Happy International Mother’s Day

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 In pandemic, here’s what moms can do to fight stress and fatigue
Ever since it started, the pandemic — and its resultant lockdowns — have caused stress. The idea of losing a sense of normalcy has overwhelmed people, causing emotional distress and some physical manifestations of it, too.
For mothers, especially, the period hasbeen difficult, and it continues to be so. Tasked with taking care of the house and juggling many responsibilities, mothers are often left exhausted.
And while Mother’s Day is all about making them feel special and slightly-less stressed, Dr Preeti Parakh, psychiatrist and head of power: The Centre, Kolkata, shares with indianexpress.com some simple tips which they can put to use, to beat the stress of COVID-19.
* Routine life: Establishing a routine for everyone in the family provides a structured environment for the children and reduces the stress for parents. Maintaining regular timings for meals, sleep, exercise, games and studies can help children adjust to the new normal, and also ensure mothers get their chores done while children are busy elsewhere.
* Pandemic lessons: Explaining Covid- 19 appropriate behavior and precautions to children patiently will help ensure their compliance and reduce the pressure on the mother of keeping everyone safe. It is also important to practice the same so that children learn by example.
* Making connections: Connecting with other mothers helps form a support system. Sometimes just talking to someone who is facing the same problemsmakes one feel lighter. Connecting with the child’s teachers can also be helpful.
* Discipline: Mothers need to tactfully discipline children when they misbehave. A child throwing tantrums can be extremely stressful for a mother who has a hundred things to do. Sometimes just ignoring bad behavior helps. Distracting the child with some other activity can also help. Good behavior should always be appreciated as it motivates children.
* Family time: Shared family activities like playing indoor games, cooking or gardening together can be relaxing. This can improve family bonding and reduce stress levels for everyone in the family.
* The role of dads: Ensure the involvement of the father in parenting and share responsibilities with him.
* Me-time: Find some time for yourself. Use it to do activities that are enjoyable and relaxing. Take care of your health, eat and sleep on time and exercise regularly. After all, what is good for children is also good for their mothers.
Source The IndianEXPRESS

Mayors-Private Sector Conference

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Initiative Africa (IA) co-facilitated the Mayors-Private Sector Conference which took place on May 6th and 7th which was titled ” Cities as Engines of Business Proliferation: What is Missing in Ethiopian Context?”. The thematic areas of the discussion sessions were:

  • Traineeship, apprenticeships and internship: key changes and good practices in cities
  • Changing mind-sets towards entrepreneurship – how can they be made more attractive in building businesses in cities?
  • Schemes and sources of financing and financing models for entrepreneurship in cities
  • Preserving cities while growing them
  • Leveraging cities’ potential for their growth

The conference was aimed at increasing Mayors’ understanding of their own entrepreneurship eco-system, discovering innovative policies that improve economic outcomes, and implementing those policies within their unique cities.

The conference was attended by over 50 Mayors, private sector leaders, different Chambers of Commerce and business associations, high level officials from different Ministries and other public offices and other stakeholders working in the Ethiopian Business Environment.

Panel discussion on business recovery and policies for growth in Ethiopia

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On April 15th, 2021, Initiative Africa [IA] participated in a panel discussion organized by Social Enterprise Ethiopia [one of the development partners of the Innovative Grant Fund] titled “Business Recovery and Policies for Growth in Ethiopia” at Elilly Hotel.

The discussions were very lively and brought together different stakeholders. Namely, from the public sector – Job Creation Commission, Ministry of Finance, Ministry of Innovation and Technology and Ministry of Trade and Industry. In addition to several business operators, the discussions also included Non-Governmental Organizations which are also working on Business Environment reform in Ethiopia like the Center of International Private Enterprises [CIPE] – East Africa Regional Office and Reach for Change.

Voters Education training of Trainers

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Initiative Africa held the Training of Trainers Program for the 6th National Election voter education program on April 7, 2021 at Harmony Hotel. The training focused on Electoral Laws and Processes, Civil rights and responsibilities in democratic election, Election Observers and Their Roles.

The program will cascade in 10 universities across the nation

 

Gender Review of Print Media in Ethiopia

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Initiative Africa’s study on women’s participation in print media draft report was presented  last week in the presence of invited guests. The study focuses on four selected newspapers and covered 6-month issues.  

For more  Ghion Magazin

and

Draft report Gender review of print media-first draft (IA-MCH-DOC-REP-21-002)

 

Women’s Leadership Conference

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Ashagari consultancy in Partnership with Initiative Africa (IA) and other organizations held women’s Leadership Conference on the theme ‘Beyond Political Quota Commercial’ at UNCEA on March 31-2021. Leaders and Representatives from Governmental organization, private sectors and CSOs attended the conference. The conference was opened by a welcoming speech by W/o Mekides Gebireweld, the founder and Managing Director of Ashagari Consultancy. 

Following that  Wz.Aster Tilahun from ARDAN, her speech was focused on RED CARD for violence and discrimination against women and girls, which was an interesting topic in the conference. 

Other speckers from different organizations take the stage and presented their speechs on different topics: to recall a few  

Unconscious Gender Bias and Women’s Leadership by Dr. Azeb -psychiatrist 

Embracing Change Together by Mrs Saskia Kioezeman –Consultant and 

Learn -Live -Lead: Leadership tool to expand influence by Wz. Mekdes Gebrewold 

The participants were actively forwarding their questions and suggestions following each speakers and ideas raised which enriched the discussion. 

These types of conferences won’t be the last as Ashagari Women and IA are in partnership to make it an annual event.  

 

የኢንሼቲቪ አፍሪካ ማህበር ጠቅላላ ጉባኤ ተካሄደ

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የሲቪል ማህበረሰብ ድርጅቶች አካል የሆነው ኢንሼቲቭ አፍሪካ አመታዊ ጠቅላላ ጉባኤውን  መጋቢት 16 ቀን 2013 ዓ.ም በሞዛይክ ሆቴል ተካሄዷል፡፡

ድርጅቱ እ.ኤ.አ በ 2020 ያከናወናቸው ስራዎች በሶስት መርሃ ግብሮች የተከፋፈሉ ሲሆን እነዚህም “ለውጥ በለውጥ – የስርዓተ ፆታ ጉዳዮችን ማካተት፣ በአካባቢ ልማት የወጣቶችን ልማት ማሳደግ እና የዜጎች ትምህርት እና  የምርጫ ጉዳዮች እንዲሁም የንግድ ዘርፍ ማህበራት እና ምክር ቤቶችን መደገፍ እና አቅም ማጎልበት በተጨማሪም  14ኛው አዲስ ኢንተርናሽናል ፊልም ፌስቲቫል ስራዎች እንደሆኑ የድርጅቱ ጊዜያዊ ሥራ አስኪያጅ አቶ የኋላሸት ገ/ሚካኤል ካቀረቡት ማብራሪያ መረዳት ተችሏል፡፡

ድርጅቱም በዚህ አመት ያጋጠሙት ችግሮች እና የተወሰዱ እርምጃዎችን  ጊዜያዊ ሥራ አስኪያጁ ለጉባኤው አባላት ሲገልፁም  ከመጋቢት ወር 2012 ዓ.ም ጀምሮ በሀገራችን በተከሰተው የኮሮና ወረርሽኝ እና እርሱን ተከትሎ የተወሰደው የአስቸኳይ ጊዜ አዋጅ ስብሰባን እና ተቀራርቦ መስራትን መከልከሉ የታቀዱ ተግባራት በመጓተታቸው ይህንንም ከድጋፍ ሰጪዎች ጋር በመነጋገር የእቅድ ክለሳ መደረጉን  ጠቅሰዋል፡፡

አቶ የኋላሸት በማያያዝም ድርጅቱ ዓላማውን ሙሉ በሙሉ ለማሳካት እንዲያስችለው ለተለያዩ ለጋሾች ያቀረበው የፕሮጀክት ፕሮፖዛል አዎንታዊ ምላሽ  አለማግኘቱንም እንደችግር  አስቀምጠዋል፡፡

ድርጅቱ እ.ኤ.አ በ2020 ላከናወናቸው ተግባራት በአጠቃላይ ከብር  18 ሚሊዮን  932 ሺህ ብር በላይ ወጪ ማድረጉን  በውጭ ኦዲተር የተረጋገጠ ሲሆን ከዚህ ውስጥ የፕሮግራም ወጪ 84 በመቶ፣ የአስተዳደራዊ ወጪ ደግሞ 16 በመቶ መሆኑን ከውጭ ኦዲተሩ ሪፖርት ማወቅ ተችሏል፡፡

ኢንሼቲቭ አፍሪካ እ.ኤ.አ በ2021 ዐም ያቀዳቸው ፕሮግራሞች የድርጅቱ  ጊዜያዊ ስራ አስኪያጅ በዝርዝር  ለማህበሩ ጠቅላላ ጉባኤ  አባላት  የገለፁ ሲሆን  ከእነኚህም መካከል  እ.ኤ.አ በ 2020 ያልተጠናቀቁትን ማጠናቀቅ በ ”ለውጥ በለውጥ – 2 የንግድ ማህበረሰብ  ለሰላም” እና የዜጎች ትምህርት ጉዳዮች እንዲሁም  በስድስተኛው ሀገር አቀፍ ምርጫ  የመጀመሪያ ጊዜ መራጮች ትምህርት በተመረጡ  ሁለተኛ ደረጃ  እና ዩኒቨርሲቲዎች መስጠት በተጨማሪም  በተመረጡ ጉዳዮች የተለያዩ የውይይት መድረኮችን  በማዘጋጀት ማወያየትም ሌላው የፕሮግራም ተግባር መሆኑ ታውቋል፡፡

የድርጅቱ ጠቅላላ ጉባኤ አባላት በቀረቡላቸው ሪፖርቶች እና እቅዶች ላይ አንዳንድ ማብራሪያ እንዲሰጣቸው ከጠየቁ በኋላ ባገኙት ምላሽ ረክተው  ሪፖርቶቹን መሉ በሙሉ  ተቀብለው አፅድቀዋል፡፡

What is Women’s Empowerment and Principles

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Women’s empowerment can be defined to promoting women’s sense of self-worth, their ability to determine their own choices, and their right to influence social change for themselves and others.

It is closely aligned with female empowerment – a fundamental human right that’s also key to achieving a more peaceful, prosperous world.

In Western countries, female empowerment is often associated with specific phases of the women’s rights movement in history. This movement tends to be split into three waves, the first beginning in the 19th and early 20th century where suffrage was a key feature. The second wave of the 1960s included the sexual revolution and the role of women in society. Third wave feminism is often seen as beginning in the 1990s.

Women’s empowerment and promoting women’s rights have emerged as a part of a major global movement and is continuing to break new ground in recent years. Days like International Women’s Empowerment Day are also gaining momentum.

But despite a great deal of progress, women and girls continue to face discrimination and violence in every part of the world.

source World Vision

International Day of Happiness

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What is the International Day of Happiness? It’s a day to be happy, of course! Since 2013, the United Nations has celebrated the International Day of Happiness as a way to recognize the importance of happiness in the lives of people around the world. In 2015, the UN launched the 17 Sustainable Development Goals that seek to end poverty, reduce inequality, and protect our planet three key aspects that lead to well-being and happiness. Last year, the Smurfs rallied behind the 17 Sustainable Development Goals for the International Day of Happiness.

The United Nations invites each person of any age, plus every classroom, business and government to join in celebration of the International Day of Happiness.