DanChurchAid
Ethiopia
EECMY/DASSC - a DanChurchAid partner
EECMY is one of the two major evangelical churches in Ethiopia and with more than four million members EECMY plays an important role in the fight against poverty, HIV/AIDS and rights violations.
EECMY is a member of World Council of Churches (WCC), Action by Churches Together (ACT), Christian Relief and Development Association (CRDA) and Joint Relief Partnership (JRP). EECMY is divided into a number of synods, that all run independent development activities.
DanChurchAid supported projects
DanChurchAid supports ongoing projects with Wabe Batu Synod (WBS), North Central Ethiopia Synod (NCES) and South Ethiopia Synod (SES) in different development areas as well as relief activities.
EECMY - Wabu Batu Synod: EECMY plays an important role in the fight against HIV/AIDS and in DanChurchAid’s HIV/AIDS programme. DanChurchAid supports ongoing projects with the Wabe Batu Synod (WBS) and is looking at possibilities for cooperation with the North Central Ethiopia Synod (NCES) and South Ethiopia Synod (SES) on HIV/AIDS issues.
The present HIV/AIDS project by the Wabe Batu Synod focus mainly on prevention through behavioural change and on improving the living situation of the already infected. Advocacy and rights-based activities are included in the fight against harmful traditional practices and other practices inhibiting women’s free choices.
EECMY - South Ethiopia Synod: This Synod is responsible for the extreme southern part of Ethiopia mainly Borena Zone of Oromiya region. DanChurchAid has supported a project (one year) in Borena Zone and the evaluation report paints quite successful accomplishment from the beneficiaries’ perspective as well as the performance of the Synod.
The Synod is now implementing a one-year food security project based on the positive lessons from the earlier project. The project builds on the communities’ traditional knowledge and skills of livestock rearing and management by introducing improved management practices to improve quality, hence, income to the pastoralists. It also mobilizes and organizes the pastoralists into cooperatives for better marketing strategies of their livestock and the food grain they acquire from distant markets.
The Melbela livestock and grain marketing cooperative in Dirre Woreda of Borena, established with the assistance of DanChurchAid during the former project, has become inspirational to the peasant associations targeted by the current project. DanChurchAid and the Synod will learn a lot from these low-key projects to find suitable intervention strategies to address the unique problems faced by poor pastoralists.
EECMY - North Central Ethiopia Synod: This Synod of EECMY is assigned to work with communities of North Central Ethiopia in Wollo (North and South) and Afar regions. The development wing of this Synod is the field implementing partner of LWF in the Joint Programme in North Wollo.
DanChurchAid has supported two projects in 2000/01 and another relief/rehabilitation intervention in 2002/3 in Dehana woreda of Amhara region that were implemented by this Synod in partnership with LWF. Evaluation of the projects reveal that they were very relevant in addressing the immediate and long term needs of the target populations.
It has been an active partner of another DanChurchAid partner - RCCHE - during the implementation of the one-year human right and civic education project in 2003 in the North Wollo and Dehana area. It has shown its interest and readiness to incorporate human right issues into its development work as manifested in a new food security project supported by DanChurchAid.
