Western Ethiopia Women Empowerment

Background

Western Ethiopia Women Empowerment Programme (WEWEP) was initiated in Ethiopia in April 2012. The six WEP-projects are the following: Abay Dabus WEP, Birbir Dilla WEP, Begi-Gidami WEP, Central Gibe WEP, Gimbi Jorgo WEP and Western Synod WEP. The overall programme goal of WEWEP is to empower the women of the programme area. The programme is designed to empower the women through the following three components: (1) Strengthening the position of the women in the synods by educating them and providing good systems and documents for gender equality; (2) Educating women in the synods and in the local society by giving them knowledge about their rights and the consequences of HTPBs and HIV/AIDS; (3) Giving women in the local society access to income by organizing self-help groups and providing lectures on handicrafts.

Purpose/objective

The purpose of the final evaluation is to evaluate the process and results of the first phase of WEWEP (2012-2014), with the intention of informing a possible continuation in line with the program’s work. Hence, the objective of the evaluation is: To assess the results, successes and limitations of the programme according to the overall program goal. The evaluation is focused on four areas of assessment: assessment of results, assessment of implementation, assessment of efficiency and assessment of sustainability. The four areas were investigated at three levels: the program level, the synod level and the project level.

Methodology

The evaluation team used both quantitative and qualitative research methodology with a gender-sensitive approach. Tools include; document reviews, observation of a few activities and assets in the field, a questionnaire, in-depth interviews (41 interviewees) and focus group discussions (18 groups with 158 discussants) with a selection of beneficiaries, synod leaders, project managers, volunteers of the six projects and other relevant bodies (government officials etc). Besides desk top work the study included a two-week field trip (Oct 27 to Nov 9, 2014).

Key findings

The key findings on the achievement of the objective 1.:

• A considerable increase in female representation in different positions in the decision making structure at parish level is seen
• Capability and functionality of Women Ministry Department has been strengthened in four synods, but in two synods there is still room for improvement
• Gender Guideline is not institutionalized
• Gender sensitive monitoring and evaluation system is not in place.

The key findings on the achievement of the objective 2.:

• Norms enhancing behavioral changes have started to change
• Women’s participation in self-help groups has contributed a lot to bringing a change in the lives of families, both economically and socially
• The awareness level of community members has been raised, but there exists a challenge to bring it to practice, because HTP is still practiced hidden
• There is a reduction in the number of girls dropping out of school; the rate in sample woredas is only about one quarter of the average of Oromia region.

The key findings on the achievement of the objective 3:

• The collaboration between the synods and crucial institutions in the programme catchment area is very good; in one synod only a networking system has been established
• Trainings of trainers on women's rights have been arranged but the Ethiopian family law and the Oromia family law have not been distributed as planned.

Recommendations:

1. Self-help groups should be established in all congregations in the programme area. In this regard, employing social workers for all projects is indispensable. 2. Rewarding best ranking girls should be done not only in high schools and preparatory classes, but also at primary level. This could be done without any additional financial resource by giving cheaper rewards. 4. HTPB and Community Conversation groups should be strengthened by searching committed young persons and empowering them technically, professionally and ethically. 6. It is recommended that planning of logistics is done well in advance together with synods departments in order to save resources allocated for transportation. 7. This programme is unique in that it works mainly in the family of EECMY. Hence all synods should value the programme/project highly and strengthen internal cooperation regardless of issues that would be seen as obstacles. 8. The Gender Guideline needs to be revised, organized into a logical framework and presented to the synods for institutionalization. 9. WEWEP Management Committee is not integrated into church management structure. This means that there is no inbuilt control over the MC members in the synods. The structure of the programme needs revision. It is recommended that the MC is accountable to the EECMY WMD or EECMY DASSC. 11. The CO should build a follow-up system to check the regularity of meetings of the decision making bodies and the implementation of the decisions made by them. 12. In order to secure sustainability of the activities it is advisable that the project and synod WMD plan and implement the activities jointly. It is also recommended to arrange training and consultation on issues like building team spirit, sustainability and inter-program experience sharing. 19. It is better to have uniform payments procedures throughout the WEWEP and there should be clear duties and responsibilities for PM, accountants, cashier and WMD head at synod level regarding financial transaction of the projects: “who does what and how.” 21. The project should develop its own per diem payment system and strictly adhere to it to avoid the inconsistency and non-uniformity or per diem payment system practiced, and avoid discrimination among its workers at different synods related to per diem benefits, and to efficiently utilize its recurrent budget. 24. It is strongly recommended that there should be a purchasing committee for the project at all synods that is responsible for approving and purchasing goods & services for the project and the approval has to be minuted. 25. Synods that do not use a material ledger card should develop and use one in order to enhance control over materials.

Comments from the organisation, if any:

The findings in this evaluation confirm that the project has implemented most of its activities and to a large degree achieved its objectives. Recommendations have been considered and discussed when further developing the new project document for the next project phase.