Ethiopia

A back shot of a man wearing a bookbag and hat looking into a grass pathway

Out of Eden Walk: The first steps

Out of Eden Walk

In early 2013, National Geographic Explorer Paul Salopek began an epic walk, following the path of the first human migration out of Africa about 60,000 years ago. Host Marco Werman speaks with Salopek, who’s now two-thirds of the way along his global journey. Today, he talks about his first steps at the beginning of the walk in the Great Rift Valley in Ethiopia.

Shukri Abasheikh, owner of Mogadishu Store, helps customer Gracia Mbula with a purchase in her store in Lewiston, Maine, on Monday, Oct. 30, 2023.

Lewiston mass shooting rattles local Somalis who came to Maine looking for safety 

Violence
portrait of nun reading a musical score

The astonishing life and music of Emahoy Tsegué-Maryam Guèbrou, the Ethiopian nun who has died at 99

Music
Aïda Muluneh's "To pursue the ceaseless way," is exhibited on a bus stop in the Boston area. The photograph is part of "This is where I am," presented by New York-based Public Art Fund.

Aïda Muluneh’s public art photo exhibit is ‘a love letter to Ethiopia’

Facebook's Meta logo sign is seen at the company headquarters in Menlo Park, California, on Oct. 28, 2021

‘I hold Facebook directly responsible for my father’s murder’: Lawsuit alleges platform fueled violence in Ethiopia

Conflict & Justice
Members of the Ethiopian National Defense Force hold national flags as they parade during a ceremony to remember those soldiers who died on the first day of the Tigray conflict, outside the city administration office in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia Thursday, Nov

After 2 years of war, hope for peace in northern Ethiopia

Conflict & Justice

A peace deal signed on Wednesday between Ethiopia’s federal government and the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) brings hopes that the country’s devastating civil war might finally come to an end. 

Women participating in a program for survivors of sexual violence at Woldiya University in Woldiya, Ethiopia, Feb. 19, 2022.

The fighting in northern Ethiopia cooled down months ago. But many survivors of sexual violence are only now receiving care.

Conflict

The conflict in northern Ethiopia has been marked by what the United Nations calls “extreme brutality,” especially toward women. The UN and human rights organizations have been concerned about “widespread” sexual- and gender-based violence there.

Women praying inside a 13th-century rock-hewn church in Lalibela, Ethiopia, Feb. 16, 2022.

Lalibela: A holy city in recovery amid ongoing conflict in Ethiopia

Conflict & Justice

Last year, control over the holy city of Lalibela went back and forth between the warring parties until federal forces retook it in December. To date, the city still lacks electricity and running water as residents attempt to return to daily life.

New civilian recruits for the FANO Amhara militia train at a stadium in Woldiya, Ethiopia, Feb. 20, 2022.

Despite lull in fighting, ethnic militias in Amhara continue to mobilize

Conflict

Ethiopia’s federal government has mobilized FANO, an Amhara militia group,glad since the fighting broke out in November 2020 in Tigray.

Priest Ayalew Setegn in front of the religious school, Amhara, Ethiopia, Feb.17, 2022

After months of fighting, Ethiopia’s Amhara region tries to recover from war

While fighting has lulled in Amhara since December after federal forces pushed out the TPLF, the region is still struggling to recover. To date, many areas still don’t have electricity, running water, or adequate food.