Active Citizen is a social leadership skill training program that promote intercultural dialogue and community-led social development. Through the program, we bring together people with different beliefs and perspective to learn from and share with each other. Working with our partner around the country, we train participants in the skills and knowledge needed to affect social change in their communities.
In Ethiopia, SRGBV problem continues to deepen in recent years. It is one such problem that is creating tension not just for schools or parents but for students, particularly female students. School violence and bullying (for this text we understand bullying as a significant, pervasive form of school violence) is the condition when a student or group of students gets engaged in any type of harmful activity. Such types of activities are usually targeted at female students, and therefore, harmful and very serious for the schools, teachers, parents, and nation as well. Because of its deleterious effect on both victims’ and bullies’ current and future functioning, IA has focused on this issue as the first step to help national and local regional education agencies and schools create safe places for female students to learn.
The “Youth-led Peace Dialogue Initiatives” through Youth Peace Ambassadors aims to promote and support the role of young people in peace-building activities that contribute to living together in dignity and dialogue. The project is the result of a needs assessment done by YCDF and builds upon the contribution and perspective that youth work and youth programme can bring to peace-building processes in Ethiopia, especially through its preventive and educational nature. Central to the project are the concepts of Human Rights, Peace, and “Deep Security”, understood as long-term and deep-rooted processes ensuring equality in dignity for all, fostering intercultural dialogue, and providing real access to and participation in the democratic process in Ethiopia.
In a powerful stride towards safer learning environments, our latest project in Ethiopia’s Oromia Region is confronting the pervasive challenge of School-Related Gender-Based Violence (SRGBV). Partnering with UNESCO, we’ve been at the forefront of developing crucial tools—including updated national codes of conduct and pioneering “minimum standards”—to help Colleges of Teacher Education prevent and respond to campus-based violence. Through targeted workshops and capacity-building, we’re empowering college communities, strengthening institutional frameworks, and fostering a culture of zero tolerance. The initiative has already shown remarkable success, notably through a Life Skills program that significantly boosted girls’ wellbeing and knowledge. Despite challenges, we are building sustainable partnerships to ensure every young person can learn in an environment that is safe, healthy, and inclusive.
Starting with the formation of youth coalitions and networks and setting up a youth-led Youth Empowerment Fund, Kefeta works towards empowering youth to advance their own economic, civic, and social development.
The primary goal of this project is to build the capacity of 30 potential women and youth entrepreneurs in SMEs producing value-added Coffee, Leather, Fruits and Vegetables products for export marketing within the African Continental Free Trade Area.
Involve school community gardens, training programs, mentorship, and access to resources, fostering sustainable agri-business practices (fattening, poultry unit and modern beehives) and entrepreneurial skills to address food security and create employment.