Ethiopia
Foundation Worldwide Employment
Corporate social responsibility by job creation in developing countries.
» Foundation Worldwide Employment
In 2002 staff members of Kontinex Staal were instrumental in setting up Stichting Worldwide Employment. The aims of Stichting Worldwide Employment include promoting the local economy and creating jobs in developing countries. Each year Kontinex Staal makes finances and manpower available to Stichting Worldwide Employment to enable the foundation to realise its aims.
At the current time, a series of employment projects has been set up in Ethiopia. The projects of Stichting Worldwide Employment provide jobs for the people of the town of Debre Zeit and its surrounding area.
» Ethiopian Steel Profiling & Building PlC (ESPBC) in Debre Zeit (Ethiopia)
ESPBC started in 2003 with the production of steel profiles and hydroform blocks for house and office construction. Housing in Ethiopia tends to be a shoddy mix of timber and mud construction. However, continuing drought, and a lack of suitable cooking fuels besides wood, have led to a severe shortage of trees. Steel is a good alternative for wood in housing construction.
In addition to this, and following the example set by Kenya, greenhouse cultivation, and in particular rose growing, is getting underway in Ethiopia. ESPBC supplies steel profiles for this market sector.
Demand for hydroform blocks is so large that production capacity already needed to be increased back in 2005. The block production works provides employment for unskilled men and women, some of whom have never learned to read and write.
Once they have regular work, we see many of these people going to evening classes in order to secure a better future for themselves.
» EDF, Interlakes International School and Housing Project
Ethio Dutch Furniture (EDF) in Debre Zeit
EDF started production of simple furniture and kitchens at the end of 2005. The project is supported financially by the NCDO, the Dutch National Committee for International Cooperation and Sustainable Development. The company is housed in a building on the ESPBC compound. A Dutch craftsman is training Ethiopian workers in carpentry skills, so that they will be able to work on their own in the long run. Current demand is so great that it is already evident that, once trained, there will be no shortage of work for these men.
Interlakes International School in Debre Zeit
No-one benefits from overcrowded classrooms. “All children should be able to go school by the year 2015.” is one of the resolutions of the United Nations Millennium Declaration, signed by nearly 200 government leaders. Yet if all these children are packed into overfull classes they will still learn nothing. Smaller classes and better-trained teachers will do much to improve the quality of education.
By setting up the Interlakes International School, Stichting Worldwide Employment aims to offer the children of Debre Zeit a good-quality education. This project is supported by the NCDO and Plan Nederland (The Dutch branch of the children’s charity Plan International).
September 2006 sees the start of the new international school, under leadership of a Dutch teacher who will be simultaneously training Ethiopian teachers. This school will offer both national and international education.
Housing Project
In Debra Zeit it is increasingly evident that lack of decent housing brings great problems for the local population, often with a detrimental effect on their entire existence. This is of course also true for the employees of ESPBC. It is very distressing to see how they often have nothing better to live in than a simple hut with a corrugated iron roof. In consultation with the Dutch aid organisation CORDAID and the local government in Debre Zeit, plans have been developed to build housing for ESPBC employees, and especially those who have a low income and a large family to support. CORDAID has pledged € 20,000 to the project, on condition that Stichting WWE raises an equal amount of money through sponsors. Based on these conditions, the local authorities in Debre Zeit are making the land available free of charge. ESPBC employers will be making their own contribution to the project by working on certain aspects of it in their spare time.
Foundation Worldwide Employment
c/o Postbus 6003
4780 LA MOERDIJK
The Netherlands
