What is Organization for Rehabilitation and Development in Amhara (ORDA)?
Organization for Rehabilitation and Development in Amhara (ORDA) is a registered charity organization according to the Ethiopian Charities and Societies Proclamation number 621/2009, article 68 (with a registration Number 0607).
ORDA was established by voluntary and committed individuals in 1984 in response to the famine caused by drought and civil war in the northern part of Ethiopia in 1985. Then, it continued working as a subordinate of the Ethiopian People Democratic Movement (EPDM) with a special mission of handling relief and emergency incidents in areas where the existing government was unable to reach. Originally named as Ethiopian Relief Organization (ERO), it was mainly engaged in relief and rehabilitation works to rescue thousands of people suffering from malnutrition, migration and death while it was so hard to obtain a little food a day.
Then, being renamed as ORDA since April, 1997, it has been evolving overtime incorporating a wide array of activities encapsulating under the main thematic areas of natural resource development, water resource development (for drinking and small scale irrigation), food security and agricultural development. The implementations of projects are supported with institutional capacity building endeavors and cross cutting interventions (gender, HIV/AIDS and Harmful Traditional Practices/HTP/) to benefit millions.
ORDA has been unreserved for the last 28 years in contributing its part for the betterment of the livelihood of people and environment in Amhara region. Particularly, addressing the felt-need of desperate communities living in remote and often marginalized areas has been amongst the priorities and the distinctive features of ORDA.
In the initial strategic plan of the organization, it implemented various projects in few districts of the Amhara National Region. Then, we have further expanded our efforts in varied areas of development in the region. For instance, in 2011, collaborating with a total of 26 funding organizations and partnering with a variety of organizations of similar objectives, the people and the regional government, ORDA has been intervening in different areas of interventions in 81 districts to contribute to up-rooting the unfathomable problems of food insecurity, poverty and backwardness through natural resources, water resources, food security and agricultural development programs. For further information on what it is, please click on the ‘About us’ tab.