DSW Ethiopia Hosts Parliamentarians to Advocate for ASRH Budget Allocation

Blog | 28. March 2024

As evidence of growing unmet adolescent sexual and reproductive health (ASRH) needs has become more apparent, major international sources of budget support for the health sector in Ethiopia have tended to decline. In order to address these potential shortfalls by advocating for an increased ASRH budget allocation from the public funds, DSW Ethiopia partnered with the Ethiopian Academy of Sciences (EAS) and jointly convened a half-day advocacy workshop at the Sheraton Addis on 23 March 2024 to discuss with nineteen lawmakers from the Federal Parliament, and a dozen other stakeholders including Ministry of Health (MoH) officials, donor representatives and partner organisations.

A four-member DSW team in coordination with the EAS representatives organised the tightly scheduled procedures that commenced with Feyera Assefa’s, Country Director of DSW Ethiopia, opening speech. Feyera appreciated some of the steady increases made by the government in the domestic budget allocation for SRH provision eying at the 15 percent benchmark set by the Abuja Declaration (2001) that has meant to enhance the annual budget for health sector in Africa utilizing the domestic resources. Feyera further expressed concern on the current seven percent in budget allotment dropping from the nine percent peak in the previous years. Noting that, “If we set our eyes at the window of opportunity to reap from the potential demographic dividend in some future time, let’s not loosen the grip on our determination to ensure today’s adolescents have met their SRH needs by way of increasing the annual budget allocation and set the budget line specific to ASRH for better organised budget tracking as we could explore into an existing practice for experience sharing,” Feyera reasserted the core objectives of the workshop.

“To be more explicit,” Feyera further elaborated that “our objective is driven by the virtue of the general fact that for the first time in many years in our history adolescents and youth have become the most numerically dominate demographic group in Ethiopia. In the absence of a prioritised action to improve the budget appropriation for ASRH, the likelihood of social and economic consequences would be a matter of when rather than if. On behalf of DSW, I urge the respected members of the parliament to honor our call to a research-based action appropriate to the weight of the matter.”

The 2001 African Union’s Summit in Nigeria’s capital drew consensual commitments from member states to honor a minimum of 15 percent of annual budget expenditure in enhancing the health sector under the “Abuja Declaration”. This summit was widely seen as the catalytic accelerator toward attaining one of the key U.N’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). In his presentation, a tenured professor from the Addis Ababa University, Eshetu Gurmu put into context the links between population, demographic dividends and an increased budget allocation for ASRH. “Every year more than three million young people in Ethiopia enter the workforce or are expected to do so and the intervention in their SRH needs during adolescence contributes to enhanced productivity in terms of impacting on economic growth. If left unattended due to lack of budget appropriation in ASRH needs, by sheer size of the youth’s demographic segment in population development, the much heralded dividend and the so-called window of opportunity could bypass us in defiance against our common good,” Professor Eshetu forewarned, as he alluded to the torpedo nature of the youth bulge in the case of Haiti.

Recent data obtained from the Population Reference Bureau could not be less alarming as the growing youth population in Ethiopia under the age of 30 stands at nearly 71 percent. The number of adolescents under the age of 15 is 41 percent. With its current 126 million population, Ethiopia’s contribution to the global share of population growth stands at 1.57 percent (worldometer, 2023) and it still maintains a total fertility rate of 4.0 live births per woman, well above the 2.1 value threshold of replacement level fertility.. Judging from the 2021 World Bank report, the decline in fertility rate over the past thirty years declined from 7.2 in 1990 to 4.2 in 2021.

“Evidence based hybrid policy concepts were and are still developed in a range of multidisciplinary scientific fields most importantly on national development issues, including the population and health related topics at the Ethiopian Academy of Sciences,” noted Professor Teketel Yohannes, the incumbent Executive Director of the Academy, which was established as a non-governmental organisation (NGO) in 2010 under the auspices of the Ethiopian Parliament. “We have important stakes in the development of national policies in the context of playing a lead role on the well-meaning sciences and researches in collaboration with the law makers and policy implementers as well as other stakeholders among them includes DSW,” in his keynote address Professor Teketel emphasised the strategic direction that EAS takes to collaborate with public and private sectors alike.

On his part, Dr. Jemal Adem, Financing Technical Advisor with the Ministry of Health, recounted “the 2016 budgetary support leveraged from international donors for the SRH/family planning provisions amounted to 100 million birr expenditure. Since then, the decline of financing the health sector from international sources ostensibly led to grow nearly threefold in domestic source of financing the SRH/FP commodities. Generally, Ethiopia has already committed 1.3 percent of its GDP to the share of the health sector expenditure,” Dr. Jemal said.

“Expending 1.3 percent of the GDP in health sector budget may not sound bad as such, given the circumstance that Ethiopia is being hard put to it, however, in a country where 13 percent of teenage pregnancy goes without being prevented each year against the odds of growing needs for SRH provision among adolescents, how would we ever be able to catch up with the SGD’s momentum in less than six years, come 2030. As DSW, our advocacy efforts to sit with the Parliamentarians are essentially built upon the intent to address the identified shortcomings in budgetary appropriation over the adolescent sexual and reproductive health needs,” asserted Tsigie Gebretsadik,” DSW Ethiopia’s Resource Mobilization and Advocacy Manager.

In a concluding remark, Dr. Alemayehu Hunduma of the Federal Ministry of Health acknowledged the unreserved commitment shown by the strong members of the House of Peoples’ Representatives to sit with various stakeholders and discuss the health budget issues. “We at the Ministry of Health appreciate this development and also as policy implementers, we are pleased to find a common platform for advancing our common causes. High-level advocacy meetings like this always have a widespread impact on desirable changes in budget. The MoH has come a long way to increase the expenditure for SRH/FP services this fiscal year, which has grown to 275 million birr up from 100 million birr allocated for the same item during our last year’s budget. Let’s get our efforts together in partnerships and maintain the momentum of successes. DSW and EAS have played important roles to bear the lion’s share of acknowledgement in coordinating and leading this successful meeting,” Dr. Alemayehu remarked.

Youth for Health is an advocacy-based intervention engaging stakeholders at national, regional and local level through sensitisation workshops and consultative meetings to impact on the adolescent sexual and reproductive health budget appropriation from domestic public funds.

Nineteen Members of the Federal Parliament who represent as many as five standing committees expressed optimism and have appreciated the efforts to get them engaged in important issues such as advocating for ASRH budget and the budget line associated with this specific item. In their conclusive speech, each pledged to work together and further the agenda to other colleagues in the Parliament and look forward to hold a series of such consultative meeting in the future. They also showed interest in the experience sharing initiative advanced by DSW Ethiopia. DSW Ethiopia and the influential Ethiopian Academy of Sciences (EAS) uphold their synergy to explore and expand platforms for reaching out wider stakeholders.

In terms of advocacy, DSW has a long history of engagement with the parliamentarians dating as far back as the mid-2000s and earlier. It has organised week-long study tours for parliamentarians from EU member states and has held meetings and interactive roundtable discussions were held with the Speakers of both Houses of Representatives in Ethiopia in the past.

Esayas Gebre-Meskel

DSW Ethiopia enjoys a high level of visibility at scientific conference

Blog | 21. March 2024 | #Health #UniversalHealthCover

DSW recently took part in the 35th annual scientific conference held by the Ethiopian Public Health Association (EPHA) from 17 – 19 March at the Inter-Luxury Hotel in Addis Ababa. The theme of this year’s conference was “Universal Health Coverage”. EPHA is one of the earliest established health professional civil society organisations. Every banner, goody bag and brochure featured DSW’s logo along those of other key partners, including EPHA. The annual scientific conference, coordinated by EPHA, brings together academics and development practitioners to share research on various topics, with abstracts displayed for poster presentations, panel discussions and exhibition activities.

The last two days of the conference saw delegates visit the exhibition booths to network with the organisations present. DSW’s booth had an almost constant flow of visitors thanks in part to our positive reputation for documenting good practice. This prestigious scientific conference is one of the most sought after platforms at the national level for health sector leaders, health professionals and country representative from leading donor agencies such as the Gates Foundation, USAID, and the World Health Organization (WHO), including Centers for Disease Control (CDC).

At the opening session of the three-day annual scientific conference, Agonafer Tekalegn (PhD), President of the Board of Directors, on behalf of EPHA, acknowledged DSW’s steady development engagement in a spirit of strategic partnership. The conference covered a wide range of topics, the most important of which included the New Dimensions of Revitalizing Primary Healthcare in Ethiopia, Environmental Health, Nutrition and Food Sciences, Healthy Systems and Global Health Security. These and other key themes intently befitting the core topic designated for this year’s conference: “Universal Health Coverage.” The topics were defined and explained in the form of scientific studies and were discussed in a wide range of engagements, presentation and plenary discussions during the conference. Often, most of these studies end up as important inputs for policy materials.

DSW Ethiopia takes keen interest of such platforms, in which it consistently participates, and capitalises on its most excelled projects to promote and leverage further resources.

Esayas Gebre-Meskel

Enhancing livelihood prospects for young people in Ethiopia

The aim of the project is to improve the living situation of young people in Ethiopia, primarily in rural but also in urban areas. To this end, attractive prospects are being created for the rapidly growing young population and over 70,000 young people aged 15 to 29 are being supported in the Amhara and Oromia regions.

The project combines activities on three thematical components: 1. Sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR), including access to contraception and family planning, 2. Agriculture, with a focus on coffee and agricultural employment), and 3. Logistics and education. The project is the pilot project of SAfA.

About 28% of the Ethiopian population is aged between 15-29. Most youth live in rural areas, have poor access to education, and at best support their families through care work or earn a little extra money from time to time through small jobs. Economically attractive opportunities and access to vocational training are lacking. Further to this, social services that young people need, such as sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR) services, are scarce and are not tailored to the needs of young people. The situation is even more challenging for young women, who have fewer opportunities for a self-determined life due to prevailing gender inequalities and are more prone to sexual and gender based violence (SGBV). Additionally, young people rarely have resources – such as land or capital – to build a future. Various (training and further) education opportunities offered by the project partners address this challenge and enable the young people to have a professional perspective. The offerings of the individual organisations thus create unique synergy effects and holistically improve the livelihood prospects of young people.

Miriam Riechers

Key activities

Knowledge transfer on sexual and reproductive health (SRH) to more than 70.000 young people

Supporting 50 health centers and health posts in establishing youth-friendly health services in the area of SRHR

Training for 60 health service providers on comprehensive family planning

Awareness-raising in the youth’s environment, including mobile clinics offering counseling on modern contraception and family planning.

Training of 600 female change agents and community promoters to provide education on family planning in communities and households

Raising awareness of sexual and reproductive health in 24 schools and universities.

Training of 20 Youth Champions who accompany political decision-making processes at local, regional and national levels

Implementation of courses in vocational training and innovative business management for 120 youth club members

Bulid the capacity of 346 health service providers on the provision of youth-friendly SRHR services, comprehensive family planning, STI management and screening for cervical cancer, screening and diagnosis of fistula

Build the capacity of 208 youth club members on club leadership & management, and entrepreneurship and business skills

Key activities of the partners

Improving the economic situation of young people through employment in agricultural value chains (HRNS Ethiopia)

Qualification of young people and other stakeholders from various value chains through market-oriented higher education, vocational training and consulting in the areas of logistics, transport and supply chain management (EMF)

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DSW Ethiopia’s Y4H Project Coalesces an ASRH Advocacy Workshop

Blog | 07. December 2023

Already ten months into its first year of implementation, the Youth for Health (Y4H) project hosted a half-day adolescent sexual and reproductive health advocacy workshop on 15 November 2023 at Sapphire Hotel in Addis Ababa. Ahead of a series of other sensitisation workshops planned to engage key stakeholders, the young adolescent champions joined representatives from the Federal Ministry of Health (FMoH) to initiate and set action points during the half-day workshop initiated by DSW.

Regional decision-makers coming from the project areas and other leaders representing civil society organsations such as the Consortium of Reproductive Health Associations (CORHA), Y4H Ethiopia consortium members Marie Stopes International Ethiopia (MSIE) and Youth Network Sustainable Development (YNSD) were among those who attended the workshop.

In his opening remarks, Feyera Assefa, Country Director of DSW Ethiopia, acknowledged the commitment of a team of experts from the FMoH to validate the relevance of the project based on research findings. He also announced the presence of two members of DSW’s international team, Johanna Rosenwirth, Institutional Funding & Partnerships Officer and Peter Kroll, Project Management Officer who were at the workshop.
“Adolescence is an important developmental stage in life. It requires the ability of young adolescents to realise their dream in an environment that enables them to meet their sexual and reproductive health (SRH) needs, including access to contraception. Thus, seeing these adolescents and youth champions in a high-profile adult-dominated workshop sitting front row gives us a sense of how the stakes of the project are already relevant to their ability to advocate on leveraging budgets for SRH needs and doing so on behalf of so many of their peers,” Mr. Peter Kroll emphasised. Y4H is identified by and for young people, and is specifically designed to rely on the commitment of youth champions to advocate at local and national levels.

“When we talk about youth champions, it is meant that the young people don’t get to passively benefit from the project by being at the receiving end but they too get involved as key stakeholders to engage in advocacy activities driven by evidence-based needs,” Feyera emphasised. Noting that, given the changing circumstances in terms of resource mobilisation or budget allocation and disbursement for youth SRH-focused interventions, which are affected by both the internal and external environments; the strategy of empowering youth advocates makes more sense for practical reasons.

According to Dr. Jemal Adem, a senior advisor at the FMoH, the financing of family planning services in Ethiopia is less effective in providing short-acting methods. For example, if the injectable FP method (Depo-Provera) is taken four times a year to prevent unplanned pregnancy for every other three months of the year, or multiplied by four years, it could need to be taken sixteen times. One Implanon could be used once every four years to prevent unintended birth for as long as it is utilised. In terms of both cost-effectiveness and reliability, the long-acting methods would be deal to take. In reality, the short-acting FP methods, such as injectable, continue to be the most widely used among young people. This trend hasn’t been without serious budgetary implication and coffer shortage of public funds. This is where a strategy to requisite the engagements in advocacy efforts by the youth champions comes in, suggests Dr. Jemal, based on his research findings on domestic financing presented during the early session of the workshop.

“Considering the 2021 Abuja Declaration, which asserts the commitments by African nations to a benchmark of 15 percent of budget spending on health, in some encouraging cases more than others haven’t lagged a lot behind. However, the absence of a budget line specific to adolescents’ SRH needs in the government budget planning on the one hand, the grim reality of the 13 percent teenage pregnancy prevalence in Ethiopia on the other could only oblige us further to create a strong enabling environment for engaging young adolescents in advocacy champions as part of the panacea. The efforts in advocacy to leveraging budgets for youth SRH/FP service needs must be explored through diverse sources,” Tsigie Gebretsadik, Advocacy Manager with DSW Ethiopia, qualifies an important take-away point in her presentation.

One of DSW’s youth champions, Elizabeth Addisu suggests that “the mainstream and social media platforms are very instrumental to the effect of advocacy on the budget shortfalls in youth and adolescent SRH issues.” She also recognises the importance of intensifying advocacy campaigns to increased budgetary resources for youth SRH wellbeing, but Elizabeth questions the wisdom of “entirely associating the health of youth with SRH issues per se, while substance abuse and other related social problems continue to affect the wellbeing of many more youth that remain largely unchecked”.

“Whether in the form of peer pressures or through unchecked behaviours that some of our youth may have become vulnerable to the various sources of social problems, the whole advocacy efforts objectively foster within the broader framework of addressing the needs for youth SRH wellbeing, including such social problems as substance abuse. The challenging question may arise from the fact that we are able to create demand for SRH services but fall short in ensuring the supplies of commodities. This situation as it exists would exacerbate an increase in unmet need if we don’t advocate for increased resources from any possible source, be it domestic or external donors,” Feyera cautiously noted an action point.

In his closing statement, Dr. Alemeayehu Hunduma, head of the Reproductive Health, Family Planning, Adolescent & Youth Health desk at the FMoH, welcomed the initiation by DSW to deploy a league of mentored adolescents and youth advocates who on behalf of themselves and their fellow young people in Ethiopia are committed to engaging the government stakeholders in budget allotment and disbursement for SRH needs of adolescents and youth.

“The Ministry of Health has put forth so many action points to broaden the platforms for advocacy when it comes to advancing budget sources for youth SRH needs, including the use of social media such as TikTok and the big personalities with a lot of followers internationally to speak on behalf of our efforts. This was done as we are concurrently managing the efforts to increase the domestic budget sources. For instance, this year’s budget for the health sector bounced up to 270 million birr, that is an eighteen percent average rate increment compared to the past four years budget allocation. Let’s work this out together and we remain committed to creating an enabling environment for the adolescents to engage in their advocacy efforts,” Dr. Alemayehu expressed optimism in his closing remarks.

Youth for Health is an advocacy-based intervention co-funded by the European Union and DSW in a complementary partnership with Marie Stopes International and other partners is undertaking the implementation in Oromia and South-Ethiopia region since it was officially launched in January 2023.

Photos: private

Esayas Gebre-Meskel

DSW Ethiopia Co-Hosts UNFPA-KOICA Donor Visits

Blog | 20. November 2023

The week-long high-level donor visits to DSW’s project have combined a number of activities beginning with an Annual Review Meeting (ARM) of stakeholders representing all UNFPA-supported projects in Dilla and Bule-Hora, located 294 km and 481 km south of the capital respectively . Following the two-day ARM co-hosted by DSW and UNFPA in Hawassa at the Rory Hotel on 6 – 7 November, the large group of team members from UNFPA, KOICA (Korea International Cooperation Agency) and DSW scheduled a series of watertight project tours, which split the events into six key activities in different locations.

The UNFPA team members led by Mr. Koffi Kouame, the country representative in Ethiopia and his deputy Mr. Taiwo Oluyomi and officials from KOICA Ethiopia, which includes its Country Director Mr. Lee Byunghwa have travelled a great length and took a close look at the project to determine the way forward. DSW Ethiopia was also represented by Country Director Feyera Assefa and his team members.

While Mr. Kouame cut short his trip from Yirgachefe to return back to Hawassa on 9 November 2023 to save time for his visit to another DSW project implemented in the Industrial Park, Feyera had to reschedule the arrangement and accompany the UNFPA official to Hawassa. Two members of DSW’s international team based in Hannover, Germany, Peter Kroll, Project Management Officer and Johanna Rosenwirth, Institutional Funding and Partnerships Officer, joined Mr. Kouame and Feyera to visit the workplace intervention at the Hawassa Industrial Park on Friday, 10 November.

The rest of the teams travelled further south as planned, spending another day on a study tour and interacting with project stakeholders and their activities in Bule-Hora.

In Dilla, Mr. Koffi Kouame was impressed by the commitment of the community and government stakeholders to the whole programme, as he listened to the welcome speech of Zinabu Wolde (PhD), Gedeo Zone Administrator, who praised the youth-focused intervention programme supported by UNFPA, funded by KOICA and implemented by DSW in partnership with the existing local government structures.

Further, Mr. Kouame pressed on the fact that the seeming trend in youth demographic bulge experienced by Ethiopia like those in the rest of Africa, the need for investment to get many of these youth to go to schools remains in a top tier development agenda. “This is the effort that KOICA is committed to in making a difference in the quality of life and sexual and reproductive health wellbeing of vulnerable youth. The productive future of young people depends on their ability and capacity to be empowered. That is why we needed to visit the project and observe the progress at this time of the year, when we can plan what to do in 2024 based on the lessons learned from these real-life situations,” the UNFPA official noted.

As the final leg of the field visit gathered momentum, each stakeholder recognised the benefits that so many young people have received through the support and funding of the projects under the UNFPA’s integrated program, which DSW has partnered to implement over the past four years. In response to the expected final words from KOICA, which has been funding and technically supporting the programme through UNFPA, Mr. Lee Byunghwa, Country Director of KOICA Ethiopia, has described the programme, which his office has been steadfastly supporting since 2019, as a success story, as he has observed a strong sense of ownership and commitment to the programme by the community leaders and other key stakeholders who have readily shown interest to ensure sustainability.

“More directly, part of our mission in Ethiopia, says Mr. Lee, is to work bilaterally with the Ethiopian government to ensure, among other things, that the capacity of health care providers is strengthened and that relevant development programmes prioritised by the Ethiopian government are supported, as well as media campaigns to promote the family planning programme. It is also our responsibility to support and contribute to youth development efforts in Ethiopia,” the KOICA official stressed.

Feyera Assefa, the Country Director of DSW Ethiopia, drew a positive conclusion from these high-level field visits. The most important thing worth lauding is the technical experience being gained by our team through the strategic partnership DSW maintains with UNFPA. A well-coordinated and organised field visit such as this brought all stakeholder to a common platform for further partnerships. The outcomes of our past efforts so far can be translated into important inputs for the upcoming 2024 planning meeting.

In terms of the relevance of DSW’s work, four key takeaway emerged that were of interest to the donors. The first to be highlighted was the Women and Girls’ Friendly Space (WGFS). It was strongly recommended that the WGFS be linked with the One-Stop-Centre for enhanced service delivery. The second point was related to the youth friendly clinics (YFCs) found at the health centres, which should be further strengthened in aligning and linking them with the closest grassroots community-based youth clubs.

During the debriefing, it was emphasised that the YFCs and the’ strong relationships of the youth clubs were seen as having the greatest impact on youth uptake of services. The third point mentioned was the need for the research activities conducted by Bule-Hora and Dilla universities to provide evidence-based data relevant to the programme in order to support the project objectives. The final point focussed on developing a strategy to scale up the intervention by integrating the sexual and reproductive health (SRH) issues with the livelihood needs of the youth.

Funded by the Korea International Cooperation Agency (KOICA), the Integrated Adolescents and Youth Sexual and Reproductive Health and Family Planning project was launched in March 2019 in partnership with technical support from UNFPA. For more than four years, the project has been reaching out to targeted communities in six districts across two zones in Gedeo (South region) and West-Guji (Oromia region).

Photos: private

Esayas Gebre-Meskel

Ethiopia

The first DSW country office in East Africa was established in Ethiopia in 2000. It started with just four staff members. They administered grant programmes implemented by community-based organisations. Four years later, DSW became the first civil society organisation to open a training centre for young people in Ethiopia. As the thematic areas of work expanded, so did the number of staff. Today, there are 75 staff members, two of whom have been with the organisation from the very beginning. The country office manages projects in four regions and the capital. The head office is located in Addis Ababa, the training centre in Bishoftu and the project-specific liaison offices in the four regions. DSW Ethiopia currently works with 22 youth development centres, 150 youth clubs and 30 youth groups, all of which are linked to the nearest health facilities to provide their services.

The projects are aimed at young people in different life situations. These include school-age, working and homeless young people, as well as domestic workers, casual labourers and sex workers. Each project provides them with tailored and timely messages to raise their awareness and interest in sexual and reproductive health and rights and services, and to empower them to lead self-determined lives.

Tailored strategies have been developed to meet the different needs and priorities of young people. For example, specific projects have been initiated and piloted in the flower farms, industrial parks and factories, taking into account working conditions, where people live and how they get to work. For school-age young people, approaches have been developed that involve teachers, parents and pupils, i.e. the whole school community. Out-of-school youth are supported, trained and encouraged in youth clubs. DSW Ethiopia is constantly expanding its institutional capacities and its network, also in order to tap further resources from potential donors.

“Ours remains to envision the commitment of youth’s capability-based empowerment that sustainably makes a difference in meeting their needs for a better future.”

Feyera Assefa Abdissa, Country Director DSW Ethiopia

Our team in Ethiopia

Feyera Assefa Abdissa

County Director DSW Ethiopia

Telehone: +251 116457803
Email: dsw-ethiopiaat@ethionet.et

Meskerem Kassa Endalkachew

Admin and Finance Department Manager

Telephone: +251 116457803
Email: meskerem.endalkachew@dsw.org

Blog

DSW Ethiopia Hosts Parliamentarians to Advocate for ASRH Budget Allocation

DSW Ethiopia enjoys a high level of visibility at scientific conference

DSW Ethiopia’s Y4H Project Coalesces an ASRH Advocacy Workshop

DSW Ethiopia Co-Hosts UNFPA-KOICA Donor Visits

DSW and UNFPA Merge Efforts in a Renewing Spirit of Partnership

DSW Ethiopia shares insight at the 4th national adolescent and youth health forum

See all News

DSW Ethiopia shares insight at the 4th national adolescent and youth health forum

Blog | 12. October 2023

The 4th National Adolescent and Youth Health Forum, which drew professionals, decision makers, youth advocates, and more than 300 young people from across the country, was held from October 1 to 3, 2023, at the Hilton Hotel in Addis Ababa. “The Power of Partnership: Meaningful Adolescent and Youth Engagement for Improved Health” was the forum’s central theme. The forum aimed to facilitate collaboration and knowledge sharing among stakeholders in order to strengthen the delivery of adolescent and youth health services. It provided a platform for participants to discuss innovative strategies, share best practices, and identify key priorities for improving the health outcomes of young people. The forum brought together a diverse range of participants, including government officials, representatives from non-governmental organisations including UNFPA and WHO, healthcare professionals, and youth champions from all DSW project areas. Through interactive workshops and panel discussions, attendees explored ways to empower adolescents and youth to actively participate in decision-making processes related to their health. Additionally, the forum emphasised the importance of fostering partnerships between different sectors to ensure comprehensive and integrated health services for young people.

Adolescent and youth engagement in health programmes can help address their specific needs and challenges, such as reproductive health, mental health, and substance abuse. When they are actively involved in the decision-making process, interventions can be tailored to their specific needs, resulting in more effective and impactful outcomes. This not only enhances the effectiveness of health programmes but also promotes a culture of inclusivity and participation among adolescents and youth, setting the stage for their active involvement in shaping their own health and well-being. This approach recognises their unique perspectives and ensures that interventions are relevant and responsive to their evolving needs. Ultimately, this leads to improved health outcomes and equips them with the necessary skills and knowledge to make informed choices throughout their lives.

The multi-sectoral approach ensures that a wide range of perspectives and expertise are considered in the development and implementation of health programmes for adolescents and youth. This procedure allows for a holistic understanding of the various factors that influence adolescent and youth health, including social, economic, and cultural determinants. By incorporating input from different sectors such as education, healthcare, and government, the forum aims to create comprehensive strategies that address the diverse needs of adolescents and youth. This multi-sectoral engagement is critical to achieving the health sector’s 10-year plan as well as meeting the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) by 2030.

Dr. Ergoge Tesfaye, Minister of Women and Social Affairs, delivered a keynote speech emphasising the importance of prioritising the health and well-being of adolescents and youth in Ethiopia. She emphasised the importance of awareness, education, and collaboration among healthcare providers, educators, and community organisations in order to create a supportive environment for healthy behaviours and accessible resources. Dr. Ergoge calls for collaboration and coordinated efforts to address the specific health needs and challenges faced by adolescents and youth. The coordinated effort should include comprehensive sexual and reproductive health education, mental health support, and access to quality healthcare services. By prioritising the health and well-being of adolescents and youth, we can empower them to make informed decisions about their own health and ultimately contribute to a healthier society. This can be achieved through initiatives such as peer support programmes, youth-friendly healthcare facilities, and inclusive policies that address the unique needs of this population.

Dr. Liya Tadesse, Minister of Health, stated, “Investing in the health and well-being of adolescents and youth is crucial for the overall development of our society. By providing comprehensive health education, mental health support, and access to quality healthcare services, we can equip young people with the knowledge and resources they need to lead healthy lives. This will not only benefit them individually but also have a positive impact on the future of our nation.” Dr. Liya emphasised the potential of digital healthcare services to improve accessibility and effectiveness for adolescents and youth. By leveraging technology, personalised health information can be provided, remote consultations can be offered, and digital platforms can raise awareness about health issues. Adolescent and youth-friendly health services should offer comprehensive sexual and reproductive health education, contraception access, and confidential mental health services. These should be tailored to their needs, ensuring active participation in healthcare decisions. Partnerships with schools, community organisations, and peer support networks can enhance accessibility.

Dr. Dagmawit Workagegnehu (MD), a project officer at DSW, presented “Serving the Underserved: Improving the SRH of Vulnerable Working Youth,” emphasising the need for targeted interventions and comprehensive services to address the unique barriers faced by vulnerable working youth in accessing sexual and reproductive health services. She highlighted the importance of tailoring programmes to the unique needs of working youth and the role of peer education and awareness campaigns in empowering young individuals to make informed decisions about their health. Dr. Dagmawit noted that the expansion of industrial parks, flower farms, and factories has attracted a large number of young workers, >85% of whom are women. This influx of young female workers has created a pressing need for sexual and reproductive health services that specifically cater to their needs. Dagmawit emphasised the significance of providing comprehensive information on contraception, STI prevention, and other SRH services to ensure the well-being and autonomy of these vulnerable working youth. Dr. Dagmawit said, “DSW has been working on three pillars at work places: demand creation, creating access, and an enabling environment. These pillars aim to address the unique challenges faced by working youth in accessing sexual and reproductive health services. By creating awareness and generating demand for these services, DSW is empowering these youths to take control of their own health and well-being. Additionally, by advocating for an enabling environment that supports their access to SRH services, DSW is working towards ensuring that these working youth can exercise their autonomy and make informed decisions about their reproductive health.”

Mr. Tesfaye Felaha, DSW’s program manager, also underlined the need for creating safe spaces, particularly for women and girls, with the aim of effectively preventing and addressing gender-based violence. Mr. Felaha’s presentation highlighted the WGFS established by DSW as a successful approach to creating safe environments for women and girls. These spaces provide a supportive and empowering atmosphere where survivors can access essential services, receive counseling, and participate in skill-building activities. Additionally, WGFS also serves as a platform for community engagement and awareness-raising on gender-based violence, fostering a collective effort towards prevention and response. The lesson learned from these WGFS is the importance of holistic and comprehensive approaches to addressing gender-based violence, which not only focus on providing immediate support to survivors but also work towards long-term prevention and societal change. Furthermore, the success of these spaces highlights the need for continued investment in resources and support systems that prioritize the safety and well-being of women and girls. The engagement of young women and girls in these spaces is crucial, as it empowers them to become leaders and advocates in their communities. This inclusivity also helps to break the cycle of violence by promoting education, awareness, and empowerment among future generations.

Dr. Meseret Zelalem, Child, Adolescent, and Youth Health Lead Executive Officer at the Ministry of Health, stressed the importance of engaging adolescents and youth in health decision-making processes. She called for multi-sectoral partnerships to address complex factors like education, employment, gender equality, and social determinants of health, including marginalised populations. Dr. Meseret also emphasised the need for ongoing research and data collection to inform evidence-based policies and interventions that specifically target the unique health needs of adolescents and youth. In her concluding remark, Dr. Meseret underscored the importance of empowering adolescents and youth to advocate for their own health, involving their experiences in policy-making, and tailoring interventions for improved health outcomes. The key directions put forth by Dr. Meseret are the strengthening of partnerships between governments, non-governmental organisations, and other stakeholders to ensure a comprehensive approach to adolescent and youth health. This collaboration will enable the sharing of resources, expertise, and best practices to effectively address the multifaceted challenges faced by this population. Additionally, Dr. Meseret highlighted the significance of engaging with local communities and promoting youth-led initiatives to foster sustainable change and create a supportive environment for the health and well-being of adolescents and youth.

Photos: private

Deutsche Stiftung Weltbevölkerung (DSW)

DSW Ethiopia Shares its Good Practices at an Annual CSO-Week

Blog | 14. June 2023

Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) in Ethiopia celebrated the annual “CSO-Week 2023” at Ghion Hotel in Addis Ababa from 7-9 June 2023. The event took place under the aegis of the Authority for Civil Society Organization (ACSO), a government entity overseeing all registered non-governmental organisations operating in Ethiopia. The three-day annual gathering entertained a host of activities, including exhibitions, bazaar, conference and panel discussions on topical development issues.
The event, which was organised by the Civil Society Organization Council (CSOC) on behalf of ACSO, saw more than seventy-five CSOs exhibiting their good practices and sharing experiences at the high-profile networking platform. This year’s CSO-Week was organised for the third time in a row and the bustling visitors, including government stakeholders and other public members, remained at the event all day.

The slogan of this year’s CSO-Week was “Proactive CSOs for Sustainable Peace, Human Rights and Good Governance”. At the opening day conference, Jimma Dilbo, Director General of ACSO, acknowledged the increase in the number of CSOs participating at the event this year compared to the previous two years. He noted that the well-spirited CSOs camped at Ghion Hotel under the large makeshift shed in which many booths were installed to demonstrate their synergised roles and practices in development partnerships. “Our objectives to gather here for the next three days merit the shared commitments toward proactive engagements in bringing sustainable peace, ensuring human rights and good governance in Ethiopia at all level”, Jimma said at the conference.

The conclusion of a half-day conference drew officials from the federal government accompanied by the ACSO’s Director General and representative from the CSOC, chief organiser of the event, to the exhibition areas where each CSO displayed varieties materials and products in a bazaar style. The interaction and networking efforts between visitors and exhibitors continued for most of the day.

The next two days saw a host of other activities engaging the government stakeholders, public members and representatives of the CSOs in panel discussions on sexual and reproductive health right issues and other related topics at separate venues. DSW Ethiopia was represented by its country director, Feyera Assefa, who participated at one of the panel discussions where the thematic focus was relevant to DSW’s works. Panelists comprised speakers from the David & Lucile Packard Foundation, Marie Stopes International (MSI) and Pathfinder.

The panel discussions included “Investing in Reproductive Health (RH) Services within the Framework of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).” In light of the fact that utilisation of contraceptives among currently married women stood at 41 percent in 2019, up from 14 percent in 2005 (Mini-EDHS, 2019), the rate at which the achievement was attained tripled in the course of two and half decades. According to sources presented at Kigali Conference by the Ministry of Planning and Development (2022) citing the EDHS data, the contraceptive prevalence rate in Ethiopia is projected to exceed the 50 percent mark by 2024 – 2025, that is, five years shy from the SDGs ultimate achievements.

Although Ethiopia’s performance in the SDGs progress as far as SRH and family planning services are concerned appears very encouraging, the panelists noted that there are still tens of thousands young women whose family planning (FP) needs remain unmet, resulting in many of them being forced to drop out of school. This is why the crucial role of civil society organisations in gender mainstreaming at all levels is important to emphasis. Moreover, particular focus is needed on the growing industrial parks where across the country over 85,000 youth work with that majority of the workforce comprising young people aged 19 – 28.

The response among the CSOs, including DSW whose workplace intervention targeting the youth working at various industrial parks in the efforts to address their SRH/FP needs make a lot of differences. This is mainly because more than 90 percent of the workers in this particular sector constitute young women.

Despite the challenges, Ethiopia is on the right course regarding the SDGs. Therefore, while evaluating how the country came along so far, the lessons can be drawn from not only what was attained as good practice but also from the shortfalls. The same way the sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR) contribute to the attainment of SDGs, as the SDGs complement to the progress of SRHR, according to the panelists. The rationale behind the need for strengthening synergies among CSOs and government stakeholders focusing on the SRHR in relation to the SDGs has more to do with the level of progressive achievement attained in spite of challenges faced as the SDGs go along.

Barely a year lapsed after the U.N in 2015 has set a fifteen-year development program under the platform of Sustainable Development Goals, when what was phrased by the development practitioners as the “Quadruple-Shock” befell Ethiopia, the panelists articulate. Since 2016, the first shock wave gripped the country with revolutionary mood as the protest movement exacerbated that led to the tumultuous political transition through 2018. The second and third shocks born out of the COVID-19 pandemic and the climate change impact contributed its fair share of the shock that stifled resources that were meant to go for SDGs. The fourth one came after the Russian-Ukraine conflict in February 2022 escalated to a full-scale war that forced the diversion of resources, which would have been leveraged through official development assistance (ODA).

These challenging circumstances have driven this year’s event differently from those of the past as the advocacy efforts for domestic resources to underpin the development programs were given particular emphasis.
The third annual CSO-Week event at which DSW has always participated helps CSOs exhibit their good practices among government stakeholders and other development practitioners not only to further strengthen their network for partnerships but also to advocate for leveraging resources from local sources.

Photos: private

Esayas Gebre-Meskel

Donors Oversee SAfA’s Program in Ethiopia

Blog | 05. December 2022

From 7 to 9 November, a team of donors, represented by the German Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) along with the Stiftungallianz für Afrika gGmbH (SAfA), visited three projects, which are synergized under a shared programmatic outcome located in seven different sites in the Amhara region. One of these projects focuses on sexual and reproductive health, which is the key thematic area of DSW Ethiopia. The program also embraces the same number of implementing areas in the Oromia region. The projects visited are part of a four-year bound conjoining program nominally managed between three separate but implementing partners.

Merawi, a town located 20 kilometers east of Bahir Dar was one of the first destinations of the visit. Meftihe Youth SRH club hosted the first visit during which the leadership team explained and answered questions raised from their inquisitive guests.

Cascading the capacity development efforts in SRH and family planning issues through trained peer educators along with a series of peer-led discussion and referral links facilitation were revealed as the core activities of the club. The two donor representatives curiously asked how the youth club leaders conduct the activities promoting SRH issues without the challenge faced by the community members. In an interactive discussion, the youth club leaders reconfirmed the challenges that were present at the initial stage of the project. The club leaders further reassured the donors “as the advocacy efforts intent on creating an enabling environment with the involvement of Woreda/District Advisory Committee (WAC) steadily drew the roles of elders and religious leaders, among others, the community members eventually started to work with us and strongly cooperate with the change agents who are also volunteers at the youth club.”

The change agents, who were selected among female members of the Youth SRH club and conveniently work in collaboration with the health extension workers (HEWs) received specific trainings by DSW. Their core activities focus on pre-scheduled visits to the households where married adolescent girls and young women can be reached out through a home-to-home visitation for SRH information and service provision. These change agents conduct their activities to mobilize community SRH/FP service provision. Just as in the youth SRH clubs or youth empowerment centers, the change agents can facilitate referral links during their home-to-home visits of female households. They also use the information directory for quick reference of knowledge on SRH/FP issues and give information on outreach activities. This strategy ripples across all project sites and has been able to mobilize a significant number of young women who would have been hard to reach through other activities for enabling them to have access to SRH/FP information and services. Most are prescribed family planning services of their own choice with referral slips issued on their behalves by the change agents.

As part of the efforts to create a sense of ownership by community and government stakeholders alike, the tripartite agreements on the projects in the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) form are signed by DSW, multi-sectoral-based relevant local government offices and the youth SRH clubs. By the same virtue, the Youth Agricultural Groups (YAG), the catalytic strategy of the HRNS’s part of the project to implement the livelihood aspects, has undergone similar processes using a multi-sectoral approach.

The two visiting donors inquired how in practice these three projects integrate a synergized outcome of the overall program. The three implementing partners in their respective expertise undertake different projects with specific outcomes. While DSW focuses on enhancing the sexual and reproductive health needs of young people, including materials supports and capacity development for health facilities, HRNS Ethiopia (Hanns R. Neumann Stiftung) engages in improving the livelihood prospects (in the agriculture sector) of youth and the EMF (Elias Melaka Foundation) intervenes in developing the food chain, logistics and market.

In a response to the general concern raised by the donors about the practicality of the synergetic connection of the project, Abebe Demisu, Program and Projects Department Manager with DSW explained that “each activity overlaps across the three projects in terms of benefiting different target groups of young people. The SRH/FP information needs of the whole target groups can be addressed by DSW’s intervention that makes the young people healthy and productive in their livelihood prospects. By the virtue of engaging the young people in peer-led discussion focusing on SRH topics and cascading these across the target groups, the uptake of services among them quickly increases. Much the same, the agricultural produces harvested by the specific target group need to get better market networks, understand the food chain processes and gain access to safe logistic mechanism. All these activities are interlinked using one means or another to enhance the sexual and reproductive health and livelihood prospects of young people in Ethiopia. Capacity development of the young people in SRH, enhanced farming model, entrepreneurship skills, and market intelligence remain a cross cutting effort.”

When asked by the visiting teams what the young people may have envisioned henceforth, the fast reactions came forth concerning budget. The youth’s expressed that if more budgets siphoned through the projects, the expansion of the young people’s livelihood prospects would have reached to a new high.

Retorting to their obvious expectation, Desalegn Eyob, Country Director of HRNS Ethiopia, gently reminded the youth about the exceptional opportunities that the eight billion world population brought in for people who engage in agriculture-related income-generating activities. Eight billion people around the world need to eat, at least, three times daily. Thus, the future lucrative business industry will belong to agriculture. “Part of the income generated from there grains should be used for reinvestment for expansion of a business model. Do not inflate your expectation from others, for the future has a great potential to enhance your livelihood prospects. Just work hard and keep going about it,” Desalegn advised.

The donors accompanied by the DSW and HRNS teams ended their visit with a tour of projects in Finote-Selam, including youth groups farming corn over two hectares of land, a youth SRH club, a public health center where referral services are linked, and the office premises housing DSW’s, HRNS’s and EMF’s core projects’ staff members.

Photos: private

Esayas Gebre-Meskel

DSW Ethiopia pilots woman & girls friendly spaces

Blog | 08. November 2022

Two friendly spaces for women and girls to access safe, psychosocial, as well as sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR) services were established in Dilla town of the Gedeo Zone in SNNP region and Bule-Hora town in West Guji Zone of the Oromia region. Both of these towns were recently affected by internal conflict. Although this is a new experience for DSW Ethiopia, the organisation has continued to address vulnerable communities by piloting women’s and girls’ friendly spaces (WGFS) even in hard-to-reach areas where the aftermaths of conflict have resulted in psychosocial problems, including gender-based violence (GBV) against many more women and girls.

Three DSW staff members inaugurated the two newly installed “Women’s and Girls’ Friendly Spaces (WGFS)”. WGFS is a subsumed program in an intervention called “Integrated Program on SRH and Family Planning among Young People” funded by the UNFPA Ethiopia and the Korean International Cooperation Agency (KOICA). The outlets serve women and girls as a meeting point where they can discuss issues that affect them and their own needs. They also manage to keep matters between and among themselves confidential as they promote their rights and the WGFS.

This WGFS is established inside the premises of the health center where the youth-friendly service (YFS) is located adjacent. The two Women and Girls Friendly Spaces provide services with two voluntary social workers assigned in each outlet. Courtesy of the young volunteers, survivors of gender-based violence receive psychosocial support and counseling so that they can make informed decisions to pursue their cases in the court or even seek out access to medical attention.

“While the WGFS and YFS are conveniently found in close proximity, there are also outlets called “One-Stop-Centers” where professional psychosocial counselors, advanced healthcare providers and legal professionals, including law enforcement officers have offices within the same compound and can be referred to by the social workers who offer psychological first-aid services at the WGFS for further supports. These One-Stop-Centers, which we work in partnership with, were supported by DSW with motorbikes and other need-based accessories”, exclaimed Abebe Demisu, Program and Projects Department Manager with DSW Ethiopia.

“In as much as we are intent on committing to creating an enabling environment for women and girls’ empowerment and their SRH rights, setting up a friendly and safe space for women and girls is a vital extension of our strategy in response to address, among other related issues, the gender-based violence in more different ways than already exist,” says Feyera Assefa, Country Director of DSW Ethiopia. He further asserted the importance of psychosocial support for and by women and girls in a most convenient and exclusive environment where other SRH needs can also be aligned to the service provision outlets such as these being built with the financial supports of UNFPA and KOICA.

According to UNFPA, the women and girls safe space is a tailored strategy to uplift the intended beneficiaries based on five objectives: Women and girls can socialize and rebuild their social networks; receive social support; acquire contextual relevant skills; access safe and multi-sectorial GBV response services (which includes psychosocial, legal and medical); and last but not least, they also receive information on issues related to women’s rights, health and services.

“Erecting these structures alone,” referring to the two newly constructed units for WGFS, Feyera underscores “would only become a piled up concrete, if it remains without serving the intended purposes. Let’s give it the meaning worth of being there as DSW has furbished them with essential office equipment such as television sets, tables, chairs, file cabinets and materials used for coffee ceremonies. I must encourage the young people particularly and those of the government stakeholders to display the same spirit in which most of you who were forthcoming to support the construction of these structures in maintaining the service provision most importantly so by including the GBV responses at Women and Girls Friendly Spaces.”

Citing the Ethiopian Demographic and Survey (EDHS, 2016), in their systematic literature reviews of GBV in Ethiopia, E. Schmidt, & et al., (2018) have incorporated that “GBV continues to be a pervasive national issue in Ethiopia. As a result, 33 percent of women and girls ages 15-49 had ever experienced emotional and physical or sexual violence.”

“The prevalence of GBV and other related social problems such as the issues of SRH faced by women and girls in Ethiopia require a concerted response from multi-sectorial stakeholders. One of which responses being in terms of assessing the enforcement capacities of the relevant laws and policies in line with the provision of women and girls friendly spaces that we have responsively set forth,” emphasizes Abebe.

Social Impact INC., a book publisher posted an online literature review in 2018 and stated that “there are numerous laws and policies in Ethiopia that outlaw most forms of GBV, the most thorough of which includes the international declarations to which Ethiopia is a signatory and its current Constitution and the Criminal Code. However, there are significant gaps in the laws, primarily surrounding domestic violence and marital rape. Furthermore, the majority of the laws, such as those penalizing female genital mutilation (FGM) and child marriage, are rarely enforced to their fullest extent.” This is due in part to a lack of motivation on the part of the justice system and law enforcement system.”

One of the stalwart advocates of women’s and girls’ empowerment program, the UNFPA epicenters the thematic of humanitarian services in the ability of creating safe and friendly spaces for women and girls in conflict-prone areas to respond to GBV and their needs for other supports in their psychosocial wellbeing and SRH services.

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