The HIV epidemic is expected to reduce life expectancy by 10 and 17 years in Addis Ababa in 2000 and 2024, respectively. The rate of natural increase is projected at a negative rate after 2009. Population growth is expected to continue, however, due to in-migration.

Ethiopian President Girma Wolde-Giorgis on Monday at the opening of a four-day conference in Addis Ababa said that women have a "formidable" and "irreplaceable" role in fighting HIV/AIDS in the country.

NGOs in Ethiopia are increasingly being perceived as important actors in the urban arena. Can they reach the urban poor effectively and efficiently? Research by INTRAC - the International NGO Training and Research Centre - suggests that the majority of NGOs in Addis Ababa do not reach the most marginalised and impoverished social groups.

Ireland has pledged Euros 250,000 to tackle drought in eastern Ethiopia, the Irish embassy in Addis Ababa said. The money will be used to help Kereyou pastoralists whose livelihoods are in danger from the lack of rain. The funding is part of Ireland's Euros 3.69 million Africa-wide programme to tackle emergencies across the continent.

The Ethics and Anti Corruption Commission has asked for charges to be withdrawn against former top government officials and for new charges to be formulated. This after the accused have been detained for 14 months without bail.

A total of 225 Eritreans left Ethiopia Tuesday for home under the auspices of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), said the ICRC in a press release.

In southeastern Ethiopia, a woman like Sedo Osman is a rare sight. She is one of a handful of women teachers striving to get more girls into schools.

Dotted around the Ethiopian capital, Addis Ababa, there are at least 14 camps for internally displaced people (IDPs). They house more than 17,000 people, and disease is rife.Now, however, the government wants them to move on. Already the police and local authorities have cleared three camps.

The United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) expressed concern last Friday over claims that several hundred homeless children have been rounded up from the streets of the Ethiopian capital, Addis Ababa.

The Ethiopian government has warned that over eight million people are in need of food aid after failed rains in the country.

An international press freedom watchdog on Thursday called for Ethiopia to abandon new "draconian" media laws which could result in more journalists being jailed. The New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) also urged the authorities to "stop harassing" reporters in the country and allow them more freedom to work.

Hundreds of street children and homeless people were last month forced out of the Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa and dumped in a forest outside the city, the Ethiopian Human Rights Council (EHRCO) has said.

Ibrahim Jabr has been the head of the UN Children's Fund (UNICEF) in Ethiopia for the last three years. He tells IRIN of the change in approach by UNICEF and the issues it faces in Ethiopia.

Prevalence of HIV-1 infection and syphilis dropped substantially among 15- to 24-year-old women attending antenatal clinics at inner-city health centers in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.

Some 14 million children are to be immunised against polio as part of a final drive to eradicate the virus from Ethiopia, the health ministry said last Thursday.

Haile Mariam Dessalegn is the president of the Southern Nations and Nationalities People's Region (SNNPR). The region has recently seen two serious clashes between security forces and protesters, in Tepi in March and Awasa in May, leaving an estimated 145 people dead. Here the president responds to calls by the European Union (EU) for a public inquiry and tells IRIN what action is being taken.

On 10 July 2002, Tewodros Kassa, former editor-in-chief of the Amharic-language weekly "Ethop", was convicted and sentenced to two years in prison. The charge resulted from three 2001 "Ethop" newspaper articles.

Ethiopia is facing a food shortfall of almost 200,000 tons until the end of the year, the UN's World Food Programme (WFP) has warned.

The Addis Ababa-based UN Economic Commission for Africa (ECA) said on Tuesday that granting farmers in Ethiopia ownership of their land could speed up development.

The European Union (EU) has demanded a public inquiry into disturbances in Southern Ethiopia earlier this year, which left at least 128 dead.