The peace agreement of June 2000 ended a war in which thousands have lost their lives and more thousands have been displaced. While the war weakened the economy, it strengthened the position of the ruling government and Prime Minister Meles Zenawi, now viewed as a nationalist who has defended what many Ethiopians regard as their sovereignty, was re-elected in May 2000. Ethiopia s rapid population growth presents great problems for a nation struggling to be self-sufficient in food. The quality of the education system in terms of numbers of teachers, availability of materials and infrastructure is inadequate. Only a minority of the population has access even to primary education.
Girls are particularly under-represented in school enrolment.
Access to health care and social services is also extremely poor, with resources concentrated in Addis Ababa and other urban centres. The number of health care professionals per unit population is one of the lowest in the world. Medical training is inadequate and medicines and stocks are often unavailable. There is strong government commitment to development, but the capacity of the public sector is severely constrained by a lack of professional skills and inadequate finance and infrastructure. The VSO programme Education is the major focus of the VSO programme in Ethiopia, and the programme is diversifying to address the severe shortage of professional, technical and skilled people in a range of priority sectors, particularly in in the least developed regions.