Yodit Getahun

Yodit Getahun (born 12 February 1985) was the Miss Ethiopia World for 2003. She represented Ethiopia in three International pageants and was awarded two titles. She participated in the "Miss Tourism of the Globe" Contest in Moscow, Russia where she won a minor sponsor title called "Miss Neva 2003". She was awarded the "Miss Congeniality" title at Miss Earth beauty pageant in Manila, Philippines. She was also sponsored by London-based Ethiopian Life Foundation, and participated in Miss International Beauty Pageant in Tokyo, Japan.

Yodit Getahun was born in Dire Dawa, Ethiopia on 12 February 1985. She attended Addis Ababa University but did not graduate from there.

The Miss Ethiopia World beauty pageant is owned and organized by London-based Ethiopian Life Foundation which is the largest producer of beauty pageants in Ethiopia. Aimed to promote community based outreach programs in Ethiopia dealing with HIV/AIDS, however it did not get any support from any of the local and Government organisations in Ethiopia it sought support from, as they declined to lend and financial or moral support to the foundation's efforts and instead tried to benefit by working directly with Yodit behind the Foundation's back enticing her with promises of wealth and fame.

Yodit Getahun was later unceremoniously dethroned and became the only Ethiopian girl ever to be stripped of a National beauty Crown in the history of Ethiopia. She failed to follow and observe protocols on her contract with her parent organization, the Ethiopian Life Foundation.

She was stripped of the Miss Ethiopia World 2003 crown by The Ethiopian Life Foundation mid-reign in February 2004 for abandoning her education in Ethiopia and also refusing to return to Ethiopia after her assignment to represent Ethiopia at Miss International 2003 and Miss Earth 2003.

She apparently absconded while in the Philippines, and stayed on there for almost 6 months after Miss Earth 2003, refusing to return home to Ethiopia and her education, and instead concentrated on trying to secure "Movie deals" and was thus succeeded by her first runner up Muna Fikremariam.

In 2003 before she left Ethiopia, Yodit had become a free will girl trying to work on her own and with organisations in Ethiopia instead of with her parent foundation which crowned her and paid her a sum of 30,000 ETBirr over her one-year reign, equivalent to what a Bank Manager in Ethiopia earns, claiming to fight stigma and discrimination against HIV/AIDS victims the objective for which she was crowned, by The Ethiopian Life Foundation to be a spokesperson for the foundation. After her crowning she was enticed to work with Dawn of Hope Ethiopia Association on a film about HIV AIDS, but this was without any permission from her managers and thus violated her contract as Miss Ethiopia World 2003. Her work with Dawn of Hope was short lived and the project as HIV and Goodwill ambassador came to a stand still, as she left Ethiopia in 2003 and refused to return.

Yodit also never returned to Ethiopia to hand over her crown to her successor at Miss Universe Ethiopia 2004.[2] Ferehiyewot Abebe who was crowned Miss Universe Ethiopia the next year. Ferehiyewot Abebe went on to become the first Ethiopian girl to go to Miss Universe in 2004.

Jiitu Abraham was the next Ethiopian contestant to be crowned Miss Ethiopia World in 2005.

In 2006 Negotiations were under way for Miss Ethiopia World 2007 to be held in Europe

Yodit apparently returned to Ethiopia in March 2006 after 2 years abroad, without realising her dream of making a single film or becoming an actress in the Philippines and has remained unheard of in public circles ever since.