Ethiopia is one of the key partner countries of VLIR-UOS. From 2003 to 2023 VLIR-UOS spent around € 51 million in cooperation programmes with Ethiopia, including 4 long-term Institutional University Cooperation partnerships, of which those with Jimma University (JU) and Mekelle University (MU) were finalized and two ongoing IUCs with Arba Minch University (AMU) and Bahir Dar University (BDU) are in Phase 2 of cooperation. Next to this also the NETWORK IQ GEAR on capacity building related with Phd trajectories, coordinated by Jimma University and involving 3 other Ethiopian universities (Hawassa, Ambo and Addis Abbeba / College of Veterinary Medicine and Agriculture) and several TEAM/SI projects form the core of cooperation with Ethiopia.

Ethiopia is also one of our 29 scholarship countries.

Ongoing projects

Institutional University Cooperation

IUC 2017 Phase 1 AMU IUC 2017 Phase 1 BDU IUC 2022 Transition Phase BDU

TEAM projects

Win-win protein: reconciling fish protein generation and water quality management Zoonosis and pest ecology research for sustainable livelihood at the human-wildlife interface in Omo Basin, Southern Ethiopia

JOINT

Research-based education for sustainable rural development Improved infectious diseases research and surveillance in Ethiopia through capacity building in bioinformatics and sequencing Statistics for development Professionalizing Ethiopian Public Administration to Support Development Practitioners Joint endeavour to enhance dairy and beef production in Vietnam, Uganda & Ethiopia Global Open Water Academic Network Towards a more gender sensitive and inclusive academic culture in Ethiopia Initiating a Training Network and Capacity Building to Improve Control of Foot-and-Mouth Disease in Kenya and Ethiopia.

South Initiatives

Gender and Climate Change in Northwest Ethiopia (GCC-PeVAAP) Improving evidence-based practice skills in healthcare education to enhance implementation into the clinical field in Ethiopia

Network University Cooperation

Networks 2017 Ethiopia (JU)

Ethiopia and Agenda 2030 - country reference framework

VLIR-UOS revised its country approach towards an ‘Agenda 2030 on Sustainable Development’ centred approach. Moreover, VLIR-UOS wants to facilitate connections between different actors and projects present in a given country. With these objectives in mind, the Country Reference Framework (CRF) for Ethiopia supports teams of academics when identifying and formulating project proposals, by providing a context analysis focused on Agenda 2030 on Sustainable Development and the higher education sector in Ethiopia, and by providing an overview of Belgian development actors active in Ethiopia, their ongoing projects and partners, in view of exploration of opportunities for synergy and complementarity.

The VLIR-UOS cooperation in Ethiopia fits in with the Ethiopian national strategy to give priority to strengthening of higher education and improving food security (agriculture, livestock production etc.) with attention for sustainability (water, soil, climate change impact) and (human and animal) health. All SDGs have been integrated in the priorities of Ethiopia’s Growth and Transformation Plan, which is in line with VLIR-UOS’ objective of working towards Agenda 2030.