Since early November we have been seeing more news about Ethiopia than has been usual. Much of this news is disturbing with reports of fighting, deaths and refugees, especially in the north of the country. But there are also strains in other areas of the federal political structure.
Fighting and the threat of wider conflict are not the only issues. There was severe flooding in September, and locusts have been a persistent menace. Mercifully although covid 19 has hit Ethiopia it has not so far had as serious an impact in medical terms as in other parts of the world including the UK - there have been about 100,000 confirmed cases and about 1,500 deaths. There are however enormous social and economic consequences of the measures that have been imposed to prevent the impact of the virus from being much worse.
Partners for Change is monitoring the situation as best we can, which is difficult because communications have been disrupted, especially in areas where there is fighting. Nevertheless we have local contacts and experience of interpreting this complex country, since our foundation in 1985. People in poor local communities are resilient and can still benefit enormously from the moves towards self-sufficiency which we encourage through our partnerships. We continue to support these efforts.