Kindernothilfe Kindernothilfe e.V. Kindernothilfe e.V.

Ethiopia: "Better Future for children"-Project

"Better Future for children"-Project

"Better Future for Children Project" is working in three adjacent districts in West Gojjam Zone in Amhara Regional State. The project's target is to combat poverty in the rural areas and traditions, which are revealed to be detrimental for the children and thereby keep the children from leaving their homes. The project supports 8750 working children, 3500 early marriage victims, 8000 school children, 2880 children who receive an alternative basic education. Another 2.000 women, as well as 600 child workers und 500 early marriage victims are supported by rehabilitation programs (project 60954).

SabbataPicture: Kindernothilfe 
The Local Situation
"Better Future for Children Project" is working in three adjacent districts in West Gojjam Zone in Amhara Regional State. The Project area is situated some 410 km north-west of the capital Addis Ababa. The three adjacent districts (Jabitehinana, Bure and Wonberima) are known as surplus crop producers not only in the region but in the country. The population in the three districts is estimated to be 490,000.

The Amhara Regional National State is characterized by poor health and education services. Maternal mortality rate for the regional state is higher than the national figure, the main factor being related with early marriage and related risks, malnutrition and malaria. The estimated infant and child mortality rates for the region are 100 and 150 per 1,000 live births, which is very much higher than the rate in Least Developed Countries (LDC). The awareness on child rights, gender equality, knowledge about family planning and contraceptive use, saving and appropriate utilization of resources are among the lowest. Also, the coverage of health particularly delivery service, education and market information is very low. When we see the educational service and literacy rate, out of the population of 10 years and above among the rural dwellers, only 29.3% (17.9% Female) are literate. Deep rural areas and low lands are relatively the most illiterate.

Although the agro climatic zone is conducive and there is high crop production, these three areas are further known for their historical problem in relation to early marriage, child labour exploitation and women segregation.

10629_205x153_1280x960_0x0Picture: Albert Eiden 
Target Groups
The project supports 8750 working children, 3500 early marriage victims, 8000 school children, 2880 children who receive an alternative basic education. Another 2.000 women, as well as 600 child workers und 500 early marriage victims are supported by rehabilitation programs - alltogether 26.230 people.

Furthermore, farmers and individuals from the formal and informal sectors such as community members, clergies, CBO leaders, elders, PA officials, sector office employees and officials are the secondary target groups. The total number of direct and indirect beneficiaries of this project reaches 41,930 and 209,650, respectively.

Project
Since March 2003, KNH's partner Facilitator for Change Ethiopia (FCE) has been implementing an urban development project, in the city of Debre Markos, which among others deals with the rehabilitation and reintegration of street children and early marriage victims.

Tackling the root causes' problems behind the large number of street children, FCE revealed that the causes can be found in the rural areas next to the city of Debre Markos where most of these children were born.

These findings led to the project's target which is to combat poverty in the rural areas and traditions, which are revealed to be detrimental for the children and thereby keep the children from leaving their homes. The project's aim is to facilitate a paradigm shift through socio-economic transformation of the communities whereby children and women claim and exercise their rights and are recognized by the community.

The project is hosted by the local partner of the Kindernothilfe, the Ethiopian NGO Facilitator for Change Ethiopia (FCE). FCE cooperates with the Disaster Prevention and Preparedness Commission (DPPC) and with other relevant government organizations as well as Community based organizations (CBOs).

Practical work
The project comprises 6 components:

Future prospects
The project will initially be supported by Kindernothilfe for 4 years (1.9.2006 - 30.8.2010). After this initial phase another second phase of 5 years is planned. During this phase, the project gradually will be handed over to the population. This way, the inhabitants of the 3 districts will be able to implement the development activities independently without further support from outside after 14 years.
Kindernothilfe will receive project proposals after the first 4 years in order to decide about the approval of the following phases.

Kindernothilfe supports the project via 533 sponsorships. The project activities are financed by the donations of the sponsors.

 

If we receive more donations than we need to realize the project described above, we will invest your donation to support a similar project.
Annual Report Annual Report 2009 (pdf, 2,5 MB)


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