The recently appointed WHO Representative to Ethiopia, Dr Boureima Hama Sambo, presented his credentials to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in a meeting with the Ethiopian State Minister of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, His Excellency Dr Markos Tekle, in his office on 20 December 2019.  Dr Sambo was accompanied to the State Minister’s Office by Dr. Aggrey Bategereza, World Health Emergencies Team Lead of WHO Ethiopia.

The State Minister of Foreign Affairs, Dr Markos Tekle, welcomed Dr Sambo to Ethiopia and assured him of close and continuous support in executing the mandate of WHO. Then, the State Minister expressed his appreciation for the good cooperation between WHO and the Government of Ethiopia to date by saying, “We are grateful to WHO for its considerable role in the remarkable achievements that Ethiopia has made in its health development particularly improving health coverage and expansion.”  He also acknowledged WHO’s strategic shift to involve actively in grassroots implementation.

In his introductory remarks, Dr. Boureima expressed his gratitude to the State Minister for his warm welcome and conveyed a message of good will from Dr Tedros Adhanom, WHO Director-General, and Dr Matshidiso Moeti, WHO Regional Director for Africa. He stated, “Ethiopia is one of WHO member states and priority countries in Africa and I am grateful to pursue the agenda of addressing priority health issues in the country with your support.”

The discussion that followed mainly focused on the importance of collaboration and cooperation in successfully addressing health challenges in Ethiopia including quality improvement.  They also discussed on the need to working together in implementing WHO’s strategic priorities as articulated in the 13th General Programme of Work (GPW13) and the Ethiopian Health Sector Transformation Plan II, achieving Universal Health, including the improvement in data and a comprehensive Civil Registration Vial Statistics system in Ethiopia, and Guinea-Worm and Polio Eradication in a very near future.

Finally, Dr Sambo reaffirmed WHO’s commitment to strengthen and continue providing technical support to the Ethiopian Government in the development of health in Ethiopia for the better impact. “Our mandate is to support Ethiopia to get to the highest level in health,” Dr Sambo reassured.

Before taking up his new post as WHO Representative in Ethiopia, Dr Sambo served as Director of Climate and Other Determinants of Health at WHO Head Quarters and prior to that he served as the WHO Representative to Gabon.  


For further information, please contact:

Feleseta Kassaye Woldtsadique
Tobacco Control Communication Consultant
WHO Ethiopia
Tel. +251 911 651 083
email: woldtsadiquef [at] who.int