When it was officially registered in 2000, DSW Ethiopia became the first DSW country office to be established in east Africa. Four years later it laid the foundation to open a youth-development training centre pioneered by a civil society organisation in Ethiopia. Twenty-three years ago, DSW Ethiopia started with just four staff members managing grant-based programmes whose implementations were attained through community-based organisations. As DSW’s operational thematic areas have expanded, so too has DSW Ethiopia’s number of staff members. Today, the country office has a staff of 75, two of whom have been with DSW Ethiopia from the very beginning. Of the four country directors that DSW Ethiopia has had at the helm of leadership, two have been women. The country office manages different projects across four regions as well as in the capital city.
The regions in which DSW Ethiopia operates include Amhara, Oromia, Sidama (project office), SNNPR (Southern Nations, Nationalities & Peoples’ Region) and Addis Ababa. DSW Ethiopia’s main office is located in Addis Ababa, the training centre is located in Bishoftu (Debrezeit), and the project-specific field coordinating offices are also maintained in each of the four regions mentioned previously. Youth in different situations are the core target groups that are being addressed by various projects. These include in-and-out of school youth, working youth, domestic workers, homeless youth, casual workers and sex workers, among others. Each project equips them with tailored and up-to-date messages to raise awareness and create demand for SRHR information and services and these empower them to live self-determined lives. Currently, DSW partners with 22 youth empowerment centers, 150 youth clubs, and 30 youth groups all of which are linked with their most proximate health facilities for service provisions.
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DSW Ethiopia has designed tailor-made intervention strategies to fit the different needs and priorities of the youth. For instance, DSW Ethiopia has initiated and piloted projects at workplaces with interventions in flower farms, industrial parks and factories. The interventions took into account the working conditions, residency, travel (from workplace to home) among others, intent on addressing the SRHR issues in a structured manner. Similarly, the country office has designed a tailored approach specifically for in-school adolescents and youth within the existing school system and structure involving teachers, parents, students and the larger school community. Whereas the out-of-school youth are supported by DSW Ethiopia toward institutionalisation of the youth structure in efforts to enable them to serve youth in an effective and sustainable manner. DSW Ethiopia continues to enhance their institutional capacity, strengthen their system and link their network with potential donors for leveraging further resources.
“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, Country Director DSW Ethiopia
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