XXXI. State-owned enterprises (SOEs) either dominate or operate in full monopoly in strategic sectors such as power generation and distribution, telecommunication and air transport. In the financial sector, over 50 percent of the lending activities, mainly to households and small businesses, are controlled by private indigenously-owned institutions in urban areas while microfinance institutions respond to the needs and expectations of households in rural areas. XXXII. Ethiopia does not have a stock exchange, but it does have the Ethiopia Commodities Exchange (ECE), which is predominantly membership based. G. Socioeconomic Development XXXIII. Several advances have also been made in key areas of socioeconomic development. Net primary school enrolments quadrupled from 22 percent in 1991 to 83.4 percent in 2007/08, child mortality nearly halved from 204 per 1000 births in 1990 to 123 per 1000 births in 2007/08, and the number of people with access to clean water more than doubled from 19 in 1990 to 52 in 2006/07. More recently, poverty reduction has accelerated. The poverty headcount, which stood at 46 percent in 1995/96 and 44 percent in 2000/01, fell to 39 percent in 2005/06. Notwithstanding these gains, Ethiopia is a long way from achieving some of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) by 2015, given the country’s very low starting point. At the same time, the country faces widespread poverty twentyfive years after it suffered a devastating famine that killed more than one million people. H. Key Strengths and Challenges Strengths Symbol of African Resistance XXXIV. Ethiopia has maintained - uninterrupted - its old age independence thereby enjoying a unique position in Africa. The country was, no doubt, the most persistent and uncompromising anti-imperialist conscience and spirit of Africa as a result of its direct armed confrontation with the allied international forces of imperialism. It remains a symbol of the indomitable spirit of African resistance against foreign domination. XXXV. As a result of not having been colonised, the country has some unique attributes which can be harnessed for development. Ethiopia has the continent’s only ancient written language with its own alphabet. The country also has its own calendar, based on the Coptic calendar, which is roughly eight years behind the Gregorian calendar. It has the largest number of UNESCO World Heritage Sites (8 out of 78) - 30 -