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Women’s equal participation and leadership in political and public life are essential to achieving the Sustainable Development Goals by 2030.  However, data shows that women are underrepresented at all levels of decision-making worldwide and achieving gender parity in political life is far off. Women in executive government positions As of 1 September 2021, there are 26 women serving as Heads of State and/or Government in 24 countries. At the current rate, gender equality in the highest positions of power will not be reached for another 130 years. Just 10 countries have a woman Head of State, and 13 countries have a woman Head of Government. Only 21 per cent of government ministers were women, with only 14 countries having achieved 50 per cent or more women in cabinets. With an annual increase of just 0.52 percentage points, gender parity in ministerial positions will not be achieved before 2077. The five most commonly held portfolios by women ministers are: Family/children/youth/elderly/disabled; followed by social affairs; Environment/natural resources/energy; Employment/labour/vocational training, and Women affairs/gender equality. Women in national parliaments Only 25 per cent of all national parliamentarians are women, up from 11 per cent in 1995. Only four countries have 50 per cent or more women in parliament in single or lower houses: Rwanda with 61 per cent, Cuba with 53 per cent, Bolivia with 53 per cent, and the United Arab Emirates with 50 percent. A further 19 countries have reached or surpassed 40 per cent, including nine countries in Europe, five in Latin America and the Caribbean, four in Africa, and one in the Pacific. More than two-thirds of these countries have applied gender quotas—either legislated candidate quotas or reserved seats—opening space for women’s political participation in national parliaments. (Source UN Women 2021)

While gender norms are the root cause of sexual and gender-based violence, this violence often increases further as conflict, economic crisis, natural disasters, pandemics, and other challenges because Sexual and gender-based violence can be used as a political instrument in conflicts, further compounding the effects of fragility and presenting risks for human and societal dimensions of fragility. Torture, rape, forced prostitution or forced marriage have been strategies used in countries such as Somalia, Afghanistan or Uganda to humiliate the enemy, weaken families and break down the social fabric of societies. Abductions of girls and women by Boko Haram in Nigeria, notably the 2014 Chibok kidnapping of schoolgirls, became a new model for advancing the group’s cause and getting international attention. Following Ethiopia’s northern war in 2020, rape and sexual violence have been reported In Kenya, calls for help against domestic violence increased by 34% in the first three weeks of the curfew imposed due to the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 During the post cyclone Idai period in Mozambique in 2019, cases of sexual exploitation and abuse by people in positions of power when assigning relief items have been reported Source: -The organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD state of fragility report 2022)

Dr. Diana Wendemu, a clinical psychiatrist, was working in Kombolcha town, one of conflict affected areas in Amhara region. She met several women with mental health problems associated with the ongoing conflict in the region at the time. Learning the experiences of those women, she wanted to support them in any way she can. Similarly, Ms. Eskedar Girma who lives in Harari, which was known for its peace and hospitality before it faced recurring conflicts over the past couple of years, wanted to contribute her share in restoring peace in Harari as it used to be. It was with this interest both Dr Diana and Ms. Eskedar responds to Network of Ethiopian Women Associations’ (NEWA) call for application for a training on peace building and conflict resolution and joined Ethiopian Women Peace Builders (EWPB)network. They both believed being a member of EWPB will give them the strength and courage to do their level best. Not only Dr Diana and Ms. Eskedar, but women like reverend Mulunesh Jembo of SNNPR joined EWPB with the urge to contribute to their society. Of course, women from Tigray couldn’t join the group because of the ongoing war. Following the advertisement of the call for application on Ethio Jobs, a total of 627 (624 Female and three male) applications were received. The reason behind using Ethio jobs was its wider reach and the rationale for targeting women was because they often miss out from peace negotiation and conflict resolution processes and platforms despite them being the majority who are vulnerable and hardest hit by consequences of conflict and war. The selection criteria were developed with the help of international peace and security department in Addis Ababa University and nominees were selected based on jointly agreed criteria such as age, education level, their environment and motivation stated in the expression of interest. And soon after screening the applications, a three-day training on peace building and conflict resolution for selected 115 applicants was delivered by NEWA in January 2022. The training was conducted in Amharic not to miss important ideas due to language barrier and was blended where both physical and virtual sessions were facilitated by experts in the field. In addition, NEWA invited experts from other countries to share their experience in peace building and conflict resolution processes. Dr Raba from Sudan was one of them who reminded participants that they must take it as a personal call and be committed and inspired. To establish the Ethiopian Women Peacebuilders Network, NEWA and its partners have conducted several activities to build the capacity of these Ethiopian Women Peace builders. Through this journey, NEWA has collaborated with International Women Peace Group (IWPG), Fem WISE, OTI and others. Finally, EWPB network launching workshop entitled “Ethiopian Women for Peace” was conducted from June (21-23) 2022, in Addis Ababa at the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UN-ECA). The three-day workshop was facilitated by experts in peace and security and supported by trainers who were trained during a TOT organized by NEWA. The main objective of the workshop was to sensitize members of the Ethiopian Women Peacebuilders network on important issues related to peace building and conflict resolution which was concluded with an official launch of the network. Strengthening the joint effort of members and creating a guideline on how to develop and manage peace projects at the community level and on how to mobilize women for peacebuilding efforts, strengthen networking and partnership with key stakeholders actively engaged in peace building and conflict resolution in different parts of the country, strengthen the capacity of women’s organizations and associations to amplify voices of women and create enabling environment to sustain traditional conflict resolution good practices and build resilient society, facilitate conditions for public education on women’s role in peace building and conflict resolution at community level, nominating  dedicated and committed women to lead the governance structure of Ethiopian women peacebuilders at a community level and revisiting and refining the Action Plans developed by different members of Ethiopian women peacebuilders to guide the work of the members in their respective communities were specific objectives of the workshop. Experts in peace building and conflict resolution made presentation on peace building, conflict resolution, causes of conflict and traditional and modern ways of conflict resolution. Presentation by the experts was substantiated with practical experiences from participants with lived experiences of conflict and war. The workshop brought together 115 women from all Regional States of Ethiopia who have dedicated their lives to the cause of peace in Ethiopia. Inter-generational panel discussion that was held between senior gender advocates and aspiring young women was one of the series of activities of the workshop. Ms. Zewdie Abegaz, former UNICEF senior gender specialist, Ms. Eskedar Girma lecturer at Haremeya University and Dr. Diana Wondimu Clinical psychiatrist, were among the speakers who shared their contribution to gender equality and women’s empowerment and the resistance they faced in their workplace, communities and nationally, which still are persisting issues. Ms. Zewide shared her experience in the early days where there was no women policy and gender related proclamations where gender advocates were forced to find their way in the dark. However, due to the commitment and dedication they have for the cause, they were able to push for a National Ethiopian Women Policy that is being used so far. All the speakers emphasized on the importance of peace and security to be able to sustain the gains that have been made over the years. They shared their wish for a peaceful country where women and girl of Ethiopia live without fear and worry about their safety and security which makes women vulnerable to violence, discrimination, psychological trauma, and loss of lives. Third day of the workshop started with a welcoming remark by Ms. Saba G/Medhin, Executive directress of Network of Ethiopian Women’s Association (NEWA). “The Ethiopian Women Peace Builders (EWPB) network has a huge mandate and a big mission. Its ultimate goal is to enhance women’s role in peace keeping, negotiation, and

The Gates Foundation project was one of NEWA’s project that has been concluded recently. One of the achievements of project was virtual safe space use among young women and adolescent girls which developed by Young Women’s Christian Association /YWCA/ which was sub granted by this project. As safe space is a new approach for the target communities’ whiles its virtual version is the first. Therefore, this was   important to promote virtual safe space among young women. The proposed action   carried out by using various social media platforms and the YWCA website.  The app was launched and became functional starting from September 1, 2020. Three manuals on SRH (Family planning, HIV/AIDS, and STDs) have developed and contextualized.  

NEWA has delivered series of trainings to representatives of women-led organizations and CSOs working on women’s rights in Amhara region’s Desse and Afar’s Semera towns from July 26 to August 12,2022. The workshop’s focus was on prevention, protection of women & girls from all forms of violence through the promotion of non-violent, non–discriminatory and gender equitable norms during humanitarian response. identifying GBV risks, GBV mitigation strategies, referral pathways and community-level protection mechanisms were the main topics of the training among others.  Developing locally relevant tools to monitor SGBV prevention and mitigation strategies and engaging in participatory safety audits at the community level were highlighted as important approaches in the implementation of prevention of GBV activities. A total of 44 participants from the two towns attended the training sessions. During the training sessions, GBV cases were presented by participants.   One of the stories was from Desse town about 12 years old six grader who has been sexually abused by her stepfather and got a urinary tract problem. When her pain got severe, the girl told her mother that she has been sexually abused by her father. Her mother’s reaction was unexpected for the child who believed her mom would do anything to end her suffering. However, the mother warned the child not to say anything to anyone about the matter. This was heart breaking for the child and she finally left the house. The teachers who were wondering why their student was absent for almost a month, decided to go to her parent’s house and speak with them. The mother told the teachers that her child developed bad behaviour and became out of control and that is why she left the house. As they didn’t find the mother’s explanation convincing, the teachers decided to look for the child and they found her somewhere in the adjust kebele, lower tier local administration. Finally, they knew the truth and got the child back to school with necessary arrangements to ensure her well-being and safety. The other story is about a child who was about to be given to a husband through forced marriage in the town of Semera, Afar region. They were on preparation for the wedding as both her parents agreed with the arrangement. The child decided to do something and save herself. She went to the town’s women’s and social affairs office and explained the whole issue to the experts. Not to let the child take risk until the office addresses the issue in a proper manner, one of the experts took the child with her to her house to spend the night there. The expert was shocked to see armed men from the child’s father and mother’s clan at her office the next morning with the intention to intimidate and stop her from what she was doing. This shows that the process of intervention against child marriage is complicated as parents and close family members are part of the problem. The trainings were delivered as part of the global multi-year programme being implemented by UN Women in collaboration with the Network of Ethiopian Women Association (NEWA) with the support of the Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF). A two days refresher training for leaders of WROs and CSOs on global and national humanitarian architectures, inter-cluster system, PSEA, and Grand Bargain was one of the trainings that was delivered under this same program in September 2021. A total number of 34 /27F ,7M/ participants attended the training. Out of the total, 23 were director and program managers of 23 local women rights organizations/WRO/ and civil society organizations/CSO/.

NEWA in partnership with Plan International Ethiopia is implementing the project titled ‘Women’s Voice and Leadership’. This project aims to support the capacity and activities of local and regional women’s organizations. The project intends to deliver an initiative that will promote a vibrant and sustainable women’s rights movement, consolidating the voice of women and girls to lead their own development, demonstrate their agency and influence policy.  To this end, NEWA carried out a training for newly starting young volunteers working within member organizations in order to capacitate skills and knowledge. The training focused on professionalism, workplace ethics, leadership, and other aspects of voluntarism.  Two representatives from VSO and YWCA came on board the training for an experience-sharing session to discuss the importance of voluntarism for the volunteers. It was with the aim of enhancing voluntarism and capacitating women organizations with equipped volunteers as well as motivating GYW into leadership and introduction to the workspace within the sector specifically that this event was held on March 15th, 2022, at Magnolia Hotel.

NEWA in collaboration with DEMO FINLAND has delivered series of trainings that focus on women’s political participation and decision-making for women in politics. The three two days trainings have been conducted in the towns of Adama and Assosa from May to August 2022. Participants of these trainings were women members of Benshangul Gumuz regional Council, Oromia regional council and federal house of people’s representatives. The main objective of the training workshops on Women’s Political Participation and Leadership is to strengthen the role of women parliamentarians and regional council members in a way that increases their influence in decision-making for effective governance and plays their role to enhance women’s political participation both at regional and national level. The training covered range of topics under policy influencing opportunities and challenges while touched core concepts in the essence of gender and the recognition of women’s political participation and decision-making in development activities, the relationship between gender and women’s political and decision-making participation and forms of women’s political and decision-making participation. The trainings were attended by more than 180 women politicians. As a follow up activity to these trainings, a post-election review meeting on the 6th general election process with members of Women Politician Network has been conducted and a project idea developed based on way forwards and lessons drawn from the meeting. The need for a regularized and systematic dialogue platform facilitated by mandated agencies such as (NEBE) in collaboration with political parties would have immense contribution for women politicians to come together to exchange, learn and network was one of the recommendations of the review meeting. A continuation of pre-election capacity-building training on women political participation for female members of political parties at the national level has been delivered to 50 women in early September 2022. Mrs. Desta Tilahun, executive secretary of Ethiopian People’s Revolutionary party (EPRP) was one of the participants of the training for women politicians. She is also vice chair of women politicians’ network/coalition. She believes the training helped them to get insight on how they can build their capacity and pass the hurdles the patriarchal system poses on women who wants to join politics. “We, women in politics need to work on ourselves and improve our self-esteem. We have got a lot from the training sessions on how to bypass the patriarchy that puts hurdles in our way”. According to Desta women politicians, both in the ruling and opposition party face similar challenges and the training helped them to have a common agenda around this and beyond. Mrs. Herowak Girma, executive committee member of Oromo Federalist Congress (OFC) is another opposition politician who have attended the training. She found the training to be practical as its focus was on how to enhance women’s political participation, and personally she got very good insights on how to build self-confidence. She thinks similar trainings should have been given by the government as its also responsible for improving women’s participation in politics. Her party is planning to deliver similar training to women members.

Women’s movements are instrumental in flagging issues relating to women’s rights and Gender equality. This has been witnessed through the various movements that have championed women’s causes in Ethiopia. It is with this context that NEWA had planned this year’s “Gender talk Forum ”, which is NEWA’s signature dialogue platform that has been ongoing for many years. This year, in commemoration of International Women’s Day, The Gender talk forum tried to bring together governmental and non-governmental stakeholders with the theme of “Revisiting women’s movements in Ethiopia by sharing best practices, highlighting experiences, and deliberating on ways forward. The Gender talk forum is a part of the project titled ‘Women’s Voice and Leadership’ currently being implemented by NEWA in partnership with Plan International Ethiopia. The gender talk forum was held on March 24, 2022, in Sapphire Addis Hotel. This platform brought together women right organizations, CSOs, International organizations, UN representatives, Academia’s, and also prominent women right activists. This year’s gender talk forum themed “Women’s right movements in Ethiopia towards gender equality” focused on highlighting the history, struggle, milestones, setbacks, success and challenges of the Ethiopian women’s right movement. A presentation by Dr. Agaredech from AAU was presented to the scene after which an intergenerational panel discussion was held. The panelist were two known women right defenders, Ms. Huluagerish from Addis Ababa Women Associations and Ruth Yitbarek from Yellow movement. An interesting discussion was held on the feminism history in Ethiopia as well as the importance of solidarity, networking and collaboration of women right structures for a better impact. During this year’s Gender talk forum, Mrs. Letty Chiwara the UN women’s representative to Ethiopia, AU, and UN ECA was recognized and a small farewell party was held towards the end of the event.