Ethiopia has undertaken a far reaching program of economic reforms over the last decades and the economy has registered rapid growth rates averaging 11 percent annum over the past seven years placing Ethiopia among the top performing economics in sub Saharan Africa and the government has made poverty and hunger reduction its top priorities

This rapid growth performance and its sustainability are primarily the result of the development policies and strategies the Government has been pursuing during the last two decades, as well as 6 the active participation of the public in the execution of these strategies. In 2013/2014, for the first time in the history of the country, its sovereign rating was assessed by three international credit rating agencies. Their assessment reports have well recognized the broad based economic growth and development performance of the country

Ethiopia has implemented successive Health SectorDevelopment Plans (HSDPs) since 1997 in four phases. During
this period, our country has made huge strides in improving access to health services and improvements in health
outcomes. EthiopiaÔÇÖs health indicators have been remarkably improved from one of the worst in Sub-Saharan Africa toamongst the stand out performers in just two decades. The lives of millions of children have been saved, millions of new infections and death from communicable diseases such as HIV, malaria, and tuberculosis have been averted. All this was done while building a health system that can sustain the gains over the long term.

Following the mainstreaming of the Sustainable Development Goals into the GTP II, the UNDAF is also directly linked to the SDGs relevant to the Ethiopia context. This provides a solid foundation for close collaboration between the Government and the UN system in localizing and rolling out the SDGs during the life cycle of the UNDAF 2016 _2020

'Infant formula' means breast milk substitute formulated industrially in accordance with applicable standards to satisfy the normal nutritional requirements of infants up to six months of age and adapted to their physiological characteristics. Follow-up 'formula' means a milk or milk-like product of animal or vegetable origin formulated industrially in accordance with the appropriate standard for follow-up formula and marketed or otherwise represented as suitable for feeding infants and young children from the sixth month on up to three year of age.

The Ministry of Education is responsible for gearing the younger generation towards better working potential and productivity, equipping students with the necessary knowledge including health and nutrition. To this end, the Ministry has developed a National School Health and Nutrition Strategy

Ensuring the availability, accessibility, safety and quality consumption of nutritious foods at all times to all citizens is a prerequisite for the creation of a productive workforce, longevity of life, improved livelihood and innovative capacity that would lead to fast economic,social and sustainable development of a nation

We the undersigned, representing the Government of the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, National Nutrition Coordination Body, fully recognize each ministryÔÇÖs mandate and pledge our commitment to support the achievement of the targets laid out in this National Nutrition Program document and the Seqota Declaration implementation manual. We will strive towards equitable and sustainable multisectoral actions to realize optimal nutritional status for all Ethiopians and to end hunger by 2030