Background

A Vicious Cycle

Rapid population growth—and repeated droughts, famines, and wars—have trapped the 77 million people of Ethiopia in a vicious cycle of poverty, disease, and hunger. Day-to-day challenges are daunting:

• 44% of Ethiopians live below the basic-needs poverty line;
• 1 in 6 children dies before the age of 5; and
• the HIV/AIDS pandemic is raging through a weakened society.

Not surprisingly, the most vulnerable are the most severely disempowered: women and young girls. Breaking Ethiopia's vicious cycle starts with restoring their reproductive health, rights, and status.

A Compelling Partnership: GGCH and EECMY

Combining their passion and expertise, GGCH and EECMY have embraced this goal through Planned Parenthood's Global Partners program. Dedicated to the physical as well as the spiritual needs of Ethiopia's most underdeveloped communities, EECMY provides maternity care, family planning, HIV prevention, and other primary health services in six rural clinics. Just as important, it uses its respected moral voice to advocate for the end of harmful traditional practices like FGM that harm women and girls. As expert community organizers, EECMY maintains long-term local ownership of our joint projects.

GGCH has offered funding, medical supplies, and technical expertise—including cost-effective methods for health care education and administration, community involvement, and provision of medical services. In visits to our project sites, GGCH representatives also advocate for women's health and rights with Ethiopian government officials and NGOs. And we carry our cause to Washington, D.C., as well, lobbying against the regressive Global Gag Rule.

A Fight for Reproductive Justice

Join us in our three-pronged fight for reproductive justice for Ethiopian women and girls:

• Reproductive health: Support our culturally based programs that bridge the gap between traditional practices and women's health, especially the CBRH program and our proposed maternity village.
• Reproductive rights: Help us advance laws and policies that guarantee women access to services and universal legal protections.
• Committed funding: Sustain our momentum with donations that powerfully reverse inequities of income and gender.

By joining our global partnership, you empower Ethiopian women—and ensure that reproductive justice has no borders.