Why community participation sits at the centre of our work

RESDO was founded on an observation that is easy to state and hard to fix: differences in access to services were pushing remote and peripheral communities to the margins — especially pastoralists, women and children. Closing that gap is what our programmes exist to do.

Rooted in local realities

We work closely with humanitarian networks, relevant government structures and local communities so that interventions are rooted in local realities and driven by community priorities. In practice that means the people affected by a programme help shape it before it begins, not after it has been designed elsewhere.

That principle runs through everything we deliver across our four operational zones:

• Education and child protection — improving access to quality education, strengthening school systems and responding to the needs of crisis-affected children.
• Health and nutrition — supporting access to health services for vulnerable communities and addressing the causes of preventable illness.
• Livelihoods and youth — working with pastoral and agro-pastoral families to strengthen livelihoods, and equipping young people with skills and income opportunities.

Accountability as a programme, not a promise

Since 2022, RESDO has implemented social accountability programmes in 14 districts in Ethiopia. The aim is a smoother relationship between citizens and the local governance structures that serve them — where communities can ask questions about the services they receive, and expect an answer.

Sustainable development is only possible when local communities actively participate in shaping and leading the process.

Gender equity throughout

We mainstream gender issues across all projects, work to combat gender-based violence, and focus on women's and girls' access to education and health services. Equity is not a separate workstream — it is a condition of the work being done properly.

Delivered with partners

None of this happens alone. RESDO works with UN agencies, national and international NGOs, and multilateral and bilateral development partners, and is a trusted partner in the Ethiopian Humanitarian Fund. Our teams — more than 400 staff — deliver these programmes on the ground every day.

If you would like to work with us, or learn more about a particular programme, we would be glad to hear from you. Get in touch with our team.