As part of the project “Reaching Vulnerable and Key Affected Populations to Improve Access to TB Care in Pastoralist Areas of Ethiopia”, funded by L’Initiative and implemented with the technical support of Expertise France, a series of gender capacity-building workshops took place in Addis Ababa in early October 2025. This three-year project (July 2023 – June 2026) is being carried out by REACH Ethiopia and Organic Health Care Services in Zone 3 of the Afar Region. It aims to reduce TB-related morbidity and mortality in this area and to accelerate national and regional efforts to achieve the END TB 90(90)90 targets by 2025, thereby contributing to Ethiopia’s national goal of ending TB by 2035.
Preceded by a gender audit of the organization, the workshops enabled the co-development of REACH Ethiopia’s Gender Strategy through several working sessions focused on revisiting key gender equality concepts and their application in health programs and community-based TB interventions. Participants identified priority actions emerging from the gender assessment and collectively laid the foundations for an institutional strategy fostering ownership and staff commitment to a truly transformative approach. A practical training session was also dedicated to the design and implementation of gender-responsive community interventions to better address the specific needs of women, men, and vulnerable populations in pastoralist settings. Dedicated sessions were organized for the Afar regional project team to discuss and adapt tools and methodologies to the local context.
Facilitated by Francisca Miranda, gender expert and consultant for Expertise France, this training cycle represents a key milestone towards the development of an institutional gender strategy and an operational guide aimed at integrating gender considerations throughout the entire cycle of TB control programs and community interventions, in line with the Community, Rights & Gender approach promoted by the Global Fund. It will also support the establishment of internal mechanisms, such as a Gender Working Group, to strengthen and sustain this transformative approach within the organization.
