For many in Ethiopia, University is a distant dream. The lack of access to higher education means that many students are forced to go abroad to study, an option only available to those with the means to pay. Furthermore, many of those who do go abroad do not return to Ethiopia due to the opportunities they are offered elsewhere.

As a result there is a severe shortage of highly trained people. Shockingly, at present there is only one physician for every 30,000 people in Ethiopia. It is vital that we increase the country's capacity to offer University level of study to prevent this devastating "brain drain" and nurture the leaders of tomorrow.

Addis Ababa University was founded in 1950 and was Ethiopia's first university. Ethiopiaid has been supporting the university since 2000. Since then we have worked with them to install networked computer laboratories throughout the university. An important feature of this project is that specialist equipment was included to ensure that access is also possible for deaf and blind students.

By providing these facilities and making them accessible to all, the students at the Addis Ababa University have been connected to a wider world of education. They now have a wealth of learning material at their fingertips, including a multitude of international resources which encourages enterprise and fresh thinking.

Commercial Awareness Training for Staff

Group of AAU Staff in the UK for training

A group of eight senior members of staff from the university visited the UK for eight days of training in November 2008, funded by Ethiopiaid. The group was trained in financial and commercial awareness, leadership, team building and strategic management, business communication and presentation skills, speaking professionally and project management - all vital skills for the management of Ethiopia's largest university.

The members of staff visited Royal Holloway University during their time in the UK and had the opportunity to talk about opportunities for the universities to work together. Many ideas were discussed, including joint research projects and student/lecturer exchange programmes.

PhD Programme

Dr. Abye, Vice President for International Affairs

The Graduate School of Social Work at Addis Ababa University was established to address the development challenges that Ethiopia faces. In 2008 the university submitted a proposal to Ethiopiaid for the development of a PhD programme in Social Work and Social Development.

Social work's history is one of civic engagement, building synergistic relationships among institutions, organisations, and multiple disciplines to address poverty, HIV/AIDS, unemployment, mental illness, violence, criminal behaviour, homelessness, harmful traditional practices and other health and social problems.

Social workers are active in numerous fields of practice, including mental health care, substance abuse treatment, child welfare, health care, criminal justice, management and community development. The profession recognises the importance of working simultaneously with individuals, groups and families, communities and the government.

Ethiopiaid agreed to provide funding to prepare 30 doctoral students in social work, mentor these students during their research and develop the infrastructure to enable the doctoral programme to continue. The programme will empower the new faculty members to develop their own institutional identity and competencies to build social work as a profession within Ethiopia.

By establishing and strengthening the PhD programme within the context of the challenges and needs the country faces, the expertise of the doctoral students will incorporate knowledge, methods and practices relevant directly to Ethiopia.