ETHIOPIA: Ethiopian Catholic Church Launches Humanitarian Support Project
Habtamu Abrdew Beture
Ethiopian Catholic Church officially launched a project worth 134,884,285.00 birr which is equivalent to approximately 2,452,987 Euros for humanitarian assistance and rehabilitation for the people affected by insecurity and war in Tigray, Amhara, Afar and Oromia regions.
The program will provide immediate aid in form of food and non-food items for 217,255 people, including 9,690 children, 36,199 IDPs and a host community.
At the launch of the project, Fr. Teshome Fikre the Secretary General of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Ethiopia said that the Catholic Church strongly believes that the provision will strengthen trust, peace building and tolerance among the various ethnic groups living in war-torn areas and contribute a lot to the peace building efforts.
The project will be implemented in seven zones in the four regions mentioned in the four dioceses of the church.
The funding was provided by Caritas International member organizations and other Church Partners.
The report presented at the General Assembly of the Church’s Social and Development Commission held on March 25, 2022, enlightens that the Ethiopian Catholic Church implements social development projects throughout Ethiopia, and benefits millions of people each year in education, health, clean water, refugees and returnees, women& self-reliance, natural and man-made disasters. In the year 2021 the Church has allocated over 3.5 billion Birr (68,492,720.89 US Dollars) in 194 projects of education, food security, women’s economic growth, clean water, refugees and returnees repatriation projects, and providing emergency response to natural and man-made disasters.
