The ProblemWar is devastating Northern Ethiopia. Healing will take generations.
History of the Conflict
A regional armed conflict broke out in northern Ethiopia in November, 2020, involving the Tigray Regional government and the Federal Government of Ethiopia, which was supported by armed forces from the government of neighboring Eritrea as well as ethnic militias from Amhara State within Ethiopia. Fighting continued across a wide area of northern Ethiopia until November, 2022, when a peace agreement was signed between the Federal Government of Ethiopia and Tigrayan forces. This peace is fragile, but so far is holding up.
The fighting produced widespread destruction of educational and healthcare facilities within Tigray, the internal displacement of millions of refugees, extensive food scarcity and hunger, which has approached famine conditions in parts of the region. There was also widespread sexual violence against girls and women, tens of thousands of whom were deliberately targeted by invading troops.
The result has been a humanitarian disaster affecting the whole of Tigray as well as parts of neighboring Afar and Amhara. There is a pressing need to provide medical and economic relief and to begin the reconstruction of this part of Ethiopia. The Fewsi Foundation intends to be a part of those efforts.
How We Help
The Fewsi Foundation will focus its initial efforts on reconstruction, rehabilitation, and clinical services in northern Ethiopia, where the current needs of conflict victims are both great and ongoing. In furtherance of this goal, the Fewsi Foundation will work closely with Ayder Comprehensive Specialized Hospital – the tertiary referral center for over 6 million people – and the College of Health Sciences at Mekelle University and with the Tigray Regional Health Bureau to develop and support programs of humanitarian relief and medical care.
Collaborations in furtherance of these goals will be developed with other governmental and non-governmental agencies as opportunities arise.
“…as the director general of WHO, I have a duty to protect and promote health wherever it’s under threat. And there is nowhere on earth where the health of millions of people is more under threat than in Tigray.” Dr. Tedros Adhanom Gebrejesus, Director-General of the World Health Organization and former head of the Tigray Regional Health Bureau
The MissionThe Fewsi Foundation exists to support and empower victims of conflict violence.
In the Tigrinya language of northern Ethiopia, fewsi means “healing.” This name encapsulates the purpose of the Fewsi Foundation: to promote healing in all aspects of life for those who have been victims of conflict violence, without regard to race, ethnicity, nationality, religion, sex, gender, military service or political affiliation.
There have been numerous outbreaks of violent conflict throughout Africa over the last 100 years, but the continent lacks adequate resources to care for the victims created by such conflicts. The Fewsi Foundation is a humanitarian service organization that has been created to provide additional resources for victims of conflict violence on the African continent. It will begin its work in northern Ethiopia, which has recently been decimated by a violent regional conflict and currently exists under a fragile, but growing, peace.
Our InitiativesDesigned to Aid and Empower
Direct Services
Clinical services for medical care
Mental health services for individuals and communities
Financial and economic recovery assistance
Cultivation of compassion and cross-cultural understanding
Training for Clinicians
Training in the delivery of trauma-informed clinical care
Training to assist victims of sexual violence
Strategies for personal wellness
Tools for psycho-social healing
Research
Clinical and social science research on the impact of conflict violence
Partner with UsWorldwide network. Local impact.
As the resources available to the Fewsi Foundation increase, we hope to expand our activities to other parts of the African continent, such as Burkina Faso, Niger, Uganda and the Democratic Republic of the Congo when and where needs are identified and opportunities for effective collaborative partnerships exist.
