The goal of this mission is to address acute and chronic humanitarian crises within Ethiopia where the inability of the health system to cope fully with the needs of an increasingly vulnerable population experiencing a food crisis has combined with the destabilizing effects of systemic changes in the health system and limited capacity and resources. Merlin proposes to address the most immediate problems facing the health sector. Project activities will provide immediate relief to the population in the short term but will also affect medium and longer term issues surrounding the identified gaps within the health sector.