Women's Voice and Leadership - Ethiopia

This project is part of Canada’s Women’s Voice and Leadership Program which supports local and regional women’s organizations (WOs) and networks working to advance women’s empowerment and gender equality in developing countries. This is done by supporting their activities building institutional capacity and promoting network and alliance-building as women’s and feminist organizations are critical agents of change. The program also responds to the globally recognized significant gap in funding and support to women’s organizations and movements worldwide. In Ethiopia the project aims to transform unequal gender power relations and improve women’s and girls’ social position and achieve the full realization of their rights. Designed to provide women’s organizations with the capacity resources and opportunity to realize their mission and vision address their organizational challenges promote efficiencies in programming and create a platform for coordinated advocacy and networking. The project aims to reach up to 113 local regional and national WOs across four regions of Ethiopia (Addis Ababa Amhara Oromia and Southern Nations Nationalities and Peoples' Region - SNNPR). The project also provides training and support to over 70 young feminists and 24 core trainers and coaches.

The expected outcomes for this project include: (1) improved management and sustainability of local women’s organizations advancing gender equality and the empowerment of women and girls in Ethiopia particularly those representing vulnerable and marginalized women and girls; (2) enhanced performance of women’s organizations’ programming and advocacy to advance gender equality and empower women and girls in Ethiopia; and (3) increased effectiveness of sub-national and national women’s platforms networks and alliances to affect policy legal and social change in Ethiopia.