Money
Social Welfare and Change Programs
Traditional associations are the major sources of social welfare. There are many different types of social welfare programs in different parts of the country; these programs have religious, political, familial, or other bases for their formation. Two of the most prevalent are the iddir and debo systems.
An iddir is an association that provides financial assistance and other forms of aid for people in the same neighborhood or occupation and between friends or kin. This institution became prevalent with the formation of urban society. The main objective of an iddir is to assist families financially during times of stress, such as illness, death, and property losses from fire or theft. Recently, iddirs have been involved in community development, including the construction of schools and roads. The head of a family who belongs to an iddir contributes a certain amount of money every month to benefit individuals in times of emergency.
The most widespread social welfare association in rural areas is the debo. If a farmer is having difficulty tending his fields, he may invite his neighbors to help on a specific date. In return, the farmer must provide food and drink for the day and contribute his labor when others in the same debo require help. The debo is not restricted to agriculture but is also prevalent in housing construction.
Access to Education
Ethiopia has seen unprecedented expansion of its education system. In 1992, around four of five primary school-age children were out of school. In 1999, this figure stood at over 60%. Now, it is only one in five. Education outcomes have improved rapidly in all regions, although the two predominantly pastoral regions, Afar and Somali, remain far behind the rest of the country, with net enrolment ratios of 24.4% 31.6%, respectively.
Improvements in access to education have helped narrow the gender gap and have benefited the poorest. Traditionally, boys were more likely to attend school and less likely to drop out: in 1994/95, boys’ gross enrolment ratio (GER) was more than 50% higher than girls’ (31.7% and 20.4%, respectively). Since then, a number of initiatives have been implemented: encouraging women’s employment in the civil service, promoting gender-sensitive teaching methods and increasing the minimum marriage age to 18. In 2008/09, almost full gender parity was achieved: the GER was 90.7% for girls and 96.7% for boys.3 Moreover, the rate of education poverty is declining at a faster rate for the poorest quintiles.4
Low levels of education quality remain one of the most significant challenges in improving learning outcomes. Even so, compared with other countries in sub-Saharan Africa that have abolished school fees and experienced rapid increases in enrolment
http://www.one.org/livingproof/en/article/ethiopias-progress-in-education/
Higher Education. Children who do well in elementary school go on to secondary school. It is felt that missionary schools are superior to government schools. Fees are required for missionary schools, although they are reduced considerably for religious adherents.
University is free, but admission is extremely competitive. Every secondary student takes a standardized examination to get into college. The acceptance rate is approximately 20 percent of all the individuals who take the tests. There is a quota for the various departments, and only a certain number of individuals are enrolled in their desired majors. The criterion is the grades of first-year students; those with the highest marks get the first choice. In 1999, enrollment at Addis Ababa University was approximately 21,000 students.
http://www.everyculture.com/Cr-Ga/Ethiopia.html
Access to Health system
Government health spending has risen. The absolute level of health expenditure, however, remains far below the average for other sub-Saharan African countries. The health system is primarily curative despite the fact that most health problems are amenable to preventive action.
In 1995-1996, Ethiopia had 1,433 physicians, 174 pharmacists, 3,697 nurses, and one hospital for every 659,175 people. The physician-to-population ratio was 1:38,365. These ratios are very low in comparison to other sub-Saharan developing countries, although the distribution is highly unbalanced in favor of urban centers. For example, 62 percent of the doctors and 46 percent of the nurses were found in Addis Ababa, where 5 percent of the population resides.
http://www.everyculture.com/Cr-Ga/Ethiopia.html
Ethiopian hospitals are currently causing more suffering and death than healing. People who go to hospital for minor ailments end up gravely sick or dead. It is common to see patients, even infants, die in hospital emergency rooms unable to get treatment. Health workers are overwhelmed, and many of them do not care anymore. Physicians in Ethiopia do not face malpractice lawsuits as in the U.S. and are becoming too careless in treating their patients. Private clinics are more concerned about making profit than treating their patients since there is no supervision by the government. Led by the Woyanne-appointed incompetent Minister, Dr. Tedros Adhanom, the Ministry of Health is a non-functioning government department whose officials are busy enriching themselves instead of carrying out their responsibilities. Government officials do not care because they and their families go to Western countries to get the treatment they need if they get sick.
Although tens of millions of dollars donated from other countries are allocated for combating HIV/AIDS, the number of individuals contracting the virus and the death toll from the disease has not decreased. The reason is that there is no political will to focus on the problem.
http://www.ethiopianreview.us/2096
Ethiopia faces major health concerns. Constraints in the delivery of services include: the low number of health care facilities which are ill-equipped, mal-distributed and in a state of disrepair; an ineffective healthcare delivery system which is inefficient and biased towards the curative service; a undemocratic health care delivery system and management which although decentralized at the regional level still relies on centralized policy making and budgets; an acute shortage of human and material resources; and inefficient utilization of the available while little involvement and participation of the private and NGO sectors as well as the beneficiary communities.
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Access to production
After nationalization of the private sector before the 1974 revolution, an exodus of foreign-owned and foreign-operated industry ensued. The growth rate of the manufacturing sector declined. Over 90 percent of large scale industries are state-run, as opposed to less than 10 percent of agriculture. Under the EPRDF administration, there is both public and private industry. Public industries include the garment, steel, and textile industries, while much of the pharmaceuticals industry is owned by shareholders. Industry accounts for almost 14 percent of the gross domestic product, with textiles, construction, cement, and hydroelectric power constituting the majority of production.
In urban society, the division of labor determines social class. Some jobs are esteemed more than others, such as lawyers and federal government employees. Many professions carry negative associations, such as metal workers, leather workers, and potters, who are considered of low status and frequently are isolated from mainstream society. Ethiopian women are traditionally in charge of domestic chores, while men are responsible for activities outside the home.
Read more: http://www.everyculture.com/Cr-Ga/Ethiopia.html#ixzz2tTGwJD1F
Ethiopia 