Ethiopia: United Nations Medal, silvered metal trilobe medal with suspension bar bearing the name of the medal in Amharic characters; the face with a circular central blue enamel medallion bearing the symbol of the United Nations, being a stylised world map with lines of latitude and longitude within a laurel wreath; the reverse plain.
Condition: Good Very Fine.
The medal was instituted to reward those working for United Nations agencies in Ethiopia, mainly in food and aid distribution. For this reason, it is sometimes referred to as the ‘Famine Medal’. There is some discussion whether it was instituted under the Communist ‘Derg’ government of the 1980s or the Federal Government after 1995. Although the suspension is in the style favoured by the Derg, it is suggested that it is highly unlikely that that atheist regime would have used a traditional Ethiopian symbol of the Holy Trinity. This, coupled with the appearance of the medal, suggest that it is post-1995.
