A resource mapping workshop was conducted by the Ethiopian Public Health Institute on 13-14 March in close collaboration with the WHO Regional Office for Africa and the Ethiopia country office, and with support from the WHO Strategic Partnership for IHR and Health Security (SPH).

 On 15th March Ethiopia launched its National Action Plan for Health Security (NAPHS). During the ceremony, the Deputy Prime Minister, H.E. Demeke Mekonnen presented the resource mapping process as an example of the coordinated approach needed to support the monitoring of the NAPHS, and its contribution to regional and global health security.

 The resource mapping exercise was designed to map health security projects in Ethiopia, allowing policymakers, donors and partners to realise where gaps exist and where more investment of financial and technical resources is needed for the implementation of the NAPHS. The exercise, which used the resource mapping and impact analysis on health security investment (REMAP) tool developed by SPH, also identified potential future partners. 

The workshop was attended by more than 100 people, representing the government of Ethiopia, WHO, international organizations, partners and donors. The exercise resulted in the mapping of the national and sub-national health security activities and investments of 34 partners in Ethiopia, detailing them by technical area and geographic region. The data showed that partner interventions are heavily weighted toward surveillance and laboratory, with little support in other areas including antimicrobial resistance (AMR), medical countermeasures, food safety and IHR coordination.

The resource mapping is an ongoing process, with an invitation to other partners to also share information for a coordinated multisectoral approach to strengthening IHR (2005) capacities in Ethiopia. The Ethiopian Public Health Institute (EPHI) will use the REMAP tool to monitor the progress of NAPHS implementation, with the periodic progress review and identification of additional areas for support. 

Deputy Prime Minister Mekonnen called for WHO to continue supporting Ethiopia in the coordination and strengthening of strategic partnership among all stakeholders within and outside of the health sector to support NAPHS implementation.