PROJECT-E | Empowering Women
  • ABOUT
    • OUR MISSION
    • OUR TEAM
    • IN THE PRESS
    • FAQ
  • GET INVOLVED
    • JOIN PROJECT-E
    • DOWNLOADS
  • PROJECTS
  • BLOG
  • CONTACT
  • |
  • DONATE
  • SPONSOR
  • deDeutsch
  • ABOUT
    • OUR MISSION
    • OUR TEAM
    • IN THE PRESS
    • FAQ
  • GET INVOLVED
    • JOIN PROJECT-E
    • DOWNLOADS
  • PROJECTS
  • BLOG
  • CONTACT
  • |
  • DONATE
  • SPONSOR
  • deDeutsch
22/04/2021  |  By Eden Tadesse

10 Inspiring Ethiopian Women

48687636468_511217823d_b

“Empowered Women Empower Women” is the motto under which the current PROJECT-E fundraising campaign is running. In the past, we have sometimes introduced you to female employees and students of the PROJECT-E Hospitality Institute (PEHI), sharing what being a woman means to them, what inspires them as women and what makes them strong. Now, in the light of the campaign, we would like to go beyond the PEHI and look at Ethiopia as a whole.

Be it in the field of science or the world of sports, many Ethiopian female role models have risen to defy odds and go beyond societal expectations. These are some of the many inspiring Ethiopian women who have allowed themselves to dream big; who have dared to venture into the unexplored and shown that women can achieve great things.

Over the next few days, we would like to take you back through the last hundred years and get to know ten Ethiopian women who, through their work, became the most inspiring examples of modern African women.

Introducing Abebech Gobena

Abebech Gobena is an Ethiopian humanitarian as well as the founder and manager of AGOHELMA, one of the oldest orphanages in Ethiopia. She is often referred to as the Mother Teresa of Africa. Gobena was born in a small rural village called Shebel in 1938. Her father was killed during the second Italo-Ethiopian war, so she was raised by her grandparents until the age of nine. When she was 10, she was married off without her consent, but she managed to run away to the Ethiopian capital. Once in Addis Abeba, she got a basic education, and later worked as a quality controller at a coffee and grain company.

She then went to Gishen Mariam for pilgrimage in 1973. At the time, the area was severely stricken by famine. In a food centre, Gobena saw a child next to her dead mother. She distributed everything she had to other victims, and brought the child and another orphan back to her home in Addis Ababa. In one year, she looked after 21 children in her home. Today, AGOHELMA provides institutional care for 150 orphans. It also runs various services in addition to the orphanage itself, such as supplying those in need with formal and informal education; HIV/AIDS prevention activities; habitat improvement; infrastructure development and empowerment of women. Since its establishment, over 12,000 children have been supported by the association, with over 1.5 million people having benefited directly or indirectly from the services AGOHELMA provides. Abebech Gobena has received international recognition and various awards for her work in Ethiopia.

First female President: Sahle-Work Zewde

Sahle-Work Zewde is an Ethiopian politician who is the current President of Ethiopia and the first woman to ever take up the position. Born in Addis Ababa in 1950, Zewde studied natural science at the University of Montpellier. Her political career started when she became ambassador of Ethiopia (the second woman in Ethiopia’s history to have taken up the position), as which she served from 1989 to 2006, with accreditation to different countries. She subsequently held other high-level positions and then began to work in important functions within the United Nations, collaborating closely with Ban Ki-Moon and Antonio Guterres, among others. Sahle-Work Zewde was appointed President of Ethiopia and thereby the first woman to serve in the role in 2018. She is expected to serve two six-year terms. Although her role is largely ceremonial (with most executive power lying with the Prime Minister), her election made her Ethiopia’s first female head of state since Empress Zewditu. As of 2019, she is Africa’s only serving female head of state.

To be continued…

These are two initial examples of inspiring Ethiopian women who have distinguished themselves through inspiring deeds over the past 100 years. Stay tuned and join us in getting to know more personalities who have successfully demonstrated the strength of women in Ethiopia.

ethiopian inspiring women
Previous StoryEducation for Women in Ethiopia
Next StoryTeam Thursday – Yordanos

Related Articles

  • pexels-liza-summer-6348104 – Copy
    What does giving and offering mean?
  • Donation Article Picture
    Ten Reasons to Donate to PROJECT-E

Search

Latest Posts

  • Image1
    Team Thursday – Jihan Thursday, 5, Jan
  • 93843E9C-7553-4762-B8F8-F52B14BFA840_1_201_a
    Team Thursday – Maximilian Thursday, 29, Dec
  • WhatsApp Image 2022-12-20 at 13.02.33
    PROJECT-E wishes you all a Merry Christmas! Sunday, 25, Dec
  • Ethiopia
    “The best is yet to come” – A conversation with PROJECT-E’s Country Representative, Feben Tamrat Tuesday, 7, Jun
  • pexels-liza-summer-6348104 – Copy
    What does giving and offering mean? Wednesday, 5, Jan

Categories

Tags

Addis Ababa alumni awareness cleaning earth communications cook culture donations eco battle education empowerment Ethiopia ethiopian experience feminism fundraising funraising gender equality hospitality institute hotel show africa Human Rights inspiring italy lockdown management board passion pehi planning productivity Project-E PROJECT-E Hospitality Institute strategyweekend Talent Management team members TeamThursday team thursday united nations vienna volunteer volunteerism women women's empowerment women empowerment women’s rights youth

Archives

  • January 2023
  • December 2022
  • June 2022
  • January 2022
  • November 2021
  • October 2021
  • September 2021
  • August 2021
  • July 2021
  • June 2021
  • May 2021
  • April 2021
  • March 2021
  • February 2021
  • January 2021
  • December 2020
  • November 2020
  • October 2020
  • September 2020
  • August 2020
  • July 2020
  • June 2020
  • May 2020
  • April 2020
  • March 2020
  • February 2020
  • January 2020
  • December 2019
  • November 2019
  • October 2019
  • September 2019
  • August 2019
  • July 2019
  • June 2019
  • May 2019
  • April 2019
  • March 2019
  • February 2019
  • January 2019
  • December 2018
  • November 2018
  • October 2018
  • September 2018
  • August 2018
  • July 2018
  • June 2018
  • May 2018
  • April 2018
  • March 2018
  • February 2018
  • January 2018
  • December 2017
  • November 2017
  • October 2017
  • September 2017
  • July 2017
  • June 2017
  • May 2017
  • March 2017
  • February 2017
  • January 2017
  • November 2016
  • October 2016
  • August 2016
  • July 2016
  • June 2016
  • May 2016
  • April 2016
  • March 2016
  • February 2016
  • January 2016
  • December 2015

WHO WE ARE

  • PRESS
  • CONTACT
  • FAQ

WHAT WE DO

  • OUR MISSION
  • GET INVOLVED
  • NEWS & EVENTS
  • DOWNLOADS
  • SUBSCRIBE

ABOUT US

PROJECT-E is an international NGO whose mission is to provide job opportunities for young Ethiopian women from underprivileged social backgrounds through sustainable and market-oriented education in a transparent and responsible manner.

FIND US ELSEWHERE


An International NGO run by a global team of students and young professionals

Imprint Copyright PROJECT-E 2007-2021. All Rights Reserved

We are using cookies to give you the best experience on our website.

You can find out more about which cookies we are using or switch them off in settings.

  • enEnglish
  • deGerman
PROJECT-E | Empowering Women
Powered by  GDPR Cookie Compliance
Privacy Overview

This website uses cookies so that we can provide you with the best user experience possible. Cookie information is stored in your browser and performs functions such as recognising you when you return to our website and helping our team to understand which sections of the website you find most interesting and useful.

Strictly Necessary Cookies

Strictly Necessary Cookie should be enabled at all times so that we can save your preferences for cookie settings.

If you disable this cookie, we will not be able to save your preferences. This means that every time you visit this website you will need to enable or disable cookies again.