Ethiopia

In Ethiopia, we are working to foster development and support people who are affected by natural as well as man-made disasters. We build thousands of wells to ensure access to drinking water for rural communities. We support education, equality of girls' education, and employment opportunities for unemployed youth. We work on climate resilience to fight the impacts of climate change, and we support sustainable agricultural methods to increase food productivity and yields. We also help people who were displaced due to conflicts and natural disasters.

In Ethiopia, we have established a long-term partnership with local administrations and communities. These partnerships ensure the sustainability of our projects, and we are working on the construction, repair, and management of water sources. Besides providing water sources, we train local communities who are responsible for managing the water points.

Since we started working in Ethiopia, we have focused on supporting education. We build schools and classrooms and train future teachers. An integral part of our work is the support of girls’ education, in which girls with disabilities and marginalised students get access to education and reconnect to school after dropping out. We are also engaged in Education in Emergencies (EiE) in the war-torn Tigray region.

We also support the quality of the training given to technical, vocational, and educational colleges. For instance, in the field of leather production, we are able to enhance the quality of short-term training through machine donation and the preparation of training modules. The support envisions decreasing unemployment among young Ethiopians.

We are also engaged in agriculture to secure sustainable farming. In our programmes, we support local farmers to utilise natural fertilisers to boost their productivity. We also support the rehabilitation of degraded lands through training and practical guides. We planted more than 10,000 trees to protect against deforestation in rural Ethiopia.

How we’ve helped in Ethiopia since 2003

We have been working in Ethiopia since 2003. We are aware of the unstable situation in the Horn of Africa, and we implement various emergency projects to support people who are affected by conflict. We have delivered different WASH and Shelter Non-Food Items (NFI) to the most affected communities and distributed cash to support those who are affected by conflicts and displaced from their homes.

Ethiopia, with more than 100 million people, is challenged by natural disasters, internal conflict, climate change, and youth unemployment. Land degradation and youth unemployment are some of the challenges that need a multi-faceted response.