Over the past years Ethiopia has faced the full spectrum of humanitarian crises. Active conflict remains a daily reality, particularly in the Amhara region, most notably in North and South Wollo. These challenges have been compounded by new types of natural disasters, including the windstorm in August and the recent flooding in Meket Woreda, North Wollo, which affected over 139,000 people and destroyed more than 6,000 hectares of cropland.

Tragically, the year also claimed the lives of our colleagues, making it one of the most difficult in our humanitarian work.

Thanks to the generous support of the Austrian Development Agency (ADA) and the Red Cross’s unparalleled access to crisis-affected areas, we were able to reach communities otherwise marginalized or beyond the reach of most humanitarian actors.

Key Achievements:

MESELAL Project

Through cash, livelihood, WASH and Emergency Medical Services, we directly reached more than 55,000 people in North and South Wollo using a community-led targeting system.

 In addition to the life-saving support, a major milestone was the transition of four self-help groups into fully registered and certified cooperatives by the Amhara Regional State Cooperative Agency. Their names are Beruh Tesfa, Anidinet, Mekidela Saving and Credit, and Ediget Behibiret, and they are all in South Wollo. This achievement provides a valuable new lesson for the Ethiopian Red Cross Society (ERCS) and will certainly help refine the livelihood models in its future program approaches. The unplanned yet remarkable achievement demonstrates the strength of our bottom-up and inclusive approach. In addition, 120 households received livestock support, helping them to re-establish their livelihoods.

Water, Hygiene and Sanitation PLUS

The “PLUS” reflects our inclusion of Menstrual Hygiene Management for internally displaced persons, where awareness and access remain limited. We distributed 1,200 kits and conducted awareness campaigns reaching thousands.

We also constructed seven inclusive water systems, from feasibility study to design and management, ensuring accessibility for persons with disabilities, pregnant women, and children.
One particularly inspiring story is that of a woman who has visual impairments in South Wollo and lives in one of the most mountainous areas, where fetching water had been a lifelong hardship. Through community-led advocacy and MESELAL support, she now has tap water access at her home. She shared what this experience meant to her, and it was a deeply emotional moment.

In total, 23,364 people (11,916 women and 11,448 men) benefited from the WASH interventions. As part of our sustainability efforts and commitment to reducing carbon footprint, two diesel pumps were replaced with electric grid systems.

Emergency Medical Services

In areas such as North and South Wollo, where the public ambulance system has collapsed, our Red Cross teams provided prehospital and ambulance services to 5,314 people, including 206 persons with disabilities, primarily for maternal care. Through the project support, we successfully delivered a fully equipped ambulance after a lengthy process to secure government import waivers, made possible by strong coordination with our headquarters and their tireless effort. Facebook  ꓲ LinkedIn

Skybird II

The program’s four gears are now on, focusing on strengthening PGI institutional capacity, promoting gender responsive interventions, enhancing leadership and decision making of women, and improving the socio-economic resilience and wellbeing of women and girls.

A comprehensive PGI organizational assessment was conducted across all levels of ERCS, resulting in an endorsed action plan by senior leadership. ERCS has since committed to increasing women’s representation in leadership and integrating PGI indicators into wider programming.

The design of microprojects for West Arsi, Sidama and Illubabor is now in the final stage, featuring innovative PGI focused integrated WASH, livelihood and EMS interventions.

Together, we have proven that community-led and inclusive approaches can create meaningful and lasting humanitarian impact even in the most difficult contexts.