UN Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator engages WHO Ethiopia on enhancing system‑level health collaboration, UN Habitat on leveraging urban planning for investment in the country

The newly appointed UN Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator for Ethiopia held a high‑level meeting with the leadership of the World Health Organization (WHO) in Ethiopia to discuss strategic priorities, system‑wide challenges, and opportunities for deeper collaboration across the UN system in support of Ethiopia’s national development agenda.

The WHO Ethiopia Office, with a workforce of nearly 380 staff, maintains a broad subnational presence across six regions. The office delivers a mix of development and humanitarian interventions, including health systems strengthening, disease prevention and control, emergency preparedness and response, and health promotion.

Professor Francis Chisaka Kasolo,  WHO Representative to Ethiopia, the African Union, and the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa, emphasized WHO’s strong alignment with government priorities and the UN Sustainable Development Cooperation Framework. He also underlined that addressing Ethiopia’s persistent health system challenges will require coordinated system‑level support and sustainable financing solutions.

The WHO team reaffirmed its leadership of the health cluster at national and regional levels, and highlighted strong collaboration with UN agencies such as UNICEF, UNFPA, FAO, WFP, and UNECA. Prof. Kasolo also noted partnerships with global health actors, including Gavi, the Gates Foundation, and the Rockefeller Foundation as essential for accelerating impact.

WHO outlined ongoing policy‑level collaboration with the Government of Ethiopia and the African Union. This includes engagement on health financing reforms, pharmaceutical regulation, digital health systems, maternal health, climate and health linkages, and SDG 3 monitoring.

The UN Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator commended WHO’s technical depth and its support to the country amid global funding constraints.

He also urged WHO to continue advancing priority areas for collective UN action, including sustained support to health system transformation; domestic resource mobilization and innovative financing; private sector engagement in health and infrastructure; digital transformation and data systems; anticipatory action and disaster preparedness; and integrated humanitarian‑development‑peace approaches.

WHO affirmed its readiness to support the strategic shift and to work closely with the UN Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator and the wider UN system to enhance collective impact for the health and well‑being of people in Ethiopia.

Leveraging urban planning for large scale investment and transformation

The UN Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator also met with UN Habitat team led by Mr. Ishaku Maitumbi, Head of Sub-Regional Office, East and Horn of Africa. The team presented UN Habitat's regional spatial planning work, city governance support, waste management interventions, and housing and settlement planning initiatives.

During the meeting the UN Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator underscored the critical role the agency can play in Ethiopia’s urban transformation, spatial planning, and infrastructure led development.

Ozonnia also emphasized the need to convert UN Habitat’s rich datasets, spatial plans, and mapping into investment-ready proposals, stronger engagement with financial institutions, scaling durable solutions through housing and urban integration and showcasing urban investment opportunities in high level platforms.