In Ethiopia it is the women who suffer most from poverty. Due to the legal situation and social conventions, particularly unmarried, widowed or divorced women have the greatest of difficulty in establishing a secure existence for themselves and their children.

“Ethiopia will not be able to overcome poverty in the long term until the social status of women improves!” says Karlheinz Böhm. In almost every public address he urges the people to recognise the equality of men and women.
For although the Ethiopian constitution women grants more or less the same rights as men, in everyday life girls and women are still greatly disadvantaged and bear the main burden of poverty – in the truest sense of the word, when we see them carrying bundles of wood or heavy water jugs over distances of many kilometres. Time-consuming and arduous household tasks such as this – exacerbated by traditional mentalities – preclude them from a school education and vocational training, and thus also gainful employment.

One of the main concerns of Menschen für Menschen is to improve the living conditions for women and strengthen their position in society in the long term. Its efforts include educational campaigns and training courses for better housekeeping, family planning and hygiene. In addition, credit programmes are aimed at enabling poor farmers and single mothers to establish a livelihood, thus giving them the opportunity to take their lives into their own hands.