Ethiopia First Nation to Sign National Health Partnersh...( WASHINGTON Sept. 2 /- Ethiopia's ...),Health

WASHINGTON, Sept. 2 /PRNewswire/ -- Ethiopia's Ministry of Health recently signed a compact with 13 international development partners and agencies aimed at helping the country reach the U.N.'s Millennium Development Goals for health, becoming the first country to do so.

The agreement provides a framework for increased and more effective health aid coordination between Ethiopia and the partners who are contributing to the development of its health sector. The Compact establishes the following:

-- Guiding principles and management arrangements to be observed by

Ethiopia and its development partners in order to improve the

contribution of development assistance to achieving Millennium

Development Goals in the health arena;

-- Commitments and obligations agreed to by Ethiopia for the

implementation of the Compact;

-- A collective target for the levels of total health aid to be provided

to Ethiopia in each year between 2009 and 2015;

-- Commitments and obligations with regard to the future management of

development assistance;

-- Arrangements for monitoring compliance and resolving disputes, and

outlines for remedies available in the event of non-compliance with the

provisions of the arrangement;

-- Overall Compact targets by 2010.

The Compact was signed on behalf of Ethiopia by Minister of Health Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, World Bank Country Director for Ethiopia Ken Ohashi and Ambassadors/Representatives of the various development partners.

The signing ceremony took place Aug. 26, 2008, at the Sheraton Addis Ababa in the presence of senior Ethiopian officials from the Ministries of Health, Finance and Economic Development, as well as representatives from the various bilateral and multilateral partner organizations.

Future aid agreements between Ethiopia and its partners will be framed to be fully consistent with th
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