SOS Children’s Villages – A true help for children in single-parent families

Women in Ethiopia do not benefit from the same consideration given to men, and this represents a significant problem when mothers find themselves in the need of manage a family by their own. Single-parent families in Adwa are 74%, a figure much higher than the national average. In this Country stricken by poverty, despite working very hard, single mothers are able to earn only the minimum to survive and are therefore forced to neglect their children. Many children are obliged to help in housework or with occasional jobs. By doing so, they miss classes or they leave school. Children of these women do not have any chance to free themselves from the circle of poverty. More informations on https://www.sos-childrensvillages.org

In Adwa military base are located soldiers coming from all over the country. During their stay in Adwa, many start a family. But as soon as they are dislocated somewhere else by the army, many leave wife and children to their destiny. Moreover, casualties are still registered because of clashes at the nearby border of the Country. Consequently, 74% of the family economies are managed by single women. This percentage is 3 times higher than in the rest of the Country.

1,800 children with their single mothers are the direct beneficiaries of the project. Approximately 33,000 inhabitants of the 5 districts benefit from it indirectly.

Adwa is a city located in the mountainous region of Tigray, in Northern Ethiopia. It is an important agricultural center and venue of markets for the surrounding areas. It is close to the border with Eritrea. Since 1993, year of the declaration of independence of Eritrea from Ethiopia, a conflict is set on the border between the two States. The peak of the tension exploded in the war between 1998 and 2000. The sentence of the International Court of Justice of 2002, in favor of Eritrea, is still not recognized by Ethiopia. For this reason, ongoing clashes are still affecting the zones at the border, as it happened in March 2012 when Ethiopian troops attacked some Eritrean military bases.