The launch of a project in Bahirdar
Jerusalem Children & Community Development Organization (JeCCDO) conducted a project launching workshop on “Ending Child Marriage and Promotion of Women’s Livelihood with the Scope of the Productive Safety Net Program (PSNP). The Jacaranda Hotel in Bahirdar hosted the event on September 17, 2022.
Participants from different bureaus of Bahirdar city Administration, South Gonder Zone, Libo Kemkem woreda, and CBO representatives from Bahirdar attended the event.
On the day of the event, the opening and closing speeches were made by honored guests. In this regard, Ato Mulugeta Gebru, Chief Executive Officer of JeCCDO, conveyed the message to participants by saying "safe arrival. Mulugeta said, "We are very grateful to you for honoring our calls from various government offices."
The CEO said that JeCCDO has been working in Amhara National Regional State in Debrebirehan, Debresina, Ataye, Debremarekos, Bahirdar, and its surroundings; Sidama National Regional State in Hawassa city and different woredas; and Oromia National Regional State in Bishoftu and Bishan Guracha; and Addis Ababa city administration. He explained that the organization's thematic focuses are improving access to basic services, capacity building, and livelihood support, and the program beneficiaries are children, women, and youth.
The chief executive added that JeCCDO is a people-centered organization and carries out integrated development activities. JeCCDO implements advocacy work with development interventions that bring change in people's life.
The CEO extended his speech and said that the effectiveness of the project, which we are launching officially today, has been trusted by the donor UNICEF, so an agreement has been reached to carry out various project implementations in a new form with additional budget. He continued and said, "The project agreement was signed with UNICEF. Besides, an agreement has been signed with the relevant government stakeholders in Addis Ababa and the Amhara regional state government offices, and the project was officially announced on September 15, 2022, in Addis Ababa city. However, the project agreement in Amhara has faced great ups and downs but managed (what if we leave this one?).
He said that if the result of this project is achieved, it will motivate JeCCDO to do another one. Mulugeta said, " JeCCDO is ready to receive any comments and work responsibly in changing the lives of the target groups."
The CEO further addressed that the project implemented in this region revolves around three avenues, and these are to empower the users about financial literacy; intersectoral collaboration/capacity building; and provision and linkages to access basic social services for the target groups.
Finally, he said that it is possible to bring about change through cooperation. "We want to do a lot in this region."
Following the CEO's welcoming speech, Ato Asmare Jenber, the South Gonder Zone Finance Department Head, Amhara region, made an opening speech.
Ato Asmara said in his opening speech, Welcome to our zone. The South Gondar zone has a lot of social problems, and the problem is not only addressed by the government alone. Civil society organizations' support is highly demanding. There are many harmful traditional practices in women's social and economic empowerment, especially child marriage, so it is necessary to reverse this problem, said Mr. Asmare. Harmful traditional practices can be avoided by working on the curriculum, especially in schools, Mr. Asmare said in his speech.
Since JeCCDO has come to our zone again, I would like to assure it that we are ready to work together and implement the project. There are economically disadvantaged women. Mr. Asmare emphasized that solving women’s problems means solving society's problems. Therefore, he said, we are ready to support JeCCDO’s work to build the status of women.
Following Mr. Asmare’s opening speech, Mr. Endeshaw Abera JeCCDO-UNICEF Program Coordinator presented the general contents of the project to the participants in detail. According to Endeshaw, the project will be implemented in 10 schools and 12 kebeles of South Gonder Zone Libo Kemem Woreda from June 2022 to November 2023, focusing on gender equality, early child marriage, and women's economic empowerment. Endeshaw added that the total budget of the project is 12, 253,700 and from the planned budget and activities, a total of 15069 direct beneficiaries’ people will be benefited; 75% are women.
At the end of his presentation, discussion and reflection were held on the proposed project plan and budget, targets, the project location, monitoring and evaluation, etc.
In the end, the Honorable Mrs. Azmeranesh Negash , Speaker of Libo, Kemkem Woreda, gave the closing remarks. She said that she was very happy to attend the official launch of this project. She thanked JeCCDO for coming to work in Libo-Kemkem Woreda. She said, "We will work together to make the resources accessible to users." After that, Azemeranesh concluded her closing speech by saying that community representatives should actively participate in selecting the right users.
