Women right’s activism from 1991- 2009By Semhal Fessehaye, Setaweet Intern (Kiremt 2017)

September 2017 (with information updated in February 2019)Introduction

In the period after the fall of the Derg Regime, and the beginning of the decades-long rule of the Ethiopian People’s Republic Democratic Front (EPRDF), activism for women’s equality was still present in various ways and means. Many historians believe that this time is the rise of contemporary understanding of women’s rights in Ethiopia. Women being part of the revolutionary force that struggled to take down the Derg regime challenged the gender norms and women ’s public role in their community. On top of their contribution in the armed struggle, the shift to a semi-democratic political system in 1991 offered a suitable space for the adoption of gender equality in Ethiopia. The Human Rights enshrined in the constitution served as a springboard for a new wave of activism in Ethiopia. Amongst them was the Right of Association, which led to the emergence of various organizations, and associations to work in women’s rights area. Many women’s rights advocates, activists and developmental NGO and Civil society emerged during this period. Whilst this new space for identities in civil society activism was largely urban, as in many other countries, it was significant and led to gender politics reaching the national political agenda, reflecting similar successes across Africa.1

This brief research analyzes the change made for women by the official shift to semi-democratic politics. It also looks into the new wave of activism that begun in this period until the Charities and Societies Proclamation (2009) arrested the new wave of association-centric activism in Ethiopia.

1. What were the dominant changes made by the new government?

As the armed struggle liberated Addis Ababa in 1991, a shift to an officially democratic political structure began in Ethiopia. 2 In July 1991, a transitional charter was endorsed at a national conference. 3 The conference undertook to establish a multi-party electoral system. The charter expressed a broad commitment to democratic rights, including the rights of the different nations in Ethiopia.

Socialist policies were abandoned and in August 1995, the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia (FDRE) was proclaimed; a series of elections followed and the Constitution of the second republic was inaugurated. The Constitution provides basic democratic principles like separation of powers, independence of the judiciary, for popular participation in government and for transparency and accountability in its activities. 4

The new Ethiopian Constitution is based on the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and officially gives full recognition to the rights and liberties of people and individuals, including the Rights of Women. Article 35 guarantees equality between the sexes. Grounding on the constitution, many policies and laws were then declared.

1.1. Major Policies by the new government regarding women’s rights

1 Gemma Burgess, A Hidden History: Women's Activism in Ethiopia, Jul-20132 Ibid3 Ibid4 Gemma Burgess, A Hidden History: Women's Activism in Ethiopia, Jul-2013

The government of Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia (Ethiopia) has issued numerous Policies to implement the enshrined constitutional guarantee for gender equality and correct generational gender discrimination in Ethiopia. There are policy issued in specific to realize gender equality in Ethiopia and several policies that are adopted to rehabilitate the social and economic infrastructure and create an environment for sustainable development but have women right issues at heart. We will henceforth see the major ones.

a. The National Policy of Ethiopian WomenThe National Ethiopian Women’s Policy that was enacted in 1993 has mapped out the problems of Ethiopian women in all fields of development and identified the patriarchal system as the root cause that exposed women to political, economic and social discrimination, reinforced by traditional practices that give credence to cultural/religious norms and values over women ’s human rights.5 The policy has indicated the status of women in relation to their roles of sustaining the household that consequently hampers their access to social services, public affairs, access to and control over property; the plight of women accrued to harmful traditional practices has been identified as an area that needs a concerted effort by all stakeholders. 6

This policy primarily aims to institutionalize the political, economical and social rights of women by creating an appropriate structure in government offices and institutions so that the public policies and interventions are gender-sensitive and can ensure equitable development for all Ethiopian men and women.7

The Government of Ethiopia in 1995, under its new constitution, renewed its commitment towards this policy. The government initiated an ambitious and extensive process of regionalization, whereby new regional boundaries were demarcated and administrative powers devolved to regional governments, which were authorized to implement all development policies.8 This represented a departure from the earlier practice of centralized project management by ministries.9

b. National Plan of Action for Gender- Equality (NAP-GE)

5 FINAL REPORT, ETHIOPIA: Country Gender Profile, December 2006 ,WABEKBON Development Consultant PLC6 Ibid7 UN : Women Watch , Ethiopia National Action Plan, accessed at : http://www.un.org/womenwatch/confer/beijing/national/ethiopia.htm8 “World Bank. 1998. Gender Issues in Ethiopia : Implementing the National Policy on Women. Africa Region Findings & Good Practice Infobriefs; No. 119. Washington, DC. © World Bank. https://openknowledge.worldbank.org/handle/10986/9885 License: CC BY 3.0 IGO.”9 “World Bank. 1998. Gender Issues in Ethiopia : Implementing the National Policy on Women. Africa Region Findings & Good Practice Infobriefs; No. 119. Washington, DC. © World Bank. https://openknowledge.worldbank.org/handle/10986/9885 License: CC BY 3.0 IGO.”

The National Plan of Action for Gender Equality was prepared in congruence to the Plan of Action for Sustainable Development and Eradication of Poverty (PASDEP) development direction hence agreeable to be incorporated in the implementation process of PASDEP. 10 The difficulty of women was assessed and major gaps were identified. Amongst the problems was their vulnerability to poverty; lack of access to and control over critical resources and ownership of property including lack of decision-making rights; their extended labor time and workload; their vulnerability to traditional harmful practices; low status of women and being considered as subservient to men’s needs and interest regardless of the consequences on the health or psychological conditions; low girls Gross Enrolment Ratio (GER) rate and high HIV infection rates; and absence of appropriate and viable institutional mechanisms have been recognized as serious constraints to the implementation of policies that have hampered efforts towards gender equality.11 To curb these and empower women the following were identified as strategies of achieving gender equality: 12

(i) Promotion of women’s participation in development economic policies(ii) improving the lives of women and reducing their work load are areas given priority, while

developing and implementing a guideline on environmental management and women in pastoral areas

(iii) Increasing girl’s access to education (iv) Strengthening non-formal education program for women(v) Eradication of traditional practices harmful to women’s health; (vi) Improving health care

services; (vii) Implementing gender-sensitive HIV/AIDS prevention (vi) Carry out massive and systematic training and awareness campaigns on national laws,

policies as well as international on gender equalityAs it can be seen, many important issues were raised in light of the multiple problems that Ethiopian women faced in that time.

C. Plan for Accelerated and Sustainable Development to End Poverty (PASDEP 2005/2006-9/10)

The main development objective of the Ethiopian Government is poverty eradication. Hence, the country's development policies and strategies are geared towards this end. The PASDEP represents the second phase of the Poverty Reduction Strategy Program (PRSP) process, which has begun under the Sustainable Development and Poverty Reduction Program (SDPRP), which covered the past three years, 2002/03-2004/05.13

The Sustainable Development and Poverty Reduction Program pursued by the Government placed a strong emphasis on the participation of women in the development process; polices and strategies which were formulated to integrate and mainstream the gender dimensions in economic, social, and political decisions. Hence, the Government opted to take strong measures in placing gender responsive goals and targets to reduce the workload of women to enable them to participate in political and socio-economic decision-making.14 Accordingly, Chapter four of this Strategy document gave due attention to gender equality by

10 FINAL REPORT, ETHIOPIA: Country Gender Profile, December 2006 ,WABEKBON Development Consultant PLC11 Ibid12 Ibid13 Ministry of Finance and Economic Development (MoFED), “ Ethiopia: Building on Progress :A Plan for Accelerated and Sustained Development to End Poverty (PASDEP) (2005/06-2009/10)”, Volume I: Main Text ,September, 2006, p1514 Ministry of Finance and Economic Development (MoFED), “ Ethiopia: Building on Progress :A Plan for Accelerated and Sustained Development to End Poverty (PASDEP) (2005/06-2009/10)”, Volume I: Main

the saying “Unleashing the potential of Ethiopia’s 35 million women is central to the PASDEP strategy”.15 PASDEP aimed to liberate women from low productivity tasks, and increasing their participation in the workforce and social and political process of the country. The measures to achieve this include the major push to increase girls ’ and women’s education, to improve access to water supply and sanitation, to focus on services related to mothers and women’s health, and to adopt agricultural programs and technical and vocational training to the needs of women. 16 Safeguarding rights such as access to land, credit, and other productive resources were also vital to the strategy.17

Targets aimed at alleviating poverty like increasing contraceptive prevalence rate, and child-delivery attended by skilled attendants, decreasing teenage pregnancy and unsafe abortion, integrating the National Women Policy as well as the NAP –GE are supportive to the promotion of gender equality by relieving women of their burden and promoting empowerment.18

c. Health polices The 1993 health policy gave priority to women’s and children’s health. It emphasized family health services by assuring adequate maternal health care and referral facilities for high- risk pregnancies.19

The 1998 HIV/AIDS policy also recognized the increased vulnerability of women and youth to the infection as well as gender inequality as a contributing factor to its spread. 20It recommended women to have better access to information and to empower women so their involvement in decision-making would increase. This policy acknowledged for women and youth to be the main parties in planning strategies of prevention. Sex workers were also given priority in awareness creation and education campaigns planned. 21

d. Education Policy The Ethiopian Education and Training policy was issued in 1941. Following the Education policy, three Education Sector Development Programs (ESDP) were developed for translating the policy statement into action.22 The program goals relating to gender equity include: Increasing primary enrolment ratio, increase girls’ share of enrolment in primary schools; Improve the quality of educational facilities and improving teachers training; Reform the curriculum to make it relevant and gender sensitive; reduce the dropout rate and repetition rate of girls by half, and increase the number of schools especially in rural areas.23 ESDP III that runs from 2005/06-2009/10 was a program to implement the Education and

Text ,September, 2006, p1515 FINAL REPORT, ETHIOPIA: Country Gender Profile, December 2006 ,WABEKBON Development Consultant PLC16 Ibid17 Ibid18 Ibid19 FINAL REPORT, ETHIOPIA: Country Gender Profile, December 2006 ,WABEKBON Development Consultant PLC20 FINAL REPORT, ETHIOPIA: Country Gender Profile, December 2006 ,WABEKBON Development Consultant PLC21 Ibid22 Ibid23 Ibid

Training Policy; with targets for improved access, quality, efficiency, and equity. It was designed to achieve equality in admission and completion of school. A number of steps are outlined to achieve equality including the placement of contextually relevant measures to prevent social and cultural barriers to girls’ education; creating girls-friendly environment; providing curricular, textbooks, and teaching materials that are free of gender bias; ensuring presence of female role models as teachers, head teachers, and managers encouraging girls to join non-traditional fields in Technical Vocational Education and Training (TVET) programs; and continuing affirmative action in Teacher Training Institute (TTIs) andTeacher Training College (TTCs). For example, girls still in school and those wanting to return were supported by being given school materials and those who finished high school were admitted to higher education with a lower GPA than men’s. There were also other programs that promoted education and delay marriage in rural.one of the programs were called “Berhane Hewan” which involved motivating parents of unmarried girls by giving them goats if they agree not to marry their daughter during the two-year program.24 The intervention increased school attendance and delayed marriage for girls aged 10 to 14 years.

e. Food Security StrategyThe food security strategy envisaged provision of seeds, fertilizers, and agricultural tools to poor farmers and extended credit services to destitute women to help them develop sustainable livelihood through cooperatives and other private sector initiatives; improving nutrition for children under five years of age, pregnant and lactating mothers was within the development objectives of the strategy. 25

f. Micro and Small Enterprise (MSE) This development strategy in 1997 was created in response to the importance of addressing gender-based inequalities in access to credit, business services and training technology and information. However, there is little evidence of concrete policy measures or programs to address the particular barriers faced by women- owned MSEs, and virtually no provision has been made to facilitate growth-oriented women entrepreneurs. 26

g. Water Sector Development Strategy The 1999 Ethiopian Water Resources Management Policy and the 2001 Ethiopian Water Sector Strategy were designed with the objectives of “making clean drinking water available” and “water sanitation purpose” for both urban and rural community and incorporate gender mainstreaming as one of its components.27 Their purpose was to relieve women from the burden of collecting water from long distances and to enhance active participation of women by involving them in community based water management projects through increased capacity building.28

24 Erulkar, Annabel; Muthengi, E., "Evaluation of Berhane Hewan: a pilot program to promote education and delay marriage in rural Ethiopia". International Perspectives on Sexual and Reproductive Health.25 Ibid26 Ibid27 Ibid28 FINAL REPORT, ETHIOPIA: Country Gender Profile, December 2006,WABEKBON Development Consultant PLC

1.2. Institutional framework for women in Ethiopia After 1991Since the government of Ethiopia issued a federal state structure, the institutions are found both on a federal and regional level. The Ministry of Women ’s Affairs (MOWA) has been established at the Federal level. Similarly, Women’s Affairs Bureaus (WAB) were established at regional level in all the regions in Ethiopia. At Zonal and district levels, the women’s affairs offices were also established.

a. Federal institutions a. The Ministry of Women’s Affairs

The Ministry of Women’s Affairs (MoWA) was established in October 2005 by proclamation No. 471/2005. The ministry is entrusted with the responsibility of initiating recommendation ns on the protection of the rights and interest of women at national level and follow-up their implementation; ensuring the gender sensitivity of policies, legislations development programs of the federal government; ensuring the creation of that opportunities for women to take part in development process; identifying discriminatory practices that affect women and submitting recommendation to its effect; submitting recommendations on the application of affirmative measures; ensuring that adequate attention is given to place women to decision-making positions in various government organs and undertaking studies to promote the well-being of mothers and children and implanting the same in cooperation with other organs etc. 29

b. Women's Affairs Departments (WAD) in Federal Offices The women's affairs departments are entities designed in Ministries, Commissions, Agencies or Authorities, whose main function is the mainstreaming of gender in the formulation and implementation of development plans in their respective institutions. The general objectives of the WADs were derived from the national policy on women, and the specific objectives formulated by harmonizing the objectives of a specific institution, with those of the national policy. The Women’s Affairs Standing Committee of the Council of Peoples Representatives is the other institutional machinery established to oversee the inclusion of women ’s interest and needs in policies and laws enacted by the Parliament. Each parliamentarian Standing Committee has a women member so that women’s issues will be tabled in the deliberation of the committees. There seems a deliberate move of assigning a woman deputy chairperson to most standing committees as well.

c. Women’s Affairs at Regional levels The women’s affairs structure was established at regional, zonal, Wereda and Kebele levels, all linked only informally, and each having a line of command with their respective Administrative bodies (council at regional, Woreda, and Kebele levels).30 WABs were designed to mainstreaming gender in development plans and implementation in their respective regions. Woreda and Kebele offices have the same objectives as the above structures.31

b. Other Relevant Organizations to women’s issues a. Institute of Gender Study

Institute of Gender Studies (IGS) which succeeded Center for Research Training and Information on Women in Development (CERTWID) was established by Addis Ababa University and is engaged in training qualified professionals in gender issues at graduate level, further the institute is conducting research, collects and document material on gender issues and made them available to users. 32 It also

29 Proc. No. 471/200530 FINAL REPORT, ETHIOPIA: Country Gender Profile, December 2006 ,WABEKBON Development Consultant PLC31 Ibid

encourages university staff and students of all levels to write their graduation papers on gender related issues.

b. Women Initiatives Development Fund (WIDF) The Women Development Initiative Fund was established in 2001 to support women who live in rural areas to engage in income generating activities in micro economic activity. 33 The project was established through the joint funding of Ethiopian and the Italian government.34

1.3. Legislations pertaining women rights a. International legal framework

Ethiopia has adopted many international human rights instruments that incorporate women ’s rights as a human right. Here are the few adopted in this time frame.

a. Beijing platform of Action (BPA)The Beijing Platform for Action is the principal international action plan on women ’s rights. It contains a section on women in power and decision-making, which states that women’s empowerment, autonomy of women and the improvement of women’s’ social, economic and political status is essential for the achievement of both transparent and accountable government and administration and sustainable development in all areas of life. 35

The fundamental transformation that took place in Beijing was the recognition of the need to shift the focus from women to the concept of gender, recognizing that the entire structure of society, and all relations between men and women within it, had to be re-evaluated.

Only by such a fundamental restructuring of society and its institutions could women be fully empowered to take their rightful place as equal partners with men in all aspects of life. This change represented a strong reaffirmation that women's rights are human rights and that gender equality was an issue of universal concern, benefiting all.

The legacy of the Beijing Conference was to be that it sparked a renewed global commitment to the empowerment of women everywhere and drew unprecedented international attention. 36 The Conference where Ethiopia was well-represented, unanimously adopted the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action, which was in essence an agenda for women's empowerment and stands as a milestone for the advancement of women in the twenty-first century.37

The Platform for Action specified twelve critical areas of concern considered to represent the main obstacles to women's advancement and which required concrete action by Governments and civil society: Women and poverty Education and training of women; Women and health; Violence against women; Women and armed conflict; Women and the economy; Women in power and decision-making; Institutional mechanisms for the advancement of women; Human rights of women; Women and the media and finally, Women and the environment.

32 FINAL REPORT, ETHIOPIA: Country Gender Profile, December 2006 WABEKBON Development Consultant PLC33 Ibid34 Ibid35 Medhanit Adamu & Sofanit Mekonnen, Gender and the Law, a teaching material, Prepared under the Sponsorship of the Justice and Legal System Research Institute, 2009.36 Medhanit Adamu & Sofanit Mekonnen, Gender and the law teaching material, Prepared under the Sponsorship of the Justice and Legal System Research Institute, 2009.37 Ibid

By adopting the Beijing Platform for Action, governments committed themselves to the effective inclusion of a gender dimension throughout all their institutions, policies, planning and decision-making. What this in effect meant was that before decisions were to be made or plans to be implemented, an analysis should always be made of the effects on, and needs of, both women and men. 38

The introduction of gender mainstreaming called for the re-examination of society in its entirety and its basic structure of inequality. 39 The focus was, therefore, no longer limited to women and their status in society but was committed to restructuring institutions and political and economic decision-making in society as a whole.

In endorsing the Platform for Action, the United Nations General Assembly called upon all States, the UN system and other international organizations, as well as NGOs and the private sector to take action to implement its recommendations.40

b. Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR)While not a treaty itself, the Declaration was explicitly adopted for defining the meaning of the words "fundamental freedoms" and "human rights" appearing in the United Nations Charter, which is binding on all member states. For this reason, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights is a fundamental constitutive document of the United Nations. Ethiopia has ratified both the UN Charter adopted in 1948 and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) in1949. Both these international instruments prohibit the negative discrimination of women based on their sex. The UDHR identifies targets and requires the promotion and protection of civil, political, economic, and social rights of people. However, while the UDHR prohibits all forms of discrimination based on sex, an additional instrument was necessary to accommodate the special situation and needs of women, and accelerate the process of closing the gap between men and women.

“The declaration under Article 21 recognized the right of every one, including both women and men, to take part in the government of their country, directly or through freely chosen representative.”

This Declaration is still binding on the current government of Ethiopia which has based many of its constitutional human right guarantees from UDHR.

c. International Covenant on Civil Political Rights(ICCPR)

The International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) is a multilateral treaty adopted by the United Nations General Assembly with resolution 2200A (XXI) on 19 December 1966, and in force from 23 March 1976 onwards. 41 Ethiopia however ratified this treaty years later in 1993.

Article 25 of ICCPR guarantees all citizens of state parties to the convention to take part in the conduct of public affairs without discrimination on the ground of, among others, sex. The provision further assures all citizens, men as well as women, to vote and to be elected at genuine public election.”

38 Ibid39 Ibid40 Ibid41

d. CEDAW Ethiopia Ratified he Convention on the Elimination of All forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) when it was adopted in1981.42 CEDAW outlines a variety of political, social, economic, and legislative issues that States have to work on to eliminate discrimination against women and create equality between men and women. It also reiterates that state parties will adopt the necessary measures to achieve the human rights of women identified in the Convention. CEDAW also discusses a procedure for reporting and follow up of the measures that States have taken in order to eliminate discrimination against women.43

b. Domestic laws a. The 1995 FDRE constitution

The Constitution adopted in 1995 by the FDRE has amplified the provisions given to women, and assures women of equal rights with men in every sphere. In addition, affirmative actions would be taken in order to remedy the sufferings of women because of past inequalities. It also reiterates the rights of women to own and administer property. The Constitution also assured women ’s rights to family planning services and to paid pre-and post-delivery maternity leaves. Since the ratification of the 1995 Constitution, a number of strides have been made in amending discriminatory laws. More recently, the pension benefits of women civil servants is given to their survivors, maternity leave has been extended from 45 days to four months for government employees, and the family law has been revised.

Article 25 of the new Constitution guarantees all persons equality before the law, and prohibits any discrimination on grounds of gender. In addition, Article 35 reiterates principles of equality of access to economic opportunities, including the right to equality in employment and land ownership.

The Federal Constitution of 1995 has unshelved the age old discriminatory laws and practices. The constitution in its Article 35 (3) took a historic measure on gender equality Further this provision has recognized women’s right to affirmative action and provides special attention to enable competition and participation in all spheres of life as well as exercise their democratic and human rights on equal grounds with men. Regional Constitutions which by and large resemble and operate within the general framework of the Federal constitution have also addressed the question of gender equality in detail.

42 Medhanit Adamu & Sofanit Mekonnen, Gender and the law teaching material, Prepared under the Sponsorship of the Justice and Legal System Research Institute, 2009.43 Ibid.

Ethiopian constitution- Article 35 - The Rights of Women This statute provides women with the same enjoyment of rights and protections enshrined in the constitution such as right to acquire, administer, control, use and transfer property; the right to use, transfer, administration and control of land; the right to enjoy inheritance of property; right to employment, promotion, pay, and the transfer of pension entitlement.It denoted equality in marriage and afford the right to access family planning education, information and capacity to women. Women by the virtue of this statue have a maternity leave with full pay as a right. The statute prohibits Laws, customs and practices that oppress or cause bodily or mental harm to women. To remedy such historical legacy of inequality and discrimination suffered by women, it a provides affirmative action to be taken in public and private.Women have the right to full consultation in the formulation of national development policies, the designing and execution of projects, and particularly in the case of projects affecting the interests of women.

b. Revised family code

The revised Federal Family Code enacted on 4 July 2000 (Proc. 213/2000) is a significant change in this time. The Revised Family Code deals with equality between sexes before, during and after marriage. As provided by the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia (FDRE) constitution, Regional States have their family laws. Thus far, Tigray, Amhara, Oromiya, and Southern Nations, Nationalities, People (SNNP) regions have issued their own Family Laws; most of these laws are similar with the federal family code, incorporating the underlying equality between two sexes as its core principle. They have also raised the minimum age for marriage to 18 years for both sexes.

c. Revised criminal code

The minimum punishment for rape is five years, whereas previously it was the payment of a camel. A new family code has been adopted by some of the regional states and a new criminal code has come into effect.

As a party to the Convention on the rights of a child, the Ethiopian Government has been revising legislation that does not tally with the provisions of the Convention. One crucial exercise on this front has been the revision of the Penal Code. An important inclusion in the revised Penal Code is the criminalization of female genital cutting/mutilation. Two other important steps were also taken in the upholding of human rights. Proclamation No. 210/2000 was enacted in July 2000 establishing the institution of the Ombudsman. The Human Rights Commission was also set up by Proclamation No. 210/2000.

d. Labor Law Proclamation

The Civil Service Proclamation of January 2002, cover issues of employment, salary, promotion, performance evaluation, training, leave and disciplinary measures. Under employment, it states that no discrimination shall be made on the basis of ethnic origin, sex, religion and political affiliation, and other grounds. In addition to this, the proclamation clearly stipulates that in the employment process, if two candidates a man and a woman have the qualification required for a position, preference will be given to the female candidate. There are also provisions given to female civil servants on maternity related issues.

The proclamation states that a pregnant civil servant shall be entitled to paid leave for a medical examination before delivery if recommended by a doctor. She will also be entitled to a paid leave of 30 days before delivery and 60 days after delivery. Finally, if she does not deliver on the presumed date she can get her annual leave after the 60 days of post-delivery leave. These provisions are supportive of female civil servants, but issues like training and promotion do not seem to take gender issues into account. The personnel statistics issued by the Civil Service Commission shows that, currently many of the training opportunities are utilized by men. These could be because female civil servants have less GPA upon graduation, a problem closely related to the economic, social, and cultural problems a woman encounters in attending and succeeding in education. Therefore, considering the gender related arrangement in our society, mechanisms need to be created to distribute promotions and training fairly among male and female civil servants. If gender issues are neglected in promotion and training the gender equality of the sexes that we are striving to attain will become a dream rather than reality.

e. Federal land use Administration lawsLand Use Administration Laws are all enacted in conformity to the constitutional laws (Article 5 and 10 of Proc. 89/97 of the Federal Land Administration Law) ensured equal rights of women in respect to the use, administration and control of land with respect to transferring and bequeathing holding rights. 44 In accordance to Labor and Public Service proclamations, women are not to be discriminated against as regards employment and payment on the grounds of sex; special protection is accorded to pregnant women (Labor Law: Proclamation 377/2003: Art. 87); No sex-based discrimination and female candidates are given preferential treatment to fill vacancies (Public Servants Proclamation 262/2002: Art. 13); and lastly, widows and widowers have been given equal status in pensions (Proc. 190/99) by amending Article 4 of the Public servant law of the 1962 that discriminated women concerning pension.45

f. Federal Land Use Administration Laws Land Use Administration Laws These laws are all enacted in conformity to the constitutional laws (Art. 5 and 10 of Proc. 89/97 of the Federal Land Administration Law) which ensure equal rights of women in respect to the use, administration and control of land with respect to transferring and bequeathing holding rights. In accordance to Proclamation of Rural Land No.42/75, land is the property of the People of Ethiopia, 44 FINAL REPORT, ETHIOPIA: Country Gender Profile, December 2006 ,WABEKBON Development Consultant PLC45 https://www.jica.go.jp/english/our_work/thematic_issues/gender/background/pdf/e06eth.pdf

where the government representing the people is assuming ownership of land, and entitles an individual farmer a usufruct right only. Nonetheless, the incumbent government has promulgated a Federal Rural Land Administration Proclamation No. 89/97 which has entitled farmers to use and transfer rural land but not sell it. Further, to the 1995 Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia Constitution under Article 35 that has entitled women to have the right to acquire, administer, control, use and transfer of property, this proclamation has explicitly stated that, women have equal rights with men with respect to use, transfer, administer and control of land as well as men farmers. The Federal Rural Land Administration Proclamation No.89/97 has provisions for gender sensitive regarding women’s equal access to land46. It states that the land administration law of a Region shall confirm the equal rights of women regarding the use, administration and control of land as well as in respect of transferring and bequeathing holding rights. 47 It also provides for women’s participation in decisions on land allocations. There are new regional initiatives that address some of the problems of rural women in terms of access to land. Land administration laws have been promulgated in Amhara, Oromia, SNNPR, and Tigray paying attention to women’s equal rights to land. For example, In Tigray, the proclamation states that a 22-year old male and a 16-year old female are entitled to get rural land at least for purposes of residence. 48 By so doing the legislations have given women equal rights with men with respect to use, administration and control of land.

2. The new wave of organizational activism in Ethiopia2.1. International organizations

United Nations organizations such as UNDP, UNICEF, WFP and the African Center for Women at the Economic Commission for Africa play an immense role in improving women ’s status in Ethiopia.49 The major focus of the UN organizations in improving women’s status include poverty reduction, promotion of equal rights of women and children, providing food aid for vulnerable women and children, mainstream gender, support the implementation of the UN resolutions, conventions concerning gender equality, advocacy and policy analysis for gender mainstreaming women support, and provide access to food, information dissemination on gender.50 In addition, bi-lateral organizations such as the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA) also play important roles in mainstreaming gender, governance and democracy, integration of women as full beneficiaries all CIDA funded projects. 51

2.2. Non- governmental organizations (NGO)

46 FINAL REPORT, ETHIOPIA: Country Gender Profile, December 2006 ,WABEKBON Development Consultant PLC47 Ibid48 Ibid49 FINAL REPORT, ETHIOPIA: Country Gender Profile, December 2006 ,WABEKBON Development Consultant PLC50 Ibid51 Ibid

The NGOs currently working on improving women’s status in Ethiopia include Action Aid Ethiopia, Agency for Co-operation and Research in development (ACORD), Care International in Ethiopia, Catholic Relief Service (CRS), Cheshire Foundation Ethiopia (CFE), Christian Children's Fund Inc. (CCF), Concern, Ethiopian Evangelical Church Mekane Ye sus (EECMY), Save the Children Fund/UK (SCF/UK), SOS Sahle International/UK (SOS SAHEL ) and World Vision International/Ethiopia (WVI/E) among others. 52

The major activities of the NGOs in improving the status of women include: 53

• Ensure social Justice, • Integrate gender issues training, stopping violence against women, • Construction of stoves, • MCH and family planning,

2.3. Associations a. Women associations

There are also civil society such as Ethiopian Women Entrepreneurs Association and the National Association for the Handicapped Women addressing the specific needs of women. 54 At grassroots level, women have also formed associations to get access to credit, training, and get self-employment or create various activities that are productive and beneficiary. They also look for sources of fund and have projects that improve their lives and satisfy their basic needs.55

b. Professional associations

Women of a given profession have professional women’s associations that are functional in Ethiopia including Women’s Health Professionals Association, Women Lawyers Association, Women Educationalist Association, Association of Disabled Women, women Media Association Ethiopian Midwives Association, and the Network of Ethiopian Women’s Associations (NEWA) which are working both on ensuring the interest of their members and alleviate the constraints faced by women in the professional sphere. 56

3. The 2009 Charities and Societies Proclamation (Proclamation No.621/2009)

52 Ibid53 Ibid54 Ibid55 Ibid56 Ibid

To ensure the realization of citizens’ rights to association and to aid and facilitate the role of Charities and Societies in the overall development of the Ethiopian people, Ethiopia promulgated a proclamation cited as Charities and Societies Proclamation No.621/2009 (CSO proclamation). However, this law has been criticized for placing excessive restrictions on the work of human rights organizations. The CSO law imposes limitations on the activities of all civil society organizations that do not fit the CSO law ’s definition of “Ethiopian” Charities/Societies. Under the CSO law, “Ethiopian” Charities/Societies are NGOs formed under Ethiopian law that consist exclusively of Ethiopians and receive no more than ten percent of their income from foreign sources. “Ethiopian Resident” Charities/Societies are NGOs formed under Ethiopian law that receive more than ten percent of their funds from foreign sources. “Ethiopian Resident” NGOs, though formed under Ethiopian law and by Ethiopians, are regarded by the CSO law as foreign merely because they obtain more than ten percent of their income from foreign sources, which encompasses Ethiopians who reside outside of Ethiopia. “Foreign” Charities, a third category of NGOs, encompass NGOs whose members include foreign nationals, NGOs formed under foreign laws or NGOs that receive funds from foreign sources. Once an NGO is labeled “foreign” or “Ethiopian Resident” under the above definitions a label that will be ascribed to the majority of NGOs in Ethiopia under the CSO law—it is prohibited from participating in a plethora of essential activities reserved exclusively for “Ethiopian” Charities/Societies, including: j) The advancement of human and democratic rightsk) The promotion of equality of nations, nationalities and peoples and that of gender and religionl) The promotion of the rights of the disabled and children’s rightsm) The promotion of conflict resolution or reconciliationn) The promotion of the efficiency of the justice and law enforcement services.

The CSO law’s distinctions between “Ethiopian,” “Ethiopian Resident” and “Foreign” NGOs have far-reaching consequences. Article 2(2)-(3) of the CSO law, when read in conjunction with article 14(2) (j) - (n), effectively muzzles the activities of independent civil society organizations and human rights defenders.Given the fact that engagement on human rights issues is reserved to Ethiopian Charities and societies, the restriction on access to funding made on such organizations may hinder the overall protection of human rights by CSOs in Ethiopia. To see the effect it had in this wave of activism. We have selected the practical experience of several NGO and CSO for this purpose. Nb: The restrictive CSO legislation was revised in December 2018 as part of the government ’s democratization process.

3.1. Ethiopian Women Lawyers’ Association The Ethiopian Women Lawyers Association (EWLA) is a non-profit women's advocacy group founded by Meaza Ashenafi and other Ethiopian women lawyers. It began its work in 1996 after being registered in 1995. It has been re-registered as a charitable organization by the Charities and Societies Agency in 2010 as per the Charities and Societies Proclamation.

EWLA is headquartered in Addis Ababa and has six branches in Bahir Dar, Assosa, Hawassa, Adama, Diredawa and Gambella. The branch/regional offices are supported by 53 trained voluntary committee members organized at woreda and zonal levels; these offices provide structures to reach women at grass root level in Ethiopia. EWLA runs legal aid centers in

Ethiopia most of which are strategically placed to make the service accessible to women at the grassroots level. These centers exist in different zonal and woreda levels in Amhara, Benishangul Gumuz, DireDawa, Gambella, Oromia and SNNPR and are accountable to branch offices located in regional capitals.

EWLA envisions gender equality in Ethiopia. It promotes economic, political, social and legal rights of women and secure rights afforded to women in the FDRE constitution and other international human rights conventions.

The Association has three core programs. One, they provide free legal service to women and young girls who need legal assistance. They also provide Public Education and Capacity Building works on workshops to raise awareness on women's rights. Lastly, they use the information on different workshops and their legal aid service to conducts various researches on women's rights issues and use the findings for law reform advocacy and public education. In order to do its main activities, EWLA networks with national women’s machineries, law enforcement organs, judiciary, human rights’ institutions and different administrative structures as well as civil society organizations.

Some of EWLA allies are the Ethiopian Human Rights Commission; the Federal Supreme Court; regional women’s affairs offices; Ministry of Justice; Network of Ethiopian Women Associations; Association for Women’s Sanctuary and Development (shelter for female violence survivors); the Addis Ababa Women’s Association; Amhara Women Association; Benishangul Gumuz Women Association; European Delegation to Ethiopia’ European Union Civil Society Fund II; Ethiopian Social Accountability Program; the Canadian Embassy and the Civil Society Support Program.

3.1.1. Legal Aid service

Most say EWLA’s legal aid service is the strongest legal aid service offered to women in Ethiopia. As said earlier the main beneficiaries of EWLA are women who are unable to access legal service due to numerous reasons. Those volunteers from disciplines other than law are intensively trained in law and serve as paralegals in areas where legal professionals are non-existent. The service the volunteers provide under the EWLA hub is estimated up to 30,000 hours of free service per year. EWLA pays extra attention to the quality of the legal service provided by them. All of the workers in this program are made to believe that the quality of service they give must not be compromised because it is given free. Quality of the service is ensured by the application of expertise of the service providers, group consultations and follow up mechanisms.

EWLA legal aid officers give other types of legal service such as,

Counseling: This service is a crucial step in helping women and girls start to get access to legal response mechanisms and to demand their rights. Mothers and girls facing injustice come seeking legal aid and EWLA is the place where they get relief.

Mediation: some of the cases reported are found to be solvable through mediation which helps to maintain familial relations crucial for the nurturing of children and in some cases to settle cases amicably even if restoring relationships may not be possible.

Legal Advice: information is very important to succeed in legal litigation. Women who come for free legal service usually are found to lack information. Therefore, EWLA examines the reports these women file and forwards effective legal advice which ensures remedies to which women are entitled but have been out of reach to them. Legal advice continues till the end of the litigation which the clients can access through appearing at the EWLA legal aid centers.

Preparation of Written Litigation: considering that justice will be jeopardized for women who cannot access justice sector organs due to lack of finance and information EWLA prepares all litigation papers (suits, responses, appeals, cross-appeals, affidavits) for the women to file at the court. This requires expertise in the legal field as well as other procedural and managerial skills.

The types of remedies sought for the clients are various. There have been instances where EWLA members or staff members go to administrative bodies when clearly stated laws are infringed. In addition, EWLA has maintained a good relationship with the police and the public prosecutors in its working years.

Representation: in order to assist clients, depending on the seriousness of the case, the possibility of jeopardy of justice for lack of the right intervention staff and members of the association represent selected clients’ cases in courts. Because of its high financial and time cost it is with great care such decisions are made. As representation of cases is undertaken with the aim to set precedence and to save women from failure in their cases, it is undertaken with great care and vigor, which usually results in success. EWLA ushers both civil and criminal claims.

a. Criminal case

As per the criminal code procedure of Ethiopia, only prosecutors can file a suit for criminal offences. Victims should report a crime to the police and the police shall investigate their report and if found accurate, the police will file a case to the prosecutor. The prosecutor will lodge a case in a court of law, then the suit will commence. The victim’s role after the legal proceeding has started is very minimal. EWLA’s legal aid lawyers and paralegals receive various criminal cases like rape, sexual and physical assault, abduction, child marriage and acid attack. After hearing their case, they will give them legal advice to report the crime to the appropriate channel and in some case assist them to the channel themselves if they are unable.

In most instances, women are scared of instigating legal proceeding because of the fear they have of challenging a man in a court of law. They fear they will lose their case and cause them and their children more harm. EWLA’s presence makes such types of clients feel welcomed to share their problems and ask for help seeing it as an association made by women for women. So most clients go directly to EWLA when their rights have been violated, in such instances EWLA provide their clients with the necessary moral support to help them report to the police.

An example of the relentless effort of EWLA to ensure effective remedy to their clients is seen in the case that the Association took to the African Commission on Human and Peoples' Rights regarding

Woineshet, an underage victim of an abduction and rape. Having exhausted all local remedies but unable to get justice for their client, EWLA in collaboration with Equality Now took the case to the African Commission.

The African commission after reviewing the case ruled in favor of Woineshet and requested the Ethiopian government to pay her USD 150,000 in compensation for the non-material damage she suffered.57

b. Civil cases

EWLA does not only deal with criminal suits but also extends its wing on civil natured claims on parental support, such as child custody and maintenance to raise their children, settlement of marital property after divorce, succession, property claim, employment and so on.

3.1.2. Public education and capacity building a. Public education

A key element in the enjoyment of rights is being aware of those rights and having the self-confidence to assert them. Those who are unaware of their rights are unlikely to demand them and Ethiopian women have often been kept unaware of their basic human rights. Throughout history Ethiopian women have been taught to accept inferiority to their male counterparts, and to believe that they have fewer rights and less capacity.

To be able to effectively challenge the denial of rights, Ethiopian women need to challenge and reject their own views of weakness and lack of capacity that constrain them. Awareness of their rights through education is one of the main methods that can be carried out to solve this problem. Awareness over women’s rights shall not target only women but shall also focus on strategies that create awareness over the community at large since community awareness helps for prevention of violation of women’s rights. It shall not be forgotten that community members can play great roles as duty bearers.

EWLA has a legacy of providing public education on women ’s rights and laws on violence against women. The most frequently employed methods of educating the public on these issues include electronic media like radio & TV press media, periodic magazines, journals, brochures, and so on.

57 Equality Now and Ethiopian Women Lawyers Association (EWLA) v. Federal Republic of Ethiopia, Communication 341/2007

Berchi Radio Program is one of the known educational radio series that has been going on for years. Other means of educating the public had been organizing public education workshops for target groups in different areas, and organizing discussion forums for community members. So far over 80,000 women and men have participated in such workshops directly. It is believed that over five million people have been reached indirectly through different educational media programs. The public awareness programs conducted by EWLA are believed to produce a society less tolerant of any gender-based violence perpetrated against women. Women have become assertive and able to take their rights forward.

b. Capacity building

The recipients of capacity building trainings, seminars and workshops range from criminal justice agencies such as police, public prosecutors and judges to service providers and people at the grass root level including students and workers of different organizations, people in the capital city as well as the regions. The effort has contributed to the enhancement of gender sensitivity in the handling of women ’s issues and in the creation of systems to address the issue.

As capacitating women and girls to enhance their knowledge in relation to court litigation is found to be crucial in securing their rights through the legal process, EWLA has started to provide self-representation skill development training to women and girls who have cases at hand or those with issues on the verge of turning to legal matters.

3.1.3. Legal research and Law reform Advocacy

In order to strive for the attainment of Ethiopian women’s rights, EWLA undertakes research projects on issues related to women problem.

They often use the information gathered in their legal aid and capacity building programs to come up with practical data for the researches they conclude. This greatly helps to identify root causes of gender related problems and dictate for practical prevention methods.

EWLA has sufficient expertise and successes in advocacy and campaigning work aimed at securing legal reform of discriminatory laws like the Civil Code and the Penal Code which directly or indirectly perpetuated violation of women’s rights. The revised Family Law as well as Criminal Code are the results of such effort. The major contribution of EWLA on the repealed Penal Law included issues of explicitly outlawing the practice of FGM, and other HTPs, domestic violence and critically reviewing the provisions relating with rape, abduction and other sexual offences.

3.1.4. Impact of CSO legislation

Since EWLA is a rights advocate, it had to re-registered as a charitable organization by the Charities and Societies Agency in 2010 as per the Charities and Societies Proclamation so they will be able to work in human right / gender equality advocacy. Under the CSO law, “Ethiopian” Charities/Societies are NGOs formed under Ethiopian law that consist exclusively of Ethiopians and receive no more than ten percent of their income from foreign sources. This law impacted them by forcing them to resort to local resources. In our interview with her in 2017, Meron Aragaw, the then-director of EWLA explained that it had been very hard to collect finances locally because there is no established norm of corporate social responsibility in Ethiopia and many of the companies are not willing to give finance to CSO because there is a wide misconception of considering CSO as well-off institutions. On many of their experience, women right were considered as a luxury cause for Ethiopia and most fail to see the necessity of the work done by EWLA. EWLA had to let go of 50 % of its staff to maintain their branch offices. The three programs of EWLA discussed above were actually departments before the CSO proclamation. They turned them into programs because EWLA in these tough times believed that the work done in every of the departments were crucial to fulfillment of Gender Equality in Ethiopia so instead prioritizing, they choose to subsidize all three of the departments into programs and planned to change it to departments when they secure better funds in the future.

Legal aid services were forced to be given by volunteers and started using many volunteers in many of the programs because most the staff were laid off because of lack of finance. However, EWLA has been getting funds from the public education sector when they collaborate with government and other organization to give trainings on March 8 (women’s day) and Gender based violence GBV campaigns. Approximately EWLA are required to give 30-35 training per years. This helped to cover a small part of its costs. The organization also engages in research and hosting bazaars and musical concerts as well as selling merchandise for sale. They also started selling brochures that were given for free before the legislation. Lastly, various banks and insurance companies including the Ethiopian Commercial Bank has provided EWLA with sponsorship and are donating various amount of money.Nb: The Ethiopian Women Lawyers’ Association (EWLA) stands to benefit greatly from the revision of the CSO legislation (December 2018) and can be expected to recover its full funding and return to its vital work of providing legal aid and services to Ethiopian women and girls.

3.2. Network of Ethiopian women Association (NEWA)The Network of Ethiopian Women's Associations was originally established in 2003 as a national network of non-governmental organizations and women’s associations working for women’s advancement. Now registered as a CSO of national network of Ethiopian societies who share the goal of advancing women’s rights, gender equality and women’s empowerment in Ethiopia.58 NEWA is committed to sustaining this transformational struggle for the improvement of women’s lives and status in Ethiopia over the long term and asks for the support in effort, passion and resources of all who care about women’s rights.59 By 2009, NEWA

58file:///C:/Users/toshiba/Desktop/setaweet/Network%20of%20Ethiopian%20Women's%20Associations%20%E2%80%93%20NEWA%20_%20Working%20Together%20for%20Gender%20Equality.html 59 Ibid

Figure 1: NEWA“Realizing an Ethiopian society where gender equality is ensured.”

had reached a membership of 42 organizations and associations reaching into every region of the country.60

The Network of Ethiopian Women’s Association (NEWA) aims to create an Ethiopian society where gender equality is realized and to create conditions for economic, social, political and legal empowerment of women in Ethiopia. The Social Accountability projects of NEWA focus partly on building capacities between communities, institu-tions, and organizations and partly on facilitating dialogue and consensus among them. NEWA works together on grassroots level with its partners Amhara Women Association (AWA), Dalo-cha Women Water Development Association (DW-WDA), and Mujejegwa-Loka Women Development Association (MLWDA) in the focus areas of Agricul-ture, Education, Water and Sanitation. These four organizations together are implementing Social Ac-countability projects with the $300,000 grant re-ceived from ESAP2.

Women make up the majority of staff members in all the projects. The Social Accountability tools Community Score Card, Participatory Planning and Budgeting, and Gender Responsive Budgeting are used to carry out projects such as community conservations, women leadership training, awareness and capacity build-ing workshops. In 2010, NEWA created a coffee table book, Temsalet, featuring the stories of 64 Ethiopian women, selected to portray a wide range of occupations, ages and backgrounds and for the inspirational quality of their stories. The network aims to ensure that women and men at all levels are made aware of women’s constitutionall and legal rights, and to solicit practical support from various sectors.

3.2.1. Impact of CSO legislation

Following the promulgation of the new Charities and Societies law in 2009, NEWA reconstituted itself as an Ethiopian Societies Consortium whose members are all Ethiopian Societies – all committed and permitted under law to advocate for women’s rights. In 2017, NEWA has eight member organizations and associations located in several regions of the country. NEWA and its members aim to sustain the transformational struggle for gender quality and women ’s empowerment in Ethiopia over the long term, until their vision of an Ethiopian society where gender equality is realized becomes the normal context for women’s and men’s lives in Ethiopia.61 Challenged by the CSO legislation to raise 90% of its funds locally, NEWA’s key strategy to sustain its work is to create the state-of-the-art Ethiopia Women’s center to serve as a center for organizing across regions and the nation for women’s rights and as a vehicle for income generation for NEWA and its member organizations.

3.3. CARE Ethiopia CARE started working in Ethiopia in 1984 in response to severe drought and famine that devastated the population and claimed the lives of nearly one million people. Since then, the organization ’s activities have expanded to address the root causes of poverty and vulnerability. CARE’s programs focus on the areas of livelihoods and food security, sexual and reproductive health, HIV/AIDS, education, governance, water and sanitation, and emergency preparedness and response. As part of CARE Ethiopia’s development of a focused and long-term program approach to poverty, the office 60 file:///C:/Users/toshiba/Desktop/setaweet/Network of Ethiopian Women's Associations - Wikipedia.html61 http://www.newaethiopia.org/about-us/

targets three groups of people: pastoralist girls, chronically food-insecure rural women, and poor young girls living in cities and on the outskirts of urban areas. There are major donors of Care: U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), Food for Peace (FFP), the Embassy of Norway, Australian Agency for International Development (AusAID), Proctor & Gamble, Souter Charitable Trust, Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA), UK Department for International Development (DFID), European Commission (EC), European Commission Humanitarian Aid Office (ECHO), United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Assistance (OCHA), Austrian Development Agency (ADA), Conrad N. Hilton Foundation, Michael & Susan Dell Foundation, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Howard G. Buffett Foundation, Richard & Rhoda Goldman Fund, Nike Foundation, Office of U.S. Foreign Disaster Assistance (OFDA), and private donors.

3.3.1. Health

CARE’s health program focuses on addressing the underlying causes of poor health outcomes, with a particular emphasis on reproductive health, and the health of mothers and children more generally. CARE aims to complement government programs by ensuring that community-level work aligns with the government’s goal of ensuring universal primary health care services and that best practices in community-led health improvements influence government policy choices.

CARE works towards the elimination of the practice of female genital cutting and on improving access to quality health services for women and girls. In providing support to the Ministry of Health, CARE assists in the design and implementation of communication strategies to disseminate information to families about medicines for malaria and the prevention of mother-to-child transmission of HIV/AIDS. CARE Ethiopia aims to support the government’s work in HIV/AIDS care and prevention by implementing projects in high prevalence areas such as urban communities and through awareness-raising components in CARE’s rural projects.

CARE implements projects to reduce the socio-economic impact of HIV/AIDS on groups of women, orphans and other vulnerable children; this includes through vocational training and establishing village savings and loan programs. In addition, CARE’s work addresses the crucial issues of gender-based violence that affects orphans and vulnerable children. CARE also works on behavioral change to eliminate the practices of bride price, bride abduction, and early marriage in Ethiopia.

c. Education

CARE’s goal in this area is to improve the quality of education, increase the number of girls enrolled in schools, strengthen the organization of parent-teacher associations, and ensure access to food, water, sanitation and hygiene at schools. Each extra year of primary education that a girl receives boosts her wages later in life by 10 to 20 percent, contributing to women ’s economic empowerment. CARE views education from a holistic perspective: the know ledge and skills that girls gain by learning, combined with practical experience, allows them to exercise their leadership skills.

d. Governance

CARE currently implements an urban governance program in Dire Dawa, and seeks to incorporate good governance into all projects. CARE Ethiopia also strives for accountability within its own operations, and has an advisory board, composed of Ethiopians working in different sectors, which solicits continuous feedback on the organization’s work. CARE also uses tools such as community scorecards and other feedback mechanisms to ensure accountability to beneficiaries.

e. Emergency Response

CARE implements emergency programs in the areas of nutrition, food aid, agriculture and livelihoods, and water and sanitation. In response to drought and malnutrition, CARE is part of a large-scale emergency food relief intervention, and provides support to mothers and children, including through direct nutritional supplements. CARE assists vulnerable households by improving access to safe drinking water and distributing supplies to improve and sustain in the health and livelihoods of people affected by severe drought.