About Us - NEWA’s Past Achievements

Over the years, the network has designed and implemented a wide range of programs and projects at federal and regional levels of the country. The scope of NEWA has evolved from narrowly focused to a broader focus on the entire economic, social, political and legal empowerment of women and girls, ensure gender equality and reduction and ultimately abolish GBV and VAW/G in Ethiopia.

In a nutshell, the milestone achievements of NEWA are summarized as follows:

• Remained as an Ethiopian Society Network under the unfavorable legal framework, chose the most challenging but rewarding direction – continued working for women’s rights and GE.
• Sub granted 28 women association under the Swedish SIDA – Civil Society Support Programme to mainly fight HTPs and FGM as well as economically empower, create access to education through ABE and health services. It has also contributed to build their capacity and created an opportunity for additional funding from other donor partners.
• Established, registered and ensured the takeoff of a new coalition, the Union of Ethiopian Women Charitable Associations (UEWCA), for those who decided to continue as Ethiopian Resident Societies and Associations after the new law -2010. Currently, UEWCA has more than 80-member organization.
• Actively engaged in the establishment and operationalization of the Ethiopian Charities and Societies Forum,
• Popularized the FDRE Constitution with respect to the women’s right, PASDEP, GTP I & II, NAP-GE and MDGs and now the SDGs.
• Familiarized the National Health, Education and HIV/AIDS policies to women groups, regional women affair offices and other stakeholders
• Developed manuals and tools to assess the status of reproductive health rights /services and NAP-GE/PASDEP.
• Established a much known platform called the Gender Talk Forum, in the last 10 years with an average of 3 forums conducted annually; where 50-100 people attended the forums. Senior officials including ministers, government officials, heads of bilateral and unilateral agencies, prominent individuals and gender activists have come to speak on gender in the presence of government, civil society, donor academia, regional and professional women associations and other relevant bodies.
• Advocated for the incorporation of women’s issues in the country’s development documents, policies and plans to Parliamentarians and Regional/Woreda councils
• Advocated for women’s rights, gender equality, reproductive health rights, elimination of harmful traditional practices, and denounced any gender-based violence and discrimination at national and regional levels.
• 25,718 of people that received primary health and RH service around Gulele Addis Ababa.
• With fellow advocates demanded for the formulation of the Family Law of Ethiopia, revision of the penal code and improved knowledge and implementation of the revised family law and penal code as a result of lobbying and building the capacities of law enforcement bodies.
• Advocated for safe and violence free working environment for factory women and bringing women to leadership and decision-making level.
• Increase women’s political leadership by building the capacities of women candidates in 2008. NEWA trained 1,100 women candidates in 9 regional states from the ruling and opposition parties for the bye and local election of 2008 on leadership, election laws and processes, public speaking, media relations, grass-roots organizing, campaign strategies, policy analysis and resource mobilization/fundraising.
• Organized girl’s forums in five regional capitals; facilitating discussions with high school girls on reproductive health, HIV and sexual harassment issues and provide leadership training for 1000 in-school girls.
• Contributed to the banning of the practices of HTP/FGM and isolated delivery/birth in selected areas (such as in Somali/Shinile, Afar/Awash-Fentale, Benshangul-Gmuz/Dangur,) and 964 young girls were saved and protected from FGM in Afar region.
• 1468 marginalized women such as commercial sex workers, traditional circumcisers, women living with HIV/AIDS, poor girls and women are economically empowered through different income generating activities in Afar, Benshangul-Gmuz, Oromia and Addis Ababa.
•  During the first ten years of NEWA’s intervention helped 740 women to give birth at home instead of in isolation or in the forest in Benishangul Gumz. This has become a culture in the Gumuz community.
• Contributed to increase access to health, education services to women, and girl and boy children by initiating health facilities, Alternative Basic Education Schools- ABES in Benishangul-Gumz region and Shashemene town Oromia region, and 3,843 children and benefited from this intervention.
• Build the capacity of member associations and government counterparts with a focus on law enforcement bodies (Judges, attorneys, police) to help and enable them to work more effectively and bring meaningful change in the lives of Ethiopian women.
• Helped 200 poor and displaced women access to housing program by organizing them for IGA and pay the down payment for condominiums at Lideta sub-city Addis Ababa.
• Carried out research on women’s land rights; produce alternative reports on the CEDAW and Beijing Platforms +10, assessments on GBV and women’s representation in political parties.
• Successfully implemented program with the Ministry of Health focusing on improving maternal health in five woredas of Afar region.
• 64 women survivors and suffering from a fistula received medical treatment in Benishangul-Gumz
• Prepared and published Temsalet Book which documented the stories of 64 phenomenal Ethiopian women which served as a role model for young girls. The book is distributed to high schools in the country and projects working on young girls for intergenerational effect.
• Initiated to build the first Ethiopian women Center to serve as a symbol to the Ethiopian women movement and for income generating to NEWA and its constituents on land provided by the government.
• Implemented Socially Accountability Program (ESAP I&II) jointly managed by the government of Ethiopia and the World Bank through multi-donor support focused on the protection of basic services (PBS).
• Established CSO campaign groups against gender-based violence, the GBVC-E operating under the auspices of NEWA, task forces on women’s land rights and trade policies with government actors.
• Undertake baseline assessment on Implementation and Achievements made with regards to the SDGs Goals; Specifically, Goal 5 Gender Equality in collaboration with UN Women and Ethiopian Women’s Lawyers Association (EWLA)
• Undertake baseline assessment On the Capacity, Responsiveness and Effectiveness of Selected Women Associations and Structures, which fight GBV in Afar, Benishangul-Gumuz, Oromia and Tigray Regional States.

Currently sub granted 14-member associations and organizations under the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation supported project and built their capacities.

• Implemented varied projects with the support from International NGOs, namely Oxfam GB, Save the Children, AAE, Packard and Lucile Foundation, Pathfinder International, UN Agencies (UNICEF, UNFPA, UNWOMEN), Embassies Development wings, the CIDA, SIDA, Netherlands, Irish Aid, DFID, EU –CSF 1&2, and has won their trust and confidence.

As part of its partnership and networking efforts NEWA has also joined national, regional and international coalitions and platforms including

•  A founding member of Poverty Action Network Ethiopia (PANE),
• Founder and served as leadership in the National Forum of CSO in Ethiopia,
• Founding member of the Consortium of Human Right Organizations in Ethiopia (CERO)
• Member of the Consortium of Reproductive Health Association (CoRHA)
• Served as leadership in the Council of Ethics and Anti Corruption Commission Organized to involve CSOs in the fight against corruption
• Played lead role in the platform to create for an Enabling Environment for Ethiopian CSOs during the restrictive CSO Law of 2009
• Actively participated in the GO-NGO Forum, annual meetings organized by the Ministry of Women, Youth nd Children
• Represented the Ethiopian CSOs in the AU-ECOSOCC,
• – Represented the CSOs in IGAD gender platform
• Member of the Strategic Initiative in the Horn of Africa – SIHA