Ministry of Health, French Embassy sign MoU for Rehabilitation of Abala’s Hospital

Ministry of Health and the French government signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) today to support the health recovery efforts in Ethiopia, and specifically in rehabilitating and reequipping of Abala Hospital in Afar region.

The signing ceremony was attended by the Minister of Health, Dr. Lia Tadesse and the Ambassador of France to Ethiopia and to the African Union, Rémi Marechaux.

According to the press release, the embassy sent to ENA, France is also committed to supporting the rehabilitation of Adwa hospital in Tigray.

Ambassador Maréchaux stated “Following a field visit to Afar and Tigray in April and our support to Dessie Referral Hospital, I am happy to announce France is committed to support the rehabilitation of Abala and Adwa hospitals which will provide health support to 1.5 million people living in the surrounding areas.

“We hope that this reconstruction effort will be a prequel to further involvement from different partners in all areas affected by the conflict. The positive track towards peace and political dialogue must be solidified quickly and I hope this contribution can help foster reconciliation.,” he said.

The MoU on Abala’s hospital will strengthen health recovery initiatives in Ethiopia and represents the pursuit of a bilateral project aiming to provide support to ongoing stabilization efforts in the country, the ambassador said.

According to the press release, the 2.5million euro project is funded by the Crisis and Support Centre of France’s Ministry for Europe and Foreign Affairs and implemented by Expertise France, the French Public Agency for the design and implementation of international technical cooperation projects in collaboration with the Ministry of Health, Afar Regional Health Bureau.

More specifically, Expertise France will strengthen conflict-affected communities’ access to health care through the rehabilitation and re-equipment of Abala’s hospital, through a set of activities based on two mutually reinforcing expected results.

First, Abala’s hospital is rehabilitated and upgraded to provide an accessible comprehensive health care to the most vulnerable populations affected by violent conflicts; second, the hospital will be provided with the necessary equipment to relaunch the provision of essential health care.

At the occasion of this signing ceremony, the Ambassador Maréchaux handed over a letter to Dr. Lia Tadesse Gebremedhin to inform France intends to support the re-equipment of Adwa’s public hospital with a 1.5 million Euro donation provided by the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the press release said.

Source: Ethiopian News Agency