Ato Setotaw Begashaw, Representative of the Dembia Woreda Health Office,
Ladies and Gentlemen,

          Endmen Walachehu.

It is a most pleasant duty for me to sign a grant contract for a grassroots human security project, known as a GGP.  This is the fourth signing ceremony for this fiscal year and the eighth project to be approved.  I would like to express my sincere congratulations to our project partner, the Dembia Woreda Health Office.

This project is to construct a health post in each of four villages in the Dembia Woreda, North Gondar Zone, Amhara Regional State with funding of around USD 110,000.  It aims to improve access for residents in remote communities to sanitary and hygienic health facilities.

Most health posts in the Dembia Woreda are ill-equipped and in a state of disrepair, and therefore it is not easy for residents to receive medical treatment in a sanitary environment.  Furthermore, most pregnant women in the woreda have no choice but to give birth to their babies at home, which exposes the mothers and newborns to the risk of injury and death.  Therefore, it is critically important to improve and expand medical facilities so that people have better access to health services in sanitary conditions.   This is the reason why the Embassy of Japan recommended this project to Tokyo for approval.  We hope that the rate of mortality of pregnant women and infants will remarkably decrease as a result of this project.

We expect that health extension workers will assist the project aim to extend basic health care services to residents in isolated communities, who do not have easy access to health facilities.  In addition, these health posts would not only offer basic medical services, but also provide medicines for treatment of minor symptoms.  Over 26,000 residents in the project areas are expected to benefit from improved access to basic health care services, such as family planning, emergency medical care, vaccinations, and education on ways to prevent Malaria and HIV/AIDS and to improve sanitation, hygiene and nutrition.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

It is our great pleasure that the project will be managed by such a reliable partner in the coming months.  It will contribute significantly to the improvement of the health of mothers, children and other vulnerable and marginalized people in isolated communities in the Dembia Woreda.

Before I conclude, I would like to express my hope that the project should be implemented in a timely manner, with my staff in charge well informed of the progress and change in plan, if any.  It is also essential that the project should be directly beneficial to the residents in the respective local communities, which is one of the most important characteristics of GGPs.

Amesegenalehu.