U.S. Ambassador’s Special Self-Help Program Provides Support for 15,000 Ethiopians

(L-R) W/ro Frehiwot Engeda and U.S. Ambassador Booth signing the grant agreement

U.S. Ambassador Donald Booth, Dire Dawa Deputy Mayor Adem Farah, and Dire Dawa Finance and Economic Development Head Asrat Chala with Legbira Asliso and Gend-Riga community representatives

Dire Dawa, June 7, 2012 – U.S. Ambassador to Ethiopia Donald Booth officially launched nine Special Self-Help Program (SSHP) projects today at a signing ceremony at the American Corner in the Dire Dawa Public Library.  At the ceremony, Ambassador Booth announced $50,000 in financial support through the Ambassador’s SSHP to four projects initiated by a local Community Development Association, Schools, and NGOs.  He also announced that through SHHP an additional $50,000 from the United States African Development Fund (USADF) was granted to five community-based organizations working on income generating activities.

These nine projects will have an impact on over 15,000 Ethiopians living throughout Amhara, Addis Ababa, Benishangul-Gumuz, Dire Dawa, Oromia, and Southern Nations, Nationalities, and Peoples’ Regional State.  These projects aim to provide safe drinking water for three rural villages, build public latrines, create educational opportunities by constructing classrooms and purchasing school desks, and create small businesses in transcribing and embossing Braille textbooks for visually impaired people.  The projects providing income generating activities will especially improve the economic situation of women and girls, elderly and people with disabilities. 

The Ambassador’s Special Self-Help Grants Program was established in 1964 as a diplomatic function of the Office of the Ambassador to support local initiatives within host countries.  In Ethiopia, the SSHP offers small-scale, short-term support for projects that intend to benefit the larger community and bring tangible improvements to people’s lives.  SSHP grants are one-time, one-year grants that focus on the areas of education, health and environment, water and sanitation, and income generating activities.  Communities receiving SSHP funds are required to provide a significant local contribution, either financial or in kind, to support the proposed project.

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