This report analyses the findings of an extensive research project conducted by Oxfam in Ethiopia. In the context of Ethiopia's rising external debt and the new decentralised system of regional governance, members of four communities, both rural and urban, were interviewed about their problems in gaining access to basic health care, reproductive-health services and primary education; front-line service providers were also interviewed. Representatives of central and regional government and international donors were consulted and policy documents reviewed. The report ends with recommendations addressed to the government of Ethiopia, NGOs and major donors and creditors, arguing human-development targets by 2015.