Ethiopia

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In Ethiopia, Handicap International works on the prevention and care management of people with disabilities and supports the pastoral populations to fight against the recurrent droughts that affect the country

CONTEXT
Ranking 170 out of 177 according to the UN indicators, Ethiopia is the most populated country in the Horn of Africa, with 65 million inhabitants spread over a territory twice the size of France. 85% of the population live in rural areas. The average life expectancy is 45 and the GDP per capita is £41/month. The number of people with disabilities is considered to be about 4.5 million, of whom 50,000 live in Addis Ababa. At least 2.5 million people are direct victims of AIDS. Furthermore, the country is regularly hit by droughts. This factor added to others meant that 13 million people were dependent on food aid in 2003.

BACKGROUND
Handicap International has been working in Ethiopia since 1986. The projects first focused on community-based rehabilitation (developing rehabilitation, socio-professional integration, awareness-raising activities, income-generating activities). The refugee populations (Somalis in the east and Sudanese to the west) also benefited from access to the rehabilitation services.
These projects were at the origin of the development of the national project for the prevention of disability, which involved the setting up of rehabilitation units in 11 hospitals. This project was developed with an Ethiopian NGO, RaDO (Rehabilitation and Development Organisation), from 1996 to 1999, as part of a partnership project.
Between 1997 and 2001 a Mine Risk Education project was developed as part of specific procedures for the repatriation of Somali refugees in Ethiopia.

STRATEGY
Handicap International focuses on two areas. The first concerns prevention and care management of people with disabilities, via support to Ethiopian associations. This strategy should be seen as a reinforcement of the country’s existing operational organisations. We currently concentrate on continuing to build the capacity of associations for people with disabilities, particularly in the community-based approach. Moreover awareness-raising on AIDS are being implemented for these population.

The second area aims at enabling the pastoral populations to fight against the recurrent droughts that affect the country. This project, which began in of 2002, aims to prevent the dramatic consequences of these droughts by improving access to water and helping the populations to preserve their livestock, which is their main source of income.

ACTIVITIES

1) Support to associations working on behalf of disabled people

• Training the associations’ management staff in implementing fundraising and income generating activities
• For the most recent ones, individual accompaniment in the field of administration and finance
• Awareness and prevention of AIDS for deaf and blind people living in Addis Ababa (in partnership with their associations and some special schools)
• Strengthening the Addis Ababa disabled sports federation, through support to its activities (training of competitors, organisation of competitions, etc.)

This project benefit to 11 local associations working towards the integration of people with disabilities (mental, physical and sensorial disability), meaning 7,000 indirect beneficiaries.

2) Improvement of the living conditions of the pastoral populations in the Somalia region

• Improvement of the water, accessibility to water for people and livestock
• Training for members of the community for better care management of the livestock
• Improvement of pasture management
• Assistance in diversifying the populations’ sources of revenue.

The beneficiaries are the populations living in the Somalia region, in other words 3,300 direct beneficiaries, and 20,000 indirect ones.

RESOURCES
Our team is made up of 13 nationals and 3 expatriates.

CONTACTS
E-mail: handicap@telecom.net.et