Demographic and Health Survey 2005

Over the past 32 years, along with others, UNFPA has been the lead agency in Ethiopia for population issues and has worked closely with the Ethiopian Government to create and sustain an enabling environment, for addressing population and development issues within the context of the Country’s planning process and frameworks. In recent years, supporting the timely completion of the demographic and Health Survey has become a key component of its overall Population and Development Strategy (PDS). The Fund was very much involved in the planning, implementation and dissemination of the preliminary results of the first ever demographic and health survey conducted in 2000 and played a key role in ensuring that gender and quality concerns were properly addressed.

The 2005 Ethiopian Demographic and Health Survey, which is the second DHS for the country, is now being conducted by the Population and Housing Census Commission Office (PHCCO) under the aegis of the Ministry of Health (MOH), funded by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID); the Dutch and the Irish Governments; and the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA). ORC Macro provides technical assistance under the Measure DHS + program and the Ethiopian Health and Nutrition Research Institute (EHNRI) is responsible for the HIV and Anemia testing of the blood samples collected. The data collection is now completed and a preliminary report is expected to be published by end of 2005. The PHCCO is currently undertaking the data processing.

In 2005, the EDHS, building on lessons learned, became crucial to improving the data and knowledge base on Population, RH and Gender. The DHS will offer an objective basis for sector planning by identifying key target areas that are insufficiently addressed. As UN focal point for population issues and main government counterparts for population based surveys, UNFPA with other stakeholders have provided technical assistance in the design, implementation, analysis and dissemination of DHS. Moreover, it has allocated a total amount of US$ 200, 000 for the 2005 Demographic and Health Survey.