USAID-Ethiopia Partnership

With 39 percent of its 85-million-strong population living below the poverty line, Ethiopia is one of the world’s poorest countries. In the UN Development Program’s 2011 human development index, Ethiopia ranked 174 out of 187 countries. Yet while Ethiopia continues to face serious development challenges, the East African country is increasingly garnering international recognition for its significant socio-economic progress over the last decade. During this period, state-led investments across the Ethiopian economy, including in social sectors, have not only propelled the country’s GDP growth rate to among the highest in Africa but also reduced poverty by one third. On track to achieve all eight Millennium Development Goals, Ethiopia has been called an MDG “success story” by the London-based Overseas Development Institute. In its 2011-15 country development cooperation strategy for Ethiopia, the U.S. Agency for International Development reaffirms Washington’s development partnership with Addis Ababa. In keeping with the Government of Ethiopia’s 2010-15 Growth and Transformation Plan (GTP), through 2015, USAID aims to support robust investment across multiple sectors. Most notably, Ethiopia is a focus country for each of the Obama administration’s signature global development initiatives: Feed the Future, the Global Health Initiative and the Global Climate Change Initiative. According to USAID, its mission in Ethiopia is one of the agency’s largest and most complex in Africa. Funding levels For the third consecutive year, deep cuts have been slated for U.S. foreign aid spending in Ethiopia. President Barack Obama’s 2013 budget request for the U.S. foreign aid program in Ethiopia stands at $351.3 million, 40 percent below current levels. As Devex reported last week, the United States is now likely to be edged out by the United Kingdom as Ethiopia’s top bilateral donor. In 2010, USAID delivered 84 percent of U.S. official development assistance to Ethiopia. 12 percent of U.S. ODA to Ethiopia flowed through the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ programming. Funding priorities (fiscal 2013 request) For fiscal 2013, nearly half (49 percent) of the proposed U.S. aid budget for Ethiopia has been allocated for the health sector. USAID Ethiopia manages programming for each of the U.S. government’s core global health initiatives: the Global Health Initiative, the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief, and the President’s Malaria Initiative. The USAID country strategy for Ethiopia indicates that increasing the utilization of quality health services will be the focus of the agency’s health programming through 2015. The strategy notes that while Ethiopia has made progress in developing credible health policies and expanding its health infrastructure, the utilization of vital health services – including antenatal care and labor and delivery services – remains low. Agriculture is also a priority sector for U.S. foreign assistance to Ethiopia. For fiscal 2013, the administration has allocated 37 percent of its proposed aid budget for Ethiopia to the sector. USAID’s food security strategy through 2015 aims to both build the capacity of vulnerable households to participate in economic activity and mobilize market-led agricultural growth to generate economic opportunity. While the administration has requested only $1.7 million for democracy, human rights, and governance programming in Ethiopia in fiscal 2013, the USAID country strategy does suggest that U.S. assistance for the sector could become more of a priority in the future. The strategy argues that democracy and governance is the one sector which has demonstrably deteriorated in recent years. According to the document, USAID Ethiopia will broaden its portfolio in the sector to include support for public accountability, conflict sensitivity, and civil society. Devex analysis Following the sudden death of longtime Prime Minister Meles Zenawi on August 20, Ethiopia’s first political transition since 1991 is currently underway. During his two decades in power, Zenawi cultivated close, personal ties with succeeding administrations in Washington. Ethiopia’s recent development gains under Zenawi’s leadership had also won him praise from key stakeholders in the U.S. aid community. Unsurprisingly, Zenawi’s death has raised questions over the future of the USAID program in Ethiopia. While the Obama administration has since pledged to continue its development partnership with Addis Ababa, uncertainties surrounding Ethiopia’s transition may prompt the United States to reevaluate the size and scope of its foreign assistance to the East African country. Zenawi’s last foreign minister, Hailemariam Desalegn, is expected to be officially sworn in as prime minister next month. Thus far, Desalegn has emphasized policy continuity from the Zenawi regime. Addis Ababa’s continued cooperation with Washington on regional counterterrorism efforts would reaffirm U.S. strategic imperatives for its foreign assistance to Ethiopia.