Two new grants from UNICEF will allow IntraHealth International to assess and strengthen Ethiopia’s social welfare workforce, which cares for and protects the country’s most vulnerable citizens.

IntraHealth staff will team up with Ethiopia’s Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs, the Ministry of Education, and other partners to identify gaps in the workforce and recommend ways to grow and reinforce it.

Frontline health workers, family planning, and education are all essential to reducing maternal mortality in Asia, says IntraHealth International’s Laurie Noto Parker in Investing in Asia, a supplement to the December 21, 2012, issue of USA Today.

IntraHealth International strongly condemns the killings of at least eight health workers—seven of whom were female—over the past several days in Pakistan. According to the BBC and other news outlets, at least eight polio vaccination workers and one driver have been fatally shot, leading UNICEF to temporarily suspend its program to eradicate polio in Pakistan.