USAID and the Government of Ethiopia are increasingly interested in investing in the early years. Through the Together for Early Childhood Evidence consortium in Africa, early childhood education stakeholders in Ethiopia collaborate on the country’s early childhood data and measurement issues.
The Ethiopia country team has been meeting since 2019 to discuss data and measurement issues in Ethiopia. In 2019, the team completed the T4ECE Diagnostic Toolkit to prioritize key questions that data can answer in Ethiopia, summarize existing data sources, and start to identify how data can inform the Ministry’s new ECD Policy Framework.
The country team identified inaccessible and fragmented data as a core challenge in Ethiopia. In 2021, the Together for Early Childhood Evidence country team launched a research project with the Ethiopian School Readiness Initiative (ESRI) to create a repository for early childhood data and resources. Under ESRI’s leadership, the local research team consulted with early childhood stakeholders to compile existing resources and data to create a knowledge hub for exemplary early childhood education development practices. The team then established an ECDE Knowledge Hub, hosted on the Addis Ababa University (AAU) website, where more than 450 materials and resources exist. The ECDE Knowledge Hub is hosted on the Addis Ababa University (AAU) website, where the materials and resources can easily be retrieved and are publicly available. The team hopes the hub will create opportunities for improved coordination among institutions, organizations, and individual professionals to collaborate to advance early childhood development and education in Ethiopia. Learn more about the Ethiopia project.
Additional Information
The Ethiopia country team was established in 2019, and is co-chaired by USAID Ethiopia and the Ministry of Education.
Key Indicators from Ethiopia
| Poverty headcount ratio at $2.15 a day (2017 PPP) (% of population) | 27% |
| GDP per capita (current US$) | $925 |
| School enrollment, preprimary (% gross) | 30% |
| Prevalence of stunting, height for age (% of children under 5) | 37% |
| Mortality rate, under-5 (per 1,000 live births) | 47 |
Data from the World Bank
Country Team Members
| Name | Title | Organization |
| Frehiwot Wubishet | Education Specialist | USAID Ethiopia |
| Demelash Mesegana | Expert | Ministry of Education |
| Gebere Fekadu | Expert | Ministry of Education |
| Fantahun Admas | Head, Early Childhood Care and Education Center | Addis Ababa University |
| Menelik Desta | Executive Director | School Readiness Initiative |
| Fitsum Asfaw | Economist | World Bank |
| Maekelech Gidey | Education Specialist | UNICEF |
| Asefa Leta Emana | Assessment Expert | National Educational Assessment and Examinations Agency |
| Abiy Kefyalew | Assessment Expert | National Educational Assessment and Examinations Agency |
| Yilikal Wondimeneh | Director | National Educational Assessment and Examinations Agency |
| Belay Hagos Hailu | Associate Professor of Education | Addis Ababa University |
| Brukty Tigabu | CEO | Whiz Kids Workshop |
| Lang Ma | Early Childhood Education and Development Specialist | UNICEF |
| Shewaye Tike | Team Lead | IRC |
This website is made possible by the generous support of the American people through the Office of Education, Bureau for Africa, U.S Agency for International Development (USAID) under the terms of contract No. 7200AA19C00080, subcontract CATALYZE-Edu-CR-2023-0352. The contents of this website are developed by the ECD Measure group hosted at the University of Nebraska Medical Center and do not necessarily reflect the views of USAID or the United States Government.