Ethiopia is the second most populous country in Africa with an estimated 77 million people, whose median age is 18 years, and 43 percent of whom are below 14 years of age. With a population growth rate of 2.5 percent, Ethiopia is one of the fastest growing populations in the world and will exceed 150 million people by 2040 (UN 2007). Following the recognition that the country’s population and reproductive health indicators were neither optimistic nor consistent with national aspirations for food security, universal primary education, increased access to health services, extended employment opportunities and overall economic development goals, the Ethiopian Government adopted a population policy in 1993, to harmonize the country’s population growth rate with its national economic development agenda. In furtherance of these goals, the government established the National Office of Population (NOP) with the responsibility of coordinating institutions and ministries involved in population activities and launched the Health Sector Development Program (HSDP) and the Poverty Reduction Strategy Program (PRSP). […]
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