AEF Country Strategy Paper
History
Agitu Edeo Foundation
(AEF) has been registered and accorded legal personality with a registry number
of 5453 on Feb 18th, 2021, GC, as a local organization in accordance with
the Civil Society Organization’s (CSO) proclamation number 1113/2019. The
foundation was established after the name Agitu Edeo
Gudeta (1978 –2020), an Ethiopian origin, by friends of Agitu’s and
family members. Agitu Edeo migrated to Italy after experiencing conflict due to
her political activism against land grabbing by the military for international
corporations. She established a goat farming operation using the
indigenous breed Pezzata Mòchena to produce dairy and beauty
products. Agitu was honored as a successful entrepreneur who made a life and a
vibrant contribution to the communities that host her (Northern Italian region
of Trentino). Gudeta became a national symbol of entrepreneur,
environmentalist, and successful refugee integration into Italian society by
the press and politicians. In 2019, she was a nominee for the Luisa Minazzi-Environmentalist
of the Year prize by Legambiente. She was sometimes referred by the media
as "La Regina delle Capre Felici" ("the Queen of Happy
Goats"). She died violently in December 2020 in Trento, Italy.
With the purpose of
promoting the life and legacy of Agitu as a symbol that helps shape the world,
AEF was commissioned to promote her legacy through designing projects that
impact the lives of many communities that includes among the other, immigrants,
internally displaced people (IDP’s), returnees and local/host communities.
Figure 1
Agitu Edao & Slow Food Foundation Award for successful entrepreneur &
sustainable agriculture
Identity
(Vision, Mission, Values, principles)
The mission (purpose
& vision) statement were sharpened and formulated more succinctly. The core
values were updated, with the aim of them playing a more significant role in
shaping organization and humanitarian service delivery.
AEF Vision
statement
To see an empowered,
resilient, healthy, and prosperous Ethiopian communities in the face of an
impending human-caused and natural crisis. AEF want to see a world where people
have hope and live dignified lives in peaceful communities.
AEF Mission
AEF exists to provide relief, recovery and development
services to people affected by natural disasters and domestic violence's in
challenging contexts.
AEF Values
Our values are the basis
on which we interact with each other, our target audiences, and partners.
We Give value to
people: We believe that people are created equal.
people are always at the center of AEF intervention and hence treat them with
dignity and respect. We have no place for ethnicity, gender, religion, or age.
We serve with
Integrity: We are committed to
ensure highest standards of personal and organizational integrity . We are open
and honest in the way we communicate with our stakeholders and partners.
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AEF Principles
AEF obeys the Code of
Conduct (CoC) for the International Red Cross and Red Crescent (IRCC) Movement
and Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs). Soon, the foundation is going to be
the signatories for the CoC. As such AEF is committed to the four humanitarian
principles mentioned below to help guide
disaster Relief, recovery, and development programmatic work to its
targeted audiences:
Humanity: AEF will do utmost effort
to address human
suffering wherever it is found with all the resources the foundation mobilized.
The purpose of humanitarian action is to protect life and health and ensure respect
for human beings.
Neutrality: AEF
will not take any sides in hostilities or engage in controversies of a
political, racial, religious, or ideological nature.
Impartiality: AEF will engage in humanitarian
action of its’ priority areas based on
need alone, giving priority to the most urgent cases of distress and making no
distinctions based on nationality, race, gender, religious belief, class, or
political opinions.
Independence: AEF will ensure the fact
that its every decisions in humanitarian action is made by itself and be
autonomous from any political, economic, military, or other objectives.
Intervention
choices AEF has made.
AEF has made various
strategic choices, including choices regarding its thematic/outcome areas of
focus, regions, sectors, and crosscutting issues. All the intervention choices
are not necessarily recorded in policy documents but are particularly
important. They are highlighted as mentioned below:
AEF Target Audiences
Refugees : Practically, there are urban-refugees and
camp-based refugees in Ethiopia, particularly in AEF intervention sites. AEF
will target both kinds in its program developments.
Local/Host communities:
These are resident communities that lives surrounding refugees, IDP’s and
returnees. In good humanitarian programing they should not be missed out and
should be proportionately beneficial from any interventions that meant to
support refugees, IDP’s or returnees. This is because, forced displacement
primarily affects developing countries like Ethiopia who have been hosting a
million refugees and with its’ population that are themselves suffering from
high unemployment and a lack of economic opportunities. AEF Interventions
therefore will focus on promoting the economic inclusion of displaced persons
while at the same time also engage in development efforts that aim to create
employment opportunities for both refugees and the host community. As such, AEF
will plan the inclusion of 30% host communities in any program design concerned
with either refugees, IDP’s or returnees supports.
Internally Displaced
People(IDP’s) : IDP’s are citizens within their own
country who are affected and displaced by armed conflict, generalized violence,
or violations of human rights from their areas of origin. Hence, AEF will make
sure that they are entitled to enjoy, in full equality, the same rights and
freedoms under international and domestic law as do other persons in their
country.
Returnees :
Currently there are thousands of returnees who have come back to Ethiopian on
voluntary repatriation basis. AEF will support the initiative by the government
of Ethiopia and UN-IOM with this regards through direct involvements and
developing employment creation projects for them to re-build their life in a
dignified and sustainable manner.
AEF
Targeted Geographic Focus
The geographic areas
identified are Addis Ababa City, Afar region, Oromia region and Somalia
regions.
AEF
Goal, Rationale and intended outcomes.
Build resilience of
crisis affected members of a community and improve their living conditions in
the targeted regions of Ethiopia.
Effective resilience program comprises
the creation of alternative livelihood opportunities, the link to financial
markets to access credits, and local value chains to enhance productivity and
value addition. Host communities particularly women and youths who are
at the risk of migration will be targeted to become more resilient to economic,
social, and environmental stresses and shocks through pro-active programing AEF
will undertake in the identified regions of Ethiopia. AEF will also design
separate programs to pastoralist & agro-pastoralist areas through Increasing sustainable, inclusive,
gender-responsive and climate-resilient agricultural production, processing,
and alternative jobs creation. Through this outcome, youth at risk of migration will have
market-driven local economic opportunities that correspond to their
aspirations.
Similarly, the conditions of the most
vulnerable households (IDP’s and refugees) affected by conflict, drought and
disease outbreak requires sustained multi-sector humanitarian assistance as
well as rehabilitation support. Helping refugees and host communities achieve
self-reliance is an important part of AEF work. As such, AEF will ensure the
way in which its target audiences exercise their social and economic rights in
a sustainable and dignified way. AEF work towards achieving durable solution, local
integrations, by undertaking various activities such as promoting
entrepreneurship, creating access to vocational skill, financial literacy
trainings, in kind, financial supports (seed money and working capitals) and
market linkages.
Shocks and crises affect peoples’
productivity, social cohesion, and ability to meet their basic needs, Shelter,
non-food items (NFI) and unaffordability to access basic services.
With this regards, AEF will gear
towards work on non-discriminatory access to basic services and enjoyment of
their rights for all women, and to persons with disabilities, older persons,
and children. Measures will be taken to protect and prevent vulnerable people
from violence, exploitation, and abuse as well as harmful practices such as
child marriage. By doing so, youth at risk of migration
have increased knowledge of and access to basic services.
AEF will undertake Immediate and appropriate
actions to save lives, ensure protection, and restore the well-being of its
target audiences through developing concept notes/projects and mobilizing
resources for the local and international communities. AEF will provide
direct assistances to peoples in emergency situations due to human-caused
or natural causes such as conflict, flood, drought etc. AEF will design
programs like cash-based programs for
direct cash transfers and mobilize resources for in kind supports to affected
people when found feasible and appropriate.
AEF
will be both direct implementer and implements its projects through partners.
Working through local partners is more important and will receive greater
emphasis from AEF. Through joint programing and on the job training, AEF will
strengthen the capacity of local partners. AEF will underline the importance of
mutual learning, as both benefit from each other’s experience and expertise. Refugees,
returnees and IDP’s usually faces high risks in their way of accessing support
from host countries. Some of them find themselves in risky situation while pursuing
dangerous coping mechanisms while the other face risks of gender based
violences. AEF will consider program activities that gives access to justice
system and services.
Similarly,
AEF has been recently established and will plan for more local presence in each
identified geographic localities. Capacity building of its branch offices and
staffs is the main agenda to work on forth.
AEF Cross-cutting
issues
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Gender and Women empowerments: Throughout
Ethiopia, women and girls still carry a disproportionate burden when it comes
to conflict and disaster and are amongst the most vulnerable one. AEF will Empower
IDP’s, refugees and vulnerable host communities through targeted women and
youth sensitive programing. To make positive changes in the role division and
relations between the different genders, any given project should go beyond and
see the proportional economic inclusions of women/girls. That is what AEF is
going to do I head.
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Community Participation:
At every cycles of its program, AEF will make sure that participation of all
concerned stakeholders, particularly host communities, is made. AEF belief that
programs decisions that affects the life choices of refugees, would affect the
host community’s life choices, too. Besides, the host communities will be
beneficial for any economic inclusion programs such as VST and entrepreneurship
skills developments.
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Consultations: Consultations
at every stage of program cycles, right from the design, implementation,
monitoring, and evaluation is required to be carried out with stakeholders such
as host community and refugees’ representatives as well as with pertaining
government line ministries and the mandated UN agencies, i.e., UNHCR(United
Nations Higher Commission for Refugees) & UNIOM.
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Accountability to affected people:
compliant, feedback and response mechanisms (CFRM) will be established between
AEF and refugees or IDP’s or host community representatives or with host
country line ministries.
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Energy and the Environment: AEF
Intervention designed for in-camp refugee will focus on improved fuel saving
stoves utilizations and environmental protection. This is because refugees
require fuel for cooking and attempts to collect fuel woods from host
communities’ environs is usually a cause for conflicts over resources.
Program
Approaches and outcome measurements
AEF will give due
emphasis on a nexus between development and humanitarian aid, which combines
the imperative tasks of providing ad hoc assistance amid a long-term view to
improve the resilience of affected people. Implementing humanitarian aid and
development in a nexus approach is vital for the success of the national
development plan and Global development Goals. AEF support to increasing
resilience is seen in this regard.
AEF will work on a
thorough context analysis for specific geographical areas. The analysis will
determine strategic choices and approaches made at country level. AEF will take
a holistic view of the needs of its target audiences. Where local needs go
beyond AEF’s areas of expertise, AEF will advocate for other organizations to
respond. For each thematic areas of the foundation, specific program approaches
are prescribed. The thematic areas
chosen below are articulated and believed to contribute to AEF outcome areas
mentioned in section four. Hence in this strategic time frame (2023-2025) AEF
will focus on single theme perse, i.e., food security and livelihoods. The
other sectors such as energy, environment, Wash, Education, health,
peacebuilding will only be given partial focuses and might be included through
cross cutting initiatives. They will be explored more for further inclusion in
the next strategic planning season (2026 -2030). So, for FSL thematic area, the
foundation has already established standardized outcome indicators that will
provide insight in the prioritized program area.
Climate change adaptation
approaches will be promoted, particularly while engaging with host communities
and refugees, to stimulate sustainable, efficient agricultural food systems. This
will help create local resilience to the effect of climate change such as
displacement because of drought, flooding in different parts of AEF sites. Similarly,
while working with urban refugees and IDP’s, AEF will work thoroughly on access to food and non-food
items (NFIs), either through direct distributions or through cash programming.
This will be achieved by building the foundation own experts and knowledge base
on the sector.
AEF will continue to work
through partnerships and will seek to become members of different consortia who
have engaged in humanitarian relief, recovery, and development programs in
Ethiopia. Similarly, AEF will plan to work with Slow
food foundation in Italy to further mobilize resources and develop work
projects in the country. AEF will also seek to engage with crowed funding
platforms, renowned TV-programs, and Social-medias to mobilize resources that
would help advance the country strategy plans of the foundation for the years
to come. AEF will also seek to establish
working relationships with Italian Embassy in Addis Ababa & Ethiopian
Embassy in Italy. the followings are some other partners that the foundation
plan to explore and establish meaningful organizational relationship with, in this strategic planning season.
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Refugees and returnees’ services(RRS)
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UNHCR
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Host-communities, Refugees, IDP’s, Returnees
representatives
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Financial institutions such as Banks
& Busa-gonofa Micro finance Institution
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