Youth Development
Yene Raey (የኔ ራዕይ)
Jan 2022 — Dec 2025
A flagship youth empowerment programme helping adolescents and young people — especially girls — build healthy, safe and empowered futures, implemented by PADet in partnership with Plan International Ethiopia, FGAE and ECDD.
What is Yene Raey?
An integrated approach to youth empowerment.
Yene Raey is an integrated youth development project designed to ensure that children, adolescents and young people stay in school, access sexual and reproductive health information and services, are protected from harmful traditional practices, develop leadership and life skills, become economically and socially empowered, and participate in decisions affecting their lives.
It is implemented through schools, communities, health institutions, youth clubs, parents, religious leaders and local government structures — with particular emphasis on girls’ empowerment, gender equality, disability inclusion and child protection.
Consortium
Led by Plan International Ethiopia
Funded by the Ministry for Foreign Affairs of Finland, and delivered with three consortium partners:
Where it works
Geographic coverage — phase II
- Oromia — Kersa District, Jimma ZonePhase II
- Amhara — Bahir Dar ZuriaPhase II
- Amhara — Fagita LekomaPhase II
Major objectives
Five pillars of the programme
Sexual & reproductive health
Education on puberty, menstrual hygiene, pregnancy prevention, HIV and STI awareness, consent and healthy relationships — alongside stronger youth-friendly health services.
Preventing harmful practices
Community dialogue that helps shift social norms and reduce child marriage, FGM, gender-based violence, sexual abuse and school dropout.
Girls’ empowerment
Leadership training, confidence-building, peer education, mentorship and participation in school clubs — many girls go on to train other students.
Disability inclusion
ECDD leads work to make schools more accessible, train teachers, reduce stigma and ensure children with disabilities participate equally in clubs and activities.
Economic empowerment
Seed money, savings groups, livelihood training and income-generating activities for vulnerable youth building an independent future.
Real impact
Sewareg’s story
From four years as a child domestic servant to peer educator, poultry entrepreneur, and an aspiring doctor.
Sewareg Melak Ayehu worked as a child domestic servant for four years before returning to school through the programme. She became a peer educator, received menstrual hygiene management training, and started a poultry business with project seed money — using the income from selling eggs to support her own education. She now aspires to become a doctor.
Her story reflects the programme’s integrated approach: combining education, protection, health and livelihoods into one continuous path forward.
Yene Raey II concluded in 2025
Tools and community structures built through the programme were transferred to government institutions to support long-term sustainability.