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About Ethiopia
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Within a year of the agency's creation, the first 272 Peace Corps Volunteers landed in Ethiopia. Nearly 4,000 Volunteers have served here since in the areas of education, community development, business development, agriculture, and health. From 1962 to 1977, Ethiopia had one of the largest Peace Corps programs in the world. More than 3,000 Volunteers served in the country before Peace Corps suspended the program in 1977 due to political instability.
The post re-opened from 1995-1999, but conflict with its northern neighbor Eritrea caused the post to close again. In 2006, the Government of Ethiopia and the U.S. ambassador strongly supported the return of Volunteers to strengthen community-based HIV/AIDS prevention, care, and treatment activities as part of The U.S. President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR). Peace Corps re-entered the country in 2007 with 38 Health sector Volunteers. In 2020, Peace Corps evacuated all Volunteers worldwide in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Peace Corps continues to pursue its mission in Ethiopia through an innovative initiative called the Virtual Service Pilot (VSP), begun in 2022. Through VSP, U.S. citizens work online with Ethiopian partner organizations to contribute to the country's needs in education and community health services. Together with Ethiopian partners, these professionals teach classes and improve organizational capacity at universities and NGOs. Over 120 Virtual Service Participants have already engaged with Ethiopian partner organizations in this way, each dedicating five to 15 hours a week for a period of three to six months. Please see VSP opportunities to engage here.
