Ethiopia launched its biggest ever polio vaccination campaign on Thursday as it was revealed that the country is almost totally free of the virus. More than 14 million children are to be targeted in the final immunisation in Ethiopia in which more than 74,000 volunteers will take part.

More Ethiopian women die in hospital from illegal abortion complications than for almost any other medical reason, the World Health Organisation (WHO) told IRIN on Monday.

International Medical Corps (IMC) is a global humanitarian nonprofit organization dedicated to saving lives and relieving suffering through health care training and medical relief programs. Its mission is to improve the quality of life through health interventions and related activities that build local capacity in communities throughout the world. By offering training and health care to local populations and medical assistance to people at highest risk, and with the flexibility to respond rapidly to emergency situations, IMC rehabilitates devastated health care systems and helps bring them back to self-reliance.

Mass unemployment in Ethiopia is leading to an alarming rise in the illegal trafficking of women, according to the Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs.

Thousands of drought-stricken people have migrated into one of Ethiopia’s most important national parks, threatening its ecosystem, the UN Emergencies Unit for Ethiopia (EUE) has warned.

Prime Minister Meles Zenawi has pledged to crack down on human rights abuses such as those which left at least 100 people dead in two separate shooting incidents earlier this year. He said the government would take action against regional officials who may have been implicated in the killings.

Ethiopian youth, with the sponsorship of UNICEF, on Thursday launched the nation's first HIV/AIDS forum for teenagers.

Ethiopia has reacted strongly to United Nations assertions that the security of peacekeepers stationed in the region has been seriously threatened by Ethiopian villagers and militia. Officials were angry about reports earlier this month that UN troops overseeing the ceasefire that ended a 30-month territorial war were threatened by armed villagers and militia along the disputed border with Eritrea.

One of the ruling coalition parties in Ethiopia - the Southern Ethiopian People's Democratic Front (SEPDF) - has replaced its chairman and purged more than 30 members in a bid to wipe out corruption.

Half a million children under the age of five die each year in Ethiopia because of illnesses such as malaria and measles, as well as pneumonia, diarrhoea, and malnutrition.

Almost daily a steady stream of young girls queue at the check in of Addis Ababa international airport - destined for the Middle East. Smartly dressed, wearing makeup they laugh and joke with each other. All long for a new life abroad with promises of high wages and a good job. Yet for most that dream becomes a nightmare as they are forced into prostitution or a slave-like existence as housemaids working 20 hours a day without pay.

The failure of the short belg rains, coupled with the late onset of the long meher rains, are pushing as many as 10.2 million Ethiopians to the edge of hunger. A multi-agency nutrition study, released last week, classified many midland and lowland parts of West Hararghe, Ethiopia, as "critical", with 15.1 percent of children under 5 suffering from global acute and severe acute (3.6 percent) malnutrition.

On the western shore of the Red Sea, three drought stricken countries are locked in a food emergency that is threatening the lives of millions of people. Ethiopia, Eritrea, and Sudan have all been engaged in complex military conflicts that, together with the failure of the region's crops, have placed residents and refugees alike at risk of starvation.

Fierce clashes between rival ethnic groups in western Ethiopia have left more than 60 people dead and forced thousands to flee their homes, an Ethiopian human rights organisation said.

Thousands of Sudanese refugees staged a mass walkout from an Ethiopian-based refugee camp after learning of a visit by a high-level Khartoum government delegation, humanitarian sources told IRIN on Monday.

Responsible for all aspects of donor grants awarded to IRC Ethiopia, which includes initial negotiation and contract compliance. Oversee all human resource, financial and logistical responsibilities. Previous supervisory responsibility of a field office and a staff of over 50 required.

Two thousand children in Ethiopia have been selected for a 15-year 'fly-on-the-wall' study, assessing the root causes and long-term consequences of childhood poverty. Experts will monitor some of the country's poorest children from the age of six months until they reach their 15th birthday. The results are expected to form the largest and possibly the most comprehensive study ever on the insidious affects of poverty among children.

The UN Security Council has decided to keep UN peacekeepers in Ethiopia and Eritrea six more months to give the countries time to mark their border. The Horn of Africa neighbours fought a 2½-year war over the 1,000-kilometre border, a conflict that cost 80,000 lives. The fighting ended in December 2000, when they agreed to establish an international commission to draw the border.

Nearly 100 representatives from 14 Central and East African nations have met at the U.N. Economic Commission for Africa headquarters in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, to discuss the impact of HIV/AIDS on the region and to develop a plan of action.

At least 90 government officials of the Southern Nations, Nationalities and Peoples' State (SNNPS) have been arrested by the state authorities in the Sheko Zone for involvement in human rights violations and abuse of office, IRIN has been told.