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The State Minister of Health, Dr. Dereje Duguma, stated in his discussion that the appointment of JSI Ethiopia Country Director will strengthen the cooperation and relationship between the Ministry of Health and JSI. He stated that JSI is a strong partner of the Ministry of Health and the Ministry of Health wants to strengthen its partnership with JSI.
In the past, JSI has been implementing health related projects for mothers and children, health extension, health information, rehabilitation of health facilities, supporting pastoral communities and many other projects in Ethiopia and in the future, the Ministry of Health wants to implement new projects in collaboration with JSI, Dr. Derje explained. On behalf of the Ministry of Health, he thanked the organization for its contributions to the health sector.
Margaret Crotty, the chief executive officer of the organization, explained that JSI is implementing various projects in 23 countries. She said that the newly appointed JSI Ethiopia Country Director will help coordinate the different projects of the organization and implement them in a coordinated manner.
The newly appointed country director of the organization, Dr. Biniam Desta, recalled that JSI has been implementing more than 60 projects in Ethiopia for the past 30 years. He explained that JSI will continue working in cooperation with the Ministry of Health. Regional JSI offices are also united under one office to carry out their work, he added.
Yenealem Tadese, the deputy head of QHA party at USAID, said that USAID works in cooperation with JSI to improve Ethiopia's health system. She said that the Ethiopian government has designed and prioritized a safety and quality strategy to improve the care provided at different levels in the health system, and USAID will provide assistance.