The IOM office in Addis Ababa recently signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Ethiopian Expatriates Affairs Directorate of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to begin the four year programme "Migration for Development in Ethiopia" or MIDEth.

MIDEth was designed to contribute to strengthening the government's institutional capacities for the mobilization and utilization of human, financial and other resources of the Ethiopian diaspora, with a particular focus on the health, education and water and sanitation sectors.

MIDEth will assist 200 Ethiopian professionals in the diaspora to share their skills through; virtual/ tele-work or satellite based technology systems (tele-learning, tele-teaching and tele-medicine); sequenced/repeated visits; permanent relocation; investments for small and medium-scale community investments; as well as policy, advocacy and transfer of medical equipment, facilities and literature.

MIDEth is a four year programme with a total budget of 4,487,700 USD.  

"We are confident that there are hundreds, even thousands, of skilled Ethiopians living overseas who are eager to help their country," explains IOM's Chief of Mission in Addis Ababa, Charles Kwenin.

It is estimated that 1.5 million Ethiopians are in the diaspora, the majority in the United States, Canada, Sweden, United Kingdom, Germany, the Netherlands and the Gulf States.

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