U.S. Grants Assist Community Development and Promote Democracy
Ambassador’s Self Help Program, Democracy Fund Empower Projects Across Ethiopia

September 29, 2006
No. 34

Addis Ababa (U.S. Embassy) – For 70% of the children living in the rural Mella-Qawusa district of Gama Gofa Zone, the possibility of walking four hours to and from school was about as likely as regular rainfall in this drought-prone region.  The children often do not have the stamina to make the difficult journey, and even if distance weren’t a factor, fetching water for their family and herding livestock are the first priorities.

But thanks to the U.S. Embassy, more than 2,000 children in one of Ethiopia’s most remote and food-insecure areas will soon have a school in their village, making it possible for most if not all of the children to learn. The Mella-Qawusa school construction project is one of 11 unveiled by U.S. Chargé d’Affaires Ambassador Vicki Huddleston at a September 29 ceremony to mark the 2006 grants to community organizations across Ethiopia through the Ambassador’s Special Self Help Program and Democracy and Human Rights Fund. 

These two programs give U.S. Ambassadors in Africa the opportunity to fund community-based initiatives that might not otherwise meet the criteria of traditional development assistance.  Among the projects made possible by this year’s grants are initiatives to provide potable water for a school and surrounding community in Alemgena Town, Oromiya Region, to construct a workshop for a weaving cooperative in Axum Town, Tigray Region, to produce a radio program that raises awareness of issues facing disabled persons to be broadcast nationwide, and to establish a telephone “hotline” through which women in Addis Ababa can obtain legal assistance against abuse and discrimination.

Together, the projects represent funding of $155,000 (over 1.3 million birr).  Grantees are selected from hundreds of proposals received by the Embassy and are required to meet rigorous standards.  Projects funded under the Self-Help program must improve economic and social conditions at the community or village level, be community-initiated, show evidence of local support, and be self-sustaining. Projects supported through the Democracy and Human Rights Fund projects are required to strengthen democratic institutions, promote political pluralism or advance human rights. Initiatives funded under either program must be completed in one year’s time, and support high-impact, quick-implementation activities benefiting a large number of people. Because of media outreach strategies employed by several grantees, this year’s projects will reach more than 10 million Ethiopians in the country’s 11 administrative regions.

The Ambassador’s Special Self-Help Program and Democracy and Human Rights Fund have been active in Africa since the early 1960’s.  The success of the programs is demonstrated by the direct effects they have on the lives of those benefiting from the project.  For example, following the implementation of a Somali Region project to combat Female Genital Mutilation (FGM), circumcisers are pledging to give up their profession, religious leaders are telling worshippers that FGM is not required by their faith, parents are abandoning the practice, boys are agreeing to marry uncircumcised girls, and girls are refusing to be violated. 

Speaking at the signing ceremony, Ambassador Huddleston said that “in these politically complicated times, the Ambassador’s Special Self-Help Program and the Democracy and Human Rights Fund are two “bright spots” in the relationship between our two countries.  They are one of the ways through which United States touches the lives of everyday people in Ethiopia.”

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