World Vision Singapore has been funding Yaya Gulele ADP since its inception in 2007. Working in tandem with national governmental policies and other agencies for the eradication of poverty and transformational development in Ethiopia, this programme seeks to help families in the target areas achieve livelihood security on a sustainable basis. 

Ethiopia ranks 173 out of 189 countries on the 2017 Human Development Index. The average household income is US$100 per month and 34.7% of the population live below the poverty line. A majority of the population are farmers engaged in mixed cultivation and livestock rearing. 

In Yaya Gulele ADP, more than 50% of children have not gained functional literacy. Inadequate school materials and limited access to updated teaching methodologies contribute to students not being engaged in school. As such, they prefer to do income generating activities like farming instead of going to school.

Also, there is a high level of need in the areas of healthcare, sanitation and clean water. The causes are poor sanitation practices, poor waste disposal and open defecation. Due to the inability to have a balanced diet and age appropriate food, mothers and children are malnourished.

World Vision has been working in Takeo province since 1997. Originally, the Area Development Programme (ADP) covered only two of twelve communes in Kirivong District. From October 2014, the ADP expanded its target area to another commune, Kiri Chong Kaoh, so as to impact a greater number of children and their families. Kirivong ADP now covers 27 villages in three communes.

Most of the people in Kirivong ADP are engaged in rice farming, and some families also raise animals such as cows, pigs and chickens. But the community faces food shortages three to six months a year.

In addition, the literacy rate in Kirivong district is at 41%. Where education is concerned, enrolment rates at primary and secondary levels are high. But two in 10 children drop out of school before Grade 9 due to poverty, poor school facilities including lack of school teachers, and the need to help support their families’ incomes.

Access to safe drinking water is also problematic. Most villagers have to travel long distances to collect water in the dry season.

World Vision has been involved with Sri Lanka’s tea estate workers for many years and Lindula ADP is an extension of this work. Tea plantation workers have been marginalised in Sri Lanka for a very long time. Originally brought in from South India over 150 years ago, they were eventually exploited for work and isolated from the rest of the country. World Vision’s interventions focus on the well-being of children to ensure that their health, nutrition, education and social needs are met.

In Lindula ADP, majority of the people work as pickers and labourers in the tea estates. They are paid daily, and when work is not available, they face a severe shortage of income.

Also, children lack proper education, and 45% of the population under 12 years old are illiterate. This is due to long travel distances, poor transport facilities and lack of finances for education resulting in a dropout rate of 14.5%, almost 10 times the national average.

In terms of healthcare and child protection challenges, 74% of people live in dismal housing. Whole families live in a single room that is linked to others to form a “line house”. There is little ventilation, no privacy, and conditions are often unsanitary. Only 67.1% of households have their own latrines and the remaining families share common latrines or defecate in open areas.

World Vision Singapore has been funding Yaya Gulele ADP since its inception in 2007. Working in tandem with national governmental policies and other agencies for the eradication of poverty and transformational development in Ethiopia, this programme seeks to help families in the target areas achieve livelihood security on a sustainable basis. 

Ethiopia ranks 173 out of 189 countries on the 2017 Human Development Index. The average household income is US$100 per month and 34.7% of the population live below the poverty line. A majority of the population are farmers engaged in mixed cultivation and livestock rearing. 

In Yaya Gulele ADP, more than 50% of children have not gained functional literacy. Inadequate school materials and limited access to updated teaching methodologies contribute to students not being engaged in school. As such, they prefer to do income generating activities like farming instead of going to school.

Also, there is a high level of need in the areas of healthcare, sanitation and clean water. The causes are poor sanitation practices, poor waste disposal and open defecation. Due to the inability to have a balanced diet and age appropriate food, mothers and children are malnourished.