On October 17, the seminar to launch the Agreement “Build resilience in rural areas in Ethiopia against natural and / or man-made disasters, promoting sustainable rural development, with gender equity and strengthening community fabric in the Somali Region, which is highly vulnerable to famine ”, which the consortium formed by the Social Promotion Foundation, ECC-SDCOH, HAVOYOCO, and NGO Rescate will implement during the next four years in the Somali region of Ethiopia financed with funds from the Spanish Agency for Cooperation International (AECID).
The act served to officially communicate the beginning of the Agreement with the local authorities after the signing of the Agreement with the various Somali regional government ministries
Its main objectives are:
- Increase the production and productivity of agricultural and pastoral communities with a sustainable approach.
- Build resilience to natural and / or man-made disasters and climate change through recovery and sustainable management of natural resources.
- The empowerment and participation of women for the exercise of their civil, economic and participation rights.
The Somali region is an area of Ethiopia especially punished by the effects of climate change and human conflicts. All this makes its inhabitants highly vulnerable to food insecurity. For their part, women find themselves in a situation of exclusion and serious violation of their rights.
The main activities programmed to achieve these goals are:
- The provision of infrastructure for collecting, distributing and storing rainwater and groundwater for agricultural use.
- Training in the use of efficient and sustainable agricultural production techniques, the provision of quality inputs and adapted agricultural machinery and the introduction of animal species, the improvement of animal health, and the conservation of pastures and forage banks.
A woman from the regional office of women and children stated that the women were very hopeful because the activities and objectives of the Agreement addressed their needs. In order to contribute to women’s access to productive resources and greater participation in decision-making, special emphasis is placed on raising awareness of gender equality in communities and supporting the incorporation of women into committees, cooperatives premises and access to productive resources.
Another area of activity of the agreement is the sustainable recovery of the local environment against the impacts of climate change and natural disasters, by way of a decrease in erosion through physical, biological and mechanical measures. As well as the recovery of degraded areas via reforestation campaigns with native species and the increase of biodiversity using the reintroduction of adapted species through the creation of a nursery and a seed bank.
Likewise, in order to strengthen the community fabric through the improvement of its management capacities and a greater sensitivity in environmental matters, the main activities that will be carried out are the strengthening and / or creation of community management committees, the improvement of capacities in management for cooperatives and committees, and facilitation of resources and awareness of sustainable environmental management.
Taking advantage of the visit of the senior director of programs of the Technical Office of Spanish Cooperation in the seminar of launching the agreement, on October 18 we made a field visit in one of the 17 municipalities where the activities of the agreement have begun to be executed.