- Ethiopian visiting delegation receives warm welcome from GIZ-India
NEW DELHI – April 30, 2025 (NIPN/EPHI) - The experience-sharing visit, being conducted by the Ethiopian delegation drawn from the Advisory Committee (AC) of the National Information Platforms for Nutrition-Ethiopia (NIPN-Ethiopia), was hailed as a significant step forward in strengthening ties and collaboration among Ethiopia, India, and the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) in the realms of nutrition and development initiatives.
Opening the first day meeting, Director of the Nutrition, Environmental Health, and Non-Communicable Disease Research Directorate at the Ethiopian Public Health Institute (EPHI), Dr. Masresha Tessema raised the deep-rooted relationship sustained for over 2,000 years between Ethiopia and India. He stated that the two countries have maintained excellent ties in various fields, including health, nutrition, culture, and education. Dr. Masresha highlighted EPHI’s contributions in research, development, and pandemic management, including the food and nutrition laboratory, with a significant impact both within Ethiopia and beyond.
He underscored the fact that Ethiopia, being home to the African Union, the African Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa, and many other international organizations, offers a unique opportunity to strengthen its relationships with India. Dr. Masresha further mentioned the various projects the Ethiopian Government has been accomplishing through initiatives such as NIPN with the objectives of improving nutrition across the country. He applauded the technical and financial supports injected into the projects by GIZ and the European Union.
The visiting team was welcomed by Mr. Farhad Vania of GIZ-India, who hailed the years- long development collaborations among Ethiopia, India and Germany. The GIZ-India representative underscored the critical role of the ever- intensifying partnership in combating global challenges.
Coordinator for the Environment, Climate Change, and Biodiversity Cluster at GIZ-India, Mr. Gerald Guskowski stated about the significance of intensified cooperation between Ethiopia and India. He further noted that global issues, like climate change, transcend borders and require joint efforts.
NIPN-Ethiopia Coordinator, Dr. Aregash Samuel, briefed the participants about the activities NIPN has carried out over the past seven years. She said, among other things, that NIPN-Ethiopia has finalized the write-up of technical reports for ten outputs. The ‘impact of scaling up nutrition interventions on the reduction of low birth weight, effects of school feeding on educational and nutritional outcomes, and national food and nutrition strategy baseline survey were raised by Dr. Aregash as major achievements of NIPN-Ethiopia.
Project Manager of nutrition projects, Securing Nutrition, Enhancing Resilience (SENU) in GIZ-India, Ms. Anika said that “nutrition is the outcome of all our activities”, noting that India could learn from Ethiopia’s approach to multisectoral engagement in nutrition.
NIPN-Ethiopia advisor from GIZ, Dr. Archana Sarkar said on her part that the visit would expose the Ethiopian team to India’s expansive food fortification initiatives, including school-feeding programs.
Ethiopian Ambassador to India, H.E Fesseha Shawel expressed appreciation to the intensified partnership that extends beyond half a century between GIZ and Ethiopia. He touched on the ambitious “Green Legacy” tree-planting program being led by Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed, with the objective of implementing large-scale afforestation, including planting of food-bearing trees. Mr. Ambassador seized the opportunity to invite the Ethiopian visiting team to attend the traditional coffee ceremony for the debriefing session of the delegates to be held at the Ethiopian Embassy in New Delhi.
AC members drawn from the EPHI, NIPN-Ethiopia, Ministry of Education, Ministry of Agriculture, Ministry of Trade and Regional Integration, Ministry of Water and Energy and GIZ-Ethiopia are part of the visit. (NIPN/EPHI)
