WHY IT MATTERS THAT SHIMELES ABERA FOUNDATION IS WORKING IN ADDIS ABABA
Where presence becomes purpose. Where compassion becomes action. Where communities become stronger.
Addis Ababa is more than Ethiopia’s capital. It is a city of opportunity, diversity, growth, and possibility. Yet behind that opportunity are individuals, families, children, young people, older adults, and communities who continue to face difficult social and economic circumstances.
For SHIMELES ABERA FOUNDATION, being present in Addis Ababa is about more than having a place to operate. It is about being close enough to listen, understand, respond, and build solutions with the people we serve.
Our work begins with a simple belief:
When we understand people’s realities, we can design better solutions. When communities participate, those solutions become stronger.
Addis Ababa provides the Foundation with an important starting point to listen to communities, identify genuine vulnerability, build partnerships, test practical approaches, measure results, and develop models that can eventually reach communities across Ethiopia.
ETHIOPIA’S SOCIAL WELFARE GAPS
Why community action matters
Ethiopia has made important progress in building social protection systems, including the Productive Safety Net Programme and other social assistance and social insurance initiatives. These programmes play an essential role in supporting vulnerable populations.
Yet significant gaps remain between the needs of vulnerable people and the assistance available to them.
According to a 2026 International Labour Organization fact-finding report on social protection coverage in Ethiopia, cash-based social protection coverage remains very limited. When in-kind programmes are excluded, cash benefits reach only 5.8% of the population, leaving approximately 94.2% without cash benefits. The report also found that only 4.2% of older people receive a pension, while only 0.3% of people with severe disabilities are reached by relevant benefits.
These figures tell us something important:
A social protection system can exist while many people who need support remain outside its reach.
This is where responsible community organizations can make a meaningful contribution—not by replacing government systems, but by complementing them, reaching underserved people, building local partnerships, and responding to needs that may otherwise remain unmet.
POVERTY IS MORE THAN A NUMBER
Vulnerability cannot always be measured by income.
Social welfare challenges extend far beyond how much money a household earns.
Research by UNICEF and Ethiopia’s Central Statistical Agency found that monetary poverty declined from approximately 29% in 2011 to 23% in 2016. Yet multidimensional child poverty remained extremely high, declining only from approximately 90% to 88% during the same period.
Multidimensional poverty reflects deprivation across areas such as:
Nutrition • Health • Education • Child Protection • Water • Sanitation • Essential Services
This distinction matters.
A family may have some income but still be unable to afford essential healthcare.
A child may attend school but still go without adequate nutrition.
An older person may live with relatives but experience profound loneliness and social isolation.
A young person may complete an education but lack the practical skills, mentorship, networks, or employment opportunities needed to build a sustainable future.
This is why our approach looks beyond income.
We look at the person, the household, the circumstances, the vulnerability, and the barriers standing between people and opportunity.
STRENGTHENING THE SAFETY NET
Working alongside existing systems. Building bridges where gaps remain.
Ethiopia’s social protection programmes remain essential, and the Productive Safety Net Programme has become a major component of the country’s social protection system.
But vulnerability is rarely caused by one problem.
A serious illness can lead to financial hardship.
Financial hardship can interrupt a child’s education.
Unemployment can increase household stress.
Disability can create additional healthcare and livelihood costs.
Social isolation can deepen vulnerability among older people.
One challenge can create another.
That is why SHIMELES ABERA FOUNDATION is developing an integrated community-based approach that connects:
Healthcare + Mental Health + Education + Youth Empowerment + Elderly Care + Community Support + Partnerships
When problems are interconnected, solutions must be connected too.
WHY ADDIS ABABA?
Because meaningful change begins with proximity.
Addis Ababa brings together people from different regions, generations, backgrounds, and socioeconomic circumstances. It is a city full of potential—but access to that potential is not equally distributed.
Being present in the communities we serve allows us to:
LISTEN
Understand people’s experiences, priorities, and aspirations.
IDENTIFY
Find individuals and households experiencing genuine vulnerability.
ASSESS
Use structured and transparent approaches to understand needs.
CONNECT
Build pathways between people, services, institutions, and opportunities.
PARTNER
Work with government institutions, healthcare providers, NGOs, community organizations, donors, and other stakeholders.
LEARN
Measure what works, identify what does not, and improve our programmes.
SCALE
Develop community-based approaches that can eventually be adapted to other parts of Ethiopia.
The Foundation’s community-based targeting approach initially focuses on Kirkos, Arada, Merkato, and Arabesa, combining community knowledge with objective assessment to identify genuine vulnerability while promoting fairness, transparency, accountability, and community ownership.
FROM GAPS TO SOLUTIONS
The challenges facing vulnerable communities are interconnected. Our response must therefore be integrated.
OUR AREAS OF ACTION
HEALTHCARE
Helping families facing serious medical and healthcare costs.
MENTAL HEALTH & PSYCHOSOCIAL SUPPORT
Promoting well-being, reducing stigma, and strengthening community support.
EDUCATION & YOUTH EMPOWERMENT
Creating pathways to education, skills, mentorship, entrepreneurship, and employment.
ELDERLY DIGNITY & CARE
Supporting health, nutrition, companionship, social inclusion, and dignity.
COMMUNITY-BASED IDENTIFICATION
Using structured and transparent approaches to identify people experiencing genuine vulnerability.
PARTNERSHIPS
Working with institutions, organizations, communities, donors, and service providers to expand impact.
These initiatives are not intended to replace government social protection systems.
They are designed to complement existing efforts and help reach people and needs that may otherwise remain underserved.
BUILDING SOLUTIONS THAT LAST
Impact is more than what we deliver. It is what remains after we leave.
Real development cannot be measured only by the number of people who receive assistance.
It should also be measured by whether people become:
Healthier. Safer. More capable. More connected. More empowered. More hopeful.
That is why the Foundation emphasizes:
Community Participation — people should have a voice in identifying problems and shaping solutions.
Partnerships — sustainable impact requires collaboration.
Accountability — resources must be managed responsibly.
Monitoring & Learning — programmes must continuously improve based on evidence and experience.
Local Capacity — communities should become increasingly capable of sustaining positive change.
Our ambition is to build solutions that become part of communities—not programmes that disappear when funding ends.
ADDIS ABABA: OUR STARTING POINT, NOT OUR LIMIT
Working in Addis Ababa does not mean limiting our vision to Addis Ababa.
It means building a strong foundation for wider impact.
Addis Ababa provides an environment where programmes can be implemented, tested, evaluated, strengthened, and refined while meaningful partnerships and community networks are developed.
The lessons learned here can inform future programmes in other communities across Ethiopia.
Our long-term ambition is therefore greater than individual projects.
We aim to develop practical, community-centered models of social support, inclusion, dignity, and opportunity that can be strengthened and adapted over time.
OUR COMMITMENT
At SHIMELES ABERA FOUNDATION, we believe that vulnerability should never make a person invisible.
A child deserves an opportunity to learn.
A young person deserves a pathway toward skills, dignity, and employment.
A family facing a medical crisis deserves access to essential care without being pushed deeper into financial hardship.
A person experiencing mental health challenges deserves understanding and support rather than stigma.
An older person deserves dignity, companionship, respect, and care.
These are not simply programme categories.
They are people.
And behind every statistic is a human being.
Behind every application is a story.
Behind every need is a person whose life can be changed when the right support reaches them at the right time.
That is why community-based action matters.
That is why Addis Ababa matters.
And that is why SHIMELES ABERA FOUNDATION is committed to being present—not simply to deliver assistance, but to listen, understand, partner, empower, and build sustainable solutions with communities.
ADDIS ABABA IS WHERE WE ARE BUILDING.
COMMUNITIES ARE WHERE WE MAKE AN IMPACT.
PEOPLE ARE WHY WE EXIST.
SHIMELES ABERA FOUNDATION
Honoring a Legacy. Empowering People. Transforming Communities.
