of the Program’s impact on local service delivery. This new subcomponent will support the introduction, on a pilot basis, of a Federal Specific Purpose Grant (SPG) to regions to be used exclusively for capital investment implemented by local governments in support of the delivery of basic services.
Component 2—Promoting the Health Millennium Development Goals—will continue the thrust of the PBS Project towards accelerating and sustaining malaria control, reducing infant mortality through vaccines, improving the delivery of primary health services, strengthening of family planning, as well as capacity building and strengthening the health system.
Component 3—Strengthening Governance Systems on Financial Transparency and Accountability—will continue to support activities at the Region/City Administrations, local government, and community levels to enhance transparency around public budget procedures and foster broad engagement of citizen representative groups and citizens more broadly on public budget processes and public service delivery. This component will also continue to support various institutional capacity building activities, support to improving the public financial management system, monitoring and evaluation activities, and an assessment of the technical quality of infrastructure for the new Pilot LIG Subcomponent.
Component 4—Social Accountability—supports capacity building for, and the piloting of, selected approaches to strengthen voice and client power of citizens in the context of decentralized service delivery, and to also build the capacity of citizens to engage in public budgeting processes. This component is financed by a Multi-Donor Trust Fund administered by the World Bank and provides direct financing to civil society organizations using a non-government Management entity.
The Additional Financing of US$215 million would address the financing gap largely associated with the completion of core activities under the existing Component 1 – Promoting the Delivery of Basic Services by Sub-national governments, and Component 2 – Promoting the Health Millennium Development Goal (MDG), of the Project.
In approving the additional financing, the World Bank’s Executive Board recognized and appreciated the impressive impact the PBS is having on the expansion of basic services in Ethiopia, the strong commitment that the Government has demonstrated in expanding pro-poor public services, and this being a good example of result-focused donor harmonization in an area that is so central to achievement of the MDGs.
“The PBS is pushing the frontier in terms of improving service delivery on a large-scale and making it more accountable to the people,” said Kenichi Ohashi, the World Bank’s Country Director for Ethiopia and Sudan. “The challenges are significant but these are the building blocks for true local empowerment. The international community looks forward to a sustained national effort to reach the MDGs and to do it in a way which taps into the potential of local communities in making decisions that affect the lives of themselves and their children.”
In earmarking local government grants for essential services in health, education, agriculture and water, the Protection of Basic Services Program requires strict reporting on how funds are allocated and spent. The plan applies four tests: fairness, to ensure that services are disbursed without partisan or political bias; sound fiduciary management, to guarantee that resources support the intended goals; “additionality,” to ensure that the Ethiopian government’s ongoing funding of basic services isn’t reduced; and accountability, so that citizens are fully informed and allowed to participate in decisions affecting their access to critical services. Disbursements under the PBS program can be halted if there are significant shortcomings in meeting the four tests.
The PBS project is supported by a broad coalition of development partners including the African Development Bank (AfDB), Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA), Britain’s Department for International Development (DFID), the European Commission (EC), Irish Aid, Germany’s KfW, the Netherlands, and the World Bank. The development partners have contributed over US$800 million thus far via the original PBS, with additional financing of approximately US$375 million expected of which the World Bank is providing US$215 million. The Government and the international community have agreed that these additional funds will be utilized for the next year, during which time preparations will be launched to develop a successor to the PBS in support of decentralized service delivery for the medium-term.
###
For more information on the World Bank’s work in sub-Saharan Africa, visit www.worldbank.org/africa
For more information on the International Development Association, visit www.worldbank.org/ida
For more information on the World Bank’s work in Ethiopia, please visit www.worldbank.org/et
For more information, please visit the Projects website
Grant will improve reproductive, maternal, newborn and child health
BOSTON — JSI Research & Training Institute, Inc. (JSI) will use a $14.7 million grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to help the Government of Ethiopia achieve sustainable improvements in reproductive, maternal, newborn and child health in Ethiopia. The Last Ten Kilometers (L10K): What it Takes to Improve Health Outcomes in Rural Ethiopia Program is designed to help address the severe shortage of human resources for health in Ethiopia. It will reach out to families and communities to introduce simple strategies for better health. L10K will help selected Ethiopian organizations develop technical, managerial, and financial capacity to assist this process.
“This new grant will enable JSI to extend and deepen the in-roads it has already made in the country–and help improve the health of more than 15 million women and children in Ethiopia,” commented Joel Lamstein, JSI President. “We are grateful to the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation for giving JSI this opportunity to further our 12 years of work in-country and build the capacity of local partners to engage more fully in the health care system.”
Over the next five years, JSI will work closely with the Ministry of Health to address this dire situation by working directly with Ethiopian organizations at national, regional, district and community levels to strengthen skills and make reproductive, maternal, newborn and child health services in Ethiopia sustainable.
L10K is a technical assistance and grants program designed to contribute to the current efforts of the government and multiple donors to accelerate the number and spread of the community health worker program. The program trains volunteers to become “model families” who implement simple, achievable health changes in their own homes before moving on to help their neighbors and community as a whole take on these positive health behaviors. L10K focuses on the bridge between households and health extension workers–the formal health system in their community. L10K will test models that aim to change community norms so that households more fully engage to take charge of the health of their families in a sustainable way.
Ethiopia is the second most populous nation in sub-Saharan Africa, with high levels of maternal, newborn and child mortality. Approximately 20% of Ethiopian children die before their fifth birthday, with more than 70% of these deaths linked to preventable or easily treatable childhood illnesses. Low coverage of proven, inexpensive interventions is largely responsible for Ethiopia being ranked 6th globally and 2nd in Africa for total number of maternal and child deaths. Like many sub-Saharan Africa countries, Ethiopia suffers from low economic growth, high population pressures and a severe human resource shortage in all social sectors, including health. The per capita health expenditure from all sources is only $7.60, far lower than the minimum amount ($34) needed to meet primary health care needs in a developing country.
A portion of grant monies will explore the use of non-financial and financial incentives to motivate and sustain volunteer community health workers and health extension workers. Incentives for these workers might include community recognition ceremonies, volunteer t-shirts, and community festivals, as well as access to credit through micro-finance schemes.
“By empowering families and communities, the L10K program will help people in the poorest regions of Ethiopia live healthier lives,” said Dr. Jaime Sepulveda, Director of Integrated Health Solutions Development at the Gates Foundation. “By introducing simple and sustainable health interventions, initiatives such as L10K can play a critical role in improving global health.”
JSI has been deeply invested in Ethiopia since it first began working there in 1986 and is committed to improving the health status of the Ethiopian people. JSI implements several other programs, funded by the US Agency for International Development, which are improving key aspects of the health system, including health logistics, ensuring that medical injections are given safely, and working to reduce famine vulnerability, poor health outcomes and poverty by strengthening human capacity and social resiliency through the Ethiopia Essential Services for Health (ESHE) Project. The Last Ten Kilometers (L10K): What it Takes to Improve Health Outcomes in Rural Ethiopia project will expanding those efforts and contribute to sustaining the work.
Read about JSI’s project work in Ethiopia: www.jsi.com/JSIInternet/Projects/ListProjects.cfm?Select=Country&ID=108
JSI Research & Training Institute, Inc., is a nonprofit, public health research and consulting organization committed to improving primary health care services to poor and underserved populations. JSI works to promote health and wellness, prevent disease, expand access to care and treatment, and improve health service delivery.
Grant will improve reproductive, maternal, newborn and child health
BOSTON — JSI Research & Training Institute, Inc. (JSI) will use a $14.7 million grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to help the Government of Ethiopia achieve sustainable improvements in reproductive, maternal, newborn and child health in Ethiopia. The Last Ten Kilometers (L10K): What it Takes to Improve Health Outcomes in Rural Ethiopia Program is designed to help address the severe shortage of human resources for health in Ethiopia. It will reach out to families and communities to introduce simple strategies for better health. L10K will help selected Ethiopian organizations develop technical, managerial, and financial capacity to assist this process.
“This new grant will enable JSI to extend and deepen the in-roads it has already made in the country–and help improve the health of more than 15 million women and children in Ethiopia,” commented Joel Lamstein, JSI President. “We are grateful to the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation for giving JSI this opportunity to further our 12 years of work in-country and build the capacity of local partners to engage more fully in the health care system.”
Over the next five years, JSI will work closely with the Ministry of Health to address this dire situation by working directly with Ethiopian organizations at national, regional, district and community levels to strengthen skills and make reproductive, maternal, newborn and child health services in Ethiopia sustainable.
L10K is a technical assistance and grants program designed to contribute to the current efforts of the government and multiple donors to accelerate the number and spread of the community health worker program. The program trains volunteers to become “model families” who implement simple, achievable health changes in their own homes before moving on to help their neighbors and community as a whole take on these positive health behaviors. L10K focuses on the bridge between households and health extension workers–the formal health system in their community. L10K will test models that aim to change community norms so that households more fully engage to take charge of the health of their families in a sustainable way.
Ethiopia is the second most populous nation in sub-Saharan Africa, with high levels of maternal, newborn and child mortality. Approximately 20% of Ethiopian children die before their fifth birthday, with more than 70% of these deaths linked to preventable or easily treatable childhood illnesses. Low coverage of proven, inexpensive interventions is largely responsible for Ethiopia being ranked 6th globally and 2nd in Africa for total number of maternal and child deaths. Like many sub-Saharan Africa countries, Ethiopia suffers from low economic growth, high population pressures and a severe human resource shortage in all social sectors, including health. The per capita health expenditure from all sources is only $7.60, far lower than the minimum amount ($34) needed to meet primary health care needs in a developing country.
A portion of grant monies will explore the use of non-financial and financial incentives to motivate and sustain volunteer community health workers and health extension workers. Incentives for these workers might include community recognition ceremonies, volunteer t-shirts, and community festivals, as well as access to credit through micro-finance schemes.
“By empowering families and communities, the L10K program will help people in the poorest regions of Ethiopia live healthier lives,” said Dr. Jaime Sepulveda, Director of Integrated Health Solutions Development at the Gates Foundation. “By introducing simple and sustainable health interventions, initiatives such as L10K can play a critical role in improving global health.”
JSI has been deeply invested in Ethiopia since it first began working there in 1986 and is committed to improving the health status of the Ethiopian people. JSI implements several other programs, funded by the US Agency for International Development, which are improving key aspects of the health system, including health logistics, ensuring that medical injections are given safely, and working to reduce famine vulnerability, poor health outcomes and poverty by strengthening human capacity and social resiliency through the Ethiopia Essential Services for Health (ESHE) Project. The Last Ten Kilometers (L10K): What it Takes to Improve Health Outcomes in Rural Ethiopia project will expanding those efforts and contribute to sustaining the work.
Read about JSI’s project work in Ethiopia: www.jsi.com/JSIInternet/Projects/ListProjects.cfm?Select=Country&ID=108
JSI Research & Training Institute, Inc., is a nonprofit, public health research and consulting organization committed to improving primary health care services to poor and underserved populations. JSI works to promote health and wellness, prevent disease, expand access to care and treatment, and improve health service delivery.
Woyanne-backed Eritrean opposition urges the overthrow of President Isayas Afeworki for being ‘pro-Ethiopia’
(Reuters) Addis Ababa – Eritrean opposition groups should help each other bring down the pro-Ethiopian government of President Isaias Afwerki, the Woyanne-owned Walta News Agency quoted one opposition leader as saying on Friday.
“Eritrean opposition parties should unite in their struggle to overthrow the government in Asmara which is pushing the people to servitude and economic crisis”, the head of the Eritrean Peoples Democratic Front (EPDF), Tewolde Gebre-Selassie, was quoted as saying.
Several opposition groups met in the historic northern city of Axum in Ethiopia, which has bitter ties with neighbour Eritrea. The pair fought a war in 1998 to 2000.
Eritrean opposition leaders from the United States, Germany, Sweden and Sudan were at the unprecedented three-day meeting, the news agency said.
The EPDF head said Afwerki’s government was leading its people “to war and a dreadful socio-economic and political crisis” and had lost support at home and abroad while turning Eritrea into a “virtual prison”.
Meles Zenawi has presented in the rubber stamp parliament in Ethiopia a new election law that would prevent political parties from receiving financial contributions from their supporters abroad.
The new law would prevent contributions from nongovernmental organizations, foreign governments, religious groups, prisoners, and unknown sources.
The political parties must also disclose the identities of all their contributors, according to the proposed law that is expected to be approved by the Woyanne-dominated parliament.
The law will effectively bankrupt all or most of the opposition parties since they rely on Ethiopians in the Diaspora for financial support instead of the poverty-stricken population at home. Woyanne, which owns numerous companies that generate hundreds of millions of dollars annually, will not be affected by the law.
There is no doubt that Woyanne came up with this new election law to further weaken opposition parties in Ethiopia, particularly Kinijit, in preparation for the next election.
This is one more evidence that Woyanne is closing down every little window and door that were open to wage peaceful political struggle in Ethiopia.
It is about time that Ethiopians around the world give a chance to OLF, ONLF, EPPF, TPDM, and other armed groups who speak in the language Woyanne understands — the sound of guns.
The executive committee of the Coalition for Unity and Democracy Party (Kinijit) has opened a new office in Addis Ababa. The address of the new office has not been disclosed yet for security purposes, but the Kinijit Central Council will meet there soon, according to the officials. Read more in Amharic from zikkir News Service here.
