Great Ethiopian Run helps orphans.

10 Nov, 2006

This years Great Ethiopian Run takes place in Addis Ababa on 26 November. Participants in the annual ten-kilometre race are to gather in the central Meskel Square for a 09.00 start. This year the event will be preceded by races for children aged under 8 and under 11 in Meskel Square on 25 November.

The race will once again be used to raise money for, and awareness about, the 2006 Dream Campaign, a project organised by the United Nations childrens fund (UNICEF) and for Ethiopias own projects for orphans and vulnerable children.

Latest figures put the number of orphans in Ethiopia at just under six million against a total population of around 75 million. Of these, 744,000 have lost their parents to HIV/AIDS. For information about the campaign see www.dreamcampaign.org. For details of the run see www.ethiopiarun.org.