Box 1.

The Women’s Development Group strategy.

The Ethiopian government introduced the Women’s Development Group (WDG) strategy in Tigray region in 2010, and expanded it to Southern Nations, Nationalities and Peoples, Oromia, and Amhara regions in 2011 [8]. The aim of the WDG strategy was to support the health extension program by encouraging families to take responsibility for their own health and improve community ownership of primary health care. The WDG leaders are also expected to provide support to other sectors, such as agriculture, education, water, justice and good governance activities, women’s affairs and women’s association activities [6]. Their activities include providing food for children, motivating pregnant women to deliver at health institutions, and mobilizing funds to cover transport costs for women in labor [6]. The Women’s Development Groups have also been labeled Women’s Development Army and Health Development Army [10]. The WDG program was originally under the Federal Ministry of Health but from 2016, over site of the group was transferred to the Ministry of Women’s and Children’s Affairs [12].