LIVING CONDITIONS IN ETHIOPIA

Ethiopian children – as with children in many parts of Sub-Saharan Africa – face a wide number of obstacles that may stop them from realizing their full potential.  The United Nations Human Development Report for 2004 ranks Ethiopia as 170 of the 177 countries supplying information.  The following statistics, compiled from this report, reveal the depth of the problems confronted by children in Ethiopia: 

• Malnutrition rate of 46%
• Extreme Poverty (Average incomes of $2/day)
• Lack of Access to Clean Water (only 22% of the population has access to clean water, by far the lowest percentage in the world)
• Low Life Expectancy (47.6 years)
• Limited Access to Health Care (3 physicians per 100,000 people)
• High Child Mortality Rates (166 of every 1,000 children die before age 5)
• Orphans (about 5 million)

Ethiopia’s Literacy Problem

According to a 2005 UNICEF report, Ethiopia’s overall literacy ranking is 163 of 179 countries supplying information.  The following facts make this clear:

• Literacy Rate = 42.7% overall, with female rate of 35.1%
• Primary School Attendance = 33% for boys, 28% for girls
• Secondary School Attendance = 13% for boys, 10% for girls

Click here to learn about Global Care’s response to this research: 
Ethiopian School Construction Initiative - Overview