In Honor of Sigd: JDC Programs in Ethiopia, 1970-1980s

The American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee (JDC) first provided relief to the Jews of Ethiopia in the early 1980s through the London-based Falasha Welfare Association and later through ORT, where JDC provided funding for health services, education, and religious activities. Following the Ethiopian government’s closure of the ORT program in 1983, JDC received permission to operate in Ethiopia, based in the Gondar region, on condition that its relief and medical programs would be nonsectarian. JDC focused on extensive famine relief efforts and a comprehensive medical program, including the establishment of the Teda Health Centre and the Gondar Polyclinic.