ሴቶች / Women
አርአያ ሴቶች Exemplary / model women
Abebech Gobena
Abebech was born on 20 October 1935] in a small rural village, called Shebele, in Oromia Region. At the age of 10, she was married without her consent, but she ran away to the capital, Addis Abeba. She went to Gishen Mariam, in Wello for pilgrimage in 1973. At the time, the area was severely stricken by famine. In a feeding centre, Gobena saw a child next to her dead mother. She distributed the only thing she had to other victims and brought the child along with another orphan to her home in Addis Ababa. That is how she started helping others. Abebech Gobena Yehetsanat Kebekebena limat Mahber (AGOHELMA) was founded by Abebech in 1980 and has become one of the earliest orphanages serving youth in Ethiopia. She died in July 2021.
Her organization not only provides shelter, but also education to children without parental support; organises workshops for young people to learn job skill; supports people living with HIV and provides training for health workers. She has changed the life of more than 100 000 children. “She is a humanitarian icon and will be an example for generations to come”
Dr Bogalech Gebre
She was born was born in 1953 in Kembatta. With her sister she was the founder of KMG Ethiopia NGO in Kambatta to end female genital mutilation in 1997. KMG stands for Kembatti Mentti-Gezimma-Topee, a phrase in the local language of Kembatta that reflects the power of women when working together. Dr Bogalech used community conversations to enhance communities’ capacities as the primary vehicles for change. She was very innovative. Died in November 2019.
To recognize her contributions & keep her legacy alive, the government has named the largest hospital in the area, the Kembata Tembaro Zone General Hospital after Dr Bogalech Gebre.
Click here for an interview about International women’s day 2024
የመብት ጥያቄና የጾታ ጥቃት discrimination and violence against women
In a conflict environment, violence is used as a weapon of humiliation, a weapon that dehumanises women. Raping a woman or a child in front of everybody is nothing sexual. It’s a humiliation, a vicious destruction.”
In 2008, United Nations Security Council adopted Resolution 1820 condemning the use of sexual violence as a tool of war. The resolution declares that “rape and other forms of sexual violence can constitute war crimes, crimes against humanity or a constitutive act with respect to genocide”. The adoption of the resolution marked for the first timethe first time that the UN explicitly linked sexual violence as a weapon of war.