“Keep away from people who belittle your ambitions. Small people always do that, but the really great make you feel that you, too, can become great.” ~ Mark Twain~   

As AWiB marches on with great ambition to develop strong women leaders of this nation, we salute those great people who march on with us believing this is the only way and not just about having a voice but about changing the conversation that is required to enable growth, innovation and opportunity.

Partnership is defined among other things as a cooperative relationship between people or groups who agree to share responsibility for achieving some specific goal.  Corporations have an obligation to the society that hosts them; some call this notion as Performance with Purpose – achieving business and financial success while leaving a positive imprint on society.

AWiB, a dynamic networking association, strives to develop strong women leaders that would support the immense transformative growth of Ethiopia. Mobilizing women into leadership positions is mandatory for sustainable economic growth, global competitiveness and innovation across all industries.

AWiB, as a platform, encourages women to realize it’s high time that they actively engage their unique ability to see with wide-angle vision and sow opportunities with a passionate pursuit – as do all great pioneers that change the status quo and build new bridges.

As finance is everything in any worthwhile endeavor of our time, we forge partnership with those private entities we feel can support our cause and encourage our ambition. We invite them to a yearly partnership appreciation dinner and discuss with them what we require of them and what we give in return. Our partners all know what they get back is the good will of society which translates into the bottom line for their stakeholders and for their nation.

They also realize a corporation’s public image is at the mercy of its social responsibility programs. According to studies, 9 out of 10 consumers would refrain from doing business with a corporation with no corporate social responsibility plan.  If a company is heavily involved in the practice of donating funds or goods to local nonprofit organizations and schools, consumers are more likely to use their product. Or if a corporation takes great care to ensure the materials used in its products are environmentally safe and the process is sustainable, the public is more likely to support it.

We promote our partners and their support for responsible leadership through every means we employ for our cause and AWiB is extremely savvy about promoting responsible causes that make up fair and just society.

AWiB 2017 Partners

MCC GROUP

To connect its unique competencies in Sciences, Materials and Chemicals and Construction is to create solutions that nourish, protect and improve performance.  MCC GROUP: SAMATRA and Sachem aim to have a positive impact in every area of its work…in all sectors of manufacturing, trade and Logistics services. To do that, always looks to act responsibly with its customers, its people, its environment, and to create a culture where doing the right thing is at the core of how it does business.

To MCC group achieving sustainability means simultaneously pursuing economic performance, environmental quality and social responsibility. In other words, MCC strives to create value on the three dimensions of people, planet and profit.

MCC GROUP has a purpose to create brighter lives for people today and generations to come. And empowering everyone and women in particular is the CORE of MCC Group’s business model.

Impala Communication: Changing the narratives

Impala is a media agency providing a world-class service in communication strategy, message and content development for all media platforms available today.

Impala has the unique advantage of being a one-stop solution for our client’s communication needs. Our work includes managing budgets and creative deliverables to lead all phases of nationwide and international campaigns.

Our team includes editors, strategists, digital media designers, producers, photographers, film crews and film editors with a vast experience in providing/delivering media and communication solutions for prestigious companies and organizations both in Ethiopia and abroad.

“Enabling our clients to communicate the right message to the right audience”

Our vision at Impala Communication is to change the narrative of Africa that is seen by the rest of the world as failed continent… As a communication company we strongly believe we have a duty to change the narrative of Africa especially Ethiopia, bringing out the best that the country can offer to the rest of the world: its diverse culture, rich history and its endeavors to take its people out of poverty.

Partnering with AWiB aligns us with our core vision, AWiB is an organization that works hard to empower women leaders, celebrating women leaders who make extraordinary efforts to make a difference in their community on the process creating role models for the younger generation to aspire and look up to.

We at Impala are very proud to be partnering with AWiB and being able to tell stories of these extraordinary women of Ethiopia for many years to come. 

Commercial Bank of Ethiopia (CBE)

CBE is the oldest bank in the country’s financial sector. In its 70 years journey the Bank has been the major finance provider for various investment and development endeavors of the public as well as the private sector. CBE is well known for pioneering the introduction of new banking services and technologies developed to make banking services more convenient to customers.

CBE’s vision is to become a world class bank by 2025. Promoting saving, strengthening its liquidity, increasing its credit disbursement to remain as the leading finance provider in the country, expanding banking service throughout the country and bringing the service closer to customers and introducing technology are listed in its priority agenda.

The major strategy promoted by the CBE is opening branches and making the service accessible in all corners of the country. CBE opens more than 100 branches annually. CBE currently has 1163 branches across the country and 3 branches in South Sudan.

The major accomplishment of the Bank is observed through extensive research to avail bank products that suit various segments of the society especially those in remote areas.

The new saving products introduced recently are:

Youth and teens saving account

Women especial saving account

Interest free banking service

In addition, the introduction of card banking, mobile banking and internet banking, and wallet card have paved the way for the Bank’s journey towards the new era of banking service supported by technology.

Currently, more than 1100 branches and 18 head office organs are networked through T-24 core banking application. In the near future the network is expected to roll out to all the branches.

CBE’s Endeavors to Empower Women to the Banking Service

Though women represent almost half of the country’s population, their participation in the economic, social and political life of the society is very much limited. Taking this fact into consideration, the country’s development policy and strategy has taken the empowerment of women as a major agenda.  CBE, as the major actor in the country’s development program shares this concern and has done a lot to insure the participation of women in the financial sector.

Empowering women within the bank so that women’s interests are properly incorporated in the decision making process at various levels of management is one area of concern. The other and most important aspiration of the CBE comes from making women to have a stake in the national economic development. In this process bringing women to bank services has an important significance. Just like in the other socio-economic spheres, women were not active in going to the bank and enjoy the various services.

The commercial Bank of Ethiopian introduced a new saving program, ‘Women Special Saving Account’ just to change this scenario and to bring this great force to action.  This special bank product is meant to entitle women to various benefits. Accordingly, women who open this special account enjoy an interest rate higher than the normal interest rate and get discounts from market places where Commercial Bank of Ethiopia enters especial agreement. As the CBE provides them with A Visa Card, they don’t need to carry paper money and expose themselves to various inconveniencies. They get the discounts when they use the visa cards to make payments on Point of Sale Terminals (POS) the Bank Places at various shopping centers.

The following categories of women are entitled to this especial saving account service:

Women Associations (where only women are members) and Teenagers through their guardians or custodians)

CBE has currently signed agreements with many suppliers and service providers.  The list includes office and home furniture suppliers, Electronics Appliance suppliers, education and health service providers, shopping centers/supermarkets, gymnasiums. Women have now started to enjoy discounts when visiting these centers. CBE has supplied the centers with sufficient POS machines to make the transactions easier.

It is possible to say that this special saving account introduced to empower women to the banking service has been properly accepted by the beneficiaries. A lot of women appeared in branches found in all corners of the country to open the accounts. As a recent report shows more than 1,500,552 women so far opened accounts and it has been possible to mobilize saving which is more than 12..6 billion Birr. Their encounter with the new technology through POS, ATM, Mobile Banking and Internet Banking has been found a great achievement.  It is an encouraging achievement for a product enrolled only for less than 2 years. When the product is properly communicated through the society and when the CBE signs agreements with more suppliers and service providers the figures reported through customer base expansion and deposit mobilization expected to be more exciting. Commercial Bank of Ethiopia! The Bank You Always Relay On!

Center for International Reproductive Health Training (CIRHT)

Health professionals are the foundation of healthy families and thriving communities. CIRHT’s aim is to train the health work force of the future with comprehensive reproductive health education. It works with   universities with well-established medical, midwifery and nursing schools to integrate hands-on clinical trainings on comprehensive reproductive health, including family planning and comprehensive abortion care in to their pre-service education. Together we are committed to training the next generation of doctors, nurses and midwives to be confident, compassionate leaders in their communities.

The CIRHT Ethiopia program was   launched in February 2015 with support from the Federal Ministry of Health and the University of Michigan Health System. With a new approach to reproductive health training, CIRHT is preparing medical professionals to safeguard the health and future of women, girls and families. In this regard, CIRHT is currently working with faculty at medical schools of nine higher teaching institutions in Ethiopia to transform how reproductive health training and counseling are integrated into medical education.

As a Center of Excellence for CIRHT Ethiopia, St. Paul’s Hospital Millennium Medical College in Addis Ababa is leading the way in this approach. Since adopting an integrated reproductive health training curriculum in 2012, undergraduate students at St. Paul’s have built their skills in simulation labs, supervised clinical rotations and ongoing mentoring from experienced faculty and residents.

Attaining the goals of sustainable, equitable development requires that individuals are able to exercise control over their sexual and reproductive lives. Reproductive rights are the rights of individuals to decide whether to reproduce and have reproductive health. This may include an individual’s right to plan a family, terminate pregnancy, use contraceptives, learn about sex education in public schools, and gain access to reproductive health services. Availability of trained health care provider would greatly influence women’ and girls’ access to all ranges of reproductive health services. CIRHT deeply believes that everyone deserves to be treated with respect and dignity. As a woman and girl, the way you receive your reproductive health care ought to be respectful and compassionate. Accordingly, CIRHT strives to support higher teaching institutions to produce health care providers who are competent, considerate and vigilant in the provision of reproductive health care.

We at CIRHT feel partnering with AWiB will enhance our aim to reach women in the leadership for they are the ones to take this noble dream further.

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