LocationsFrom Displacement to Cooperation: Communities Restart Their Lives
May 26, 2025
This story follows five individuals in Amhara region who returned home after years in displacement camps. Before the northern Ethiopia conflict, they managed their own businesses, raised children, and built modest but stable lives. Then everything collapsed. Displaced, cut off from their livelihoods, and forced to start over, many faced an uncertain future.
Local authorities are now utilising funding from development partners, through UNDP's Peace Support Facility, to help post-conflict communities move towards recovery. The multilayers of support accessed by these individuals and others in the community include grants, training and psychosocial support.
Before the Storm: A Stable Livelihood
In Tsagibji woreda, Amhara region, 52 KM away from Sekota town, three women lived a calm and stable life, supporting their families with pride.
Assefu Mekonnen, 25, earned 1,000 ETB a day from her coffee business. Her business partner today, Bayush Beyene, a single mother, sells coffee and Tella, a traditional homemade brew, earning enough to cover rent and care for her child. Ayush Kebede, 30, supported her family of six by selling grain, making 500 ETB a week.
In nearby Abergele Woreda, 65 km away from Sekota, Worku Atnafe, a visually impaired father of four, sold grain and earned 1,500 ETB a month.
Meanwhile, Kidanu G/Michael, 28, ran a small tailoring shop, sewing women’s clothing and earning 600 ETB a day. His fiancée, Berhan Haile, lived in Mekelle, working in a garment factory.
Conflict: A Violent Break from the Familiar
Then the conflict erupted. Their homes and businesses were destroyed. All five fled on foot to Sekota IDP camp. Bayush carried her five-year-old child on her back. Her business, gone. “I don’t want to remember that time,” she says, shaking her head. Assefu and Ayush lost everything too. For over a year, they depended on food aid.
Worku’s situation was even more dire. Already visually impaired, and with his cane broken, he had to walk using an uncomfortable stick, a simple twig from a tree. He stayed there for two years, “The burden was double,” he says. His business, his shop, and his home were all gone.
Kidanu spent three years in the camp, and his shop and sewing machine were lost. Separated from Berhan, he didn’t even know if she was safe. Their future, like their plans, was put on hold.
Restoring Livelihoods
Bayush resumed selling coffee and Tella using items received from the camp. Assefu began selling Injera. “I was always worried,” she says. Worku came back to no shop, no cane, and five family members to provide for. Kidanu found ashes where his shop once stood. Reunited with Berhan, they rented a home and began again, clinging to hope.
That hope has taken root in both Abergele and Tsagibji woredas, ignited by the rebuilding efforts of local authorities.
Bayush, Assefu, and Ayush were grouped into a micro-enterprise. They also received psychosocial and business training to restore their confidence and equip them with skills to start again.
They received a 120,000 ETB grant and training to produce energy-efficient stoves that cook both Injera and wot while using half the firewood of traditional stoves. These smokeless stoves also help reduce the health risks posed by indoor smoke, especially for women and children.
The women now produce seven stoves daily. Each earns about 15,000 ETB a month and contributes to an Equb savings group. The business training proved invaluable when they began thinking about how to market their products. Though the stoves are valued at 600 ETB, the group decided to sell them for 400 ETB to make them more accessible.
Worku received a work shed, a new cane, business training, and 23,000 ETB. He re-entered the grain trade. “Now I make 2,000 ETB a month, aside from the profit, I consume some of the grains at home to feed my family, and save 500 ETB weekly for Equb.” he says, with a relief and pride in his voice.
Kidanu and Berhan’s were reunited, and the local authorities provided him with a shop and 8,300 ETB to buy a sewing machine. As his business grew, he received a 225,000 ETB revolving fund, used to buy more equipment.
“I now make 900 ETB daily and can provide for my family. For the future, I have a plan to expand my business and distribute to Sekota town”, says Kidanu, his bright expression reflecting the deep satisfaction and peace that comes with working and earning again after hardship.
A Promising Future
From regaining back mobility to reengaging in business like Worku, a PLWD, to mothers who once worried about how to provide for their family now producing energy saving stoves and contributing greatly to environment protection; from losing their shops and business to enjoying a flourishing love story like Kidanu and his wife, timely and layered support has made a lasting impact.
Across Afar, Amhara and Tigray regions, 13,251 people have been supported through cash grants. These include 1,113 PLWD, 599 families, 2,219 women, among them survivors of SGBV, and 3,476 micro and small enterprises (MSEs). Local communities have managed to support communities in this manner through UNDP's Peace Support Facility with funding from the Governments of Germany, Japan and the Netherlands.
“I can now pay for my son’s education, buy clothes, and live a happy life.”, says Bayush, sharing a smile with her colleague, her relaxed face reflected peace, resilience, and restored dignity.
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