Pdabs 670

Assessment of the Street Children
and Orphans Component of the

Pact NGO Sector Enhancement
Initiative in Ethiopia
March 2000
John Williamson
The evaluation report was conducted under the auspices of the United States Agency for International
Development. The evaluation was conducted by the Displaced Children and Orphans Fund and War Victims
Fund Contract (HRN-C-00-98-00037-00). The opinions expressed are those of the author and do not
necessarily reflect the views of the U.S. Agency for International Development or
Professional Resources Group International, Inc.
For additional information or copies of this report, contact
Displaced Children and Orphans Fund and War Victims Fund Contract
1300 Pennsylvania Ave, NW
North Tower, Suite 405
Washington, DC 20004
phone: 202-789-1500 fax: 202-789-1601
CONTENTS
ACRONYMS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . iii
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . vii
Overview of Pact’s DCOF-Funded Capacity-Building Activities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . viii

Observations and Comments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . x
Pact’s Work with Orphans and Street Children NGOs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . x
Broader Issues Concerning Especially Vulnerable Children . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xii
INTRODUCTION . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
THE CONTEXT . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
Street Children . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
Children in Institutions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
Children Affected by AIDS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
Children Affected by Armed Conflict . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
Interrelationships Among Categories of Vulnerable Children . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
The Operating Environment of NGOs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
VISITS OUTSIDE ADDIS ABABA . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
Mekele and Adigrat . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9

Dessie . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
Bahir Dar . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
OVERVIEW OF PACT’S DCOF-FUNDED CAPACITY-BUILDING ACTIVITIES . . . . . . 13
The Orphans Network . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
i
Displaced Children and Orphans Fund
OBSERVATIONS AND COMMENTS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
Pact’s Work with Orphans and Street Children NGOs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
Effective Capacity Building . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17

Increased Impact . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
Progress Toward Achievement of Objectives . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
Need for a Street Children Network . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
Exposure Visits . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
Costs and Benefits of Interventions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24
Orphans Registry . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24
Use of DCOF Funds . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24
Broader Issues Concerning Especially Vulnerable Children . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25
Microeconomic Interventions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25
Need to Develop a Collaborative, Strategic Response to
Especially Vulnerable Children . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26
Children Orphaned by AIDS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
Needs and Opportunities in Tigray . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29
Ongoing Exchange Within the Region . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29
NOTES . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31
APPENDIX A- SCOPE OF WORK . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . A-1

APPENDIX B - CONTACTS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . A-5
APPENDIX C - SCHEDULE FOR JOHN WILLIAMSON . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . A-11
APPENDIX D - OVERVIEW OF ACTIVITIES . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . A-13
APPENDIX E - PACT’S PARTNER NGOS WORKING WITH
STREET CHILDREN AND ORPHANS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . A-19
APPENDIX F - PROFILES OF SELECTED NGO PARTICIPANTS
IN PACT’S NGO SECTOR ENHANCEMENT INITIATIVE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . A-21
APPENDIX G - TOTAL GRANTS PER YEAR (BAR GRAPHS) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . A-33
APPENDIX H . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . A-39
APPENDIX I - RESOURCE DOCUMENTS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . A-41
ii
ACRONYMS
AGOS Abebech Gobena Orphan and School

DCOF Displaced Children and Orphans Fund
FSCE Forum on Street Children in Ethiopia
IFSO Integrated Family Service Organization
JACH Jerusalem Association Children’s Home
KCADO Kind Hearts Children Aid Development Organization
MOLSA Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs
OCA Organizational capacity assessment
OCAT Organizational capacity tool
Pact Private Agencies Collaborating Together
RCWDA Rifit Valley Children and Women Development Association
UNAIDS Joint United Nations Program on HIV/AIDS
USAID United States Agency for International Development
iii
NGO Sector Enhancement Initiative Street Children & Orphans Component
v
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
The situation of children in Ethiopia deserves particular attention from the U. S. Agency for
International Development (USAID). Of its 70 million people, approximately half are children
and adolescents. Poverty puts many of Ethiopia’s children at high risk. In July 1997, Displaced
Children and Orphans Fund (DCOF) funds were added to USAID’s funding of Private Agencies
Collaborating Together’s (Pact) NGO Sector Enhancement Initiative. The purpose of this
funding was to include in Pact’s capacity building NGOs addressing the needs of orphans and
street children. A total of $1 million of DCOF funds have been committed through March 30,
2002. In January and February 2000, DCOF conducted an assessment of the use of its funding.
This work included discussions with relevant contacts in Addis Ababa, Mekele, Adigrat, Dessie,
and Bahir Dar.
Although poor and plagued by war, Ethiopia has some significant social assets. A country of
ancient civilizations, briefly occupied but never colonized by European powers, it has strong
religious institutions dating back to the fifth century and long-established educational traditions
and institutions. The country is culturally and ethnically diverse, with more the 80 languages
spoken.
Although large sections of the country are densely populated, prone to periodic drought, and
plagued with chronic food deficits, Ethiopia also has areas with adequate rainfall, fertile soil, and
relatively low population density. The country’s population is about 85 percent rural. Less than
35 percent of Ethiopia's elementary-school-age population is enrolled in primary school. About
40 percent of the country's farming population did not produce enough food and income to meet
their basic nutritional needs.
HIV/AIDS is one of the significant challenges facing the country. About 9 percent of the
country’s adult population in the 15–49 age range are thought to be HIV positive, and AIDS is
increasing the vulnerability of large numbers of children. HIV prevalence rates are higher in
urban than rural areas and are highest along the main highways leading from the ports of Assab,
Massawa, and Djibouti to Addis Ababa. In recent months, the government has begun to treat
AIDS as a priority issue. An estimated 620,000 children in Ethiopia had lost their mothers to
AIDS as of 2000. By 2009, the number is projected to almost triple to 1.8 million, and by 2014 to
reach 2.9 million
vii
An estimated 150,000–200,000 Ethiopian children are working full-time or living on the street.
The Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs (MOLSA), through its advocacy and policy work; the
Forum on Street Children in Ethiopia (FSCE); and other groups have brought about a positive
shift in attitudes and responses toward these children from police and urban residents. FSCE is a
local NGO involved in advocacy and the implementation of model programs to prevent children
from moving onto the street. Its Child Resource and Development Center has been funded by
Pact with DCOF funds.
Attitudes regarding the institutional care of children have shifted dramatically in recent years in
Ethiopia. There appears to be general recognition by MOLSA and the NGOs with which Pact is
working that such care is, at best, a last resort, and that serious problems arise with the social
reintegration of children who grow up in institutions, and deinstitutionalization through family
reunification and independent living are being emphasized. For example, in the Jerusalem
Association Children’s Home (JACH), only 160 children remain of the 785 who were in JACH’s
three orphanages.
Children throughout the country were affected by the civil war, which ended in 1991, and the
current war with Eritrea is putting many at risk again. An estimated 316,000 people, over half of
whom are children, have been displaced in Tigray due to the war,.
Families and communities are the country’s primary social safety nets, and strengthening their
capacities to protect and care for especially vulnerable children must be the fundamental (but not
the only) strategy to respond to the needs of these children. Strengthening family and community
caring capacities can help reduce the number of children who turn to the street to survive.
Visits were made to Mekele and Adigrat, in Tigray, where war, a chronic food deficit, and AIDS
are increasing the vulnerability of children; Dessie, where economic decline and AIDS are
pushing children onto the street; and Bahir Dar, where JACH is converting its residential
institution into an agricultural training facility and has developed an urban community
development program.
Overview of Pact’s DCOF-Funded Capacity-Building Activities
Specifically in relation to street children and orphans, Pact developed a June 1998 addendum to
its NGO Sector Enhancement Initiative proposal, which identifies the following additional
objectives:
• Strengthening the capacity of 25 NGOs operating at the national and at local levels to design,
implement, and evaluate programs addressing the needs of street children and orphans;
viii
• Increasing the number of street children and orphans either enrolled in formal schools or
participating in non-formal education programs;
C Increasing the economic status of at-risk families through support for income-generating
programs;
• De-institutionalizing children currently in orphanages through support to family reunification

programs; and
• Enhancing the life skills of street children and orphans to become economically productive
and eventually self-supporting.
DCOF funds were provided to support these activities, which the USAID mission has co-
mingled with other USAID funds supporting this program.
Pact’s capacity-building activities emphasize organizational development. The first step is an

organizational capacity assessment (OCA) facilitated by Pact staff and Pact-trained consultants.
This process helps an NGO identify its strengths and weaknesses, and assists Pact in determining
where capacity needs to be built. Pact’s interventions are made through a training and mentoring
process focusing on strategic planning and management, project design, monitoring and
evaluation, and financial management. Pact helps each NGO to develop its own strategic plan.
Mentoring by a consultant assigned by Pact usually continues for three to four weeks after
structured training. After completion of a strategic plan, Pact’s partner NGOs are eligible to
apply to Pact for funding of staff positions, purchase of basic equipment and furniture, and
activity grants. Domestic resource mobilization has recently been emphasized in Pact’s capacity
building.
At the time of the assessment, 23 of Pact’s partner NGOs were engaged with street children and
orphans. Appendix E includes a list of these NGOs.
In cooperation with the Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs (MOLSA), Pact has helped
facilitate the development of a network to exchange information and experience, access resource
material, and carry out exchange visits among 19 organizations engaged in the care of orphans
and other especially vulnerable children. These bodies represent three quarters of the orphanages
in the country. Most of the network members are still providing institutional care but are working
to deinstitutionalize children and develop family and community protection and support for them
and other especially vulnerable children. Several of the NGOs in the network have also
developed programs to prevent children from moving onto the street.
With Pact’s support, the network enables its members to exchange information, access resource
material, and carry out exchange visits. The network is also playing an advocacy role on behalf
ix
of orphans and street children. Through support from Pact, the network, has a full-time
coordinator at the beginning of 2000, and JACH serves as its secretariat.
Observations and Comments
Pact’s Work with Orphans and Street Children NGOs
Pact’s capacity building appears to be making a significant impact on its partner NGOs that are
working with orphans and street children. Pact’s NGO partners in the street children and orphans
sector consistently reported the following:
• The Organizational Capacity Assessment (OCA) had enabled them to identify their strengths
and weaknesses;
• The strategic planning exercise led them to clearly define their priorities, focus their
activities, and enabled them to chart their own course;
• The provision of computers, printers, and financial management software (Peach Tree) and
the related training had enabled them to report responsively to donors, close accounts in a
timely way, and, thereby attract additional funding; and
• Staffing and activity grants had enabled them to implement new approaches, increase the
number of beneficiaries reached, and improve program quality and effectiveness.
Most of the NGOs with which Pact has worked the longest have substantially increased their
funding from donors other than Pact, as well as increasing the number of children benefitting
from their programs. Collectively, these NGOs’ budgets have grown by $2.6 million, an increase
of 121 percent. This increased funding resulted in substantially expanded coverage of partner’s
programs for orphans and street children.
Pact does appear to be making progress toward achieving its five key objectives concerning street
children and orphans:
Objective I: Strengthen the capacity of 25 NGOs operating at the national and local levels to
design, implement, and evaluate programs addressing the needs of street children and orphans.
Initial organizational capacity needs assessments were conducted for all NGOs using Pact’s
comprehensive tool. The findings of this assessment were able to clearly indicate the
implementation capacities of the respective NGOs and their levels of maturity.
x
Most of the NGOs involved in caring for street children and orphans have received core
training and mentoring programs.
Most of the NGOs have improved their implementation capacity in some or all seven areas of
organizational excellence.
Objective II: Increase the number of street children and orphans either enrolled in formal
schools or participating in non-formal education programs.
As such, a mechanism has not been in place to track the

progress made in this regard. However, effort has been made to show the
rapid growth made by some NGOs.
Objective III: Increase the economic status of at-risk families through support for income
generation programs.
Government policy restricting microfinance activities has limited Pact’s ability to provide
support in this area, but a few NGOs have received grants to run savings and credit programs.
However, no effort had made as of the time of the assessment to assess the impacts on the
lives of beneficiaries. Therefore, it is difficult to provide quality data here.
Objective IV: De-institutionalize children in orphanages through support to family reunification

programs.
Partners have made significant and continuing progress in this area, and significant attitudinal
change has occurred among them favoring family and community-based care for children.
The formation of the orphanage network is a significant step.
Objective V: Enhance the life of the street children and orphans to become economically
productive and eventually self-supporting.
Pact supported five partner NGOs to enhance the skills of street children and orphans to be
economically productive.
It would be beneficial for Pact to facilitate development of a network of organizations working

with street children, with FSCE playing a key role. Although anecdotal experience points to the
benefits of exposure visits, it was beyond the capacity of this assessment to judge the cost-
effectiveness of the visits that have been carried out. Any future visits should be justified on that
basis. In its grant-making process, it is important for Pact to encourage NGOs to develop cost-
effective approaches that can be replicated or scaled up to achieve significant benefits on a wide
scale. One issue to which Pact should give closer attention is the cost per potential beneficiary of
xi
proposed interventions, and by developing programming and proposal review guidelines,

encourage NGOs to do the same. Experience in other countries suggests that the proposed
development of an orphans registry would be expensive and potentially counterproductive.
Pact has committed almost the full $ 1 million committed by DCOF to the initiative. Its expenses
for training and mentoring, exposure visits, and overhead costs are in addition to this amount.
Broader Issues Concerning Especially Vulnerable Children
A review and assessment of the different approaches being taken to achieve economic
strengthening of vulnerable households in Ethiopia could identify those with the best promise of
making a difference in household coping capacities, sustainability, and/or ability to be replicated
on a wide scale.
The strategic approach Pact has helped NGOs apply in their individual programs should be taken
to another level. The magnitude of the problems and the depth of poverty in Ethiopia are too
extensive for individual programs to make much difference on the situation as a whole.
Collaboration is needed among government agencies, NGOs, international organizations, donors,
religious bodies, and the private sector to reach a critical mass of effort and make a difference in
the situation of vulnerable children generally. Pact is in a position to help develop mechanisms to
develop common goals and strategies and to share more effectively information and experience
among key actors and, thereby, piece together a constellation of interventions that, collectively,
could make a difference. A strategic initial step would be to conduct a collaborative situation
analysis to identify the major factors pushing children onto the street and cost-effective
interventions that have the potential for making broad impacts. These steps would be followed by
developing a shared strategy, and defining and clarifying roles and responsibilities to carry out
the strategy.
An increasing number of children will be orphaned or otherwise made vulnerable by AIDS in

Ethiopia. They are not likely, however, to stand out as a distinct group requiring separate, new
programs. They will add to the number of children on the street, at risk of moving onto the street,
at risk of sexual or physical abuse or exploitation, at risk of labor exploitation, and at risk of HIV
infection. Their needs do require attention, but not as a separate area of activity. Programs for
especially vulnerable children should give particular attention to the psychosocial impacts of
AIDS on parents who are ill, their children, and orphans.
Pact’s NGO Sector Enhancement Initiative and its partners should advocate the expansion of
voluntary HIV testing and counseling services, work to reduce stigma associated with
HIV/AIDS, and use their organizational and community contacts to promote HIV prevention.
xii
There may be opportunities in Tigray to develop approaches that can be implemented at scale to
improve the well-being of these especially vulnerable children. In consultation with the mission,
Pact should explore these.
Ethiopia has important experience to share with other countries in the region engaged with the
issue of street children, such as its lessons regarding deinstitutionalization. Ethiopian NGOs
would also benefit from information about the community mobilization approaches DCOF has
been supporting in southern Africa. DCOF would like to maintain the exchange of information
with key stakeholders in Ethiopia on the issues regarding especially vulnerable children and the
ways AIDS is making children more vulnerable.
xiii
INTRODUCTION
The situation of children in Ethiopia deserves particular attention from the United States Agency
for International Development (USAID). The country’s population may be as high as 70 million,1
and about half are children and adolescents. Ethiopia is the third largest country in Africa; only
Nigeria and Egypt are larger. Poverty puts many of Ethiopia’s children at high risk. The
country’s annual income per capita is only $100, the lowest in the world.2 Major health indicators
are declining, and parts of the country face chronic food deficits. The country’s development, the
situation of its children, and its ability to provide basic services for them has been undermined by
a long civil war, between 1974 and 1991, and an ongoing war with Eritrea, that began in May
1998. Ethiopia also has some innovative, well-developed programs for vulnerable children from
which organizations in other countries could learn.
USAID’s Displaced Children and Orphans Fund (DCOF) began funding activities to benefit
especially vulnerable children in Ethiopia in 1988, with a grant to the Christian Relief and
Development Association. In July 1997, DCOF funds were added to USAID’s funding of the
NGO Sector Enhancement Initiative’s capacity building program of Private Agencies
Collaborating Together (Pact). The purpose of this funding was to include NGOs addressing the
needs of orphans and street children. For two weeks in January and February 2000, DCOF
carried out an assessment of the component of the initiative its funds had supported. The Scope
of Work for this assessment included addressing the following series of issues:
• The situation of street children and other children of concern to DCOF;
• The impact of the Pact capacity-building program on street children;
• The role and activities of the Forum for Street Children;
• The use of DCOF funds by Pact;
• Perspectives and roles of key stakeholders regarding future action to benefit street children,
orphans, and other vulnerable children;
1
• The ways in which programs are addressing HIV/AIDS issues;
• Trends concerning institutional care;
• The significance of DCOF-funded activities; and
• Possible further DCOF-supported activities.
The detailed scope of work for the assessment is included as Appendix A. The assessment was
carried out by John Williamson, senior technical advisor for DCOF, January 23-February 5,
2000. This work, in addition to the review of relevant documents, included contacts with Pact,
USAID/Ethiopia, relevant government offices, NGO participants in Pact’s NGO Sector
Enhancement Initiative, child-focused international NGOs, UNICEF, and community groups in
Addis Ababa, Mekele, Adigrat, Dessie, and Bahir Dar. Appendix B includes a list of individuals
contacted during the assessment. Appendix C includes the assessment itinerary.
The DCOF assessment took place during an external midterm evaluation of Pact’s
NGO Sector Enhancement Initiative, carried out by Steve Norton, a consultant and former
USAID staff member. Findings of that evaluation are presented in the report, “Mid-Term Impact
Evaluation of NGO Sector Enhancement Initiative,” which provides a more complete description
of the activities and procedures of the NGO Sector Enhancement Initiative. Other sectors of
Pact’s capacity-building program include food security and rural development, education,
democracy and governance, and health. This report focuses on activities and issues directly
relevant to street children, orphans, and other especially vulnerable children.
USAID/DCOF has provided funding to Pact for capacity building with NGOs responding to the
needs of street children and orphans. Phase I of the DCOF funding began July 31, 1997, and has
been extended through March 30, 2002. A total of one million U.S. dollars has been obligated for
this period.
2
THE CONTEXT
Although poor and plagued by war, Ethiopia has some significant social assets. It is a country of
ancient civilizations, briefly occupied but never colonized by European powers. It has strong
religious institutions whose history goes back to the fifth century. Ethiopia has ancient structures
that are important parts of the world’s cultural heritage. It has long-established educational
traditions and institutions. The country is culturally and ethnically diverse, and its people speak
more than 80 languages.
Table 1. Statistical Indicators

Annual population growth 1980-1995 2.8%
Human Development Index 170
(United Nations Development Program)
Adult literacy:
Male 46%
Female 25%
Infant mortality rate (per 1,000 live births) 113
Population with access to safe water 25%
(Figures from UNAIDS Epidemiological Fact Sheet,

June 1998)
Although large sections of the country are densely populated, prone to periodic drought, and
experience chronic food deficits, other areas have adequate rainfall, fertile soil, and relatively low
population densities. The country’s population is about 85 percent rural.
Less than 35 percent of Ethiopia's elementary school age population is enrolled in primary
school, with enrollment rates lower for girls and rural children.3 An estimated 26 million
Ethiopians, or more than 40 percent of the country's farming population, did not produce enough
food and income to meet their basic nutritional needs.4
3
Article 36 of Ethiopia’s 1995 Constitution specifically concerns children and recognizes that, so
far as possible, they should grow up in their own family and community. The embassies of Great
Britain and the Netherlands and the Swedish and Norwegian Save the Children organization have
funded a three-year program to revise and strengthen the country’s juvenile justice system.
HIV/AIDS is one of the significant challenges facing the country. About 9 percent of the
country’s adult population in the 15-49 year age range are thought to be HIV positive, and AIDS
is increasing the vulnerability of large numbers of children.5 Ethiopia has an estimated 3.2
million people who are infected with HIV, about 10 percent of the world’s total. India and South
Africa are the only countries estimated to have more people with HIV.
HIV prevalence rates are higher in urban than rural areas and are highest in areas along the main
highways leading from the ports of Assab, Massawa, and Djibouti to Addis Ababa. The
country’s national HIV sentinel surveillance system was dismantled in 1991, so only fragmentary
information is available about the current state of the country’s epidemic. Years of virtual silence
on the part of the government with regard to AIDS have reinforced the stigma and lack of
openness about HIV/AIDS in the general population. In the last few months, however, the
government has begun to treat AIDS as a priority issue. The president chairs a special unit
responsible for planning a coordinated government response.
Street Children
Estimates of the number of Ethiopian children working full-time or living on the street vary, but
most estimates tend to be in the range of 150,000-200,000, with by far the largest number of
children living in Addis Ababa. Organizations and government offices engaged with the
problems of street children believe that the number of street children has increased in the last five
years. Poverty is the major cause, exacerbated by drought, AIDS, war, and family violence and
breakdown. Perhaps three quarters of the children on the street live with or maintain regular
contact with their families. Many of the programs concerned with street children have in recent
years begun to focus more on preventing children from moving onto the street than on working
with children living on the street. Advocacy and policy work by the Ministry of Labor and Social
Affairs (MOLSA), the Forum on Street Children in Ethiopia (FSCE), and other groups has
brought about a shift in attitudes and responses on the part of the police and urban residents.
Street children were reported to feel less threatened and to be less aggressive.
FSCE is a local NGO involved in advocacy and the implementation of model programs to
prevent children from moving onto the street. The Child Resource and Development Center of
FSCE has been funded by Pact with DCOF funds. The Resource Center prepares and
disseminates resource materials, conducts training, publishes a magazine (Child Internet) and a
local newsletter (“Sounds of the Street”) on street children, conducts and supports research,
4
organizes public discussions, and advocates for greater attention to street children, their families,
and those at risk of moving onto the street. The center has conducted 14 workshops with a total
of 346 participants. FSCE coordinated a collaborative NGO effort to develop indicators for
projects focusing on disadvantaged children and families. It has carried out or supported nine
studies, and another 13 studies are in progress. Appendix D provides an overview of the
activities and accomplishments of the Resource Center.
Police children’s protection units, staffed by police officers and social workers, operate in Addis
Ababa (where 10 of the 28 police stations have children’s units), Dire Dawa, Nazareth, and
Dessie. Their objectives include improving treatment of child offenders by the police, improving
the protection of children, and finding alternative approaches to juvenile offenders. Each of the
children’s units is staffed by a police officer and a social worker. Salaries of police officers in the
units are paid by the government, and the salaries of the social workers are paid by the Forum on
Street Children, with funding from Rädda Barnen. Pact is also providing support for the program
at the headquarters level and in Dire Dawa. In addition, a section on street children has been
added to the training for all police officers.
Several sources reported that attitudes toward street children among the police and the public at
large have shifted significantly in the last few years. The training given to police officers
regarding street children, the children’s units, and the advocacy and training done by FSCE and
other NGOs were credited as having helped to bring about this change.
Children in Institutions
Institutional care of children is not traditional in Ethiopia. It was introduced by missionaries and
increased significantly as a response to needs of unaccompanied children at emergency feeding
centers during the droughts and famines in 1974 and 1984-85. Residential care of children was
popular with the previous government, which had strong collectivist tendencies. By 1986,
Ethiopia had about 25,000 in children’s institutional care, including over 5,000 in the
government-run “Children’s Amba.”
Attitudes regarding institutional care have shifted dramatically in the country. MOLSA and the
NGOs with which Pact is working recognize that such care is, at best, a last resort, and that
serious problems arise with the social reintegration of children who grow up in institutions.
Deinstitutionalization through family reunification and independent living are being emphasized.
The Jerusalem Association Children’s Home (JACH), which began providing institutional care
in Bahir Dar in 1984, is one of the participants in Pact’s capacity building program. JACH has
deinstitutionalized over 780 of its 1,000 children and young adults who came into the program as
children. One of the major factors that has led to the shift away from institutional care has been
the long-term experience of orphanages that started after the 1984-85 drought and the former
5
government’s Children’s Amba. As the children in their care grew to be young adults, many did
not want to leave and did not feel as though they belonged anywhere else. They wanted to
continue living in residential care where their basic needs would be provided for. Some young
people had lost the ability to speak their original languages. The NGOs operating these facilities
began to realize that they could not provide care indefinitely.
Children Affected by AIDS
As or 2000, an estimated 620,000 children in Ethiopia had lost their mothers to AIDS. By 2009,
the number is projected almost to triple to 1.8 million, and by 2014 the number is expected to
reach 2.9 million.6 The problem of AIDS-related orphans is an emerging issue in each of the
urban areas visited during the DCOF assessment, but information about it is largely anecdotal.
Stigma is pervasive, reinforcing silence and denial and cases in which relatives are unwilling to
take in orphans. This is creating some anticipation that institutional care may be needed, despite
the recognition by many that it should be last resort. The government has only within the last
year begun to speak openly about AIDS as an urgent problem. The Ethiopian Orthodox Church,
the largest religious body in the country, has also recently begun to speak out regarding AIDS, as
have Muslims, protestant churches, and other religious bodies. An HIV/AIDS expert consulted
during the assessment believes that HIV is spreading more slowly in Ethiopia than in southern
Africa, where HIV rates continue to rise quickly.
Children Affected by Armed Conflict
Children throughout the country were affected by the civil war, which ended in 1991, and the
current war with Eritrea is putting many at risk again. The Relief Society of Tigray estimates that
about 316,000 people have been displaced in that region due to the war, over half of whom are
children. The World Food Program was reported to be distributing a food ration of 1,500 calories
for 272,000 people displaced by the war. Due to inadequate provisions from donor countries,
there have been periods when no food was distributed and some distributions have included only
part of the full ration. Many of the displaced are living dispersed in the local population. Some
are living in tents under cliff shelters north of Adigrat. Many schools have been destroyed during
the fighting and others have become inaccessible in occupied territory. It was reported that some
areas from which the Eritrean army has withdrawn have been mined. There is also concern about
the spread of HIV with the large number of soldiers and an influx of commercial sex workers.
6
Interrelationships Among Categories of Vulnerable Children
The four groups of children described above are interrelated. War, AIDS, and poverty are
pushing children onto the street and, in smaller numbers, into institutional care. Working on the
street increases risks of HIV infection. The demobilization of the former government’s army
spread HIV, as does the current war, causing more orphans in the future. Orphaning and life on
the street contribute to a future in Ethiopia that will have large numbers of socially marginal,
undereducated, and disaffected young adults–a combination that could easily fuel future civil
conflict. Poverty underlies the vulnerability of each group of children. Families and communities
are the country’s primary social safety nets, and strengthening their capacities to protect and care
for especially vulnerable children must be the fundamental (but not the only) strategy to respond
to the needs of these children. Strengthening family and community caring capacities can help
reduce the number of children who turn to the street to survive. The number of street children in
Ethiopia already is beyond the foreseeable capacity of NGO and government social service
programs to meet their needs. AIDS and war can be expected to increase their numbers further.
The Operating Environment of NGOs
Ethiopia’s past and current governments have, to varying degrees, been oriented toward central
control and have often had an uneasy relationship with NGOs. During Ethiopia’s famines and
armed conflicts, governments have found themselves needing the resources and services NGOs
could provide, and have attempted to control as much as possible the activities of those NGOs.
The government continues to show significant distrust of NGOs, carefully controlling their
registration and authorization to function. NGOs are audited annually, and the government has
restricted the activities they can carry out. NGOs, for example, are not allowed to conduct
income-generating activities to support their programs, although some appear to do so. Only
NGOs registered as financial institutions are allowed to carry out microfinance activities.
However, needs generated by the war and consequent population displacement have pushed the
government, particularly within the last year, to allow greater leeway to NGOs, since NGOs are
in a position to provide needed resources. Competition for funding is strong among NGOs. In
recent years, the number and capacity of local and national NGOs has increased, and
international NGOs are giving greater emphasis to building the capacities of local NGOs and to
providing them with funding. In contrast to many other countries, UNICEF does not seem to play
a significant role in relation to child-oriented NGOs. Most UNICEF funding is directed through
the government to support 56 district-based development programs.
7
8
VISITS OUTSIDE ADDIS ABABA
The assessment’s two weeks permitted three visits outside of Addis Ababa to assess the situation
of the groups of children of particular concern to DCOF and to observe programs responding to
their needs. The first visit was to Mekele and Adigrat, the second to Dessie, and the third to
Bahir Dar.
Mekele and Adigrat
Mekele is the capital of the Tigray Administrative Region, which forms Ethiopia’s northern
border with Eritrea and is the region most directly affected by the war. It is a city of about
120,000 people, which has grown rapidly in recent years. Adigrat has a population of about
43,000 and is about 120 kilometers north of Mekele. It is the administrative center of the eastern
zone of Tigray. Both cities are on the truck route from the port of Massawa to Addis Ababa,
which has been a corridor of high HIV prevalence in the country.
The eastern zone of Tigray has seven Woredas (administrative sub-divisions), of which five
Woredas experience chronic food deficits. The total population of Tigray is about 3.5 million.
Street children have emerged in Mekele and other cities and towns in Tigray over the last three or
four years as a result of poverty, drought, displacement due to the war, and AIDS. The Bureau of
Social Affairs of the region estimated that Tigray had about 2,500 street children in Tigray before
the war and that the number may have doubled since. In Adigrat, however, the number of street
children may have declined since the start of the war in 1998, since some have gone to the front
to earn money shining shoes or doing errands for soldiers. Early in the conflict, about 200
children were sent to Mekele from the war zone to live in an orphanage of the Ethiopian
Orthodox Church, which itself had been evacuated. Of those children, about 40 remain–the
others have been reunited with family members. Those who remain are mostly children who
were deported from Eritrea. In 1992-93, the International Committee of the Red Cross operated
an orthopedic workshop in Mekele, and then withdrew, turning the workshop over to some of the
technicians who had been trained. This human and physical infrastructure remain, but are being
used only to a limited extent.
Dessie
9
Dessie, a city of about 500,000, is a former regional administrative center located near the
intersection of the roads leading from the ports of Assab and Massawa to Addis Ababa.
Administrative offices were shifted to Barhir Dar, however, after the country’s new regional
structure was established in 1992. The departure of government offices, recurrent drought, and
the war, which has cut off Ethiopia from Assab and Massawa, have worsened economic
conditions in Dessie. Also, the city’s location on two main routes to the capital has contributed to
the spread of HIV in the area. The resettlement program under the Derg was reported to have
moved many men from the area, contributing to an increase in female-headed households in the
city.
During the assessment, sites were visited where the Forum on Street Children was inaugurating
the several infrastructure projects carried out with funding from the British NGO Action Aid.
These included classrooms, communal latrines, a drainage project to prevent flooding in one
area, and a bridge. These were all carried out in poor kebeles with the involvement of community
residents. Another visit was made to the street girls program of Terre des Hommes, Lausanne.
Bahir Dar
Barhir Dar is a city of approximately 130,000 residents on the southern shore of Lake Tana,
Ethiopia’s largest lake. In 1992, it became the capital of the Amhara Administrative Region. In
1988, JACH established institutional care for 156 children on the outskirts of Barhir Dar. Of
those children, 20 remain at the center, the others having been reunited with extended family
members or enabled to integrate on their own or in small groups locally or in their home area. All
of these children are due to leave the center by the time they reach 20 years of age. On the land
local government made available for care of these children, JACH has developed an impressive
integrated farm. Recently it began agricultural training for local farmers and intends to develop
the farm as a training facility. JACH has also developed a dairy farm on this land and is
providing Friesian cross-breed cattle to local families. A family pays 20 percent of the cost of a
heifer when it receives one, and it pays the balance within two years.
In one poor kebele of Bahir Dar with about 4,500 residents, JACH has developed an urban
program geared toward improving the lives of children and helping prevent their moving onto the
street. Components of this program include the following:
• After school tutoring,

• Support for orphans,
• An AIDS awareness club for youth,
• Garbage collection,
• Vocational training,
10
• Apprenticeships for youth,

• Communal kitchens,
• Upgrading of houses,
• A health clinic,
• Savings groups for women, and
• Training in business skills.
Each activity has its own community committee with its own by-laws to guide its management.
The community’s orphan committee includes the kebele chairman and representatives of the
Bureau of Labor and Social Affairs, the community development program of the city council,
and the community at large. The committee has identified 165 children who have lost both
parents, but has not begun any activities to benefit them. Neighboring kebeles would like to
establish the same services, and local officials have asked JACH to expand its program.
11
12
OVERVIEW OF PACT’S DCOF-FUNDED CAPACITY-
BUILDING ACTIVITIES
Pact began to engage with street children’s issues in 1995 when it conducted a needs assessment
of NGOs working in this sector. Subsequently, with the commitment of $500,000 of DCOF
funds, USAID’s cooperative agreement with Pact for NGO capacity building was modified in
June 1995 to include street children and orphans as a sector of the project. However, no specific
description of the activities to be added or reporting requirements were included in this or
subsequent modifications of the cooperative agreement, and DCOF funds were co-mingled with
other USAID funds. During a visit to Ethiopia in January 1998 by Catherine Savino of the
DCOF/Leahy War Victims Fund Project, the mission was authorized to use an additional
$500,000 of DCOF funds in the second phase of the Pact NGO Sector Enhancement Initiative,
from March 1998-September 2002. The total budget of the initiative (which has not been fully
funded) is over $12 million, of which $1,000,000 are DCOF funds.
Phase II of Pact’s NGO Sector Enhancement Initiative includes addressing the following
objectives in 7 of Ethiopia’s 11 administrative regions:
• Helping develop an enabling environment for NGOs, in which they can work collaboratively
with the government on policy and development,
• Building the capacities of individual NGOs to carry out effective programs, and
• Promoting umbrella and networking groups that represent and support member NGOs.
Specifically in relation to street children and orphans, Pact developed a June 1998 addendum to
its NGO Sector Enhancement Initiative proposal that identifies the following additional
objectives:
• Strengthening the capacity of 25 NGOs operating at the national and local levels to design,
implement, and evaluate programs addressing the needs of street children and orphans;
• Increasing the number of street children and orphans either enrolled in formal schools or
participating in non-formal education programs;
13
• Increasing the economic status of at-risk families through support for income-generating
programs;
• De-institutionalizing children currently in orphanages through support to family reunification

programs; and
• Enhancing the life skills of street children and orphans to become economically productive
and eventually self-supporting.
Pact’s capacity-building activities emphasize organizational development. The first step is an

organizational capacity assessment (OCA) facilitated by Pact staff and consultants trained by
Pact. This process helps an NGO identify its strengths and weaknesses and Pact to determine
where capacity needs to be built. Pact’s interventions are made through a training and mentoring
process focusing on strategic planning and management, project design, monitoring and
evaluation, and financial management. The NGO is aided in developing its own strategic plan as
part of this process. Mentoring by a consultant assigned by Pact usually continues for three to
four weeks after more structured training. Training and mentoring may also include such topics
as board development, leadership training, conflict management, domestic fund-raising, and
administrative management. It may include exchange visits.
After completing a strategic plan, Pact’s partner NGOs are eligible to apply to Pact for funding of
staff positions, purchase of basic equipment and furniture, and provision of activity grants.
Where needed, Pact can pay the salaries of a maximum of two staff members per NGO for up to
three years. For the first year of staff grants, Pact covers 90 percent of the costs and the NGO 10
percent (90-10). In the second year, the respective shares change to 75-25 and in the third year,
50-50. Pact’s commodity grants have been used primarily for computer equipment, office
furniture, file cabinets, and safes. Its activity grants have been used to enable NGOs to
demonstrate and expand approaches and interventions to improve the safety and well-being of
especially vulnerable children.
In recent months domestic resource mobilization has been emphasized in Pact’s capacity
building. Generating a larger share of their resources from local sources can increase the
independence of Ethiopian NGOs and the sustainability of their programs. Issues addressed in a
recent workshop included the following:
• Promoting individual philanthropy,

• Exploring non-financial resources,
• Working with the media,
• Developing a community marketing strategy,
• Generating resources from the business sector,
14
• Improving partnerships with the government, and

• Lobbying for policy changes to support self-reliance.
Participants in the workshop’s panel discussion on "the culture of giving in Ethiopia" formed a
committee to seek ways for the private and NGO sectors to work more collaboratively. A Pact
consultant, Richard Holloway, has adapted a manual of approaches to resource mobilization that
has been used in training in Ethiopia.
At the time of the assessment, 23 of Pact’s partner NGOs were engaged with street children and
orphan programs. Two of them, however, were soon to be dropped from the capacity-building
program due to problems with the reporting on their use of Pact funding. Also, USAID/Ethiopia
recently increased Pact’s funding to enable it to expand its capacity building to 10 NGOs
working on public health issues in the southern part of the country, three of which focus on
HIV/AIDS issues. Appendix E includes a list of the orphans and street children NGOs currently
taking part in Pact’s NGO Sector Enhancement Initiative.
During the assessment, Pact’s NGO partners in the street children and orphans sector
consistently reported that:
• The OCA had enabled them to identify their strengths and weaknesses as an organization;
• The strategic planning exercise led them to clearly define their priorities, focus their
activities, and enabled them to chart their own course rather than to simply respond to donor
interests;
• The provision of computers, printers, and financial management software (Peach Tree) and
the related training enabled them to report responsively to donors, close accounts in a timely
way, and, thereby attract additional funding; and
• Staffing and activity grants enabled them to implement new approaches, increase the number
of beneficiaries reached, and improve program quality and effectiveness.
The Orphans Network
In cooperation with MOLSA, Pact has helped to facilitate the development of a network to
exchange information and experience, access resource material, and carry out exchange visits
among 19 organizations engaged in the care of orphans and other especially vulnerable children.
These organizations represent three quarters of the orphanages in the country. In addition to
NGO staff, network participants also include personnel of MOLSA orphanages, the Ethiopian
Orthodox Church, and the Italian Cooperation. Most of the network members are still providing
15
institutional care but are working to deinstitutionalize children and develop family and
community protection and support for them and for other especially vulnerable children. Several
of these NGOs have also developed programs to prevent children from moving onto the street.
Helping children reunite with their families or reintegrate in society are primary issues. Pact
encourages community-based over institutional care as a response to the needs of especially
vulnerable children, and it has played an instrumental role in changing attitudes, behaviors, and
practices among network members.
With Pact’s support, the network enables its members to exchange information, access resource
material, and carry out exchange visits. The network is also playing an advocacy role on behalf
of orphans and street children. Through support from Pact, the network has a full-time
coordinator as of the beginning of 2000, and JACH serves as its secretariat.
Other NGO networks that Pact has helped facilitate include the following:
• Non-formal basic education,

• Voter education,
• Microfinance, and
• Microcredit development (NGOs that formerly have microfinance programs).
16
OBSERVATIONS AND COMMENTS
Pact’s Work with Orphans and Street Children NGOs
Effective Capacity Building
Pact’s capacity building appears to be making a significant impact on its partner NGOs that are
working with orphans and street children. Pact’s efforts are relevant and timely. NGOs gave Pact
substantial credit for their increases in budget and programmatic coverage and effectiveness.
They consistently said that the OCA process helped them identify and address their strengths and
weaknesses. The organizational capacity tool (OCAT) that Pact developed in Ethiopia for its
NGO Sector Enhancement Initiative is now being used by Pact programs around the world, and
some other NGOs have also begun to use it. Strategic planning has changed their perspectives
and helped them focus their programs. They credited their improved financial management, in
particular, with enabling them to secure funding from other donors. The sectoral networks among
NGOs seem to be particularly valuable. Exchange visits to other countries have been a factor in
some changes.
Pact has two highly competent professional staff who are responsible for its work with partners
regarding street children and orphans. Their previous work experience and training is directly
relevant to its capacity development work in this sector.
Most of the NGOs with which Pact has worked the longest have substantially increased their
funding from donors other than Pact, as well as the number of children benefitting from their
programs. Table 2 presents changes in budget totals for 11 of the orphans and street children
NGOs. It includes the total budgets of the 11 NGOs at the point when they began the capacity
building process and at the time of the assessment. Subtracting the activity grants made by Pact
from the current budgets shows the increase in funding from donors other than Pact/USAID.
Collectively, the budgets of these NGOs have grown by $2.6 million, an increase of 121 percent.
This increase may not be exclusively attributable to Pact’s capacity building, but consistently the
NGOs visited credited their participation in Pact’s program with enabling them to improve their
ability to secure and effectively use funding from other donors. Looking at a selection of half of
the NGOs with which Pact has worked, it is evident that Pact’s capacity building has helped to
leverage a significant amount of resources from other donors.
17
Table 2. Increase in Annual Budget of Sample Pact Partner Orphans and Street Children NGOs
Pact Activity
Grant Contribution of
Annual NGO Contribution Other Donors
Budget Upon Current to Current Grant to Current
Joined Pact’s Annual NGO Annual NGO NGO Annual
NGO Program Budget Budget Budget
Birhan Integrated Community 209,173* 1,295,465 379,402 916,063
Development Organization
Abebech Gobena Orphan and School 5,754,233 11,500,000 426,095 11,073,905
(AGOS)
Alem Children Support Organization 400,000 670,000 139,020 530,980
Godanaw Rehabilitation Integrated 152,247 551,300 313,900 227,400
Project for Street Children
Jerusalem Association Children’s 3,000,000 8,000,000 126,178 7,873,822
Homes (JACH)
Kind Hearts Children Aid Development 171,273 500,000 119,526 380,474
Organization (KCADO)
Rift Valley Children and Women 264,505 1,320,290 540,775 779,515
Development Association
Integrated Family Service 250,000 1,400,000 - 1,400,000
Organization (IFSO)
Children Aid - Ethiopia 500,000 700,000 17,390 682,610
Mary Joy Aid Through Development 1,600,000 2,800,000 499,838 2,300,162

Forum on Street Children Ethiopia 2,307,916 6,700,000 612,906 6,087,094
Total 14,609,347 35,437,055 3,175,030 32,252,025
*all amounts in Ethiopian Birr
18
Increased Impact
The increased funding reflected in Table 2 has also translated into additional and expanded
programs for orphans and street children. Table 3 shows the number of children benefiting from
nine of the NGOs when capacity building started and their current beneficiaries. Because of the
significant differences in the nature of previous and current programs and their benefits, totals
comparing the increases are not included in the table because of the different ways that children
and their families are benefiting. For example, the Abebech Gobena Orphan and School was
providing institutional care for 200 children, providing vocational training for an additional 30
children, and carrying out community-based services for another 290 children. This NGO’s
programs now are providing such services as clean water, heath services, education, and housing
assistance to 43,540 target households with an estimated 240,832 children in three rural
communities in the Oromiya Region, and it is carrying out similar interventions for 2,006
households with 10,000 children in Addis Ababa. Although it may not make sense to increase the
number of interventions, many more children are benefiting from these NGOs’ programs than the
number that benefited before these NGOs began participating in Pact’s capacity building.
19
Table 3. Increases in Child Beneficiaries

Child
Beneficiaries at
Start of Capacity Current Child
NGO Building Beneficiaries
Birhan Integrated Community 402 1,812
Abebech Gobena Orphan and School 520 250,832
Alem Children Support Organization 275 480
Godanaw Rehabilitation Integrated 130 1,332

Project for Street Children
Jerusalem Association Children’s 785 3,200

Homes
Kind Hearts Children Aid 500 843

Rifit Valley Children and Women 820 10,496

Development Association (RCWDA)
Integrated Family Service 13 2,891

Organization
Children Aid - Ethiopia 50,400 86,400
Appendix F includes profiles of nine of these NGOs and gives a before-and-after-capacity-

building picture of each.
Progress Toward Achievement of Objectives
The “Addendum to Pact’s Proposal for Phase II: Street Children and Orphans: Ethiopian NGO
Sector Enhancement Initiative” of June 1998 includes five key objectives, illustrative examples
of interventions, and relevant indicators. Pact appears to be making good progress toward the
achievement of these objectives. However, it has not established a mechanism to collect indicator
data on a periodic basis to measure its progress and, thereby, make programmatic adjustments.
Progress that Pact reported toward achieving its objectives regarding street children and orphans
follows:
20
Objective I: Strengthen the capacity of 25 NGOs operating at the national and local levels to
design, implement, and evaluate programs addressing the needs of street children and orphans.
As part of the ongoing efforts of Pact Ethiopia's capacity building initiatives, most of the
NGOs that are involved in caring for street children and orphans have received core training
and mentoring programs. Such programs include strategic planning and management,
participatory project design, monitoring, evaluation, and reporting. Other organizational
development training programs were also provided for the same group.
Initial organizational capacity needs assessments were conducted for all NGOs using the
comprehensive tool that Pact/Ethiopia developed. The findings of this assessment clearly
indicate the implementation capacities of the respective NGOs and their level of maturity.
NGOs, after receiving the core training and mentoring programs as well as the different
forms of grants (activity, personnel, and commodity), will go through the second phase of
organizational assessment (a repeat of the OCA). Accordingly, 10 NGOs have so far passed
through this process–the result of which has been very encouraging.
Generally, progress has been made by most NGOs in terms of improving their
implementation capacity. The seven major areas of organizational excellence include
governance, management practice, human resource management, financial resource
management, service delivery, external relations, and sustainability.
Other yardsticks also show the sharp increase in the implementation capacity of local NGOs.
These increases include, but are not limited to, budget increases, quality of proposals NGOs
produce, increases in beneficiaries, improved quality of services (focusing on preventive as
well as community-based services rather than institutional services), and understanding the
importance of forming networks and alliances.
Objective II: Increase the number of street children and orphans either enrolled in formal
schools or participating in non-formal education programs.
No mechanism is in place to keep track of progress made in this regard. However, efforts
demonstrating rapid growth, such as the following, have been made:
C FSCE has increased the number of beneficiaries by 1,860.
C AGOS has also been able to enroll 2,832 students.
• JACH has helped 3,360 students. In addition, JACH plans to serve 10,000 students
through its community library.
21
• KCADO gave an opportunity to 714 children in addition to the 500 that had been given
an opportunity before.
• RCWDA has also raised the number of beneficiary students from 820 to 10,496.
• IFSO has raised the number of beneficiaries who have access to education form 13 to
2,525 children.
• Godanaw has increased the number of children offered education from 130 to 1,332.
Objective III: Increase the economic status of at-risk families through support for income
generation programs.
An attempt was made to support partner NGOs with the view to increasing the economic
status of at-risk families by providing saving and credit services. Although government
policy did not favor such services, DCOF was not able to provide the support. As indicated
earlier in the report, few NGOs have received grants to run saving and credit programs.
These NGOs include Ethiopian Aid, Godanaw, Mary Joy Aid, and Rift Valley Children and
Women Development. A large number of families were reached through these programs.
However, effort has not been made to find out the extent to which these programs influenced
the lives of the beneficiaries. Therefore, it is difficult to provide quality data here. It is
needless to mention that Pact has also played a role of paramount importance in building the
capacities of NGOs to initiate microfinance institutions and undertake similar programs at
length. DCOF will undertake a separate assessment to find how much the programs have
positively affected the lives of mothers and children for future consumption.
Objective IV: Deinstitutionalize children currently in orphanages through support to family

reunification programs.
Efforts were made to accomplish objective IV in the last few years. The most significant
changes brought about in this regard is the attitudinal change attained so far by all concerned
bodies. Partners such as AGOS, for example, who have never thought of enacting
deinstitutionalization efforts before, are now planning to develop the same service.
The formation of the Orphanage Network is also one concrete step that elucidates the
direction that the NGOs are following. The main purpose of the network is sharing
information and exchanging ideas on innovative programs, as well as seeking alternative care
for orphans.
In addition, 88 children, of whom 46 are now self-supporting, were reunified by AGOS. Of

the 785 children JACH was supporting in different orphanages, only 160 remain in the
22
orphanages. The rest are either reunified with their biological or extended families or
reintegrated into their communities.
Objective V: Enhance the life of street children and orphans to become economically productive
and eventually self-supporting citizens.
Pact supported partner NGOs to enhance the skills of street children and orphans that would
enable them to be economically productive. These organizations include AGOS, Godanaw,
JACH, Terre des Hommes, and FSCE. Other NGOs, such as IFSO, are also able to place
their 36 trainees. Pact plans to have a mechanism in place in the future to find out the extent
to which the different training programs are effective and are able to help trainees be
productive and self-supporting citizens.
Need for a Street Children Network
The orphans network whose development and operation Pact has facilitated, includes some
NGOs that have community programs for street children or to help prevent children from moving
onto the street, but that network focuses on helping its members make the transition from
institutional care to community-based programming. A larger group of NGOs is engaged with
street children’s issues, and it would be beneficial for Pact to develop a network among them,
with FSCE playing a key role.
Exposure Visits
Pact has organized visits to other countries and regions for NGO staff members and government
officials to observe the operation of significant programs, the roles that NGOs are playing in
problem solving and development, and mechanisms for government-NGO coordination. Pact is
able to cite examples of how participation in these visits has resulted in new programmatic
initiatives, policy changes, and better working relationships between government and NGOs in
Ethiopia. For example, one NGO within the health sector–based on its experience during the visit
to Zimbabwe–has introduced a highly regarded HIV/AIDS community outreach program. The
Amhara regional authorities changed their policy and opened the region to non-formal education
as a result of participation in an exposure visit. While such experience is encouraging, it was
beyond the capacity of this assessment to judge the cost-effectiveness of the visits that have been
carried out. Any future visits should be justified on that basis.
Costs and Benefits of Interventions
One aspect of taking a more strategic approach to the needs and problems of especially
vulnerable children is for NGOs and donors to give greater attention to the potential of different
23
approaches and interventions to be scaled up. In its grant-making process, it is important for Pact
to encourage NGOs to develop cost-effective approaches that can be replicated or scaled up to
achieve significant benefits on a wide scale. One issue to which Pact should give closer attention
is the cost per potential beneficiary of proposed interventions and, by developing programming
and proposal review guidelines, encourage NGOs to do the same. Pact has a strategic perspective
on making an impact on the problems of children on the street. It should encourage NGOs to
develop approaches that are sufficiently cost-effective to be scaled up, replicated, and then
sustained by other organizations.
Orphans Registry
One of the activities described in Pact’s June 1998 addendum is the development of a central
data bank for orphaned children. Such a data bank could be useful in the process of facilitating
and tracking the deinstitutionalization of children in residential institutions, but experience in
other countries has shown, it would be far too expensive, difficult, and of little value to establish
and maintain a national registry of orphans. Such a system was attempted in Malawi, but the
consistency and accuracy of reporting on orphans varied widely among communities, and,
therefore, the information produced was not useful. The significant expense required to establish
and maintain a more accurate system for enumerating and tracking orphans would not have been
justified by the potential utility of the information. It was also recognized that collecting data on
orphans created expectations that resources would flow in response, which, in turn, made
collecting accurate information difficult and undermined the credibility of those seeking to
collect the information.
Use of DCOF Funds
DCOF has committed a total of $1 million to the Pact NGO Sector Enhancement Initiative,
specifically to include NGOs addressing needs among orphans and street children. Prior to the
January-February visit, DCOF received reports indicating that PACT had only obligated a
fraction of the DCOF funds. During the visit, however, Pact provided a report indicating that,
within the Initiative, it had established agreements with orphans and street children NGOs
committing the following amounts for strategic action grants:
24
Table 4. Fund Expenditures

Activity Amount
Internship program $ 6,154
Commodity grants $ 78,297
Activity grants $ 786,286
Technical assistance $ 60,725
Personnel grants - $ 28,523

project
Personnel grants - $ 21,588
finance
Total $ 981,573
Pact has committed almost the full amount committed by DCOF to the Initiative. Training and
mentoring, exposure visits, and overhead costs are in addition to the above figures, and if these
were taken into account, the total would exceed DCOF’s commitment to date.
Appendix G includes graphs showing the amounts of grant agreements established by Pact for
the orphans and street children component of the Initiative. As could be expected with a
capacity-building project, the amounts allocated in the first three years were relatively limited.
But as NGOs were strengthened, their ability to use grants effectively was increased, and the
amount allocated in the fourth year (1999) far exceed that in the preceding years combined.
Broader Issues Concerning Especially Vulnerable Children
Microeconomic Interventions
Microfinance services are showing promise as a component of a strategy to mitigate the impacts
of AIDS on children and families and to prevent children from having to turn to the street to
survive. To plan strategically, it is important to determine which of the approaches being used in
Ethiopia are more effective and sustainable. Most of the orphan and street children NGOs visited
during this assessment have incorporated into their programs credit and saving and other
economic initiatives intended to strengthen the economic capacities of vulnerable households in
sustainable ways. There appear to be a variety of approaches being taken, ranging from thinly
disguised grant programs to potentially sustainable microeconomic interventions.
25
A review and assessment of the different approaches being taken would be very useful, with a
view toward identifying those with the best promise of making a difference in household coping
capacities, being sustained, or being replicated on a wide scale. There are good examples
elsewhere in the region of microfinance services helping to mitigate the impacts of poverty on
children and families, and an assessment should look at Ethiopian microeconomic programs in
relation to these.
Need to Develop a Collaborative, Strategic Response to Especially Vulnerable Children
The changes in program orientation and capacity that Pact has helped bring about are significant,
and there is a need to take to another level the strategic approach Pact has helped NGOs apply in
their individual programs. The magnitude of the problems and the depth of poverty in Ethiopia
are too extensive for individual programs to make much difference on the situation as a whole.
Collaboration is needed among government agencies, NGOs, international organizations, donors,
religious bodies, and the private sector to reach a critical mass of effort and to make a difference
in the situation of vulnerable children. Massive new programs are not on the horizon, but it
would be feasible to develop mechanisms to facilitate common goals and strategies and to share
more effectively information and experience among key actors and, thereby, piece together a
constellation of interventions that could make a difference.
Networking has facilitated information exchange among programs and advocacy, but a more
collaborative, strategic approach is needed among all the key actors: national, regional, and local
governments; donors; international and local NGOs; religious bodies; and the private sector. At
the time of the assessment visit, USAID/Ethiopia had not communicated with other donors about
the respective interventions they are supporting to benefit street children. A first step toward a
more collaborative and strategic approach to the situation of street children and their families
would be for donors supporting activities in this area to begin exchanging information on their
programs and interventions.
Effective collaboration requires a shared understanding of the nature and magnitude of the most
pressing problems among especially vulnerable children and some degree of consensus among
key actors about the kinds of interventions needed. FSCE has proposed a year-long study to
determine the number of street children in the major cities and towns throughout the country.
While such a process could develop more accurate estimates of the number of street children and
children at risk of moving onto the street, a more ambitious activity is needed. Such an activity
would be a collaborative situation analysis to identify the major factors pushing children onto the
street and cost-effective interventions with the potential for making broad impacts, followed by
the development of a shared strategy, and the defining and clarifying of roles and responsibilities
to carry out the strategy.
26
The street children study could be reconceptualized as a collaborative, national situation analysis
regarding especially vulnerable children, with the participation of MOLSA, other ministries,
donors, NGOs, religious bodies, and possibly UNICEF. Pact has demonstrated its ability to bring
together governmental and NGO actors to address issues of common concern and has effective
contacts with the religious community and private sector as well. Pact also has demonstrated
skills in facilitating participatory strategic planning, making Pact a well-positioned organization
to play a catalytic role in bringing together key actors to undertake collaborative situation
analysis and to plan strategic action.
It would be unrealistic to envision a nationwide set of interventions being developed as a result

of a collaborative situation analysis, but it would be possible to develop strategic interventions in
geographic areas identified as having particularly serious problems, to initiate responses to these
problems, and to find opportunities to demonstrate and spread effective interventions. Through
developing a shared framework and consensus about goals, objectives, and strategic approaches
to the needs and problems of street children and their families, it would be possible to make an
impact on their problems at the scale at which those problems are occurring.
As in many countries, programs in Ethiopia addressing the needs of especially vulnerable

children tend to be concentrated in the capital, Addis Ababa. Developing collaboratively a
balanced, reasonably comprehensive perspective on needs and problems throughout the country
would facilitate better resource allocation by donors and NGOs.
In developing its own approach to collaborative situation analysis, consensus building, and
strategic planning, Ethiopia could benefit from Zambia’s recent experience with its situation
analysis of orphans and vulnerable children. The steering committee for that study included
representatives from the ministries of health, education, and community development; a World
Bank-funded poverty alleviation program; UNICEF; USAID; and a network of indigenous and
child-focused NGOs. Its components included a literature review, a review of numerical data, a
review of current programs, an assessment of community responses, and an in-depth review of
selected programs. The Zambia situation analysis produced a set of reports and recommendations
that were then used in national workshops to develop a plan of action for the country.7
Children Orphaned by AIDS
An increasing number of children will be orphaned or otherwise made vulnerable by AIDS in

Ethiopia. They are not likely, however, to stand out as a distinct group requiring separate, new
programs. They will add to the number of children on the street, at risk of moving onto the street,
at risk of sexual or physical abuse or exploitation, at risk of labor exploitation, and at risk of HIV
infection. Their needs require attention, but not as a separate area of activity. Much of the
community-oriented work being done by NGOs in Ethiopia is similar to the most promising
27
interventions being made to address the needs of orphans and other vulnerable children in
countries with more advanced HIV/AIDS epidemics–they are strengthening the capacities of
families and communities to recognize and respond to their most vulnerable children.
Some needs and opportunities particular to children made vulnerable by HIV/AIDS require
special attention in programs for vulnerable children. Because HIV/AIDS causes a series of
opportunistic infections and is ultimately fatal, and because of the stigma associated with this
sexually transmitted condition, there are significant psychosocial impacts on parents who are ill
and on their children. The current lack of voluntary HIV testing and counseling services in
Ethiopia means that few people who are HIV positive know it, and that they may not recognize
that they have a fatal illness until it progresses to the end stages.
Children’s psychosocial distress over a parent’s illness, however, begins early in the HIV
progression, particularly in communities more seriously affected by AIDS, where the indication
of AIDS-related illness is likely to be recognized by children and adults but openly
acknowledged by no one, even within the family. Children and parents begin at an early stage to
worry about what will happen to the children if a parent dies. Will they still be able to go to
school? Where will they live? Will brothers and sisters be able to stay together? How will they
live? They need support from their family, community, and religious group to face and prepare
for these practical issues, and they need the opportunity to talk with someone about them and to
receive some emotional support.
Ethiopia needs voluntary HIV testing and counseling services that can help parents determine
their HIV status and give those who test positive more time to make some arrangements for their
children’s future and to receive emotional and practical support to do so. Those who are negative
also have more incentive to avoid risky sexual behavior. The street children and orphans
component of Pact’s NGO Sector Enhancement Initiative is not going to solve this problem.
However, the organizations involved with the Initiative can advocate the establishment of such
testing and counseling services and establish partnerships with them where they exist to build the
capacity of HIV/AIDS-affected households to cope with their practical problems and emotional
distress. Street children and orphans organizations can work to reduce the stigma associated with
HIV/AIDS by introducing the disease as a topic in community discussions, dispelling myths,
providing accurate information, and promoting compassionate and supportive responses to
affected individuals and households. They can use their contacts with households, street children,
youth groups, community groups, religious bodies, and community leaders to promote HIV
prevention. Appendix H includes a description of ways that care activities can be a starting point
for HIV prevention.
28
Needs and Opportunities in Tigray
DCOF seeks to support and develop approaches that can be scaled up or replicated to make a
substantial impact on problems among its target groups, children affected by armed conflict,
children orphaned by AIDS, and street children. The three groups are all present in the Tigray
Region, where their needs have had only limited direct attention. There may be opportunities in
Tigray to develop approaches that can be implemented at scale to improve the well-being of
these especially vulnerable children. The hundreds of miles of stone terracing evident on the road
from Mekele to Adigrat demonstrate the degree to which Tigreans can be mobilized around an
issue of common concern.
The Relief Society of Tigray (REST) was established in 1978 and played a significant role during
the country’s civil war. It has a large staff and many links with communities throughout the
region. REST advocates participatory, grassroots efforts to address local needs, an approach that
appears to be consistent with DCOF’s orientation toward community mobilization and capacity
building.
REST has also initiated a microfinance program in Tigray, which has 250,000 regular clients
who are organized into groups of seven. The program has 110 sub-branches and 12 branches.
Loans range from about $12 to $614. In addition, agricultural loans averaging about $9 each are
made to another 275,000 people. This program could be a resource in mitigating the impacts of
armed conflict and AIDS on children and families in Tigray. The World Food Program also has a
major program in Tigray that might play a role in scaling up a response to the needs of especially
vulnerable children in the region. The assessment team’s visit to Mekele and Adigrat was far too
brief and the contacts too limited to determine whether it would be appropriate for DCOF to fund
activities in Tigray, but enough possibilities were identified for DCOF to justify exploring the
matter further with the mission.
Ongoing Exchange Within the Region
Ethiopia has important experiences to share with other countries in the region engaged with the
issue of street children. Valuable lessons can be drawn from the deinstitutionalization experience
of some Ethiopian NGOs regarding how to achieve family reunification and community
reintegration. These NGOs also have rather unique experiences making a transition to
community-based programing. These experiences should be of particular interest in Rwanda,
Kenya, and other countries where orphanages have proliferated.
Ethiopian NGOs would also benefit from and could apply information about the community
mobilization approaches DCOF has been supporting in southern Africa. DCOF would like to
29
maintain ongoing information exchange with key stakeholders in Ethiopia on the issues regarding
especially vulnerable children and the ways AIDS is making children more vulnerable.
Resource material that would be useful for Pact and/or FSCE to make available to Ethiopian
NGOs concerned with especially vulnerable children listed in Appendix I.
30
NOTES
1. The Center for International Health Information Statistics Report: Ethiopia, January 1996,
projects a population of over 70 million in 2000. Estimates from other sources are closer to 60
million.
2. “The State of the World’s Children 1998,” by UNICEF, Table 5: Gross domestic product per
capita.
3. USAID Basic Education Programs in Africa: Ethiopia, USAID web site.
4. The most recent Food and Agricultural Organization/World Food Program report as of April
2000, as cited in USAID’s 2000 Report to Congress.
5. “Epidemiological Fact Sheet on HIV/AIDS and Sexually Transmitted Diseases: Ethiopia,”

UNAIDS, p. 3.
6. Personal communication on January 29, 2000, with Alan Johnston of the Futures Group.
7. “Situation Analysis of Orphans and Vulnerable Children in Zambia 1999,” joint

SAID/UNICEF/SIDA/Study Fund project, November 1999, 6 volumes.
31
APPENDICES
APPENDIX A- SCOPE OF WORK
John Williamson, DCOF senior technical expert, will be traveling to Ethiopia from o/a January 22 to February 5,
2000. His assignment is to look at the existing DCOF-funded Pact program and assess its impact. While some
retrospective analysis is required, the majority of his time should be spent on how the program needs to evolve in
the future. He will also make recommendations regarding future directions. Given the war and the impact of HIV-
AIDS, what are the current gaps in addressing the needs of most vulnerable children in Ethiopia?
History
Pact (Participating Agencies Collaborating Together) submitted an unsolicited proposal to USAID in January 1995
for the Ethiopian NGO Sector Enhancement Initiative. This three -phased proposal was a follow-on to the CRDA
grant* in a sense but more a response to the needs of NGOs in Ethiopia. DCOF and USAID/E have a long and
frustrating history in this area. Pact addressed the institutional needs of NGO’s focusing on rural development/food
security, education and democracy and governance. As originally conceived, this project was to be funded by
USAID Ethiopia.
Meanwhile, Gene Chiavarolli (retired USAID) was named as Pact’s Country Director. This was a good opportunity
for DCOF to get re-involved and Lloyd asked Gene whether or not he would be willing to work with street children
as part of the grant. Gene thought it was a great fit and agreed, as did the Mission. DCOF send out FY 95 $500,000
for use in the Pact cooperative agreement** (though nothing was written into the grant nor were any modifications
done referring to it) .
With DCOF funding, Pact did a NGO sector assessment of orphans in October 1995. They conducted needs
assessments, did training, provided commodities grant to buy computers and other necessities. Pact conducted travel
exchanges, workshops and they developed internal measures to assess the impact of their work e.g. how well
organizations were being strengthened (OCATs)
Cathy Savino visited Ethiopia from Jan 21-26, 1998. Sadly, the country director Gene Chiavarolli had recently died.
Pact’s work with street children grantees continued to be primarily in institutional strengthening. After discussions
with the Mission and Pact, it was decided that before further DCOF funding could take place, there needed to be a
definite plan in place for the DCOF-funded portion of this grant. A memo dated 1/26/98 was drafted and approved
while in country***.
In response to that memo, Pact put together the Ethiopian NGO Sector Enhancement Initiative dated June 1998.
(Phase II). This included a proposal and budget for $2,000,000 (of which $500,000 has been funded.) This is the
most current document that describes the program.
A-1
Co-directors of Pact are Tsegaye Chernet and Leslie Mitchell.
Questions
Overall
• The issue of orphanages increasing their populations because of the war (and HIV-AIDS) came up in recent
discussions. Is this trend continuing? What recommendations can be made to influence the outcomes?
• What’s the overall status of vulnerable children in Ethiopia given the war, given HIV-AIDS?
• How are people/programs dealing with HIV-AIDS?
Pact-Specific
• What’s been the impact of the Pact program on street children and on organizations that serve them? How
many children are being reached ?
• Are these programs effective in addressing the problems? What’s the sense of where grantees feel they need to
go?
• Given that this area (working with street children organizations) has been a bit outside of Pact’s regular
mandate in Ethiopia, and given that the Mission in recognition of their superior work has increased the number
of their DG partners, is it Pact’s intention to stay involved with this issue?
• The Forum for Street Children was the most promising of DCOF funded NGO’s. Their work in getting juvenile
advisors into every police department was going well in its initial stages…is it still working out?
• Fasil W. Marriam was the charismatic leader of the Forum….being asked to speak in different countries (I think
he was going to Libya) about his group and their philosophy. Any progress on a policy level of getting better
government involvement with these kids?
• Funds were also spent on the Forum’s resource center…is this being utilized? By whom?
• There was talk of making the Forum for Street Children an umbrella that might support other like-minded
NGO’s . Do they have this capacity?
• Forum was also getting funds from other groups as well (Trickle Up) comes to mind. How’s this IGA going?
• Of the Phase II $500,000, very little spending has taken place to date. What’s the reason? What’s the
breakdown of implementation grants versus institutional strengthening grants/commodities?
• The Network on Street Children was a coordination body that Pact funded. How is that group working
together? Is UNICEF involved in the issue at all?
• There was discussion of the USAID/Ethiopia Mission wanting a health component to be added to Pact’s scope.
Has this been a productive addition? Are street kids NGO’s adding health programs to their activities?
A-2
Suggested Visits
USAID Mission
Getahun Dendir
Dr. Ayana Yeneabat/USAID/E – HPN Office
Jerusalem Association Children’s Home in Bahir Dar.

Mulugeta Gebru – Managing Director
The Forum for Street Children

Fasil W. Marriam
Other Pact-supported street children NGOs that either are long time partners or bring leadership or innovation to the
program
Group that knows HIV-AIDS situation in Ethiopia
Save the Children/US

Jay Zimmerman Field Office Director
Location: :Higher 18 Kebele 33 House No. 321
Phone Numbers: 011-251-1- 65-32-83 16-44-90
UNICEF
Relevant government official
*Christian Relief and Development – 1988-1995 - a consortium of non-governmental organizations

$2,000,000 of DCOF funds,
funds were used to support old grants ($207,650) and umbrella grant ($800,000) and a Cooperative
Agreement ($875,000)
Many of these grants were emergency funds.
** Pact grant - initial grant - Started 7/31/95 End 3/30/02

$500,000 FY 95 Phase One
$500,000 FY 98 Phase Two
*** While there, the Mission was doing the modification to the Pact grant. They needed DCOF ok immediately to
proceed with the modification….(and it had already taken months to get as far as they did, and the only reason it
was shared with us was because I happened to be there). Lloyd agreed to fund them for another $500,000 but there
were steps that needed to be taken. The modification (#11 dated 8/17/98) again mentioned nothing about
DCOF…..it just added $500,000. The contracting officer filtered the money into existing line items making it
difficult to track DCOF expenditures. Pact was aware of this but could not affect any substantive changes. Pact has
since been able to code DCOF funds and does this separate financial reporting when requested. Of the $500,000 put
A-3
into the grant, in Phase I…there was some carryover into Phase II…. My notes says that it was going to be about
$180,000.
A-4
APPENDIX B - CONTACTS
Organization Individuals Contact Information

USAID/Ethiopia David Eckerson, Deputy Tel: (251) 1- 510716
Director
Jim Polhemus,
Democracy and
Governance Advisor
Getahun Dendir, Civil
Society Program Co-
Ordinator
Dr.David Losk, Public
Health / Human
Resources Development
Dr. Ayana Yeneabat,
Infectious Disease
Advisor
Liz Lukasavich, Food and
Humanitarian Assistance
Office
Pact Ethiopia Leslie Mitchell, Co- P.O. Box 13180

Director Addis Ababa
Tsegaye Chernet, Co- Tel/fax: (251-1) 615963
Director [email protected]
Kederalah Idris, Program
Manager
Endeshaw Tadesse, Grant
Manager
Berhanu Digafe,
Consultant
Forum on Street Fassil W. Marriam, P.O. Box 9562

Children - Ethiopia Executive Director Addis Ababa
Amakelew Cherkosie, Tel: (251-1) 534432
A-5
Program Coordinator, Fax: 534469

Child Resource and [email protected]
Development Center
Makda Getachew,
Program Coordinator,
Preventive and Support
Program for Sexually
Abused and Exploited
Children
Jerusalem Mulugeta Gebru, P.O. Box 41742

Association Managing Director Addis Ababa
Children’s Home Tel: 611092 / 620862
[email protected]
Supreme Court Tedla Deresse, Head Tel. 553400 ex. 204

Juvenile Justice
Project
Labor and Social Fissahaye Almayehu, P.O. Box

Affairs Bureau Head of Bureau Mekele
Tel: 400433
Department of Social Asafa Haile Selassie,

Affairs, Mekele Department Head
Department of Labor Gebreyesus Gebre P.O. Box 94

and Social Affairs, Michael, Department Adigrat
Adigrat Head, Eastern Tigray Tel: 450019,
United Nations Ibrahim Jabr, P. O. Box 1169

Children’s Fund Representative Addis Ababa
Rodney Phillips, Deputy Tel: (251-1) 515155
Representative Fax: 511628
Sefaye Shiferaw, Project
Officer, Health
United Nations World Thomas Thompson, Head c/o WFP Ethiopia

Food Program Mekele Sub-Office P.O. Bax 5580
Addis Ababa
Tel: (251-3) 405206
Fax: 405207
A-6
Mary Joy Aid St. Zebider Zewdie, P.O. Box 12939

Through Executive Director Addis Ababa
Development Tadele Seifu, Micro Credit Tel: 792108
& Awassa Urban
Development Project
Coordinator
Members of
orphans network:
Kechene Children’s Kokebe Lema, Social

Home Development
Kebebe Tsehay Asiya Yimer, Head
Children’s Home Administrator
Italian Cooperation
Integrated Family Azeb Adeferesew,
Service Organization Program Manager
Terre des Hommes- Lulseged Erkihun,
Lausanne Program Officer
Jerusalem Girma Deressu, Head of
Association Child & Youth Affairs
Children’s Home Alemayehu Mamo,
Kale Heywet Church Program Officer
Development Girma Abebe, General
Program Administrator
Tkelewine Asega, P.O. Box 20

Executive Director Mekele
Berhane Gebre- Tirgray
Egziabhere, Head, Relief Tel: (03) 400615
and Rehabilitation Fax: (03) 402629
Department
Dr. Tewelde Brhan Hailu,
Head, Health Division,
Relief Society of Tigray
Tsegai Asefa, Relief
Coordinator
Rädda Barnen (Save Hirut Tefferi P.O. Box 3457

the Children, Addis Ababa
Sweden) Tel: 710208 / 710323
A-7
Fax: 710149
[email protected].
et
Save the Children Jay Zimmerman, Field P.O. Box 387

USA Office Director Addis Ababa
Tel: (251-1) 653283 /
655968
Fax: 653615
[email protected]
t.et
Ethio-Netherlands Tobias Rinke De Witt, P.O. Box 1242

AIDS Reserach Expatriate Laboratory Addis Ababa
Project Manager Tel: (251-1) 757751
Fax: 756329
[email protected]
Terre des hommes - Girma Deressu, Project P.O. Box 6479

Lausanne Coordinator Addis Ababa
Tadesse Haile, Project Tel: 182308 / 512683
Coordinator, Dessie Fax: 513835
Street Children’s Project [email protected]
P.O. Box
679
Dessie
Tel: 111160
Children Aid Ethiopia Anannia Adamassu, P.O. Box 5854

Managing Director Addis Ababa
Tel: 136068
The Futures Group Alan Johnston Tel. 502973
Alem Children Alemnesh Mogessie, P.O. Box 12280

Support General Manager Addis Ababa
Organization Ygezu Atnafe, Board Tel: 712634 / 715654
Member Fax: 553611
Aklilu Hailu, Public
Relations and Fund
Raising Officer
Abiye Mekonnen, Project
Assistant
A-8
Jemal Abdela, Executive Tel. 125971

Birhan Integrated
Director
Community
Girma Bekele, Project
Development
Officer
Organization
Aike Asfaw
Abebech Gobena Abebech Gobena, Tel. 553622

Orphanage and Founder & General
School Manager
Abayneh Abebe, Program
Officer
A-9
APPENDIX C - SCHEDULE FOR JOHN WILLIAMSON
Date Time Activity Place

24/01/00 08:00 - Meet with Leslie and Tsegaye @ Pact
Monday 10:00
10.00 - Meet with Keder, Program manager and Endashaw, @ Pact
12:00 Grant Manager
01:30 - Review scope and schedule @ USAID
03:00
03:30 - Meet with USAID Head Office - Doug Sheldon, @ USAID
05:30 Director
David Eckerson, Deputy Director
Jim Polhemus, D&G Advisor
25/01/00 08:30 - Meet with coordinator of orphanage network: @JACH
Tuesday 10:00 Mulugeta Gebru, Mengiste Ayele and Alemayhu,
Jerusalem Association Children’s Home
10:30- Tedla Deresse, Supreme Court Juvenile Project @ Radda
12:00 (553400 ex. 204) Barnen
02:00 - St. Zebider Zewdie, Mary Joy and Bedilu Teferi @MaryJoy
04:00
26/01/00 02:30 - Fassil W/Mariam and staff Forum on Street @ Forum
Wednesday 12:00 Children
02:00 - Members of Orphanage Network @ Pact
03:30
04:00 - Getahun Dendir & Dr. Ayana @ USAID
05:00
27/01/00 Travel to Mekele and Adigrat (travel byAir)
Thursday
29/01/00 Return to Addis
Saturday
A-11
APPENDIX D - OVERVIEW OF ACTIVITIES
FSCE Child Resource and Resource Center: Nexus for Research,

Training, and Information Network
1. Background
1.1. In order to contribute to the efforts being made nationally and at micro levels in addressing the needs of
disadvantaged children, there are very few organizations both local and foreign based operating in the country.
Some of the local organizations are new to NGO operations and do lack the necessary resources (in terms of
finance, human and physical), information and skills to run projects for children who are in desperate need of basic
and developmental services. There is a general understanding that any one, with low or without adequate
qualification, can work with and for children.
1.2. Most important there is a serious information gap about children in Ethiopia. In spite of the fact that the
various problems such as child abuse and neglect, child prostitution, rape and abduction and juvenile delinquency
are admitted to exist, nevertheless the knowledge in the area is limited such as their origins, community attitude
towards the problems, the results of various efforts made to date to address these problems and the way forward.
1.3. FSCE firmly believes that in order to improve the fulfilment of the needs and interests of children, the
management needs to have tangible data from resource materials and research findings that will adequately facilitate
the planning and decision making processes and staff members who directly work with children should be equipped
with the basic communication and child focused project management skills.
1.4. The child Resource Development Center was established with the aim of improving the information gap on
the situation of children in Ethiopia and mutually initiate capacity building interventions. It was established
following the series of discussions among a number of child focused organizations where FSCE was mandated to
take the lead. Training programs were organized for grass root staff members even before the Center was established
in collaboration with the fund secured from the University of Amsterdam. The initial funds for the Center were
secured through a proposal to Pact.
1.5. The Resource Center has certain guiding principles, which includes the following.
* The improvement of the quality and standards of services rendered to children depends on, among others,
the quality of staff assigned.
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* Through the development of the competencies of middle and grassroots staff and information, exchange,
child focused NGOs can live up to the public expectations and government standards and policies.
* The Resource center can serve field practitioners and academics as a forum for exchanging ideas and
experiences thereby adopting best practices as relates to child services in order to tackle emerging social problems.
The child Resource & Development Center (CRDC) is one of the projects of FSCE which is intended to provide
services in the field of research to fill the part of the information gap about the problems of children of Ethiopia,
information exchange and training for net work institutions engaged on child and family focused activities. FSCE
strongly believes that all actors for children of the urban poor can devise improved interventions if the respective
training needs are identified and training programs are planned in response to the needs.
2. The Resource Center is engaged in three major areas benefitting NGOs and NGO staff members,
government institutions, university students, researchers, consultants, etc. These are:
2.1. Research in the area of child abuse and neglect, child right issues, urban issues, sexual exploitation,
disability, street children, HIV/AIDS, etc.
2.2. Training for grassroots, middle level and higher-level staff members of partner organizations as a capacity
building initiative
2.3. Collection, Documentation, Publication and Dissemination/Information Network,
3. A very brief information on the activities so far accomplished
3.1. Research Activities
FSCE in the course of its contact with partner organizations realized the crucial role of information and
data in the design of child focused programs and in evolving meaningful interventions.
FSCE co-ordinated studies, with the fund support of Rädda Barnen and other sources, on topics established
on the basis of information need assessment survey carried out by the center during its initial period. At the
moment, there are studies completed serving as reference materials for government staff, NGOs staff, consultants,
University lecturers and students, and Private College's students, etc. The following are the list of completed and
on-going studies
being co-ordinated by the Center.
a) List of Completed Studies:
1. Abraham Hussein (Dr.), Parental Perspectives on Mentally Retarded Children: Improving the
Social Environment of Mentally Retarded Children. 1998.
2. Abeje Berhanu, The Situation and Trends of Survival of Female Street Children: The Case of
Addis Ababa. 1998.
3. Belay Zeleke, Fiseha Worede and Bulti Gutema (Dr.), An Evaluative Study of Service Provided to
Female Street Children by Different Organizations in Addis Ababa: The Case of FSCE, Goal Ireland,
Mobile unit and Rädda Barnen Drop in Center. 1999.
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4. Eshetu Alemu, Some Correlates of Poly-Drug Use Behavior Among Street Children: The Case of
Four Urban Centers. 1998.
5. Gobena Daniel, A Study of Child Sexual Abuse in Addis Ababa High Schools a Focus on
Causative Factors and Manifestations. 1998.
6. Keremenz Agonafi, Female Headed Households in Addis Ababa Survey on Their socio-economic
Situation and Streetism and Prostitution Among Their Children. 1998.
7. Meseret Tadesse Beshah, Homeless Children in Ethiopia. 1998.
8. Seleshi Zeleke and Sentayehu Tadesse, Parenting Styles Differences Among Selected Ethnic
Groups in Ethiopia. 1998.
9. Tesfa Abebe and Shibesi Lema, Assessment of Children's Books in Addis Ababa Needs and
Prospects for Publication. 1997.
b) Ongoing Research nearing completion
1. "Parenting a Child With Disabilities : Needs, Challenges and Strategies" by Fasikawit Ayalew,
Ethiopia Haile and Daniel Desta
2. "Identification of Coping Strategies and Preparation of a Resource Manual for Combating the
Problems of Female High School Students at Risk "by Darge Wole(Dr.).
3. HIV/AIDS in Addis Ababa: An intervention study in selected areas with particular emphasis on
its consequences affecting children and youth by Anania Admassu.
4. Management of child Abuse and Age Determination in Health Institutions in Addis Ababa.,
by Getenet Tadele
c) Other small scale ongoing studies :
NGO -based studies : Small scale NGO-based action oriented participatory research activities are also
going on with the involvement one staff member as a lead investigator to help NGOs identify problems
related to service delivery planing and programming, management, etc. The list of on-going research work
are the following.
1. “Evaluative study of the activities of Child Protection Units (CPUs) in Addis Ababa,” W.
Kidan and staff, CPU
2. “Traditional practices that Safe Guard the Interests of Children during divorce within the vicinity
of the Project area (Rural Community),” Ato Damenu Kibret, KHCDO
3. “Educational problems of children with hearing impairments,”Mekonnen Nega, HPDO
4. “Promoting CRC through Child Participation at Hope Schools in Addis Ababa and Dessie
Town,”Aynalem Ashebir, Hope Enterprise
Partial Support to MA Theses Focusing on Children and Education
A small amount of financial support has been given to university students to help them finalize their MA
thesis. All are working on problems of children. Participatory Action Research (PAR) methods are applied.
This means in the service provision evaluative studies the children participate in needs identification,
prioritization, planning, implementation and ultimately in the ownership of the project. This approach has
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the advantage of curtailing unnecessary expectations, and realization of their rights by children themselves
besides ensuring the relative sustainability of the project.
1. “Assessment of Adaptive Behavior of some children with Mental

Retardation,” Nema Behutye, MA. Thesis
2. “Coping with Disability: the social relations of Disabled Children and Youths with their parents
and the larger community, a case study in selected areas of Addis Ababa,” Getnet Kebede, MA
thesis
3. “Attitudes of Teachers and Students Regarding the Integration of Hearing Impaired Students into
Regular Classes,”Abebe G. Selassie, MA. Thesis
4. “Investigating the Implementation of CBR Program for Children with Disabilities in Nazareth
(Adama),” Daba Feysia, MA. Thesis
5. “The Role of NGOs in Promoting Equitable Access to Primary Education in Southern Region of
Ethiopia,” Alemayehu Debebe, MA
3.2 Training workshops
The following training programs were organized to staff members of partner organizations. During 1999 over 145
grass-root and higher-level staff members of NGOs have been enrolled in different training workshops. The gender
mix of the training participants is 75 male (51.7%) and 70 Female (48.3%). The participants came from a variety of
organizations and projects. The skill-training program is reaching out organizations/projects that focus not just one
aspect of child services, but on different aspects. Over 22 organizations have been represented in the training
programs. This capacity building initiative helps to strengthen the competence of staff in different skills.
a) Training workshops Conducted
Title of the Training Year No. of trainees
1. Steps in Indicator Development 1997 20

2. Participatory Action Research
Methods(classroom-based and field work) 1997 16
3. Participatory Action Research Methods
(classroom-based and field work) Sep 17-24, 1998 16
4. Child to Child May 27-30,1999 24
5. Communicating with Children June 23-24,1999 16
6. Effective team building Sep 3-4,1999 15
7. PAR Chart Workshop Sep 7, 1999 16
8. Project Proposal & Report Writing Oct 6-8, 1999 24
9. Guidance & Counseling Nov 18-19,1999 27
10. Child to Child Feed Bach Dec 15-16, 1999 23
11. Guidance and Counseling Feb 24-25,2000 25
Total Participants 222
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b) Workshops (Gathering of program co-ordinators, NGO Managers, researchers, etc.) to exchange information on
the situation of children
Workshop Title Year No. of participants
1. Research outcome workshop on various

issues concerning children in Addis Ababa. 1999 51
2. Children's Books Production Workshop
(to exchange ideas on how to produce low cost
children's books where members of the Ethiopian
Authors Association, renowned writers, linguists,
etc. participated) 1999 23
3. National workshop on the studies of various issues
concerning children and families in Ethiopia. 1998 49
Total participants 123
NGO managers, program, and government staff took part in the series of workshops on "Development of Change
indicators for street children programs and "Research outcome workshops." They shared knowledge, ideas, and new
information based on studies and experiences. The joint development of indicators of change relevant to street
children programs have given impetus to program people pay special attention in designing their program goals,
objectives, activities and measuring indicators.
3.3. Collection and documentation, publication and dissemination.
3.3.1. Collection and documentation
The Center is getting strengthened with best and up to date resource

materials. The number of users of the center is increasing from time
to time. As a result small size extra reading room has been annexed
with a fund support received from Kinderen in De knel/Children at
Risk. Currently the Center has over 1,500 collections excluding
journals and newsletters.
3.3.2. Publication and Distribution
* Reading materials for children and field/youth workers on HIV/AIDS, CTC materials, Environmental
sanitation have been printed and distributed to all CRDA member organizations, child-oriented organizations, and
public libraries, relevant Ministries, targets in regional program offices of FSCE.
* The Resource Center also provides services by publishing Child Internet annually. This periodical focuses
selecting on issues of prime interest, and at the same time help to convey to all interested the achievements of
NGO's and the problems they face in carrying out their activities. It is an essential networking instrument. It tells
who is doing what?
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* The Center has also embarked on a new venture, which deals with the production of children's primers.
This kind of contribution is new in the activity of NGO's and it makes a critical input to the meager children's
literature in the country. So far the Center has co-ordinated the production of over forty thousand copies of four
titled children's Books by involving the Ethiopian Writers' Association.
5. Supervised Internship Program:
* Every year we involve 5-8 senior University students in the different projects and units for two months and
half to help them to get exposure to NGO operations, appreciate social Problems, gain work experience, to fill gaps
and use their expertise, etc.
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APPENDIX E - PACT’S PARTNER NGOS WORKING WITH
STREET CHILDREN AND ORPHANS
1. Abebech Gobena Orphanage and School

2. African Network for the Prevention or the Protection Against Child Abuse and Neglect
3. Alem Children Support Organization
4. Almaz Children and Family Support Program
5. Birhan Integrated Community Development Organization
6. Children Aid-Ethiopia Organization Forum on Street Children
7. Godanaw Rehabilitation Integrated Project for Street Children
8. Integrated Family Service Organization
9. Jerusalem Association Children’s Home
10. Kangaroo Child and Youth Development Society
11. Kind Hearts Children Aid Development Organization
12. L’Esperance Children’s Aid
13. Mary Joy Aid Through Development
14. Meserete Kristos Church Relief and Development
15. Nazareth Children’s Center and Integrated Development
16. Nile children and Family Support Organization
17. Rifit Valley Children and Women Development Association
18. Terre des Hommes-Lausanne
19. Women, Youth and Children Development Program
20. Yeteem Children’s and Destitute Mother’s Fund
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APPENDIX F - PROFILES OF SELECTED NGO
PARTICIPANTS IN PACT’S NGO SECTOR ENHANCEMENT
INITIATIVE
BICDO
BICDO became Pact partner in 1998. At that time the total annual budget of the organization
was Birr 209,173.40. They did not have and annual budgeting system and all their expenses
were covered through grants obtained to implement projects. The NGO had only 3 regular staff
out of which one was a semi professional one. The total number of children supported through
their three project namely feeding program, vocational training, and credit scheme program were
300, 32 and 70 children respectively.
Since becoming a partner with Pact, the project design, monitoring and evaluation capacity of the
NGO has significantly improved. As a result the NGO has managed to raise more resources and
support a larger number of children. According to the Executive Director, by 1999 the annual
budget of BICDO has increased to Birr 735,159.96 and their expected year 2000 budget is Birr
1,295,465 out of which Birr 964,772 is already obtained.
Currently the number of children the NGO is supporting has increased to a total number of
1,812. There are children supported directly through their street children preventive program
financed by Pact, educational programs supported by Radda Barnen, credit scheme program
supported by Action Aid and Pact. The number of projects the NGO is implementing has also
increased from 3 to 8 and the total number of staff of the NGO has grown to 15 out of which 3
are professional and 2 are semi professional.
Since 1998, the NGO has diversified its donor base and have also became member of CRDA,
the only umbrella organization in Ethiopia. In addition to this, the NGO has also managed to get
two reliable 3 funding organizations namely Actin Aid and Red Barna Ethiopia. This was made
possible because of the capacity of the NGO developed recently.
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AGOS
AGOS is one of the first Pact partner NGOs who joined in the program in 1996. Their annual
budget then was Birr 5,754,233 which has currently grown to Birr 11,500,000 in 1999.
Institutional support has been the main child support program and were assisting a total of 200
children. In addition to this, AGOS was also running vocational training program for 30 children
and child focused community based program for 290 children in Addis Abeba.
Since their partnership with Pact, AGOS has diversified its child support program. Today the
NGO shows a strong move away from residential support program for orphans. As a result, a
total of 88 children have been reunified, out of which 46 children have started an independent
and self supporting life in the community. Similarly, the NGOs is currently involved more on
community based child support program. This programs currently focus in providing family
based support to poor children living both in urban and rural areas. The projects involve
providing basic social services such as clean water, health, education, housing and other related
services. Such programs have been initiated in three rural localities in Oromilya region namely
Burayu, Buder and Fitche areas and all the above projects provide support to a total target house
holds of 43,540. The total number of children benefiting in the three localities indicated above is
also indicated to be 240,832.
AGOS has also initiated a similar child focused urban development program in one of the slums
of Addis Ababa. The project target total of 2006 house holds and 10,000 disadvantaged children
from poor families. The children are provided with education, basic health services, clean water,
housing, recreational facilities etc. The family of the children are also encouraged to be involved
in income generating activities with the objective of improving the family income.
In 1996 AGOS had only two professional staff which has now increased to 9. The total number
of staff employed by the organization has also grown from 70 to 152 today. In terms of donor
base the NGO used to get support from 4 donors in 1996, but currently they have 14 regular
donors.
According to AGOS they have benefited significantly from the capacity building program of
Pact. According to them some of the benefits of the program include:
C The quality of work of the organization has improved as they have more qualified personnel.
C The target beneficiary children has increased as they were able to raise more funds.
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C The way of thinking of the organizaiton about the welfare of children has changed. Today the
NGO is implementing more sustainable programs that best address the
interest of the children.
C The activities of the organization have become increasingly systematized. This has also
improved the quality and efficiency of their work which has won the appreciation of donors,
the government and stake holders.
ACSO
ACSO become partner with Pact in 1998 and at that time it was implementing only one project
which focused on a preventive street children program. The annual budget then was Birr
400,000 which also came from 4 donors including the donations made from the founders family.
Currently the budget of the orgnaization has increased to Birr 670,000 and the number of projects
they are implementing has also grown to 4.
The total number of children benefiting from the projects of the NGO by 1998 was 275.
Currently, this number has increased to 996 including the project financed by Pact. Their
projects mainly focus on a preventive street children program which tries to support children of
very poor families with the required basic services such as education, health, nutrition
rehabilitation; income generating, vocational training and advocacy programs. The NGO is also
in the process of initiating a new project to support 200 children of very poor families in Addis
Ababa.
According to the management, ACSO has benefited significantly from the capacity building
program of Pact. Major among these include the following:
C ACSO has become a well organized NGOs with all the required systems and procedures in
place. According to them, all the credit in this regard goes to Pact.
C The reporting system and particularly their financial system which was established through
Pact’s support has become a valuable asset of AGOS. This has also attracted many donors to
support their organization
C The public promotion activity currently implemented by Pact has contributed in improving
their public image and to raise funds from domestic sources
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GODANAW
It is one of the youngest NGOs that joined Pact’s capacity building program in 1997. The NGO
works mainly on the rehabilitation and prevention of street children in Addis Ababa. The annual
budget of Godanaw in1997 was Birr 152,247 and the number of their projects was also limited to
3 that provided support to a total of 130 children. The projects mainly focused on providing
vocational training to street children with the objective of helping them to become self-
supporting. In addition to this, the NGO provides night shelter and full board support to street
girls and child commercial sex workers with the objective of integrating them in to a healthy life.
Currently, the number of project the NGO implements and the number of children supported has
grown to 10 and 1332 respectively. The increase has mainly been to the number of new and
better projects they have initiated recently. The NGO has diversified its programs and provides
preventive AIDS education to the youth in the community.
C Recreational services to poor children

C School assistance program for children of poor families
C Vocational training and a credit program to street children.
Because of the above additional projects, the annual budget of Godanaw has increased to Birr
551,300 by 1999. This was also obtained from a total of 8 donor agencies. In terms of staffing
also, the NGO currently has the service of 4 qualified professional staff and by 1997 the NGO
had only one professional staff.
According to the NGO, Pact’s capacity building program has contributed to Godanaw in raising
more funds which in term is helping larger number of disadvantaged children.
In this regard their OCA report and the recently developed strategic plan document alone has
played positively. Godanaw has sent the above documents to all of its donors and this has also
resulted in getting more funds for their program.
The NGO has also diversified its activities and is currently involved in comminutes based
programs. It operates in one of the major slum areas of Addis Ababa and provides clean water,
toilet facility and health education to a total 4500 target households, children benefiting from
these projects number to 30,000.
According to the management, Pacts capacity building program contributed to the NGO through
the following actions:
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C Improving the number and quality of their projects as they have obtained the service of
gratified program staff through Pact grant;
C Creating systems in the organization, which has been highly appreciated by donor and
government agencies. Particularly their financial and reporting system has been the major
one;
C Increasing the NGOs perception on innovative child support programs and helped in
networking with other organizations doing similar activities.
JACH
JACH is one of the first NGOs involved in Pact’s program since 1996. The annual budget of
JACH used to be 3 million in 1996 and this has currently grown to 8 million in 1999 and 12
million in 2000. The organization used to implement 4 residential institutions in four locations in
Ethiopia with a total number of 785 children (orphans).
Currently, JACH has been one of the pioneers involved in de-institutionalization program. As a
result, the number of children in the residential program has decreased to 160. All the other
children have either been reunited with relatives or are established on their own and re-integrated
in the community. The remaining 160 children are also in the process of reintegration and re-
unification. Because of this program one of the four homes of JACH has been completely
closed.
A recent assessment of JACH also revealed that above 90% of the re-integrated children have
become successful. They are supporting themselves, and married with children. Some of them
have even adopted orphan children from the home and are supporting them.
JACH has currently initiated new programs and as a result it is implementing the following child
based communities development program;
C An urban program that supports approximately 2000 children of poor and destitute families
in Bahir Dar town though its preventive street children program.
C An integrated children focused rural development program that supports 1200 children and
their family in the Bahir Dar area.
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C Established a community library in Bahir Dar, which is going to serve a total of 10,000
school children.
C JACH is also serving as a resource NGO on residential programs. Based on its experience,
the NGO is in the process of sharing its experience with other similar NGOs.
According to the Managing Director, Pact’s capacity building program has significant impacts on
the number and types of programs, amount of funds they have and the qualities of services they
provide to disadvantaged children. “The Organizational Capacity Assessment report made
though Pact alone has served JACH as a strong fundraising tool”, said the Manager. In addition
to this;
C Reporting is now done timely. Because of this, there is high donor satisfaction and
confidence on JACH. This has also helped JACH to create smooth relation with the
government as reports are also submitted to them timely.
C Systems are in place and this has promoted the transparency and accountabilities of the
organization and facilitated easy and fast decision making;
C Human resources, personnel secondment especially in program area has contributed in
formulating quality projects which can attracted new donor funds.
C The advisory work of Pact program staff, the commodities grant and the different training
programs have also contributed in improving the efficiency, speed and quality of all projects
aimed at improving the life of the poor children, and assisting the organization in scaling up
its operations to benefit more children.
KCADO
The NGO joined Pacts program in 1997 and had an annual budget of 171,273 which was not
enough to cover most of its overhead cost. Currently, the budget has increased and by 1999, was
half a million Birr. The total number of projects in 1997 were 3 namely: Family Support
Service, Sponsorship and Primary Education Projects providing support to a total of
approximately 500 children. According to the manager, none of these children received any
significant support before 1997, as the budget was not enough.
By 1998 and 1999, particularly after completing Pacts training in project design and after having
employed a qualified Project Officer through Pact’s grant; the NGO managed to raise more funds
to finance new projects. As a result the annual budget grew to the present ½ million and all the
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children began benefiting from the NGO. This included education, credit program, nutritional
rehabilitation, clean water etc. In addition to this, the NGO also initiated a pilot program for an
additional 20 deaf children. The additional number of children receiving new support include the
following:
C 100 children get full sponsorship program support (not supported by Pact)
C 70 children are receiving pre-school education in KG established by the NGO
C 574 rural out of school children are covered through their non-formal education programs,
C 79 families with 790 children receive family support programs which aim at improving the
income of the family.
In terms of staffing, the NGO has also shown increase from 19 in 1996 to 34 in 1999.
Previously, the NGO did not have enough human resources. But currently they have employed 3
highly qualified persons working both in project and finance activities.
According to the manager, the contribution of Pact’s program to the capacity of their
organization is significant. The employment of a project officer alone has contributed in
increasing the number of their projects and the children benefiting from their projects .
Similarly, the NGO before 1996 had suffered from budget deficits and currently they are able to
finance both the old and new projects of the organization. The manager also noted that, the NGO
was going to be de-registered by the government, as it was not able to implement all the projects
that they had entered in to agreement with the government. However, due to Pact’s strategically
important supports such as personnel grant and technical training, they were able to raise more
funds and meet the requirement of the government. Today, they are not only supporting
additional number of children , but they are also making realistic support to the original 500
target children. The established systems within the organization have also won the appreciation
of new donors willing to finance their programs in the future.
RCWDA
By 1996 when RCWDA joined Pact program, their annual was Birr 264,504.70, which were
budgets allocated to finance their two projects namely; Non Formal Education and Micro-Credit
Programs. The staffing level during that period was 12 with two professionals and 10 non-
professionals.
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The current budget of RCWDA in 1999 is Birr 1,320,289.56, which finances the budget for 15
projects. The number of children that were supported though their programs have also increased
from 820 to the present level of 10,496 children that are directly involved in their projects. In
addition to this, the NGO is involved in other large projects such as designing a non formal
education curriculum for Oromiya region, initiating a level Bank program as a means of rural
food security and promoting gender and development programs in rural areas particularly to
promote the role of rural girls. Similarly, the NGO has replicated its projects in several places
and is trying new peripheral regions in Oromiya.
At present the NGO has a total of 64 staff out which 8 are highly qualified professionals.
According to the program director the capacity building program of Pact has made significant
contribution on the NGO. As a result of the OCA assessments and interventions made thereafter,
the NGO currently has a regular office well established systems and organizational structure.
Currently they are a well organized NGO with the capacity to implement bigger projects.
Because of this, the NGO has been identified by Action Aid to initiate a Grain Bank project in
Bale Zone of Oromiya region.
The manager also indicated that the short video produced through Pact’s support alone has
benefited the NGO through image building and serving as strong fundraising tool. Very soon the
NGO is to have the film aired on ETV. Similarly, the employment of qualified project officers
through Pact’s grant and the different training provided to them have helped them to prepare
quality projects which are funded by many donors easily. The NGO today claims that it is even
giving support to government institutions. In the area of non-formal education, the NGO is
serving as a resource NGO for the government and leading the regional government on how to
formulate curriculum in the area, as well as mentoring other NGOs in their approach in
nonformal education.
IFSO
IFSO joined Pact in 1996 and did not have an annual budgeting system. The total fund utilized
during that year was Birr 250,000. The focus of the program was only one kebele (smallest unit
of Admin) in Addis Ababa providing sponsorship support to 13 children width a staffing level of
2 persons only.
The current budget of the NGO is Birr 1,400,000 and the children directly benefiting from the
sponsorship program has increased to 425 (not supported by Pact). The NGO also implements a
family based child support program which targets 300 families with a total of 2,100 children.
The NGO has expanded its project area and currently it is working at a woreda level by including
13 kebeles. The project has also initiated a credit program to improve the life of poor families.
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This project which was initiated since the NGO became a partner with Pact currently supports
61 families with a total number of 366 children. Very soon a similar credit program will support
200 families benefiting 1200. Funding for the program has been obtained from other donor
sources.
By diversifying its program IFSO has also initiated a vocational training program for school drop
out youth girls.
At present a total of 36 girls have completed the training and are being placed. In year 2000 an
additional 40 girls will be included in the program.
IFSO today has diverse donor base. From one donor base in 1996 they currently have 9 regular
donors. They are also member of CRDA and the orphanage network established by NGOs
involved in similar programs.
According to IFSO manager Pact’s program and its office and staff are friends of IFSO. When
we enter into Pact compound, we feel at home and as a family member. You can openly discuss
with Pact staff and get solutions to your problems. Because of this IFSO appreciates Pacts
program.
C IFSO has established a well orgnaized finance system which is appreciated by many donors.
Many donors agree to finance the projects of IFSO after only reviewing the system. This has
been one major contribution of Pact.
C The SPM report is also considered as a guiding document for the NGO. It has helped the
NGO to have vision, mission and consistently oriented to this.
CHADET
The NGO joined Pacts program in 1998 and had an annual budget of only Birr 500,000.
Currently this budget has increased to Birr 700,000. The number of projects of the NGO by
1998 was only 2 mainly focusing on HIV/AIDs awareness program targeting 80,000 youth in
their locality in Addis Ababa. Their projects today have increased to 5 and include a preventive
and rehabilitation program for 400 child prostitutes and HIV/AIDs educational programs for
schools through an AIDs clubs.
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The NGO at present has a total staff of 14 out of which 6 are professionals. Because of this
situation, the NGO is currently in the process to initiate a child focussed urban program in Arsi
region of Oromiya region.
According to the manager of CHADET, Pacts capacity building program is instrumental in

assisting their NGO to reach a larger number of children became of other donor interest. . It fills
the gap that has been mainly ignored by many donors. Because of this support, the NGO has
become a credible development institution working with different donors, and institutions in the
country.
Marry Joy
The NGO joined Pact’s program in 1998 with the annual budget of Birr 1,600,000 and total
staffing level of 14 full time workers with 3 professionals and 11 non professionals. The NGO
was mainly implementing health project particularly in relation to HIV/AIDS. Environmental
Health, and preventive street children program. The target family size of the project was 100
with 500 children.
Currently the annual budget of the NGO has increased to Birr2,800,000. This has also increased
the target area of operation of the NGO. In this regard their development activities are currently
operating in 3 kebeles and cover target population of 43,000 households and 215,000 children.
In 1998 they were only limited to one kebele and 11,000 households and 55,000 children.
Similarly, their HIV/AIDs sensitization and advocacy program has also increased its coverage
from one kebele to two weredas covering 120,000 households and 600,000 children and youth.
The staffing level of the NGO has also increased. Currently the NGO has a total of 34 staff out
of which are 8 are professionals. Because of this capacity, the NGO is in the process of initiating
a street children program in Awassa town of southern region. The total budget allocated for the
program in Awassa is Birr 6.5 million for one pilot program in one kebele.
According to the manager, the capacity building program of Pact has been very instrumental in
increasing the programs of the organization. Because of this, the NGO has obtained the support
of Redd Barna Ethiopia, Action Aid, BILANCE, Memissa, German Agro Action and others as
regular donors. Pacts support according to the manager have helped the NGO to have the
following:
C Wider vision on their programs and built their confidence

C Improved the quality of their projects which are always funded by donors
A-30
C Credibility with donors and good relationship with government and community.
Forum SCE
FSCE one of the first partner NGOs that joined the program with an annual budget of Birr
2,307,916 implementing child advocacy programs model preventive street children programs in
Addis Ababa, Dire Dawa and Nazareth towns. The project used to support a total of 4000
children in the three areas.
Currently the NGO diversified its activities and replicated its programs in other regions such as
Dessie. Additional projects such as a joint FSCE and police program on the protection of
children, community based preventive program and street girls preventive and rehabilitation
program. In addition to this, FSCE has also initiated information networking program which is
currently supporting over 40 NGOs working without Pact support:
C Wider vision
C Confidence building
C Quality project proposal preparation not rejected
C Quality of work
C Credibility by donors
C Good relationship
C High government and community support
C Donor base has increased UNICF, Radda Barnen, Memisa Bilan GAA, CRDA, AAE, own
income.
A-31
APPENDIX G - TOTAL GRANTS PER YEAR (BAR GRAPHS)
A-33
Chart1
A-35
Chart11
A-37
APPENDIX H*
*From a draft of Finding a Way Forward: Principles and Strategies to Reduce the Impacts of
AIDS on Children and Families, by John Williamson, March 2000, which will be included as a
chapter in the upcoming book, The Orphan Generation – The Global Legacy of the AIDS
Epidemic, which is being edited by Carol Levine and Geoff Foster and is to be published by
Cambridge University Press.
Integrating Care and Prevention
To increase the effectiveness and efficiency of interventions, those engaged with HIV/AIDS
issues must give greater attention to ways that care and prevention activities can reinforce each
other. For example, there is growing interest in ways that orphans activities and other kinds of
care can provide entry points for promoting HIV prevention at the community level. Care issues
are concrete and of immediate concern. Making changes in personal behavior to avoid HIV
infection, on the other hand, requires a series of conceptual leaps, such as a firm belief in germ
theory, a strong future orientation, and a conviction that what one does now will make a
significant difference in the distant future. This makes effective HIV prevention a very difficult
enterprise, so it is worth assessing carefully whether people's immediate engagement with the
concrete realities of care issues can be a catalyst for prevention efforts. Prevention should be
approached in ways that make sense in terms of people's day-to-day experiences and concerns.
One of the main reasons why HIV has spread as extensively and rapidly as it has is the long lag
between infection and illness. The link between change in sexual behavior and avoidance of
illness is more difficult to demonstrate, for example, than the reduction in malaria and the use of
treated bed nets. It may be that engagement in care activities can help make a cause and effect
link in participant experience that will reinforce prevention messages. Also, the sense of
empowerment that comes through community mobilization--joining with others to address
immediate problems--may stimulate a sense of hope and the belief that it is possible to have
greater control over the things that affect our lives. Hope and empowerment may increase
receptivity to prevention messages.
A-39
Linking care and prevention activities seems particularly relevant in programs involving children
and adolescents. In many countries, young people frequently show a willingness and capacity to
organize and address community problems. For example, in addition to providing direct benefits
for those assisted, promoting the engagement of youth anti-AIDS clubs in the emotional support
and daily living needs of orphans or people living with AIDS can provide opportunities to
convey and reinforce prevention messages among participating youths. As one agency head from
Zambia observed, anti-AIDS club members get bored if they just talk about why they should not
be having sex.
Care interventions should be integrated in ways that help AIDS-affected households cope with
the range of problems they are facing, including caring for people who are ill, gaining access to
basic medications, reducing stigma and psychosocial distress, keeping children in school, and
compensating for lost adult labor and income. The care and support of people living with AIDS
should be linked with efforts to mitigate the economic impacts on their families. The
psychosocial needs of parents living with HIV/AIDS and their children are directly related and
can be addressed through integrated interventions.
A-40
APPENDIX I - RESOURCE DOCUMENTS
Tolfree, David, Roofs and Roots: The Care of Separated Children in the Developing World,
Arena, Ashgate Publishing, Harts, England, and Brookfield, Vermont, USA, Save the Children
Fund (UK), 1995, 251 pages. Arena, Ashgate Publishing Limited, Gower House, Croft Road,
Aldershot, Hants GU11 3HR, England: Ashgate Publishing Co., Old Post Road, Bookfieid, VT
05036, USA tel: (802) 276-3162. (available through http://www.amazon.com )
Tolfree, David, Restoring Playfulness: Different Approaches to Assisting Children who are
Psychologically Affected by War or Displacement, Rädda Barnen (Swedish Save the Children),
1996, 212 pages. ( http://www.childrightsbookshop.org/ )
Documents Provided to Pact During John Williamson’s Visit
“Promoting Psychosocial Well-being Among Children Affected by Armed conflict and

Displacement: Principles and Approaches,” Working Paper N. 1, Working Group on Children
Affected by Armed Conflict and Displacement, Save the Children Federation, 1996 (available
from Save the Children, 54 Wilton Road, Westport CT 06880 as well as from other members
other the Save the Children Alliance).
Donahue, Jill, "Community Mobilization and Microfinance Services as HIV/AIDS Mitigation

Tools," prepared for the Displaced Children and Orphans fund of USAID as a supplementary
report to "Children Affected by HIV/AIDS in Kenya: An Overview of Issues and Action
to Strengthen Community Care and Support," Displaced Children and Orphans Fund/USAID and
UNICEF, 1999.
Donahue, Jill and John Williamson, "Community Mobilization to Mitigate the Impacts of
HIV/AIDS, Displaced Children and Orphans Fund, September 1, 1999, 9 pages.
A-41
Donahue, Jill, Susan Hunter, Linda Sussman, and John Williamson, "Children Affected by
HIV/AIDS in Kenya: An Overview of Issues and Action to Strengthen Community Care and
Support," Displaced Children and Orphans Fund/USAID and UNICEF, 1999, 53 pages.
Foster, Geoff and Choice Makufa, "Community Mobilization Best Practices: The Families,
Orphans and Children Under Stress (FOCUS) Programme," Family AIDS Caring Trust, Mutare
Zimbabwe, 8 pages.
Lee, Tim, Shareck Kagoro, Shana Muzanya, Choice Makufa, Geoff Foster, Rebecca Gonyora,
"FOCUS Evaluation Report 1999: Report of a Participatory, self-evaluation of the FACT
Families, Orphans and Children Under Stress (FOCUS) Programme,” September 1999, Family
AIDS Caring Trust, 56 pages.
Williamson, John and Jill Donahue, "Developing Interventions to Benefit Children and Families
Affected by HIV/AIDS: a Review of the COPE Program in Malawi for the Displaced Children
and Orphans Fund," 1996, 50 pages.
Williamson, John and Jill Donahue, "Community Mobilization to Address the Impacts of AIDS:
A Review of the COPE II Program in Malawi, January 17-30, 1998," prepared by the Displaced
Children and Orphans Fund of and War Victims Fund Project for USAID, June 1998, 44 pages.
Williamson, John, “Selected Resource Material Concerning Children and Families Affected by
HIV/AIDS.”
A-42

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Assessment of the Street Children

and Orphans Component of the

Overview of Pact’s DCOF-Funded Capacity-Building Activities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . viii

Pact’s Work with Orphans and Street Children NGOs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . x

Broader Issues Concerning Especially Vulnerable Children . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xii

VISITS OUTSIDE ADDIS ABABA . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9

Mekele and Adigrat . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9

OVERVIEW OF PACT’S DCOF-FUNDED CAPACITY-BUILDING ACTIVITIES . . . . . . 13

The Orphans Network . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15

OBSERVATIONS AND COMMENTS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17

Pact’s Work with Orphans and Street Children NGOs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17

Effective Capacity Building . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17

Broader Issues Concerning Especially Vulnerable Children . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25

APPENDIX A- SCOPE OF WORK . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . A-1

AGOS Abebech Gobena Orphan and School

Overview of Pact’s DCOF-Funded Capacity-Building Activities

• De-institutionalizing children currently in orphanages through support to family reunification

Pact’s capacity-building activities emphasize organizational development. The first step is an

Observations and Comments

Pact’s Work with Orphans and Street Children NGOs

As such, a mechanism has not been in place to track the

Objective IV: De-institutionalize children in orphanages through support to family reunification

It would be beneficial for Pact to facilitate development of a network of organizations working

proposed interventions, and by developing programming and proposal review guidelines,

Broader Issues Concerning Especially Vulnerable Children

An increasing number of children will be orphaned or otherwise made vulnerable by AIDS in

• The situation of street children and other children of concern to DCOF;

• The impact of the Pact capacity-building program on street children;

• The role and activities of the Forum for Street Children;

• The use of DCOF funds by Pact;

• The ways in which programs are addressing HIV/AIDS issues;

• Trends concerning institutional care;

• The significance of DCOF-funded activities; and

• Possible further DCOF-supported activities.

Table 1. Statistical Indicators

Human Development Index 170

(United Nations Development Program)

Infant mortality rate (per 1,000 live births) 113

Population with access to safe water 25%

(Figures from UNAIDS Epidemiological Fact Sheet,

Children Affected by AIDS

Children Affected by Armed Conflict

Interrelationships Among Categories of Vulnerable Children

The Operating Environment of NGOs

Mekele and Adigrat

• After school tutoring,

• Apprenticeships for youth,

• De-institutionalizing children currently in orphanages through support to family reunification

Pact’s capacity-building activities emphasize organizational development. The first step is an

• Promoting individual philanthropy,

• Improving partnerships with the government, and

The Orphans Network

• Non-formal basic education,

Pact’s Work with Orphans and Street Children NGOs

Effective Capacity Building

Mary Joy Aid Through Development 1,600,000 2,800,000 499,838 2,300,162

Table 3. Increases in Child Beneficiaries

Abebech Gobena Orphan and School 520 250,832

Alem Children Support Organization 275 480