June 2022

The Women’s Digital Financial Inclusion (WDFI) Advocacy Hub, Ethiopia Coalition Launched. Ethiopian Women PeacBiulders Launching Ceremony የኢትዮጵያ ሴቶች ለሰላም ግንባታ የመክፈቻ ስነ-ስርዓት Ethiopian Women PeacBiulders Launching Ceremony The inauguration ceremony of Ethiopian Women PeaceBuilders was attended, at ECA-UN venue, in the presence of the President of the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, Her Excellency Sahlework Zewde and the Minister of Women and Social Affairs, Dr. Ergoge Tesfaye. The forum was organized by the Network of Ethiopian Women’s Associations (NEWA) and is aimed at empowering women, promoting peace and coordinating peace activities, and facilitating national and regional implementation of the National Action Plan for Peace and Security in Ethiopia. The President of the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, Her Excellency Sahlework Zewde, who officially launched the Peacebuilding Forum, said that the ongoing conflicts in our country have not only claimed the lives of innocent people but also seriously injured women and children. She said “We have lost a lot of innocent people due to the lack of peace and the recent massacre of innocent people has shown us the extent of cruelty and barbarism”. She also reminded that this Ethiopian Women PeaceBuilders lays the foundation not only for the current situation in the country but also for future circumstances. Addressing the gathering, the Minister of Women and Social Affairs of the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, Dr. Ergoge Tesfaye, said that women are vulnerable to many problems due to natural and man-made challenges. She added that peace is the root of all things and a part of human rights, especially in times of conflict. According to information from the Ministry of Women and Social Affairs, the government is working to strengthen the role of women in conflict resolution and peace building, and will soon implement a revised women’s policy. For three days, June 21-23,2022, workshop was designed to give the participant an opportunity to review, revise and integrate their action plans. The participants endorsed the foundation document and elected the National Technical Committee, a strategic leadership to oversee the technical aspect of the Movement and is composed of regional representative and expert group. Finally, the founding members announced the establishment of Ethiopian Women for Peace Building on June 16, 2014 in the presence of the first female Ethiopian President, Her Excellency Sahlework Zewde, Her Excellency the Minister of Women and Social Affairs, Ergoge Tesfaye (Dr.) and other high-level women leaders and the program is complete. Foundation Document Membership Oath የኢትዮጵያ ሴቶች ለሰላም ግንባታ የመክፈቻ ስነ-ስርዓት ሴቶች በሀገራችን ሰላምና ደህንነት እንዲጠበቅ ወሳኝ ሚናቸውን የሚወጡበት የኢትዮጵያ ሴቶች ለሰላም ግንባታ ምስረታ ማብሰሪያ በተባበሩት መንግስታት የአፍሪካ ኢኮኖሚክ ኮሚሽን አዳራሽ የኢትዮጵያ ፈደራላዊ ዲሞክራሲያዊ ሪፐብሊክ መንግስት ፕሬዚዳንት ክብርት ሳህለወርቅ ዘውዴና የሴቶችና ማህበራዊ ጉዳይ ሚኒስቴር ሚኒስትር ዶ/ር ኤርጎጌ ተስፋዬ በተገኙበት ተካሄዷል፡፡ መድረኩን ያዘጋጀው የኢትዮጵያ ሴቶች ማኅበራት ቅንጅት (ኢሴማቅ) ሲሆን በዋናነት የሴቶችን አቅም ለማጎልበት፣ሴቶች ለሰላም እንዲቆሙና የሰላም እንቅስቃሴዎችን እንዲያስተባብሩ እንዲሁም ሴቶች ለሰላም እና ደህንነት የብሄራዊ ድርጊት መርሐ ግብር በኢትዮጵያ ተግባራዊ ለማድረግ የሚያስችሉ ሀገራዊና ክልላዊ ትግበራትን ማመቻቸት መሆኑን በመድረኩ ተገልጸዋል፡፡ የሰላም ግንባታ ማበስሪያ መድረኩን በይፋ ያስጀመሩት የተከበሩ የኢትዮጵያ ፈደራላዊ ዲሞክራሲያዊ ሪፐብሊክ መንግስት ፕሬዚዳንት ክብርት ሳህለወርቅ ዘውዴ ባስተላለፉት መልእክት በሀገራችን የተፈጠሩ ግጭቶች ንጹሀንን ህይወታቸውን አንዲያጡ ከማድረጉም በተጨማሪ ሴቶችንና ህጻናትን ለከፍተኛ ጉዳት ዳረጓል፡፡ ፕሬዚዳንቷ አክለውም በሰላም እጦት የተነሳ በርካታ ንጹሀንን አጥተናል እንዲሁም በቅርቡ በንጹሀን ላይ የተፈጸመው ዘግናኝ ጭፍጨፋ የጭካኔና የአረመኔ ጥግንም አሳይቶናል ለዚህም ዋነኛ ሰለባ የሆኑት ሴት የህብረተሰብ ክፍሎች እንደመሆናቸው መጠን ለሰላምና ግጭት አፈታት ላይ ወሳኝ ሚና ማኖር ይገባል ብለው ይህ ዛሬ የተመሰረተው የኢትዮጵያ ሴቶች ለሰላም ግንባታ በሀገራችን  ላለው ሁኔታ ብቻ ሳይሆን  በዘላቂነት የቀጠለ ሆኖ መሰረት መጣሉን አሳስበዋል፡፡ በመድረኩ መልእክት ያስተላለፉት የኢፌዴሪ የሴቶችና ማህበራዊ ጉዳይ ሚኒስቴር ሚኒስትር ክብርት ዶ/ር ኤርጎጌ ተስፋዬ እንደገለጹት በየጊዜው በሚከሰት ተፈጥሮአዊም ሆነ ሰው ሰራሽ ተግዳሮቶች ሴቶችን ለበርካታ ችግሮች ተጋላጭ እንዲሆኑ አድርጓቸዋል፡፡  ክብርት ሚኒስትሯ አክለው ሰላም የሁሉም ነገር መነሻና የሰብአዊ መብቶች አካል መሆኑንና በተለይም በግጭት ወቅት ሴቶች ከማንም በላይ ተጠቂ መሆናቸውን ገልጸው በቅርቡም በሰው ልጆች ላይ ሊደርስ የማይገባው ዘግናኝና የጭካኔ ጥግ የታየበት ጥቃት ንጹሀንን በዋናነት ሴቶችና ህጻናት ህይወታቸውን እንዲያጡ አድርጓል ብለዋል፡፡ የሰላም ዋጋ የላቀ በመሆኑ በመንግስት በኩል ሴቶች በግጭት አፈታትና ሰላምን በማስፈን እንቅስቃሴዎች ላይ ጉልህ ሚናቸውን እንዲያጠናክሩ ለማስቻል የተለያዩ ስራዎች እንደሚከናወኑና በቅርቡም የተሸሻለ የሴቶች ፖሊሲ ተግባራዊ እንደሚደረግ መግለፃቻን ከሴቶች እና ማህበራዊ ጉዳይ ሚኒስቴር ያገኘነው መረጃ ያመለክታል፡፡ ለሶስት ቀናት ከሰኔ 14-16, 2014ዓ. ም. የአውደ ጥናቱ ተሳታፊዎች እና መስራች አባላት  የድርጊት መርሃ ግብራቸውን እንዲገመግም፣ እንዲከልሱ እና ከአካባቢያቸው ሁኔታ ጋር እንዲያዋህዱ እድል ሰጥቷል። ተሳታፊዎቹ የመመስረቻ ሰነድ በማፅደቅ የሰላም ግንባታው ቴክኒካዊ ሃላፊነት የሚከታተል  እና የክልል ተወካይ እና የባለሙያ ቡድን የተውጣጣ ብሔራዊ የቴክኒክ ኮሚቴን መርጠዋል። በመጨረሻም መስራች አባላት፣ የኢትዮጵያ ሴቶች ለሰላም ግንባታ መመሥረትን በሰኔ 16,2014 ጀምሮ የመጀመሪያዋ ሴት የኢትዮጵያ ፕሬዚዳንት ክብርት ሳህለወርቅ ዘውዴ፣ ክብርት የሴቶችና ማህበራዊ ጉዳይ ሚኒስቴር ሚኒስትር ኤርጎጌ ተስፋዬ (ዶ/ር) እና ሌሎች ከፍተኛ የሴቶች አመራሮች ባሉበት አብስረው ፤ መርሃግብሩ ተጠናቋል። የመመስረቻ ሰነድ የዓባልነት ቃለ መሃላ  

The Women’s Digital Financial Inclusion (WDFI) Advocacy Hub, Ethiopia Coalition Launched. The Ethiopia Coalition launched on June 9, 2022 in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. This will mark the official beginning of WDFI Advocacy Hub activities in the region. The Women’s Digital Financial Inclusion (WDFI) Advocacy Hub is UNCDF’s flagship gender initiative to promote WDFI policy change and support the creation of gender-inclusive digital economies through Local Coalitions. Local Coalitions enabled by the WDFI Advocacy Hub are designed to be platforms for civil society, the public sector, and the private sector to discuss, strategize and collaborate for greater impact. UNCDF will support the members of the Coalition, including the first one in Ethiopia, by facilitating access to training and insights, and by channeling financial resources to support the implementation of innovative practical solutions. Along with high-level representatives of the National Bank of Ethiopia, Safaricom, NEWA, EthSwitch, International Finance Corporation, European Investment Bank, and others provide their insights into the state of women’s digital financial inclusion in Ethiopia and how to advance women’s economic empowerment through digital technology.

NEWA Conducted the Review Meeting on the 6th General Election Processes NEWA conducted the review meeting on the 6th general election processes with women politician network members in Addis Ababa in partnership with DemoFinland. The aim of this review meeting is to identify opportunities, challenges, and gaps that are seen in the 6th General Election processes.

NEWA organized a panel discussion to advocate on ensuring meaningful participation of GYW in the formal and informal sector with government stakeholders NEWA organized a panel discussion to advocate on ensuring meaningful participation of GYW in the formal and informal sector with government stakeholders, like minded CSOs and girls and young women from government and private universities. The panellists were from a rights based organization and a representative from the girls and young women forum under the She Leads project which was conducted on May 26, 2022 at Capital Hotel.