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HPB 1PHE Ethiopia Consortium Newsletter Issue No. 4 PHE Ethiopia Consortium Newsletter Issue No. 4

PHE Ethiopia Consortium Newsletter Fourth Edition, January - June, 2011

Our Voice

>> The 5th General

Assembly Meeting

>> Third National Earth

Day Celebration

>> GO - GREEN Africa

H2 3PHE Ethiopia Consortium Newsletter Issue No. 4 PHE Ethiopia Consortium Newsletter Issue No. 4

Director’s Note

Dear PHE Ethiopia supporters and readers,

Welcome to the fourth issue of PHE’s Newsletter “Our Voice” that highlights the recent activities of the Consortium.

Since Population, Health and environment (PHE) interventions in Ethiopia are a holistic, participatory and proactive development approach whereby issues of environment, health and population are addressed in an integrated manner for improved livelihoods and sustainable well-being of people and ecosystems. In addition the Consortium’s vision is to see Ethiopia with healthy population, sustainable resource use, improved livelihood and resilient ecosystem.

As always, this issue includes the major activities performed during the last six months from January to June, 2011 and an interview with Heather D’Agnes, USAID Washington Population Environment Technical Advisor within the Agency’s Global Health Bureau.

We hope you will enjoy reading about our accomplishments.

Negash TekluExecutive DirectorPHE Ethiopia Consortium

PHE Ethiopia ConsortiumP. O. Box: 4408Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

Phone: +251 11 8608190 +251 11 663 0833 Fax: +251 11 663 8127

E-mail: [email protected]: www.phe-ethiopia.org

Preaired by

Negash TekluMesfin KassaMahlet TesfayeDagim Gezahegn

Edited by

Negash TekluJason Bremner

Designed & Printed by

PHILMON PRESS(0911644678)

In this Issue:

... and many more to read!

2 The 5th General Assembly meeting 6 Workshop on

Members and Partners Regular joint Review Meeting 8 Interview with Heather D”Agnes

11 Third National Earth Day Celebration 12 Workshop in Climate Change and Development

in Rural Ethiopia 15 BARR Foundation Visit to Ethiopia 15 Media Capacity Building

13 Weathering Change Film Launching Program 16 EXPERIENCE SHARING FIELD VISIT TO

THE SOUTH 17 International Women Edition Program visit in Ethiopia


The 5th General Assembly meeting

PHE Ethiopia Consortium held its 5th General

Assembly from March 17-19, 2011 in Addis Ababa at Bio- Economy Africa (BEA) with the support of Packard foundation. The total number of participants in the general assembly was around 80, including international partners like Population Reference Bureau(PRB), Population Action International(PAI), BALANCED projects, Woodrow Wilson center, Philippines and from Africa representatives of Uganda and Kenya. Moreover, Government organizations like Ministry of Agriculture (MoA) and others, from member organizations, local partners, from Government and private Medias also participated.

The General Assembly was officially opened by the introduction and briefing given by Ato Negash Teklu the Exuective Director of PHE Ethiopia Consortium followed by the opening and Key Note speech by the representative(Ato Tigistu G/Meskel) of the state Minister of MoA Ato Sleshi Getahun.

The general Assembly had four main parts. The first

was the presentations and discussion on the concept of PHE Globally and in Africa, its progress and challenges

and what should be done, by Jason Bremner, (PRB, PHE Program Director); what BALANCED project is doing globally, in Africa and in Ethiopia by Linda Bruce, (BALANCED Project Director); The linkage of PHE with climate change, Roger-Mark De Souza, Vice President for Research, PAI, as well, PHE Ethiopia progress, challenge and what should be done, was presented by Ato Negash Teklu ED of PHE Ethiopia Consortium.

Dr. Meshesha Shewarega, Executive Director of Consortium of Christian Relief and Development

A s s o c i a t i o n ( C C R DA ) , facilitated the presentations and discussion of this session and gave summary of the presentations as follows: the approach is very encouraging timely, but still we need sense of purpose to save the generation to come, sense of urgency in all fronts and that we are running out of time, there is a need for evidence based advocacy to reach stakeholders (GO, NGO CBO, donors, International organizations), and measurability of impact and the need for result in every form are the common denominators to change

human life. The second part was discussion, on cross cutting issues or emerging issues in development like PHE & climate change, PHE & health/reproductive health/family planning, PHE & gender and PHE & youth, supported by group and plenary secessions. The main goal of the group discussion was: to improve understanding of how communicating PHE intervention is a possible solution for these emerging issues. Participants discussed to bring solutions as to how these emerging issues fit and should be incorporated in

the implementing member organizations sites and PHE Ethiopia Consortium, strategic plan and activities.The third part of the presentation was on practical experience of member and partner organizations in integrating PHE intervention in their

project area’s where representatives from (CCRDA), Ethio-Wetlands and Natural Resource Association (EWNRA), Lem Ethiopia, Guraghe People’s Self Help Development Organization (GPSDO),

(BEA), Relief Society of Tigray (REST), Melca Ethiopia, DSW and Oromo Development Association (ODA) presented and discussion was held.

This session was chaired by Ato Haddis Mulugeta from IIE and Roger Mark

Activities >>>>>>>

Participants of the General Assembly

Karugu Ngatia

Dr Gladys Kalema Zikusokg

Presenters on PHE Global ,Regional and National


Visit at Wolkite , GPSDO site

Practical Field Visit at Bio Economy Africa

from PAI. In his concluding remarks, Mr. Roger Mark De Souza said that he was impressed on the passion that the projects have shown to the community that they are serving and stressed that there is a need to do more coordination as a network. He said he was also impressed on the urgency and importance of the activities done so passionately and diversity of approaches. He was also “WOWED” by the volume of the work done, and that urgent and passionate, innovative and relevant PHE movement is going on in Ethiopia. Moreover he said that, effort should be made to impress donors, partners, the community and stakeholders, to know and involve them, to get government support and involvement, and use its structure to maximize PHE approach.

Mr. De Souza finally stressed that the consortium should

be ready for more challenges and that they should rest assured to achieve what they aspired for since they have strong Board members, Executive Director and staffs, whom they whole heartedly spearheading the PHE Movement in Ethiopia.

All network members acknowledged the need to work hard for better PHE integration, improved partnerships, use mechanisms to impress the donors and get more

funding, undertake more awareness raising activities and research based advocacy campaigns, bring about better government involvement and use of its structure. After those discussions, the general assembly was more focused on the official and legal issues of

the Consortium led by the general assembly leaders. The general assembly heard the 2010 reports of the board, the consortiums activity and budget reports of 2010, audit report of 2010 and activity and budget plan of year 2011 and endorsed them.

The three years strategic plan and different manuals of the consortium were also reviewed, amended and endorsed after receiving comments from the general Assembly participants.

Moreover, eight new members were also endorsed by the general Assembly to be members of the Consortium namely Greener Ethiopia, Health Limited, Integrated Community Education & Development Association, Save Your Generation Ethiopia, Tsinat Social and Development Organization, Selam

Integrated Community Development organization, SEPDA, and Agri Service Ethiopia. The other activity of the general assembly was a field visit to PHE intervention sites of BEA, Lem Ethiopia and GPSDO. The first one to be visited was BEA’s site, which was held in March 17, 2011 in Addis Ababa where the meeting venue was.

The other two field visits were conducted in March 19, 2011. One group went to Fiche, Lem Ethiopia PHE site and the other

group went to GPSDO PHE site at Wolkite. The field visits were organized with specific objectives of displaying the success and challenges of these organizations on integrating PHE in their projects and to share practical experience from the PHE integration.After the general assembly meeting a questioner was

circulated to all participants and every participant appreciated and commented constructive inputs for next general assembly meeting. In addition, local media’s like Addis Ababa TV private print media’s and international media’s like the Woodrow Wilson Center gave it wide coverage.

For more information please check www.phe-ethiopia.org, publication section.


PHE Youth Peer Educator’s (YPE) Training was

conducted from 29 Mar - 1 April, 2011 at the Harmony Hotel.

The objectives of the training was to equip TOT facilitators with the fundamental principles youth peer education and the basic ability to design and facilitate trainings of Youth Peer Educators in their intervention programs related to PHE.

There were 26 participants from different member and partner organizations (REST, Lem Ethiopia, Bio-economy Africa, MELCA, ODA, DSW, GPSDO, E N G E N D E R H E A LT H , Hiwot Ethiopia, CCRDA Grantees (IMPACT, ADV, GZDA, SDA, HAD, Kembatta Zone- Gogota Care, Commida, WDA and SEPDA). The training was moderated and coordinated by Dr. Ricky Hernandez from BALANCED Project from Philippines.

The training consisted of various participatory methods of learning in plenary and small group discussions to encourage sharing and exchange of ideas between the participants, and games and roles targeted to enhance understanding of related issues and to facilitate opportunities for practical application of knowledge gained. The session covered 15 Modules focusing

on the link between ecosystem health & human well being,

PHE integration, what do they mean about sex, STI/

Transmission & Behavioral Risk factors game, the right steps to use condoms, how

to talk about sex with youth peers, Safer sex, identifying peer educators role, how to report and monitor and how to identify referral and support networks. Each single session was accompanied by group work and presentations with summary and feedbacks. In addition to the training, the concept and applicability of the PHE approach was presented by Ato Negash Teklu, Executive Director of PHE Ethiopia Consortium and discussion was held.

During the training, participants were raising issues of applicability, according to the context of the rural people.

Some terminologies, concepts and instructions were discussed to be modified to fit the real context of Ethiopians. In addition, a through consensus has been reached with the trainees that the manual should be translated into the local language (Amharic) for easy transfer of skills and knowledge.

In this connection, a group has been identified to revise the training manual before it is translated into the local language where government participants will also participate so that the manual can be used nationally.

Pre and post–test of participants were undertaken at the beginning of the training.

According to the results obtained from the analysis, the skill and knowledge of participants has shown an

PHE Youth Peer Educators Training

and Manual Adaptation

Participants of the YPE TOT

Some of the participants

Dr. Yetnayet Asfaw, awarding Certificate to participants

improvement at the completion of the training. In addition, participants submitted an action plan to carryout the training to youths, school clubs and school teachers. Some have already started their action plan in their respective organization.

At the end, the board chair woman of PHE Ethiopia Consortium and the Director of Engender Health, Dr. Yetinayet Asfaw has issued certification to the participants together with Dr. Ricky. Hernandez.As a continuation of the process, the Consortium organized a manual adaptation two days retreat program at Debreziet, DSW/Bonita Youth Development Center. The team was composed of nine individuals who took the training and two experts from government offices (The Population Affairs Office from Ministry of Finance and Economic Development and Institute of Bio-Diversity Conservation) who are individuals working on youth related issues in their respective offices.

The adaptation was successfully held and immense inputs have been gathered from the participants. The important comments are incorporated in the revised manual which is also going to be translated to local language and it will be printed and distributed.


As part of its mission to strengthen its partnership

and popularization of the PHE integration approach PHE Ethiopia consortium participated and presented on the annual regular joint review meeting and

experience sharing workshop, organized by CCRDA , for the consortium’s PHE implementing community based member organizations at Wolaitta Sodo from 8 to 10, Feb 2011.

The workshop was intended to Create awareness on the practical clarity of PHE’s integrated approach to workshop participants, review the 2010 CCRDA, Packard grant progress report .

Ato Abebe Bekele (Director of Programs Development and Management Core Team at CCRDA) launched the workshop officially; Mr. Negash Teklu (PHE Ethiopia Consortium Executive Director) elaborated on the

practicality of the Population Health and Environment integrated approach .

On his presentation on Population, Health, and Environment in Ethiopia from Complex Problems to Integrated Solutions Mr. Negash addressed the Concept and implementation of the PHE approach, Project sites and their progress and the role of the consortium in the implementation. At

the same time he invited the participant organizations for a Youth Peer Education Training and field visit to the North.

The Participants from CCRDA member organizations then presented the 2010 progress report, budget utilizations, their lessons learned, experiences, problems and solutions, and discussion was held on all the presentations. In addition, a field visit was held to Humbo World Vision site which is the only Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) supported site in Ethiopia.

Lessons learnt after the workshop, include: the importance of the concept of PHE and its implementation in the region, CCRDA member organizations have the budget and the motive to implement the PHE approach but they still need guidance and direction towards scaling up their activities, and importance of the partnership with PHE Ethiopia Consortium.

Similarly, PHE Ethiopia Consortium participated and presented on a field trip and

visit to Tigray, by member organization Pathfinder/Integrated Family Health Program (IFHP), FROM MARCH 30 – APRIL 1, 2011in Tigray for its Technical Advisory COMMITTEE (TAC) and its staff.

The sites visited were REST (which is another member) sites in Eastern Tigray, at Kilte-Awlaelo Woreda Health Office, Negash Health Center, Gemad Health Post, Adi-Mesanu Health Post, Atsbi, Adigrat Woreda Health Office, Adigrat Health Center, Zonal Health Department, Freweyni Health Center, Mekelle Hosptial, and REST Office in Mekelle Participants were, from Ministry of Finance and Economic Development, Ministry of Health, Ministry of Education, Ministry of Women, Children and Youth, IV/AIDS Prevention and Control Office, Charities and Societies Agency, Consortium of Reproductive Health Associations, Population Health Environment Ethiopia Consortium, Centre for Disease Control, Tigray Region Health Bureau, Educational Bureau, Women’s Affairs,Bureau of Finance and Economic Development and IFHP staff members.

On behalf of the representative of CORHA Wz. Genet Mengistu made a brief presentation on family planning and population growth in Ethiopia emphasizing the important role family planning plays in helping to address issues of high population growth. This was followed by another presentation by Ato Negash Teklu, PHE Ethiopia Consortium, on the

Workshop on Members and Partners Regular jointReview Meeting

Presentation and Discussion in Sodo CCRDA workshop

Workshop participants


integration of population, health and environment to bring about sustainable development. He emphasized the importance of raising awareness and advocacy

work that needs to be done in improving grave environmental situations around the country.

Upon conclusion of the meeting participants discussed naming the trip after an exemplary or impressive project or individual they observed, as is usually done with each TAC trip. Thus, the trip was named ‘Mulu Hiluf ’s Trip’.

Sr. Mulu Hiluf is a 22 years old woman. She has worked as a nurse for the last three years out of which over the past one year she has been working as coordinator of the Freeyni Youth

Friendly Service site in Saesi Tsaedaemba woreda of Eastern Zone of Tigray region. She is a sign of hope for most of these young people as she works with great commitment to pave the way for a better future.

At the same time PHE Ethiopia Consortium has also participated and presented in a Quarterly review meeting with another member organization, Engender Health, from April 17-20, 2001, at Haile Resort, Hawassa.

Objective of the meeting was to exchange updates of Engender Health staff during the quarter (Jan-March 2011), to jointly review project progress/performance and financial utilization to complete remaining project deliverables on time, to appreciate success and share best experience/lessons to strengthen experiential learning and progressive improvement by enhancing innovations, identify major limitations and design and prioritize key actions to maximize existing promising performance. PHE-Ethiopia, Executive director, Ato Negash Teklu presented on Ethiopia’s complex problems & the importance of integrated (PHE) integrations to RH goals. The following points were raised as challenges, environmental health problems like polluted water, climate change impacts, lack of adequate coordination between development practioners, and the high demand for integration between health and environment.

In addition, the existence of favorable polices that need implementation and utilize several best practices and success stories were presented. He also presented different activities that PHE is facilitating through different organization in 30 selected sites of Ethiopia and discussion was held.

The objective of PHE Ethiopia Consortium to participate and present in CCRDA , IFHP and Engender Health meetings was with the intention of inviting both organizations to discuss on how they can partner and coordinate with other PHE implementing organizations in a way that could add value to the RH/FP intervention they have and comprehensive sustainable demand of the community they are working that can be addressed in an integrated manner. In both the meetings a clear understanding and consensus was reached with all participants on the importance of the integration and cooperation.

Sr. Mulu counseling one of her young clients

TAC members, Pathfinder/IFHP staff, REST and regional media staff

Developmental Army of Women working with Gemad Health Post, Negash


Interview >>>>>>>

Heather D’Agnes joined the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) as the Population-Environment Technical Advisor within the Agency’s Global Health Bureau. In this position,

she is primarily responsible for providing program management and technical guidance for the Bureau’s population-environment projects. Population-environment is an integrated approach to development that recognizes that dealing with complex development priorities - such as poverty alleviation, environmental protection or sustainable livelihoods - requires approaches that simultaneously link these issues. These projects are primarily implemented in countries with biodiversity hotspots, defined as the most species rich and endangered eco-regions on Earth, and include Madagascar, the Philippines, Cambodia, Tanzania, Kenya, and the Democratic Republic of Congo among others.

Prior to working with USAID, Heather completed her Masters degrees in Public Administration and Marine Affairs at the University of Washington. During that time, she gained hands-on experience in the population-environment field through two summer consultancies in the Philippines evaluating the Integrated Population and Coastal Resource Management Project (IPOPCORM). This project delivers family planning, reproductive health and coastal management and conservation services in an integrated fashion in 18 coastal municipalities throughout the Philippines. As an avid diver, Heather was drawn to this field by her love of tropical coral reefs and her realization of the many different factors that must play into the conservation and protection of these natural treasures.

Our Voice : When did USAID first become engaged in the PHE approach?

Heather D’Agnes: USAID’s Office of Population and Reproductive Health’s first investments in PHE started in the 1990s, however the PHE program was officially started in 2002. The reason for this was a congressional directive included in the family planning and reproductive health earmark that instructed USAID to provide funding for family planning, “including in areas of high biodiversity”. After that language appeared in the Foreign Appropriations bill, USAID started to fund service delivery projects that integrated family planning into biodiversity conservation efforts.

Our Voice: How has USAID’s engagement with PHE changed over time and what is USAID’s involvement in PHE at the moment?

Heather D’Agnes: In 2002, USAID’s PHE program was dedicated to seeing if it was possible to deliver family planning in an integrated manner with conservation interventions and if so, to develop some successful models for doing so. This phase of funding ended in 2007 and after five years of investment, USAID felt that not only was it possible to deliver integrated PHE approaches, but that there were benefits to doing so from a family planning and a conservation perspective. The second phase of

funding emphasized learning from these experiences and scaling up PHE programs so that they moved beyond small scale efforts to reaching a larger number of people. At the same time, USAID was interested in documenting the successes in PHE implementation and sharing them with others in order to expand PHE approaches worldwide. This phase will continue until 2013.

Our Voice: How did you first get involved in this work and when?

Heather D’Agnes: I first became involved in PHE

with Heather D”Agnes,Population-Environment Technical Advisor within USAID’s Global Health Bureau

Heather D’Agnes


when I was a graduate student in 2003 studying international marine conservation and development at the University of Washington. I decided to spend my summers in the Philippines working with the Integrated Population and Coastal Resources Management (IPOPCORM) project implemented by Path Foundation Philippines. My first summer, I accompanied three evaluators who were conducting a mid-project evaluation of the IPOPCORM project. I learned a lot about the PHE approach after spending three months visiting and evaluating almost every IPOPCORM project site in the Philippines and I became very passionate about the benefits of an integrated approach. I enjoyed seeing fishing families, both men and women talking openly about planning for healthy families and healthy productive marine environments. I also appreciated how responsive communities were to both family planning and coastal management, and how they saw both of these leading to overall community development in the future.

Our Voice: What can Ethiopia learn from past PHE experiences in the Philippines and Madagascar?

Heather D’Agnes: One lesson that I have seen from both of these countries is that PHE is not an approach that is appropriate for everyone and everywhere. It is important to be clear about why an integrated PHE approach is needed in your project area, and to demonstrate that by showing how population pressures, unmet need for family planning and environmental degradation are intersecting to exacerbate development problems.

Another lesson is that it is very important to demonstrate the impact that a PHE approach is having on achieving your, and your donor’s, desired outcomes. Integration is difficult and sometimes costs more, so it is extremely important to document why donors and others should support the approach when it may cost more and ultimately not achieve the same results as a single sector health or environment program. One of the most important aspects to demonstrate is the value added a PHE project is bringing to the donor’s expected outcomes. For family planning and health donors this may include reaching underserved populations that are not normally reached by traditional health programs, or engaging men more effectively. For environment donors this may be addressing long term threats to the environment, such as population growth.

Our Voice: Are their activities related to the PHE approach happening in Latin American countries? Heather D’Agnes: To my knowledge, there are not many PHE activities taking place in Latin America.

Our Voice: What do you know about how European countries and institutions are discussing or working on PHE issue and the PHE approach?

Heather D’Agnes: This is a good question and one I don’t know the answer to. I think we need to do a

better job of reaching out to our European colleagues and discussing PHE, introducing them to the concept, and better understanding how they see PHE fitting into their development priorities and approaches.

Our Voice: How do you evaluate the current status of PHE integration in Africa?

Heather D’Agnes: There are some very good small scale PHE projects in Africa, and there are even some very good models for PHE integration that are being implemented on the ground. Also, Africa has the potential to develop a vibrant PHE community that can share lessons across organizations and countries. PHE Ethiopia is an excellent example of that potential and the benefits of sharing information, lessons, and building coalitions around PHE. However, more work needs to be done to expand PHE in Africa, document the approaches that work in the African context, and also better connect all the organizations working in Africa on PHE so they can learn from one another and share experiences and work together to advocate for PHE in their countries.

Our Voice: How do you assess the progress since the November 2007 East Africa PHE conference?

Heather D’Agnes: I’m very impressed with the progress that has taken place in PHE in Ethiopia after the 2007 conference. There are some good examples of PHE projects on the ground in various parts of Ethiopia, the PHE Network is building capacity for PHE implementation and advocacy, and the PHE community is united around common goals. I hope more countries see the benefit of the work that PHE Ethiopia has done and builds their own networks and consortiums to share lessons, knowledge, and build advocacy opportunities.

Our Voice: How is the contribution of international organizations working with USAID on PHE evaluated (PRB, PAI, WWC, BALANCED project)?

Heather D’Agnes: USAID evaluates its PHE activities in two major ways – the first is by routine project management and reporting. As a USAID project manager, I read all project reports and evaluation reports closely to determine if USAID funded projects are achieving what they set out to achieve at the beginning of the project. If there are any issues and concerns, those are addressed by USAID and the project – an approach that we like to call adaptive management. The second way that USAID evaluates its PHE activities is through formal evaluations. We will be conducting a mid-project evaluation of the BALANCED project in the coming months, for example. In 2007, USAID conducted a broad assessment of all its PHE activities. The results of this assessment, which was conducted by an independent team of three evaluators, were used to improve project performance and inform future USAID PHE strategy.


Our Voice: From your perspective how is the coordination and partnership between these organizations and among groups working on PHE in East Africa? Any thing to improve?

Heather D’Agnes: I think the coordination and partnership is still in its early days. Some groups are well organized, such as PHE Ethiopia, while others are not. There is a need to continue to build partnerships and build coalitions in countries where PHE is taking place. My priority over the coming year is to see this happen in Tanzania, for example, where there are many new PHE projects starting up.

Our Voice: What is the relationship of PHE with climate change adaptation and mitigation and is this something that USAID is working on?

Heather D’Agnes: At the moment, USAID is not working on funding any activities focusing on PHE and climate change adaptation. I still think there is a lack of concrete knowledge about how PHE relates to climate change adaptation. I believe that population, family planning, health and vulnerabilities due to climate change are interrelated and that it would be a good idea to address all these issues at the same time within a community that will be impacted by climate change. However, good data demonstrating these links does not exist nor is there any evidence that integration is the best way to address climate change problems. I would urge those who are looking at these relationships or doing something about them on the ground to document and disseminate what they are doing and how these issues are related. This evidence would help make the case for integrating PHE and climate change adaptation.

Our Voice: What can you tell us about other donors and their interest in the PHE approach?

Heather D’Agnes: I believe donors are interested in PHE and some donors in the Foundation world are becoming more interested. However, the PHE community needs to do a better job at reaching out to new donors, taking them to see successful PHE projects, and demonstrating to them why PHE is the best approach to take.

Our Voice: How do you evaluate the PHE approach in relation to development approaches? What is its specialty or value?

Heather D’Agnes:I believe that the PHE approach is special because it recognizes that humans and the environment are interrelated and that sometimes it makes sense to address people’s needs, their health needs, their family planning needs, and the environment at the same time in order to achieve good development outcomes. The thing that makes PHE so valuable is that there is a conscious effort to understand how human population growth, access to family planning, and environmental degradation intersect and then try to strategically address those

intersections in order to improve human welfare and environmental health. Projects should describe how population, health and environment are related and why it is important to address all three areas, are then show the benefit that is gained from addressing all those issues in an integrated way.

Our Voice: What are the major challenges for the approach?

Heather D’Agnes: Personally, I think the major challenge is the lack of donors who will fund PHE approaches and the small amount of funding that is available to fund PHE. Another challenge is the lack of evidence to convince donors why they should fund PHE, especially if they are interested in only health or only environment. Organizations that are passionate about PHE must learn how to talk the language of both the health and the environment sector in order to make convincing arguments and it is difficult to find organizations that can do this.

Our Voice: What are the major lessons globally, in relation to the PHE approach?

Heather D’Agnes: One major lesson is the importance of measuring your results. This speaks to my response to question #14, if you can measure the benefit of PHE, then you can convince others why PHE is a good approach and why it is important. Another lesson is the importance of fostering a PHE community – there are many organizations that are passionate about integrating population, health, and environment and they can provide a very strong voice to champion PHE if they are brought together and provided opportunities to share lessons and exchange information. We are seeing this in Ethiopia and in other countries where organizations have been brought together to talk about and advocate for PHE.

Our Voice: Any comment and advice for the Ethiopian PHE engagement?

Heather D’Agnes: We need to better understand how PHE is being implemented on the ground in Ethiopia. I urge those who are doing PHE projects in Ethiopia to share their stories about what PHE is, why it is important for Ethiopia, and how it is contributing to improving people’s lives, their health, and the environment. These stories will help the world understand how an integrated approach can solve the complex development challenges facing Ethiopia.

Our Voice: Any thing you want to add?

Heather D’Agnes: I look forward to coming back to Ethiopia and seeing how the PHE field has progressed. The international PHE community looks to PHE Ethiopia as an excellent example of a strong PHE community of practice, and we are really excited to see what happens with PHE Ethiopia and its members.


Third National Earth Day Celebration

On April 29/ 2011, PHE Ethiopia

Consortium, Climate Change Forum-Ethiopia, Forum for Environment(FfE) Horn of Africa R e g i o n a l e n v i r o n m e n t a l Network(HoAREC), Ethiopian Institute of Agricultural R e s e a r c h ( E I A R ) jointly organized a workshop to commemorate the Third National Earth Day and the International Year of Forests. State Minister of Minstry Of Agriculture (MOA) Ato Wondyirad Mandefro delivered an opening speech, which was followed by heated discussion and strong recommendations. The workshop brought together around 100 experts and partners to reflect on the current state of forests, future trends, policy and institutional setups and prospects of forest-dependent livelihood systems in the Ethiopian forestry sector.

Seven papers were presented

1. Role of forests and trees in livelihoods and climate change adaptation: by Mulugeta Lemenih International Water Management Institute (IWMI)

2. Enhancing the Role of Forests for Socio-economic Development and Environmental Resilience: An Overview of the Global Picture: by Habtemariam Kassa,Forests and Livelihoods Program CIFOR - Ethiopia Office

3. Forest development potentials and options for Ethiopia: Role of carbon finances for promoting sustainable forestry and agroforestry: by Yitebitu Moges

4. Economic, Social and Ecological Impacts of Forest Products Importation to Ethiopia: by Zeleke Ewnetu, WGCF & NR, HU

5. Ethiopian Climate Variability and Global GHGs Emission: by Zewdu Eshetu, EIAR

6. Forest Biodiversity: Opportunities and Challenges in Ethiopia: by Gemedo Dalle, Institute of Biodiversity Conservation

7. Adverse Economic, Social and Ecological Consequences and Major Drivers of Deforestations in Ethiopia: by Wubalem T, EIAR

Through the discussion, it was widely agreed that Ethiopia experiences both the potential to develop the forest sector

(and to harness the opportunities coming with it) as well as the challenges entailed by deforestation and forest degradation and the resulting negative impacts on the lives and livelihoods of the rural poor in general and women and women-headed households in particular.

During the discussion, key challenges in the Ethiopia’s forestry sector have been identified, including but not limited to, absence of a focal institution responsible to coordinate forestry issues and to create a proper policy and research interface; fragmentation of actions at all levels (owing mainly to lack of coordination); absence of clear strategy and action to safeguard natural forests from potential negative outcomes of high investment trends (both local and FDIs); lack of responsible national body to coordinate efforts towards harnessing the global carbon markets. As indicated in the study that was presented, Ethiopia could potentially generate 0.5 -1 billion USD annually from REDD, CDM and related financial tools.

Workshop participants have also agreed on the need to integrate forest concerns with economic and social issues of the communities, set up a committee of experts and concerned institutions ( including PHE Ethiopia Consortium) that are interested and able to lobby, initiate and steer dialogue on the Ethiopian forest sector,. The committee will also be responsible to organize and convene regular consultative meetings of experts, government officials and non government organizations to engage all stakeholders around the Ethiopian forestry sector.

Ato Wondyirad Mandofro

Participants

Presentation

It will also encourage/coordinate new research activities and set up mechanisms and strategies to effectively communicate existing and new research results to policies and decisions.


Workshop in Climate Change and Development in Rural Ethiopia

PHE Ethiopia Consortium and its PHE working group partners has launched a half-day workshop with government officials, University representatives,

Meteorology Agency, member organizations, partners, community representatives and Medias at Desalegn Hotel, on 28 April 2011 Addis Ababa in commemoration of the Third National Earth Day. The workshop was officially opened by Ato Desalegn Mesfin, Dupty Director of Federal EPA. He remarked the essentiality of involving local farmers in such research finding announcement as the impact is tangibly observed in their specific area.

A total of 80 participants have attended the workshop. Its objectives were popularizing research

findings which were sponsored by PHE Ethiopia Consortium. The research was carried out in the remote highland of Menz Gera Midir, North Shoa, Amhara

Region. The research theme was Farmers perception to climate change/variability, impacts and local adaptation mechanisms. The researcher, Ato Mesfin Kassa, has unveiled the findings to the participants. Among the respondents in the study area, 84% farmers have heard about climate change /variability through extension workers and through radio broadcast.

More than 99% respondents explained that temperature has increased in their

area as they compare it with previous years. This response was justified by 30 years (1974-2003) of temperature data obtained

from Meteorology Agency and the analysis has shown an increase by 0.250 0C. Indigenous knowledge and perception has been found to be in line with each other. Decades ago, the study district was known to be one of the best Belg (Autumn) producing areas. According to their response, this season of production has shifted to Meher (Spring) following the rainfall pattern. This is confirmed by 30 years Belg & Meher seasons rainfall. Belg rain (a) has a decreasing trend from decade to decade while Meher rain (b) has shown variation and fluctuation. When farmers are not getting enogh moisture during Belg they are forced to cultivate in

Meher season. Now they are 90% Meher producers. Among many other impacts of the change in Climate, the study has identified four local seeds of wheat (Shemet, Denbullo, Dimeto and Gundel) and barley (Nech Mawgie, Tikur Ferkie, Kibute, Werkiye) under severe threat. Some of these seeds are almost extinct; limited to very few Peasant Associations & individual farmers. Other research shows that by 2080 wheat will disappear from Africa (Fischer, et al 2005; IPCC 2007). At the end of Mesfin’s presentation, the District Administrator, Ato Atsku H/Selassie has explained the severity of the situation and calls for collaboration.

b) Meher rainfall

Ato Desalegn Mesfin, Deputy Director General, EPA

Ato Mesfin Kassa, Researcher/ Program Officer, PHE Ethiopia Consortium

a) Belg rainfall


Representatives of local community expressed their views concerning the impacts of the climate change. They said we have degraded our environment and we understood this. Now we are doing massive soil & water conservation activities as well as planting trees. With great determination, we are working hard to regenerate our environment but we need your support and collaboration.

The second objective of the workshop was to discuss the nexus between Climate Change and PHE and Health. In addition to the core components such as family planning and environmental interventions, program areas employing the PHE integration approach may also deal with interrelated and interdependent issues including education, disaster preparedness, gender mainstreaming, HIV/AIDS programming, food security,

social entrepreneurship, environmental health, poverty alleviation and economic development. It was also clarified how the approach supports and contributes to expedite the nation’s commitment to achieving the Millennium Development Goals (MDG) and the Growth and Transformation Plan (GTP).

The PHE nexus was discussed by Ato Negash Teklu and the health part was covered by W/rt Abnet Girma, Program Coordinator, Health and Climate Change Working Group. A thorough discussion was made among the participants. Lastly, Ato Negash Teklu has presented copies of the research to Ato Atsku as a valuable source of information.

Farmers speaking about their view on climate change and biodiversity loss

Participants of the film launching

>>

Weathering Change Film Launching Program

PHE Ethiopia Consortium, Population Action International (PAI) and Consortium of

Reproductive Health Associations (CoRHA) in collaboration organized a film launching event on June 17, 2011,at Hilton with the title, “weathering change: stories about climate and family from women around the world” and takes 18 minutes . In addition, a presentation on the linkage of women, RH/FP, climate change, and PHE integration was presented by Prof. Zerihun Woldu from Addis Ababa University. Introduction to the film and PAI’s approach to filmmaking was given to the attendees of the program by Wendy Turnbull from PAI who is also the associate producer of the documentary film.

The stories are about four women from Ethiopia, Nepal, and Peru who are struggling to care for their families, while enduring crop failures and water insufficiency. The film shows how the climate change is affecting the life of women, even harder than it was.

After the film show there was discussion time on the presentations and on the documentary film. The participants raised different questions and comments concerning the film. Copies of the film were distributed to all the participants.

Ato Atsku H/Selassie speaking about the District & comment-ing the research findings


PHE Success Stories from the Field

EXPERIENCE SHARING FIELD VISIT TO THE NORTH PHE Ethiopia Consortium in partnership with the PHE working group has organized an experience sharing field visit to Tigray & Amhara Regional States, with the support from ECSCCN/DFID, and PAI. The aim of the visit was to raise awareness on the impacts of climate change on health and the contribution of high population pressure as one aggravating factor, and at the same time to gain a better understanding of the integration of PHE at ground level and how livelihoods, environmental rehabilitation, and family planning activities are integrated.

A total of 16 development practioners from the South (who are PHE Packard grantees) and 25 Journalists participated. In addition to the local participants, four international Media members from VOA, Deutche Welle, Kenyan Broadcasting Corporation (KBC), and Journalists for Environment Tanzania (JET) also participated.

The first visit was to the Raya Azebo PHE site of REST. At Yoseph Elementary School at Bala community in Raya Woreda, the group visited a micro-dam and had a discussion with a local PHE youth club on the issues of

reproductive health and vegetable gardening, and visitors saw how motivated youth were by the contribution of harmonized approach. The second site visit was to Wukero soil & watershed management site, near Abreha Atsebeha in Eastern Tigray where the rehabilitation of the catchment had contributed for the improvement of the livelihood of the community, followed by a visit to Bio-Economy Africa’s bio-farm activities in the Mekelle area.

After the visit a prolonged discussion was held with Tigray Bureau of Agriculture, Ato Belete Tafere and a representative of RESTm Ato Getachew Kalaayu. In the discussion the journalists and the development practitioners from the South raised different questions about the integrated approach.

Following the field visits several stories and programs were developed by the journalists including: VOA in three languages, Deutche Welle, SNNP & ORTA Radio, and four programes on ETV 1& 2. In addition, Addis Admas, Daily Monitor, Reporter, Addis Lisan, Sendeq News paper have also published the best experiences in their Newspapers.

The group has also visited Nigat Biofarm at Weldiya (Amhara Region) where they had wondered how wasted land can be changed into productive rehabilitated area and agricultural land. Moreover, the participants of the visit had a discussion and a visit to Nigat Tsehay Self Help Community Based Development Association that operate on sustainable development in the area. The association is supported by Agri-Service Ethiopia at Hayk zuria. The association has been legally registered as a community based development association. The participants also visited the big drinking water project implemented by four partners (government, community, private sector and Agri-Service Ethiopia).

Outcome and lessons learnt from Tigray/Amhara Regions visit

>> Exposure of local development practitioners & local & international journalists on practical field experiences of PHE integration and environmental activities and the severity of the environmental degradation in the Regions.

>> Outlooks of journalists towards the role of Media to play in publicizing environmental and developmental news, experiences and threats have been amplified.

>> Broadcasted news and programs for more than 3 hours of airtime through ETV and the aforementioned Medias, including VOA and Deutche Welle, and in many print media’s.

PHE Ethiopia Consortium held a happy hour event on May 11, 2011 at Desalegn Hotel

The theme of the happy hour was on the linkage to the K4Health

PHE Toolkit with PHE Ethiopia Consortium website through Rich Site Summery (RSS) Feed technology and PHE Ethiopia Consortium’s website current status and future plans concerning the content and technology development.

Mr Bob Bowen, Webmaster and IT Manager, Coastal Resources Center, University of Rhode Island has demonstrated on how the two websites work together in the exchange of electronic information and showed how the two parties benefit from the linkage.

Dagim Gezahagne, ICT officer of PHE Ethiopia Consortium also presented the current status, future plans of the consortium’s website and its linkage with the knowledge for health website. Questions were raised from the participants and Discussion was held on the presentations. Finally, participants continued their informal discussion in time of the refreshment.

Dagim Gezahagne, PHE Ethiopia Consortium

Field visit to the north

Mr. Bob Bowen, CRC


The Barr Foundation is a large private foundation

with a headquarter in Boston, USA and have a mission to support gifted leaders and networked organizations working in Boston and beyond to enhance educational and economic opportunities, to achieve environmental sustainability, and to create rich cultural experiences to all, particularly to children and families living in poverty.

Currently, the Foundation is piloting a three year global program aimed at bringing lasting improvements to the quality of life of children and families in poverty while also reducing and reversing the negative impact of people on their environment. Specific investments will focus in the Sub Saharan Africa and South Asian regions. As part of the Global Program the Foundation is also starting a special initiative in rural Haiti to create agricultural jobs, reverse deforestation and soil erosion, and ensure food security.

Barr foundation, represented by Heiner Baumann, Director of Global Programs; Pat Brandes, Executive Director; and Barbara Hostetter, Founding Trustee Visited Ethiopia from April 2 – 8, 2011. PHE Ethiopia Consortium facilitated their visit to different sites of

PHE integration projects of members and partner organizations in North and Central Ethiopia.

The representatives visited Lem Ethiopia PHE integration site in Fiche, Bio-economy Africa in Addis Ababa, Tena Kebena Youth Waste Management site in Addis Ababa, EWNRA Fogera site in Northern Ethiopia, Amhara region. They also visited OSSA Orphans site and REST (PHE) integration site in Tigray region. Moreover, they have briefly discussed with Afar Pastoralists Development Organization (APDO), International Water Management Institute (IWMI) and had discussion with GTZ.

As a token of appreciation and encouragement to their best practices, the foundation has granted a total of USD 90,000 to seven organizations (EWNRA, Lem Ethiopia BEA, REST, OSSA, Tena Kebena, and APDO, including the Consortium) and the grant is sub-granted to the organizations through PHE Ethiopia Consortium.

The seven organizations have submitted activity plan to PHE Ethiopia Consortium, according to the financial support of BARR foundation that will be finalized until December 2011.

BARR Foundation discusing with PHEEC & partners

Dagim Gezahagne, PHE Ethiopia Consortium

Mr. Bob Bowen, CRC

BARR Foundation Visit to Ethiopia

Media Capacity Building

PHE Ethiopia Consortium and Ethiopian Environmental Journalists Association

(EEJA) jointly organized two Media capacity building trainings with the support and collaboration of Packard Foundation and Population Reference Bureau (PRB) in two rounds on May 30 – 31, 2011 and June 11 - 13, 2011 at Debreziet- DSW/Bonita Youth Development Training Center.

The first round which was supported by Packard foundation was given to reporters of different print and electronic media houses in different Media outlets of private and government both from Federal and Regional governments. The second one which was supported by PRB was for those who are Editors, Chief Editor and News Heads of different print and electronic media houses from Federal and Regional Governments.

The objectives of the trainings were to build the capacities of government and private Media outlets to engage in an integrated development approach, to strengthen partnership and cooperation among different media outlets, development practitioners and government; and to strengthen and widen online usage by different Medias.

The participant medias were from Tigray Mass Media, SNNPR Mass Media Agency, Ethiopian Radio and Television Agency, Dimtsi Woyane, Oromia Radio and Television Agency, Fanna Broad Casting, Medical Newspaper, Reporter newsletter, Sendek Newspaper, Addis Admas, and others media houses with 38 participants.

In both rounds the participants have field visit to Bioeconmy Africa integrated site to see on the ground the PHE integration approach. The training mainly focused on different topics like the importance of RH/ FP for the development of the country, background on PHE Integration: experiences from Ethiopia (achievements so far & prospects for development), PHE and climate change in Ethiopia: issues, challenges and opportunities for journalists, the role of the Media in integrated reporting, tips on making smart integrated stories, how to use online resources, guides and facts.

Presentation on climate change


PHE-Ethiopia Consortium with Population Reference Bureau

(PRB) facilitated a seminar and study tour for international group of experienced women journalists from June 13 – 17, 2011 here in Ethiopia. The group was composed of 12 print and broadcast journalists from influential media houses of 12 developing countries around the world namely Cambodia, India, Kenya, Liberia, Malawi, Nepal, Nigeria, Pakistan, Philippines, Rwanda, Uganda, and Zambia, who participate in a PRB program called Women’s Edition, which is funded by the U.S. Agency for International Development.

The main objective of their visit to Ethiopia was to examine successful population, health, and environment (PHE) integration projects of the country and to understand the ways in which those interventions can contribute for the success of the MDGs and their input in solving the problem of degradation and deforestation of the land and pressure of the rapidly growing population number that can impact and affect the development of the country. Before the field visits, introduction about PHE integration approach is presented to the participants by Negash Teklu Executive director of PHE Ethiopia Consortium and Dr Adnew representing Pathfinder presented to the participants about Addis Tesfa, a Cervical Cancer Prevention Project among HIV-Positive women in Ethiopia.

Afterwards, they visited some PHE project sites of LEM Ethiopia Fieche site and Bioeconomy Africa site, both the Bio-farm and the Gurara Women’s Association Project site which focuses on changing the lives of fuel wood carrier women in the area by providing them alternative livelihoods like producing different vegetables, rearing cows and oultry production at Addis Ababa.

They also visited the Hamlin Fistula Ethiopia, Addis Ababa Fistula Hospital where obstetric fistulas get remarkable care and treatment and visited the Cervical Cancer Prevention Unit working under Pathfinder at St. Paul’s Hospital. Moreover, the international women journalists had an exchange program with Ethiopian women journalists about Women’s Edition program and Share experiences and have a discussion over lunch at Hilton Hotel on June 17, 2011.

The Ethiopian women journalists were from different electronic and print Medias like Sendek newsletter, The Daily Monitor newsletter, Ethiopian Radio & Television Agency, Ethiopian Herald, Medical newsletter and other private Media Houses. The women journalists discussed on the challenges that they face as women journalists, challenges on reporting RH and other developmental issues. The meeting was very successful and useful for both the international and local women journalists.

In general, the International women Journalists visit was very educative, successful and that has also established good connection and partnership among the visitors and the local partners. Many of the women journalists have given good coverage in their country media and we have published them in our website and circulated them to members and partners. (www.phe-ethiopia.org)

International Women Edition Program visit in Ethiopia

International Women Journalists of PRB to Lem Ethiopia Site

International Women Journalists of PRB to BEA Site

News coverage by the international journalists in thier countries


EXPERIENCE SHARING FIELD VISIT TO THE SOUTH

The visit had been to the Rift Valley lakes of Zeway, Abjatta, Hawassa, Wondo-Genet area and Gedeo Zone where Wenago Woreda is one area of the zone in Traditional Community Agro-forestry practices

and where Lem Ethiopia’s PHE intervention is being implemented.

The objective of this visit was to raise awareness and involvement of parliamentarians & policy makers, Hawassa University and Wondo Genet College on the problem and treat to rift valley lakes as a result of high population pressure and luck of alternate livelihood, as one aggravating factor, and at the same time to gain a better understanding of the integration of PHE at ground level Participants were higher officials from House of People’s Representatives Natural Resource and Environmental Standing committee members, Federal offices, SNNP Culture & Tourism, SNNP EPA, Zone EPA and Agriculture offices and South Development Association, Wondo Genet Collage and Hawassa University were among the participant’s and presenters. The trip has also included journalists from different federal media’s and, Oromia and SNNP Media Agencies.

The visitors had a look at closure areas of 800 hectares of land near Zeway city on the way to Butajira, by Sustainable Environmental Development Association (SEDA), which has started to rehabilitate. In addition, a discussion was held at Lake Abijata with the district officials, where Abjatta lake, shows significant shrinkage in size and facing high pressure of people and livestock’s.

The site visit to Wenago District with best practice of community based agro-forestry practices were facilitated by Lem Ethiopia and escorted by the officials of Zone & District level EPA and Culture and Tourism. Ample discussion was undergone with model farmers and community members. The visit was accompanied by a brief discussion with higher officials and journalists on the progress of the registration process of the Traditional Agro-Forestry system of Gedeo with UNESCO and the role of the visiting group mainly the parliamentarians and the journalists.

Moreover, prolonged presentation and discussion were held with Hawassa University, Wondo Genet College, Bureau of Environmental Protection and Bureau of Culture &Tourism of SNNPR and PHE Ethiopia Consortium. During the discussion, the issues of population pressure on the carrying capacity of the available resources & the importance of alternative livelihood issues in bringing sustainable solutions were discussed. The future collaboration of Universities in regard to the threats of rift valley lakes, integrated PHE approach and climate change issues has been underlined to be strengthened through the partnership with each other.

Higher officials mainly parliamentarians responsible for environment and water and energy have come to understand the threats of rift valley lakes, Wenago Traditional community agro-forestry practices and what Lem Ethiopia is doing, the activities of Universities on environmental rehabilitation and research undertakings and the importance of the partnership between universities, development practioners, the executive body and Parliamentarians. The visit participants have learned on the challenge to sector based approach and the importance of holistic interventions that answer the holistic development of communities. In addition, without including the issues of population and health to the existing development approach sustaining the environment is meaningless, therefore, they underlined on the high demand and timeliness of the importance of paradigm shift to incorporate integrated approach in the development initiative of the country.

...continue on page 18 >>

Standing Commitee Members from the Parlament , Journalistsand Development practitioners

Cattle Grazing on the previous part of Abiyatta lake


...continued from page 17 >> EXPERIENCE SHARING FIELD VISIT TO ...

Outcome and lessons learnt from The Rift Valley lakes & Gedeo Zone visit

Above all, a field visit with prolonged discussions with community members and HEW and DAs was very important. Strong commitment and involvement of higher officials and Media’s is demanded in advocating for scaling up the success stories and initiatives by government and SEDA, community agro-forestry practices of Gedeo and the integrated approach of PHE by Lem Ethiopia and alleviating the challenges and practices that are aggravating the problem within rift valley lakes.

Media Coverage


PHE Ethiopia Consortium attended the Packard

Foundation’s Sub-Saharan Africa Grantees and Partners Meeting on February 1-2, 2011. The meeting included a field visit to three sites LEM Ethiopia project, Pathfinder and FGAE sites in Girar Jarso Woreda and Debre Tsigie. Ato Mogues Worku, Director of Lem Ethiopia, briefed about the activities and PHE integrated approach in the project at Girar Jarso.

Representatives of the local government offices, Development Agent (DA), Health Extension Workers (HEW) as well as model farmers, empowered women and their families who spoke about their work and involvement in their community. The tour included a visit to the home of model farmers who are now growing highland crops and bananas on their compound to supplement their traditional farming crops, saving household energy using a wood-saving stoves and new biogas technologies, and had nurtured chickens which were given to them as day old chicks by LEM project.

In addition, their wives were now using family planning services (along with 50% of other eligible women in the community- an increase from the baseline level of 15%) and their children were all pursuing higher levels of education. Local model women were working in a tree nursery site and earn supplementary income while producing seedlings for distribution to community farmers, and spoke to local residents and stakeholders about the impacts of the LEM project on reproductive health, family planning and environmental outcomes.

After the site visit, participants gathered for a lively discussion on the successes, challenges and lessons learned, and then

to share these with participants who visited other Packard-sponsored sites through FGAE (Family Guidance Association of Ethiopia) and Pathfinder International. The LEM Ethiopia discussion was perhaps most notable for the presence of a few model farmers in the audience, who stood up to express their thanks and to speak about the improvements in their lives since the project’s inception. Details about the successes and challenges of the LEM Ethiopia site are highlighted in one of PHE Ethiopia Consortium’s “Spotlight” issue Vol.I, No 2. In summary, their main success certainly has been in bringing the NGO and public sectors together alongside communities to solve problems in a sustainable, cohesive and responsible manner. LEM’s utilization of a comprehensive PHE integrated approach was clear and appreciated by all: as one participant observed, “the project succeeded in demystifying what PHE integration means.”

PHE Ethiopia Consortium was represented at this gathering, and had a table at the “gallery walk” where resources and educational materials were handed out to participants. Sandra Bass, Packard Headquarter, updated the participants and discussed the goals for stemming population growth rates and improving reproductive health and rights around the world. She highlighted Packard’s strategy shift since 2009 towards addressing service demand, engaging more women leaders, and supporting existing movements in East Africa to improve reproductive health outcomes in the region. Following this, presentations were made by new partners working in the sub-Saharan Africa region, introduced themselves and their work. This was followed by panel discussions about maternal health in Africa. Dr. Alex

Ezeh (executive director of APHRC) spoke about the contribution of family planning to maternal health in Africa, Dr. Atnafu Getachew from the WHO spoke about their regional work in improving maternal and child health, and a representative from the UNFPA spoke about their role in the region and support for the African Union Commission. Dr. Kidist Lulu from the WHO led discussions about maternal health in Ethiopia, with representatives from the Ministry of Health, ESOG, and the Amhara Development Association (ADA) discussing their organizations’ interventions and respective roles in helping Ethiopia achieve MDG 4 and 5. Brief presentations on female empowerment in sub-Saharan Africa were made by representatives of the Umbuto Foundation (Rwanda), the Forum for African Women Educationalists (FAWE) and the Young Women Christian Association (YWCA).

Finally, Ato Sahlu Haile, Sub-Saharan Regional Senior Advisor, has concluded the session by pinpointing the success in terms of bringing together Packard grantees and partners to discuss the most relevant issues in maternal and reproductive health for Ethiopia today.

The David and Lucile Packard Foundation Sub-Saharan Africa Grantees and Partners Meeting Feb. 1-2, 2011

>>From Top to Bottom: Ato Mogues addressing the LEM site visitors, model farmer biogas uni, energy saving stove, soil packaged for seedlings, women packaging soil for supplementary income and food,panel discussion, group discussion forum and PHE-EC gallery walk table

H20 PBPHE Ethiopia Consortium Newsletter Issue No. 4 PHE Ethiopia Consortium Newsletter Issue No. 4

Please pay a visit to our website at www.phe-ethoipia.org

Go-green Africa Fair and Conference

Go-green Africa fair and conference, the first fair in the history of the country was held in Addis Ababa exhibition center from June

23-26, 2011 organized by Initiative Africa. PHE Ethiopia Consortium, Heinrich Boll Stiftung Ethiopia, Horn of Africa Regional Environment Center and Network (HoAREC), African Renewable Energy Alliance (AREA), Ethiopian Chamber of Commerce and Sectorial Association (ECCSA), CORDIAD, World Future Council, Ecological Products of Ethiopia (ECOPIA) played a co-organizer role in the fair. A conference was also organized in the African union Conference hall with the theme of “Challenges of the Green Economy for A sustainable Society”. Stakeholders from Government, NGOs, Donors and the trade community participated and added their input to the conference where the Integrated Populationm Health, Environment approach was also addressed as one section.

The Conference was officially launched by Ato Assefa Kesito Head of the president’s office and special advisor to the president with a ministerial portfolio on the behalf of H.E Ato Girma Wolde Ghiorgis , President of the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia followed by Keynote speeches of Dr Tewoldebrhane G/Egziabher( General Manager of Environmental Protection Authority of Ethiopia), Professor Yasin Tandon (Policy maker, political activist and author from Uganda) and Alfred Omenaya (Director of Eco-build Africa and Lecturer at Nairobi university).Before the end of the first day conference, questions was raised from participants and Discussion was made.

On the Second day PHE Ethiopia Consortium represented Professor Zerihun woldu from Addis Ababa University to present “PHE and the Green Economy” after keynote speeches of Neway Gebree_Ab (chief Economic Advisor to the prime Minister) and Mr Micheal Biontino (chargé d’affaires German Embassy). In his presentation Professor Zerihun stressed that PHE approach is an option for the green economy.

PHE Ethiopia consortium, its members (Melca Ethiopia, Lem Ethiopia, Ethio-wetlands and Natural Resources Association, SMS ceramics) and partners were among exhibitors. They have presented their background information and success stories using publications, Documentaries and poster presentations. 89 exhibitors were categorized on zones as Food and Agriculture zone, Renewable energy zone, Technology zone, Green Building zone, Tourism zone, Green Policy and Research zones.

PHE-Ethiopia Consortium’s website, www.phe-ethiopia.org, was established in February 2009, and includes articles, manuals and policies, national data related to PHE, as well as links to the websites of government organizations, research centers, and partner/member organizations.

PHE Ethiopia Consortium is pleased to announce updates to our website. Please visit us, at www.phe-ethiopia.org. We are also now on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and YouTube.

You can download these materials from our website www.phe-ethoipia.org, or if you are interested in requesting hard-copy brochures for dissemination to your organization please contact us via our email: [email protected]

Conference on Go Green

Presentation on Go Green

Exibition Fair of Go Green

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