Empower Her Addis Ababa Project

Overview

Led by N4ED and funded by Buntstifte (Crayons Ethiopia), this project empowers vulnerable women and children in Woreda 11, Yeka Sub-city, Addis Ababa. It addresses poverty, limited healthcare, and economic instability through holistic support—strengthening women’s economic independence, improving family health and nutrition, fostering children’s learning, creativity, and overall well-being, as well as preventing and protecting against violence for the entire family.

Objectives:

• Strengthen economic independence of women through a revolving fund and savings-based Self-Help Groups (SHGs), vocational training, entrepreneurship development, and access to seed capital.
• Improve healthcare access, mental well-being, and household nutrition practices.
• Support children’s education and holistic development through tutoring, access to the library, and creative classes including music, visual and performing arts, and crafts.
• Promote parenting skills, family planning, gender-based violence (GBV) awareness, prevention and response.

Target Beneficiaries for 2025: 

144 people: 50 women, 82 children, 12 husbands

Approach:

Women are organized into Self-Help Groups (SHGs) that encourage saving and peer learning. They then receive training in life skills, business skills, and vocational skills. Following this, they are provided with seed capital to start small enterprises, tailored to their individual needs and levels. In parallel, children benefit from academic support, including tutoring, access to books and computers, and creative classes in music (such as guitar and piano), visual arts (such as painting), performing arts (such as theatre and dance), and crafts (such as pottery). Nutrition education is also provided to improve their quality of life and reduce illness. Additionally, mental health counseling and better healthcare access are offered, along with immediate support for those in need, especially for those who are chronically ill.

Expected outcome:

• Women will gain economic stability, confidence, and skills for entrepreneurship.
• Families will access improved healthcare, mental well-being, and nutrition, leading to healthier lives.
• Children will thrive academically and creatively, benefiting from holistic development.
• The community will experience lasting transformation, with stronger family resilience and empowerment.

Timeline:

Started in January 2025 as a pilot year with plans for continuation

Call to Action:

We welcome volunteers to support creative sessions and tutoring classes for children through skill-sharing activities in art, music, wellness, or academics. Business owners can also contribute by volunteering as mentors for mothers or by purchasing their products or providing sales platforms. Companies and individuals are encouraged to donate library books, computers, musical instruments, and other materials, as well as offer technical collaboration.

Target area:

Kotebe Area, Yeka sub-city, Addis Ababa