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H.E. Demeke Mekonnen Hassen is a veteran Ethiopian statesman who served as Deputy Prime Minister of the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia from 2013 to 2024, and concurrently as Foreign Minister from October 2020 to 2024. Over more than a decade at the helm of government, he coordinated national development strategy across federal ministries, chaired Ethiopia’s National Disaster Risk Management Council through the 2015–2016 El Niño drought, and shaped the country’s foreign policy through periods of major geopolitical complexity. He earlier served as Minister of Education (2008–2013), where he drove reforms that expanded access to higher and vocational education, and held senior regional leadership posts in the Amhara Regional State from 1993 to 2008. He was Vice Chairperson of the EPRDF and later the Prosperity Party.

In May 2024, he founded and now chairs the YADAM Foundation, a philanthropic initiative combating child stunting and malnutrition across Africa. Under his leadership, the Foundation has secured national commitments on food fortification and micronutrient supplementation in Ethiopia and launched several nutrition-focused programs including Blue Hub. He has addressed the UN General Assembly three times, is a designated African Leaders for Nutrition Champion, and was honored as a Global Nutrition Champion by the Food and Nutrition Society of Ethiopia in 2026.