Advancing Ethiopias capacity to meet the International Health Regulations through local partner engagement

The CDC Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO) CDC-RFA-JG-25-0139 aims to advance Ethiopia's capacity to meet the International Health Regulations (IHR) through local partnerships. Since the establishment of the CDC office in Ethiopia in 2001, the CDC has collaborated with the Ethiopian Ministry of Health (MOH), the Ethiopian Public Health Institute (EPHI), and other government agencies to strengthen public health systems and responses to priority diseases. This funding opportunity builds on Ethiopia's progress under the Global Health Security Agenda (GHSA) and CDC's strategic focus areas to enhance the country's capacity to prevent, detect, and respond to public health emergencies. The program focuses on key areas, including laboratory systems, workforce development, surveillance, emergency response and management, antimicrobial resistance (AMR), immunization, and health information system strengthening. These initiatives aim to further Ethiopia’s compliance with IHR targets by expanding diagnostic and surveillance capacity, improving workforce training (including field epidemiology), and enhancing emergency operations. Past successes include training over 500 epidemiologists and activating a national public health emergency operations center to manage outbreaks. The estimated total program funding is $25,000,000, with two awards expected. The cooperative agreement structure ensures collaboration between the CDC and award recipients. Eligible applicants include a wide range of organizations such as state and local governments, nonprofits, tribal organizations, higher education institutions, small businesses, and for-profit entities. There are no cost-sharing or matching requirements. Applications must be submitted electronically via Grants.gov by April 8, 2025, no later than 11:59 PM ET. The application package is anticipated to be available on February 7, 2025, with awards expected to be announced by August 29, 2025. Projects under this NOFO are slated to start on September 30, 2025. This funding opportunity seeks to empower Ethiopia’s health infrastructure through multi-sectoral collaboration and capacity-building initiatives that align with the Global Health Security Framework. Prospective applicants are encouraged to propose projects that address the outlined focus areas and leverage Ethiopia's existing achievements in public health systems.