Facts on Ethiopia

Facts on Ethiopia and its most vulnerable children:

When, in 2005, the UN appraised the health, longevity, education, and standard of living of people in 177 nations for its Human Development Index, Ethiopia was ranked 170th. The UN's Gender-related Development Index, capturing inequalities in achievement between men and women, ranked Ethiopia 134th out of 140 nations. The UN Human Poverty Index evaluated 103 nations and ranked Ethiopia 99th.

Ethiopia has the second largest population of orphans and more specifically, AIDS orphans in Africa. The number of orphans in Ethiopia today is about 4.8 million (1.5 million are orphaned due to AIDS), which constitutes 11 percent of the child population. As children age, they become more susceptible to orphanhood. Currently 4% of children aged 0-5, 12% of children aged 6-11, and 20% of youth aged 12-17 are orphans. The average orphan in Ethiopia is 10 years old, of either sex and Ethiopian Orthodox Christian.

The under-five morality rate in Ethiopia is 166/1000, or 1 in 6. In some regions in Ethiopia it is as high as 233/100 or almost 1 in 5. About 90% of morality in under-fives is caused by pneumonia, neonatal causes, malaria, diarrhea and measles. Malnutrition underlies about 57% of these deaths, and 11 percent are associated with HIV infection. Ethiopia is home to 6 million children under five years of age who are classified as underweight.

The proportion of working children ranges from about 69% in Addis to 89% in SNNPR (Southern Ethiopia)

Caring for Ethiopia's orphans costs $US 115 million a month in a country whose annual health budget is only $US 140 million.

There is just one doctor for every 24,000 children, one of the worst ratios in the world.

Ethiopia has one of the most severe crises of child marriage in the world today. Among female migrants to the city, 19% cited the desire to avoid early marriage as the reason they left their home village.

Only 3% of married girls aged 15-19 are in school, compared with 34% of unmarried girls.

Mean age difference between spouses is 10.1 years if the wife married before 15.

Percentage of girls married by:
15- 30.6%
18- 70.2%
20- 82.5%

Percentage who thinks wife beating is justified if sex is withheld: 43.3%

Maternal morality ratio in 2000 as a lifetime risk of maternal death is 1 in 14.