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Reducing child undernutrition is a key social policy objective of the Ethiopian government. Despite substantial reduction over the last decade and a half, child undernutrition is still high; with 48 percent of children either stunted, underweight or wasted, undernutrition remains an important child health challenge. The existing literature highlights that targeting of efforts to reduce undernutrition in Ethiopia is inefficient, in part due to lack of data and updated information. This paper remedies some of this shortfall by estimating levels of stunting and underweight in each woreda for 2014. The estimates are small area estimations based on the 2014 Demographic and Health Survey and the latest population census. It is shown that small area estimations are powerful predictors of undernutrition, even compared to household characteristics, such as wealth and education, and hence a valuable targeting metric. The results show large variations in share of children undernourished within each region, more than between regions. The results also show that the locations with larger challenges depend on the chosen undernutrition statistic, as the share, number and concentration of undernourished children point to vastly different locations. There is also limited correlation between share of children underweight and stunted across woredas, indicating that different locations face different challenges. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Methodologies to measure gender-based violence (GBV) have received inadequate attention, especially in humanitarian contexts where vulnerabilities to violence are exacerbated. This paper compares the results from individual audio computer-assisted self-administered (ACASI) survey interviews with results from participatory social mapping activities, employed with the same sample in two different post-conflict contexts. Eighty-seven internally displaced adolescent girls from the Democratic Republic of the Congo and 78 Sudanese girls living in Ethiopian refugee camps were interviewed using the two methodologies. Results revealed that the group-based qualitative method elicited narratives of violence focusing on events perpetrated by strangers or members of the community more distantly connected to girls. In contrast, ACASI interviews revealed violence predominantly perpetrated by family members and intimate partners. These findings suggest that group-based methods of information gathering frequently used in the field may be more susceptible to socially accepted narratives. Specifically, our findings suggest group-based methods may produce results showing that sexual violence perpetrated by strangers (e.g., from armed groups in the conflict) is more prevalent than violence perpetrated by family and intimate partners. To the extent this finding is true, it may lead to a skewed perception that adolescent GBV involving strangers is a more pressing issue than intimate partner and family-based sexual violence, when in fact, both are of great concern. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines the effects of maternal autonomy on child schooling outcomes in Ethiopia using a nationally representative Ethiopian Demographic and Health survey for 2011. The empirical strategy uses a Hurdle Negative Binomial Regression model to estimate years of schooling. An ordered probit model is also estimated to examine age grade distortion using a trichotomous dependent variable that captures three states of child schooling. The large sample size and the range of questions available in this dataset allow us to explore the influence of individual and household level social, economic and cultural factors on child schooling. The analysis finds statistically significant effects of maternal autonomy variables on child schooling in Ethiopia. The roles of maternal autonomy and other household-level factors on child schooling are important issues in Ethiopia, where health and education outcomes are poor for large segments of the population. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: As elsewhere, due to scarcity of data and limited awareness of HIV infection, especially in older children, the HIV epidemic among Ethiopian children appears neglected in national programs (children ART coverage is of only 12% in 2013). This paper estimates the country burden of HIV in older children and investigates the prevalence of HIV in orphans and vulnerable children (OVC) households. Design/Methods: We analyzed national HIV data for Ethiopia, using Spectrum/ Estimation and Projection Package (EPP) and primary data on children living in households with at least one HIV-positive adult in the Amhara and Tigrai regions. Descriptive analysis of the age and sex distribution of HIV-positive OVC in Ethiopia was performed. Results: Our Spectrum/EPP analysis estimated the population of HIV-positive children under 15 years old to be 160,000 in 2013. The majority of children (81•6%) were aged five to 14 years. The estimated number of orphans due to AIDS was 800,000. The empirical data from almost 10,000 OVC under 18 years showed 11•9% were HIV-positive, the majority of whom were between five and 10 years old with no significant difference between males and females. Conclusions: There is a large population of children living with HIV in Ethiopia, the magnitude of which not previously recognized. The majority were vertically infected and never identified nor linked into treatment. OVC represent a reachable group which could account for a substantial proportion of the HIV infected older children. We recommend that HIV programs urgently synergize with social protection sectors and address these children with HIV testing and related services. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]