National Points of Contact
Ethiopia
	Beza Tesfaye
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SGAC Ethiopia

Welcome to SGAC Ethiopia! Like in many developing countries, space science programmes have been seen as superfluous. The very first national space science society was established in 2004, and Addis Ababa University has just introduced astrophysics and astronomy programmes in 2007. Prior to this, a number of motivated people living outside the country had tried to include Ethiopian youth through the African Space Science Network and the Ethiopian Space Science Network. Fortunately the involvement of Ethiopian youth has grown, and today, we are proud of having many young Ethiopian space scientists beginning their careers in Ethiopia. If we have sparked your interested, contact our National Point of Contact and join us!

Young Space Activities Overview in Ethiopia

2010 was a remarkable year for SGAC Ethiopia. SGAC chair Agnieszka Lukaszczyk visited Ethiopia and met SGAC Ethiopia members in July 2010 when she came to Ethiopia for UN-SPIDER regional workshop which took place 6-9 July, 2010 at UNECA. Agnieszka and the Ethiopian NPoC also visited an Ethiopian SGAC partner, eSystems Africa, in Addis Ababa. The two big international space events, Yuri’s Night and World Space Week, were organised by SGAC. Additionally, SGAC organised Dark Matter Awareness Week in December 2010. SGAC contributed much to space science development in Ethiopia by organising multiple outreach activities.

Country-Specific Events in 2011

• IAU-ESA-ESS-SAAO Summer School: The Ethiopian Space Science Society in cooperation with ESA, SAAO and IAU is organizing a 15 day summer school on space science in Addis Ababa in February 2011. For more information contact This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .
• Yuri’s Night World Space Party (12 April): Yuri’s Night is celebrated on April every year around the world to commemorate the first human space flight. Yuri’s Night was celebrated for the first time in Ethiopia in 2007 in collaboration with the Russian Center for Culture and Science. To get involved in this event visit the Yuri's night page or contact Bekele Tujuba and Beza Tesfaye
• World Space Week (4-10 October): The United Nations declared World Space Week to be celebrated in the first week of October every year. In Ethiopia WSW has already been celebrated three times, and we are planning to celebrate this year with more activities and more young people involved.

Interesting Web Links for the Young Generation in Ethiopia

Ethiopian space science society (ESSS): www.ethiosss.org

Astronomy picture of the day http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/astropix.html

Ethiopian Academy of Sciences http://sirius-c.ncat.edu/EAS/