| Overview : Ethiopia continues to record double-digit economic growth over the last decade and is ranked among the ten fastest growing economies in Africa (AEO, 2011) and the second fastest mover on human development (UNDP, 2013). Despite these strong gains, there are still huge development challenges the country has to deal with, including overcoming disparities between the different parts of the country. Whilst development in the regional states is essentially an integral part of the national development some regional states and local communities, for instance are lagging behind on all development indicators. The national aggregated data, disguises the complex and challenging development situation around the country. For example, though Developing Regional States (Afar, Benishangul-Gumuz, Gambella and Somali Regions) account for 9.2% of the total population and 50% of the surface area of Ethiopia, progress in these region is slower. According to the Ministry of Finance and Economy Development, performance on a number of MDG indicators is lower in DRS than the national average. There are also considerable variations between woredas even within the relatively advanced regions, be it in terms of service delivery, resource mobilization, maximizing development opportunities....... |
