Selam! If you don’t know me already, my name is Temesgen. I’m from Ethiopia and couldn’t be more excited to represent my country as an official VSO Digital Ambassador.
As someone who has been involved with VSO since December 2022, my journey as an active citizen has been very interesting and I can’t wait to share my next chapter with you. I am passionate about using social media to amplify the voices of my peers.
Make sure to keep checking this page, as I’ll be updating it with new content and stories from what I'm getting up to over the next six months.
About me
I grew up in a town called Weldiya, which is in the northern part of the country. However, I moved away to study Governance and Development Studies at Hawassa University.
I graduated in 2019, and I'm now studying for a MA in Development Studies with a focus on Rural Livelihoods and Development at Addis Ababa University, which is in the capital of Ethiopia.
While my primary interests are around climate action, I also play a leading role in VSO's National Youth Engagement Network, encouraging other young people to take action on social issues that are most important to them.
Volunteering for development is incredibly important. I don’t think volunteering for development is well known across the sector. It’s the way we do development at VSO, empowering local communities and leaving a sustainable impact.
I am currently working on the Integrating peacebuilding development and humanitarian efforts (IPDHE) project on the Kenya and Ethiopia cross-border. An area that this severely affected by armed conflict, drought, climate change and religious and political instability.
We are working to reduce poverty and instead create sustainable development, and empower local communities to identify the causes of conflict and implement an action plan to help resolve them.
Ask a question
I’d love to connect with you and answer any questions you might have about my role. My interests are around climate action, youth participation and activism, education, social cohesion and peacebuilding.
Integrated Peacebuilding, Development and Humanitarian Efforts across borders (IDPHE)
The IDPHE project aims to reduce conflict and enhance resilience and peaceful co-existence of cross border communities at the Ethiopia-Kenya border.
Funded by ADA (the Austrian Development Agency) and working in partnership with the Horn of Africa Development Initiative in Kenya, and the Centre for Development and Capacity Building in Ethiopia, the project aims to reach 157,000 people through both direct engagement and through local governmental and community organisations.