Ethiopia, 9-12 November 2015: Her Majesty Queen Mathilde of the Belgians paid a visit to Ethiopia in her function as Honorary Chairwoman of UNICEF Belgium.
Upon her arrival at Bole International Airport of Addis Ababa, the Queen was welcomed by Zenebu Tadesse, the Ethiopian Minister of Women, Children and Youth Affairs. On the same day, the Queen visited Yekatit a hospital in Addis Ababa which specialises on medical care for newborn children. Mothers themselves also receive care.
The Queen’s mission was accompanied by a delegation from UNICEF as well as several Belgian media outlets particularly focused on objectives related to the survival of the youngest in the fields of health, nutrition, drinking water and hygiene.
Queen Mathilde met the President of the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, Dr. Mulatu Teshome to discuss on ways of reinforcing UNICEF’s efforts to improve maternal and child health in Ethiopia. The President briefed the Queen about Ethiopia’s endeavors to improve maternal and child health care service delivery in the second Growth and Transformation Plan (GTP II) period.
Over 40,000 female health extension workers were deployed across the nation to improve the health care service delivery and to tackle problems of harmful traditional practices (HTPs), President Mulatu declared.
Later during her mission, the Queen went to the village of Gursum in Oromia Regional State, where she visited the UNICEF project that provides water supply for more than 4000 people. There, the Queen could also see how UNICEF, through supporting the Government, contributes to the reduction of child marriage and female genital mutilation.
During her four-day trip, the Queen also paid a visit to the city of Dire Dawa and other projects for communities living in the Somali regional state of Ethiopia.
For more information “Royalty” interview with Queen Mathilde of the Belgians: http://vtm.be/royalty/integrale-interview-koningin-mathilde-in-ethiopie
