Addis Ababa, Ethiopia June 21, 2022 – The annual conference on Ethiopia – Norway collaboration in Health and Higher Education for Development that aims to support and celebrate ongoing partnership and collaborations within health and higher education. The Conference was officially held today in Addis Ababa and was attended by high government officials, invited guests as well as members of the media.
Attended by nearly 150 delegates, the 5th annual Conference hosted by the Royal Norwegian Embassy in Addis Ababa with the theme “Harnessing Strategies during and after a Pandemic; implications, and opportunities for Partnerships”, was focused on the key areas of Ethics in Public Health Care, Gender in public health, Trauma Care, Non-Communicable Diseases, and Communicable Diseases.
The event also celebrates several decades of Ethiopian-Norwegian partnership in health and higher education while also creating a medium for key stakeholders and partners for exchange and learning.
Successful conferences in the past have proven the importance of the organization of a regular meeting platform for interaction and experience sharing between stakeholders. This is where new areas of cooperation, synergies, and efficiencies are established.
In her opening remark Her excellency Ms Merete Lundemo, Ambassador of Norway to Ethiopia, while expressing the commitment of her government to its partnership with Ethiopia in the health and higher education sectors stated that “the Conference contributes to the harnessing of the ongoing partnerships by providing a platform for networking and exchange.
The purpose is to bring out synergies for further and new partnerships. The government of Ethiopia through the many sectors and the Ministry of Health in particular has been decisive for the success of the conference and vital in the furthering of of the results of the programs. We are grateful for the collaboration.
A number of prominent institutions were also present at the conference including University of Oslo, Haukeland University Hospital, Ethiopian Ministry of Health, Ministry of Woman and Social Affairs, St. Paul’s Hospital, Black Lion Hospital and Cancer Care Ethiopia, to mention a few. The partnerships between Norwegian and Ethiopian institutions are working to promote and build better health facilities and broader access to health-services by enhancing the capacity of institutions and health personnel.
Norway has a long-term commitment for SDG 3 and has been engaged in wide-ranging efforts to improve health internationally for decades. Priority has been given to access to vaccines, women’s and children’s health, and the fight against AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria, as well as efforts to fight non-communicable diseases such as cancer and diabetes.
Advocating sexual and reproductive health and rights is an important part of Norwegian policy. Norway is a committed champion for women’s right to access to health care and to decide over their own bodies. Supporting family planning and women’s access to safe abortions are key priorities for Norway.
Norway is currently supporting numerous global health initiatives playing a key role in shaping institutions of the global health architecture, as well as in funding them. These include GAVI, the vaccine alliance that has helped vaccinate over 800 million children since its inception and the access to Covid-19 Tools Accelerator, ACT-A – a facility aiming to improve access to vaccines, diagnostic tools and medicines for Covid-19 and its vaccine pillar, COVAX, has delivered over 1,5 billion vaccines to low- and middle-income countries.
These contribute to improved service delivery within the national health sector in Ethiopia and build fundamental infrastructure to improve resilience against the major challenges.
