News

NEWA is represented at The United Nations High-level Political Forum on Sustainable Development (HLPF) NEWA is represented at The United Nations High-level Political Forum on Sustainable Development (HLPF) by its Executive Directress Saba Gebremedhin at the UN HQ in New York. At the HLPF2022 side events Saba raised “ how it is critical to have a systemic response to tackle sexual and gender-based violence (SGBV) and harmful traditional practices during the crisis, including providing girls in crisis with necessary psycho-social support.” The HLPF2022 will convene from 5-15 July under the auspices of the UN Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC), with a thematic focus on building back better from the COVID-19 pandemic “while advancing the full implementation of the #Agenda2030 for Sustainable Development.”

NEWA has organized the validation workshop of the study on the feedback and response of women towards COVID-19 and non-pharmaceutical interventions (NPIs), on June 29, 2022. NEWA has organized the validation workshop of the study on the feedback and response of women towards COVID-19 and non-pharmaceutical interventions (NPIs), on June 29, 2022. NEWA has done the study with the financial support of JSI Ethiopia. It is aimed to explore the status of the current responses and practices of women in taking the COVID -19 vaccines and in applying NPIs, and also the major reasons for the low response observed in this regard. Hence, the validation workshop has aimed to collect additional inputs and information from the participants so that to further enrich the study report. The study is done based on the data collected from women living in four regions, Addis Ababa, Oromia, Amhara, and Sidama.

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.

NEWA organized a sensitization and awareness creation workshop at Mado Hotel on May 24, 2022. NEWA organized a sensitization and awareness creation workshop with Young Women led organizations, social movements, youth led Civil Society Organizations and other informal sectors to discuss on how each institution understand advocacy, what advocacy tools they use in their work and how we can all collectively advocate to enhance the meaningful participation of GYW in all the formal and informal sectors. The workshop was conducted at Mado Hotel on May 24, 2022.

Network of Ethiopian Women’s Associations (NEWA) participated in Extraordinary AU Humanitarian Summit and Pledging Conference Network of Ethiopian Women’s Associations(NEWA)  participated in Extraordinary AU Humanitarian Summit and Pledging Conference on Localizing Humanitarian Aid in Africa in Malabo, Equatorial Guinea from May 23-27, 2022 The side event had the following objectives: To celebrate the important contributions of African humanitarian organizations, alongside AU member states, in humanitarian action. To discuss the important role the AU, member states and the future AU Humanitarian Agency in supporting and advancing the localization agenda. To build consensus around key commitments the AU, member states and the AU Humanitarian Agency should take to advance the localization agenda’s . The Extraordinary AU Humanitarian Summit and a Pledging Conference In Malabo aim to establish the AU’s humanitarian agenda within the next decade, identify durable solutions for Africa in line with the AU humanitarian architecture outlined in the Common African Positions on Humanitarian effectiveness. This will also lead to discussions on the operationalization of the African Humanitarian Agency, and advocate for sustainable financing, and mobilize resources for humanitarian response in Africa.

NEWA in partnership with Demo Finland has organized and provided Political leadership and decision-making skill capacity-building training The Africa Day 2022: Agenda 2063 (The Africa we Want) commemoration event was organized on May 21 and 22 by organizing simulations under the theme “The Year of Nutrition: Strengthening Resilience in Nutrition and Food Security on the African Continent”. In the simulation participants were placed in two committees; Economic, Social and Cultural Council (ECOSOCC) and Africa Union Peace and Security Council (AU PSC), commissions and/or organs of the AU with an assigned country and role-play the actions and roles of that country. These countries are Member States of the African Union. In terms of debating topics, these are chosen prior to the simulation event so that countries are then able to appropriately organize themselves and draft the resolutions they wish to achieve. The topics were “The Role of Young women and men in Achieving Integrated, Prosperous, and Peaceful Africa” and “Harnessing the Continent’s Comparative Advantages through Agenda 2063 driven by its Citizens”. This encourages young women and girls to learn about the African Union Commission organs through the simulation sessions by role playing the positions of different African leaders working to tackle issues affecting and influencing the continent today. On the first day of the event May 21, 2022 the event was officially opened by an opening remark from Mrs Saba Gebremedhin, the executive directress of NEWA. After that there was a panel discussion on the role of GYW for the realization of Agenda 2063: The Africa we want; achieving integrated, prosperous and peaceful Africa. The participants were divided in to two groups designated to each committee and started the simulation session which continued to day two May 22, 2022. On the last day the simulation ended with a position paper from the Economic, Social and Cultural Council (ECOSOCC) committee. The outcome of the event is GYW strengthening their own agencies by taking on different countries’ leadership role that contributes to the objectives of one of the TdH NL projects which is She Leads: Enhancing the meaningful participation of GYW.

NEWA in partnership with Demo Finland has organized and provided Political leadership and decision-making skill capacity-building training Network of Ethiopian Women’s Associations (NEWA) in partnership with Demo Finland has organized and provided Political leadership and decision-making skill capacity-building training for female members of the Benshangul-Gummuz region council in Benshangul-Gummuz Assosa town.