The Earth Charter Youth Initiative Ethiopia

Starting the Earth Charter Youth Initiative in Ethiopia is an idea that sparked from the passion to have a responsible well-disciplined young generation in the country. The main aim of the Earth Charter being to build a just, sustainable and peaceful world, its implementation will have an astounding impact on the Ethiopian youth. The initiative will create a platform for the young people to work together with a common target to form a sustainable global society founded on respect for nature, universal human rights, economic justice, and a culture of peace. The Earth Charter Youth Initiative Ethiopia aims to have a country that promotes respect and care for the community of life, ecological integrity, social and economic justice, as well as democracy, non-violence and peace (the four pillars of the earth charter).

A group of four young women who met on a training platform organized by the US Embassy in Ethiopia was introduced to the Earth Charter team by Gezu Mossissa. Rebecca Belay Kassa, Abigail Endale Ebssa, Hanna Kumera Kitila and Yostena Tewodros had the desire for the implementation of the Earth Charter in Ethiopia, especially amongst the young generation. They have different educational and extracurricular backgrounds which is helping them to a great extent to set up the initiative. They organized themselves as a team to launch the Earth Charter Youth Initiative in Ethiopia. ​

From left: Hanna, Obang Olumo Okello, Gezu Mossissa, Abigail, Rebecca & Yostena.

The process of setting up the team started with structuring an executive committee that has seven distinct positions; the chairperson, vice chairperson, general secretary, public relations officer, social media manager, treasurer and engagement management representative. Four of these positions are already taken by the four team members and the remaining are to be covered by new upcoming members. Once the initiative is launched it will have different trainings and courses as well as diverse events and activities. Currently the team is working on getting the initiative registered in Ethiopia, preparing a proposal, getting a website and preparing a summarized version of the Earth Charter in three different local languages (Amharic, Oromiffa and Tigregna). ​ The members recently had a meeting with Gezu Mossissa and Obang Olumo Okello (a government official from Gambella Region) where they had insightful discussions. They appreciated all the efforts made so far and encouraged the team to work even harder to launch the initiative as soon as possible. A detailed explanation was given by Mr. Obang on the preparation of a project proposal for the initiative and formulating guidelines which will be necessary for the legal registration of the initiative in Ethiopia. It was made clear that the legal registration has its own process as per the government’s requirements. ​ The proposal will be prepared by the team along with the necessary guidelines of the initiative in the following weeks and the application for registration will be started. Throughout this process and after, the initiative will work in collaborations with different government bodies, NGOs, youth groups and individuals. The content planning of upcoming trainings, activities and events is also underway. Once these steps are cleared the initiative will be publicly launched and membership registrations will circulate on different platforms for young people to join.