About Us
Goal
To contribute to the national endeavor of empowering the youth, children and women to be self-reliant.
Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) is a local developmental and humanitarian organization established in 2007 GC with a focus on ensuring a better future for kids, the youth, and women through direct investments and enhancement of quality education, ensuring gender equality and empowering youth and women, upholding community health, and supporting early childhood development. The organization was re-registered by the Federal Charities and Societies Agency in accordance with the 2009 CSO proclamation No.621/2009 and re-registered under the Civil Society Agency Proclamation 1113/2019 with a registration number 0259.
ESD has board of directors and management team. The board of directors is composed of five members it meets bi-annually to follow up project performances and take corrective measures when necessary. The management team led by the executive director and they are responsible for the day-to-day operational activities of the organization. ESD is currently running fourteen projects in Amhara, Oromia, Sidama, South Ethiopia, and Central Ethiopia regional states focusing on six thematic areas; Early Childhood development, Women and Girls empowerment, Quality Education development, Youth Skills Development and Job Creation, Environment Protection and Renewable Energy, and Humanitarian Response and Recovery.
ESD has 73 staff (41 female). It generates its funding from donors based in Switzerland, USA, Netherlands and Ethiopia which cover about 85-90% of the total finance and the rest 10-15% financial sources is covered through community contribution mainly in kind and labour.
Organizational Structure:
Board: composed of five volunteer members nominated and elected by the general assembly. It meets bi-annually to follow up project performances and take corrective measures when necessary.
The Management team is composed of five staff members represented form head office and the project offices led by the executive director and responsible for the day-to-day operational activities of the organization
Core Programmatic Intervention Areas
Early Childhood Development
- Early Childhood Care and Education
- Child rights and protection
- WASH facility development
- Pedagogical center development
Women and Girl's empowerment
- Livelihood initiatives
- Youth sexual and reproductive health
- Leadership development
Quality Education
- Primary education focusing on quality improvement
- Intercultural education
- ICT for education
Youth Skills development and Job creation
- Entrepreneurship development
- Technical and Vocational Education and Training
- Leadership development
Environment protection and renewable energy
- Green livelihood
- Solar and biogas development
- Climate change resilience
Emergency Response and Recovery
- Humanitarian service
- Rehabilitation/social service
- Peace and stability development
Education in emergency
Wash, health, and nutrition
- Protection
Target Groups:
With its projects’ interventions and the benefits of development works, ESD targets the community groups who are found in different contexts and in need of support for sustaining life as well as improving living conditions. It includes the following list:
- Disadvantaged children, (0 to 8 )
- Unemployed and, or underemployed youth
- Disadvantaged, Adolescent Girls and Women
- Immigrants returnees from Middle East and refugees’
- Internally Displaced People (IDPs)
ESD is actively involved in the efforts of improving the socioeconomic status of disadvantaged children, youth and women. The following vision, mission, goal and values generally guide ESD.
Vision ESD aspires to see Ethiopia with empowered communities.
Mission ESD’S mission is to create bright future for children, girls, youth, and women through integrated interventions.
To contribute to the national endeavor of empowering the youth, children and women to be self-reliant
Core Values/Guiding Principles:
During the operational process of the organization, ESD action is determined by considering the following core values and principles for upholding the rights of target community specifically children, youth and women.
- Meaningful Participation: make all stakeholders to have key roles in the process
- Stakeholders Engagement: Engage stakeholders in all levels of project cycle management
- Cooperation: show willingness to play roles for common agendas with stakeholders
- Integrity: maintaining strong ethical base in accountable and transparent manner
- Partnership: create synergy with like-minded organizations
- Gender Responsive: Make gender issues to be addressed in the intervention
- Innovation: apply new ways of doing for better operations and to the end of targets
- Stewardship: safe-guarding of resources on behalf of those it serves
- Continuous Self-Assessment: ESD believes in conducting self-organizational assessment for betterment
Operational area of ESD
- Oromia region
- Amhara region
- South Etheiopia
- Siddama region;
- Central Ethiopia
Operating Model:
- Community and Policy based Working within the existing policy framework of the country and avoiding the creation of parallel structures. Working closely with the local authorities and communities; developing trust and commitment for ensuring sustainability
- Systemic Approach: Working at the individual level (target groups) institutional level schools, training institutions, local administration, government line offices, and district zonal and regional levels.
- Project Development, Involving the target groups, communities, donors and the concerned government bodies throughout the project life
Quality Assurance:
- Monitoring and Evaluation: Maintaining the right tracking of the projects and assuring the quality of the intended results through periodic project monitoring, review meetings (self reflections) joint monitoring (with government and donors),annual report, midterm evaluation and project phase evaluation.
- Social Audit: Assessing the performance of ESD by the target groups and government stakeholders and communities biannually.
- Financial audit: Auditing of all financial transactions by an accredited chartered accountant firm annually
- ESD is a member of Her choice alliance, Education in Emergency cluster, Core Humanitarian Standard Alliance (CHS Alliance) Consortium of Christian Relief and Development Association (CCRDA) Consortium of Self help approach Promotors (CoSAP), Girls not Bride, Basic Education Network (BEN) and NGO forums in its operational areas
Human resources
- Currently 73 full-time employees (41 females) on a contractual basis
Financial resources:
- Foreign funding (85%) and community contribution in terms of kind labor and indigenous knowledge (15%)
ESD’s Project offices
Debrebirhan in the North Shoa Zone of the Amhara Region
Debremarkos Finote Selam Amhara Region
Hawassa in Sidama Region
Addis Ababa Capital city of Ethiopia /the organization Head office/
News
Announcement: Resignation of Deputy Director
Dear Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) Community, Friends I hope this message finds you well.
I am writing to inform you of a significant change in our leadership team. As of July 3rd, 2024, our esteemed Deputy Director, Mr.Aemiro Mussie has resigned from his position.
Mr.Aemiro Mussie has been an integral part of our organization since 1917, dedicating over a century of his life to our mission and values. His commitment and dedicated contributions have been instrumental in shaping the path of ESD. We are deeply grateful for his service and the profound impact he has had on our work and the communities we serve.
In his statement, Mr.Aemrio Mussie shared that his decision to step down was driven by a desire to pursue a new opportunity that aligns with his personal and professional goals in the USA. While it is never easy to see a valued colleague leave, we understand and support his decision to embark on this new journey.
We are in the process of identifying a suitable successor who will pursue the contribution of Mr.Aemiro Mussie. During this transitional period, our commitment to our mission remains unwavering, and we will ensure that our operations continue smoothly.
Please join me in thanking Mr.Aemiro Mussie for his remarkable dedication and wishing him all the best in his future endeavours. We look forward to staying in touch and hearing about his continued success.
Thank you for your continued support.
Sincerely,
Amsale Mulugeta
Executive Directress
Education for Sustainable Development(ESD)
MARSHET BEGENA
MARSHET BEGENA
Hi, my name is Marshet Begena and I am a 27-year-old woman born in Hawasa, I was unemployed and struggling financially. It was a tough time for me until I discovered ESD’s professional hairdressing training program.
I enrolled in the program and completed three months of training at Solomon Abegaz Beauty Training Institute. With the skills I learned, I launched a beauty salon business with my friends. We offer a variety of services, including hair styling, Shuruba/braid, pedicures, manicures, and bridal makeup. Our top customers are brides who come from rural areas.
Thanks to the training we received from ESD, we are now profitable and able to cover our running costs. We have even started saving money to expand our business by establishing a beauty training institution and a children’s beauty salon.
I am so grateful to ESD for their support and follow-up. Without their help, I would not have been able to start my own business and achieve the success I have today.
W/RO. WUCHALE
W/RO. WUCHALE
My name is Wuchale, and I was one of the beneficiaries of Biruh Phase One. I live in Hawassa Zuriya Woreda/District in Lebu Koromo Kebele. I am married and have two children, a son and a daughter. Before ESD came into my life, I was struggling financially and was considered poor in the community.
ESD gave me the chance to get support from the Biruh project. They provided me with training on the advantages of saving, basic business skills, resource management, life skills, family planning, and the essence of SRH. The training was useful in changing my livelihood.
In addition to the training, I also received two goats from ESD. Within two years, each goat had given birth to twins of lambs, and the number of my goats increased to 12. As a result, I sold 10 of my goats and bought a cow. Now, I generate an income of 40 Birr from sales of milk, out of which I save 10 Birr daily.
Thanks to ESD’s support, I managed to attend a school six kilometers away from my hometown. Now, I am preparing to take the National Exam for grade 12. My personal savings have aggregated to 1000 Birr, and I have a future plan of building a house in Dore Town.
I am so grateful to ESD and its donors for enabling me to envision a bright future in my life. Without their support, I would not have been able to achieve the success I have today.
EYOB MIKIAS
EYOB MIKIAS
My name is Eyob Mikias, and I am a 30-year-old man born in Debrebirhan town. I had to drop out of school after the 9th grade due to my family’s economic problems. I started working as a daily laborer to support my family, but it was still challenging to have a secure income to provide for them.
One day, while I was struggling with my finances, I heard some good news. The kebele was recruiting beneficiaries for vocational training, and I decided to apply. I was fortunate enough to be selected by the kebele recruiting committee, and I joined the three-month theoretical and practical training.
After completing the training, I launched a dairy farm with my friends. ESD provided us with a startup-capital, which helped us get started. Our hard work and dedication paid off, and our dairy farm became successful. We now earn Birr 60,000 per month, and we produce mozzarella cheese and other dairy products from our six cows.
Thanks to ESD’s support and the vocational training, my friends and I have been able to live a better life. This success has encouraged us to dream of a brighter future and a bigger dairy farm. We are grateful to ESD and its donors for enabling us to achieve this success and envisioning a better future for ourselves and our families.
BITANIYA ABEBAYEHU
BITANIYA ABEBAYEHU
My name is Bitaniya, and I have been an ICT teacher at ANDINET PRIMARY school for the past six months. During my time here, I have had the opportunity to train 478 students, 293 of whom are female and 185 are male. These students are in grades 5th through 8th, and I have been using the module prepared by ESD to teach them.
After completing the training, the students have shown remarkable progress in using Word, Excel, and the internet. The availability of the internet has made it easier for them to access technology.
Before ESD’s intervention, students had no chance to use computers before joining high school. Teachers used to prepare rosters and grade details manually, which was time-consuming and prone to errors. However, after ESD trained us and provided computer accessibility at the school, the grading system has been computerized. This has made roster preparation and grading computation accurate, efficient, and time-saving. Thanks to ESD’s support, we have been able to introduce technology into our teaching methods and improve our students’ learning outcomes.
STUDENT NATNAEL DESTA a 7th-grade student who has been attending ICT class since I was a 5th-grade student. I want to be a space scientist and am passionate about innovative works and producing so far different valuable items by recycling locally available materials.
STUDENT RAHEL TEKLEHAYMANOT, Before the establishment of the IT center, we did not have access to computer technology or awareness about the digital world. However, thanks to ESD’s support, we are now well aware of the digital world and how to gather information from the internet. This has allowed us to become more creative and solve problems by producing different items from things that were once considered scrap or not useful.
RAWA ENDESHAW
My name is Rawa Endeshaw, and I am 18 years old. I live in South Wollo Kutaber town and am currently in grade 9. When the conflict started in Tigiry, it quickly spread to the Amhara region, including my town. The violence and attacks that followed disrupted the lives of many South Wollo residents, including myself and my friends Sakim Mohaamed and Ekram Ababu.
Before the conflict, I was a vibrant student who loved going to school. However, after the conflict erupted, our lives were turned upside down. Most of my neighbors and loved ones were forced to flee their homes, including my family. We had to leave suddenly at midnight without taking any of our belongings with us.
As a result of the conflict, school was suspended, and I was out of school for months. It was a difficult time for me and my family, as we struggled to make ends meet. We had to gather firewood in the IDP and sometimes trade in the market to earn money to buy food.
But thanks to ESD and the Malala Fund, we received support to help us get back to school. This included capacity building training for teachers and students on the psychosocial impact of conflict, awareness on returning to school, minimizing dropout rates, trauma management, trauma-informed practice, and supporting enrollment.
Our school was rejuvenated and furnished thanks to ESD’s efforts. We received new desks, drawer tables, and shelves that significantly improved our learning environment. ESD also provided us with school supplies and hygiene and sanitation materials.
I am so grateful to ESD and the Malala project for their support during this difficult time. Thanks to their help, I can continue attending school and working towards my future dreams.