International Fund for Africa invited members of the Addis Ababa community, including representatives from major NGOs, healthcare professionals, and private business owners to attend a cocktail party at their office on December 10, 2011. IFA presented an overview of their work in Ethiopia with a special emphasis on the neonatal projects and rural healthcare and development initiatives.

IFA Executive Director, Dr. Anteneh Roba, spoke with professionals and MD's in Gaborone, Botswana on December 3, 2011. Dr. Roba presented an overview of IFA's work in Ethiopia with an emphasis on the rural healthcare and neonatal initiatives. The presentation included videos of IFA's work in rural Ethiopia and their work with hospitals in Addis Ababa to create neonatal units.

IFA Executive Director, Dr. Anteneh Roba, gave a presentation titled, "The Deleterious Effects of Meat and Dairy Consumption on the Health of Africans" at the University of South Africa in Pretoria, South Africa. Dr. Roba presented on November 29, 2011 and it was part of the Animals in Law and Society: Perspectives from Africa and Beyond conference taking place at the University.

The Yekatit 12 Hospital in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia has been generously supported by IFA. Their neonatal unit has grown from 2 rooms with 3 beds, to 7 rooms and 25 beds and is now equipped with life-saving medical devices that will save the lives of newborn babies in Ethiopia. Over the last four and a half years, IFA has donated a variety of equipment worth over $125,000 in support of Yekatit 12's neonatal unit. Recently, $17,000 worth of new equipment arrived at the hospital and another shipment of equipment worth $50,000 will arrive in the next few weeks. In early 2012 the hospital will host a ceremony commemorating the opening of the new, completed neonatal floor located in a new four story building adjacent to the main hospital. The floor will have more than 10 large rooms and over 50 beds. The neonatal floor will be dedicated in memory of Dr. Anteneh Roba's late mother and Seble Nebiyeloul's late aunt.

On November 20 2011, attendees at the Broken Spoke, a Belgian Cafe at 1809 Washington Ave in Houston TX, participated in a special fundraiser for International Fund for Africa. IFA Executive Director, Dr. Anteneh Roba, presented an overview of IFA's mission in Africa and showed videos of IFA's work in Ethiopia with neonates and people in rural Africa. Approximately 50 people were in attendance.

The people and nations of Africa face many challenges brought about by severe poverty. Today, roughly half of Africans live in absolute poverty. Despite once having been a net exporter of food, the continent has become a net importer as the number of undernourished people in Africa has risen to 200 million. Africa is the only continent where poverty is expected to increase in the next decade.

International Fund for Africa (IFA), in conjunction with the Addis Ababa Health Bureau, has undertaken to upgrade the city's neonatal hospital services to provide more much-needed care. IFA's initial efforts have recently provided new equipment and supplies to Yekatit 12 Hospital and Gandhi Memorial Hospital.

IFA is working with non-governmental organizations and local governments in Ethiopia on finding ways to spay and neuter homeless dogs in and around the cities of Addis Ababa and Jimma a city located in south western Ethiopia; provide vaccinations for rabies, parvovirus, and other diseases; educate the public on how to better care for dogs; and promote foster care and adoption programs.

The International Fund for Africa (IFA) is actively engaged in promoting compassion for animals in Ethiopia by helping to establish small-animal curricula at Ethiopian Veterinary Schools. We are also working to support, in collaboration with other Ethiopian and International animal protection societies, the creation of the country’s first-ever animal welfare law.

Africa the world's second largest continent with a population of approximately one billion, is the world's poorest and most under developed continent. One–third of its population are malnourished; half live on $1 per day, and 80% live on less that $2 per day.