Children in Ethiopia are growing up in one of the world's poorest countries. Under-five mortality is one of the highest in the world (168 out of every 1000 children) and only 22% of the population have access to clean water. On average, an Ethiopian child will only attend school for five years.

The majority of children are far from attaining their rights to both survival and development. Children are affected by extreme poverty and natural and human-made disasters.

Ethiopia is a vast country with a population of over 66 million. Etensive poverty here results from such factors as recurrent droughts, inappropriate national policies and civil wars which have drained the country of resources.

Most Ethiopians still earn a living from the land, and even in a good year millions of families cannot produce enough food to feed themselves. In years of bad harvests, hunger quickly escalates into food crises with widespread malnutrition. This is made worse by lack of access to services such as healthcare, education, water and sanitation.

Save the Children Canada has been making a difference for the children of Ethiopia since 1997.

Please visit our Current Projects and Case Studies sections for more information on our help for children in Ethiopia.