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POPULATION: 85,237,338
WORKING IN: Addis Ababa, Afar, Amhara, Oromia, Southern Nations, Nationalities and People’s Regions, Tigray
PROGRAM FOCUSES: Orphans and Vulnerable Children, Livelihoods, Human Trafficking, Women’s Empowerment, Disaster Response
A CAUSE FOR CONCERN
Ethiopia is one of the oldest nations on earth with a multi-ethnic population and rich history. Sadly, it is also one of the poorest countries in the world and has one of the largest HIV positive populations where more than 1.5 million adults and children are infected. Many parents and guardians are over-burdened, ill, or themselves on the street, and conversely, Ethiopia records one of the highest orphan populations, where an estimated 10 million children have lost one or both parents making them vulnerable to life of the streets and the dangers of human trafficking.
PCI ROVIDED NEARLY 1,300 ORPHAN CAREGIVERS WITH 2,262 GOATS AND 800 SHEEP TO SUPPLEMENT BOTH THEIR DIETS AND INCOME THROUGH IMPROVING THEIR MARKET ACCESS AND BASIC BUSINESS SKILLS IN 2008. | OVERVIEW
Project Concern International (PCI), established its presence in Ethiopia in 2005, working with local organizations to reach children who are living in vulnerable circumstances due to a number of factors, such as death of parents due to AIDS, chronic illness of parents, and homelessness. Since its establishment, PCI has expanded and diversified its presence across the country and built a strong reputation for community-based, integrated health and development programming, in particular building an expertise in the care and support of orphans and vulnerable children; the prevention and treatment of HIV; food and nutrition security; economic strengthening; human trafficking; gender/women’s empowerment, and capacity building of community-based organizations and network.
ORPHANS AND VULNERABLE CHILDREN
Through the BELONG Project (Better Education and Life Opportunities for Vulnerable Children through Networking and Organizational Growth), PCI is coordinating and scaling up comprehensive services for orphans and vulnerable children (OVC). In Ethiopia, BELONG is building the capacity of over 500 local grassroots organizations to provide services for OVC, and ensuring that these services continue to reach the most vulnerable children and their caretakers currently affected by HIV/AIDS in Addis Ababa, Amhara, Southern Nations, Nationalities and People’s Region and Tigray. The project mobilizes community resources and initiatives, including formal and informal schools, women’s groups, networks of community-based organizations, and cultural and religious bodies to provide an essential package of services.
ECONOMIC EMPOWERMENT
Under the BELONG project, PCI has helped create self-funded and self-managed microenterprise groups, called self help groups. Group participants meet each week to build camaraderie, discuss goals and challenges, and contribute small amounts of their hard-earned cash savings to the group’s collective funds. With business development training skills provided by PCI, the groups begin to provide small loans to their members, usually with interest, for business and other economic or educational activities. Additional economic strengthening activities, such as household poultry farming and urban gardening, also play a major role PCI’s food security and livelihood programming for OVC and their caregivers.
HUMAN TRAFFICKING
PCI is scaling up efforts to address the issue of human trafficking in Ethiopia, a country with one of the highest rates of internal trafficking in the world, where children are “sold” for as little as one dollar to work as domestic workers or prostitutes in urban centers. PCI is engaging public and private organizations, including the Ethiopian Ministry of Justice, police, and national non-governmental organizations to work together toward the goal of decreasing trafficking and increasing protection and support for child victims from the Amhara and Southern Nations, Nationalities and People’s Regions. At the same time, PCI is focusing on developing and implementing programs to increase the number of trafficking victims intercepted at transit points as well as re-integrating victimized children with their families and communities. In addition, PCI is engaged in training organizations in victim identification, care and referral, as well as training military officers in Ethiopia on how to address the human trafficking issue. PCI also plans to train the legal community to increase the number of prosecutions of those involved in human trafficking.
WOMEN’S EMPOWERMENT
PCI’s project “Hope For Women” (Tesfa le Setoche) aims to protect and promote women’s rights within the nomadic pastoralist communities of Afar from of human rights abuses, including female genital mutilation, lack of education, and domestic abuse. PCI is increasing the protection of women’s rights by gaining support from influential leaders, promoting community-wide discussions about women’s rights, and strengthening local associations as well as traditional and religious structures to carry out gender awareness programs in their communities. Special attention is paid to young girls through school-based strategies including training for teachers and parent-teacher associations on children’s rights with a focus on gender issues, and creating or strengthening girls’ and boys’ clubs.
DISASTER RESPONSE
PCI is addressing the threat of avian influenza or other pandemic events in Ethiopia by helping CORE develop the guidelines, strategies, and interventions necessary to address life-saving priorities before a crisis strikes. PCI is reducing vulnerability and strengthening disaster preparedness and response by developing community based strategies to reduce the threat of transmission and provide home care and prioritizing areas within Ethiopia that are destinations for birds that can carry avian influenza. PCI is also strengthening and expanding the network of Ethiopian partners at the national, district and local levels, with important roles to play in preparation and response to pandemic flu.
Download PCI/Ethiopia Country Fact Sheet (PDF)
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