Concept Note

Improving access to election related

information, social and economic
development of remotely located
marginalized communities
with specific emphasis on women and youth through
energy access in selected areas of Amhara, Oromia and
SNNP regions
[Document subtitle]

Action Environment Ethiopia (AEE)

in Consortium with
Target Humanitarian Assistance Canada
Association (THACA)
3-7-2021
Contact Person: Eyasu Yishak (Project Developer)
Contact Address: actionenvironmenteth@gmail.com
: +251 912 865 255/+251 910 946 953
 Date:3/82021

Ref. no.: AEE/OL-021/03/21

Dear RAKEB ABATE

IFES (International Foundation for Electoral Systems)
Country Director- Ethiopia

Dear Rakebe, I am glad to meet you in our country director’s position at the IFES.
I appreciate your professional achievements and IFES’s areas of interventions in the Ethiopian election.
I am Eyasu Yishak from Ethiopia working on a Grants Manager/Project Developer position for Action
Environment Ethiopia (AEE) a local NGO and Target Humanitarian Assistance Canada Association
(THACS) an international NGO based in Canada.
Hoping you accept our concept note proposal which, we strongly believe it is an innovative idea that
brings meaningful impacts during 2021, the 6th national election of Ethiopia; The goal is to improve
access to broadcasted election-related vital information that foster meaningful political participation for
remotely located marginalized communities, with no access to mass media; mainly due to lack of access
to Electricity. The project empowers women, youth, and Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) by
increasing mass media exposure for more than 230,000 marginalized people through enhancing access
to electricity from SHS (Solar Home Systems).
The project fosters the efforts which have been made by IFES and other development agencies on the
support of NEBE towards ensuring fair, transparent, and credible election.
Therefore, we kindly request you to consider this project in your fast-paced granting mechanism.
Expecting you to communicate with us at your earliest possible time, we are glad to further submit the
detailed project proposal ASA we get a go ahead.

NB: Concept Note Proposal Consortium Partnership Agreement and Legal Documents are attached in
one separate PDF file.

With Best Regards

Eyasu Yishak
Project Manager

A C T I O N
ENVIRONEMENT E T
H I O P I A

Abado Block 104 ground floor, Addis Ababa Ethiopia ~ Email: actionenvironmenteth@gmail.com

+251 118 931895 / +251 912 865255 / +251 910 946953

Table of Contents
1. Description of the Project ..................................................................................................................... 2
2. General Overview of the Project/ Background& Relevance / .............................................................. 3
2.1 General Overview ......................................................................................................................... 3
2.1.1 Demographic Overview......................................................................................................... 3
2.1.2 Energy sector overview ......................................................................................................... 3
2.1.3 Mass Media Exposure/ Access to Information Overview: .................................................... 3
2.1.4 Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) Overview ...................................................................... 4
2.1.5 Election Overview ................................................................................................................. 4
2.1.6 Background/ Relevance of the project ................................................................................. 4
2.2 Relevance of the project ........................................................................................................... 6
3. Direct and Indirect Beneficiaries ........................................................................................................... 8
4. Objectives, Expected Results and Indicators of the Project. ................................................................ 8
4.1 Objective ............................................................................................................................................. 8
4.2 Specific Objectives: ............................................................................................................................. 8
4.3 Expected Achievements and Indicators of the Project ....................................................................... 8
4.4 Main Activities and Timeline by Election period......................................................................... 10
5. Strategic Approach .............................................................................................................................. 11
6. Project Cost: The total project cost is USD 2,819,012(Two million eight hundred nineteen thousand
and twelve USD).......................................................................................................................................... 12
7. Project Risks ........................................................................................................................................ 12
8. Monitoring and Evaluation ................................................................................................................. 12
9. Other Aspects .......................................................................................................................................... 13
Appendixes: Are attached as a separate PDF file ....................................................................................... 13
1. Consortium Partnership Agreement .................................................................................................. 13
2. Licenses ............................................................................................................................................. 13
ACRONYMS and ABERVATIONS

EA Expected Achievements
CSOs Civic Society Organizations
CSA Central Statistics Agency
ESP Election Support Project
EMBs Electoral Management Bodies
IDPs Internally Displaced Persons
IFES International Foundation for Electoral Systems
LED Light Emitting Diodes
NEBE National electoral Board of Ethiopia
SEEDS Supporting Elections for Ethiopia’s Democratic Strengthening
SHS Solar Home Systems
SNNPR Southern Nation Nationalities Peoples Region
UNDP United Nation Development Program
USAID United States Agency for International Development
 Definitions of Key Terms

Definition 1: Remotely Located Marginalized Citizens:

Citizens who live in geographically remote areas and with limited and/ or no infrastructures mainly
electricity, media exposure, access to road transport and for those people where public resources
are not allocated equally particularly youth, women and IDPs.
Definition 2: Exposure to mass media (Radio, television, or newspapers):
Those who responded at least once a week are considered to be regularly exposed to these forms
of media
Definition 3: Voter education refers to the information, materials and programs that are used to
inform voters about the voting process for a specific election, including details on, for example,
voter eligibility, voter registration, the candidates, how and where to vote, and what to do in the
event of a complaint or electoral dispute.

Definition 4: Civic education deals with broader concepts underpinning a democratic society,
such as the respective roles and responsibilities of citizens, government, political and special
interests, the mass media, and the business and non-profit sectors, as well as the significance of
periodic and competitive elections.

Definition 5: Electoral Management Body: An organization or a body established for the

purpose of, and legally responsible for, managing one or more of the essential elements for the
conduct of elections. The term “electoral management body” or “EMB” has been coined as a
name to refer to the body or bodies responsible for electoral management regardless of the nature
of the wider institutional framework in place.
 Executive Summary
This project to be implemented by ACTION ENVIROMENT ETHIOPIA(AEE) in consortium
with TARGET HUMANITARIAN ASSISTANCE CANADA ASSOCIATION(THACA)
works collaboratively with licensed CSOs, NEBE and other key election process stakeholders to
enhance the mass media exposure and increase the meaningful participation of citizens by
providing solar powered mass media tools and systems (Radios &TVs with professional portable
sound systems) for remotely located marginalized citizens particularly women, youth and
Internally Displaced Persons(IDPs). This project aims to alleviate the dissemination of information
challenge by the distribution of 10,000 Solar Home Systems (SHS) with an inbuilt radio, 3 LED
solar bulbs, mobile phone apparatus charging hubs with full accessories and installation of 600
solar powered TV sets with one portable professional sound system including inbuilt amplifier,
two microphones, one wall mounted speaker, four LED solar bulbs and one mobile charging hub
that can at a time charge up to 200 mobile phones apparatus with the necessary accessories.
How the broadcasted election related vital information including voter’s education becomes
accessible for the; which have limited mass media exposure; mainly due to the lack of electricity
access and appropriate mass media tools are the basic gaps which, this project aims to address the
social, political and economic development needs of the targeted remotely located and
marginalized communities in Amhara, Oromia and SNNPR; particularly for women, youth and
internally displaced persons (IDPs). Since mass media is the most powerful tool to reach many
people at a time, 190,000 direct beneficiaries and there will be at least 50,000 indirect beneficiaries
that makes a total of 240,000 targeted beneficiaries.
The main reasons to choose Solar Home System solution among other alternative lies on its ability
to address the core interlinked gaps which are limited access to electricity and poor mass media
exposure simultaneously. In addition, the solution is also affordable, environmentally friendly and
sustainable. The project idea is to improve social and economic development of remotely located
marginalize communities by empowering women and youth through energy access.
The total project cost is USD 2,919,012(Two million nine hundred nineteen thousand and
twelve USD). The commencement of some of the project activities is been undertaken and its full
implementation shall be started as soon as the support is obtained.

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1. Description of the Project
This project to be implemented by ACTION ENVIROMENT ETHIOPIA(AEE) in consortium
with TARGET HUMANITARIAN ASSISTANCE CANADA ASSOCIATION(THACA)
works collaboratively with licensed CSOs, NEBE and other key election process stakeholders to
enhance the mass media exposure and increase the meaningful participation of citizens by
providing solar powered mass media tools (Radios &TVs with professional portable sound
systems) for remotely located marginalized citizens particularly women, youth and IDPs. This
project aims to alleviate the dissemination of information challenge by the distribution of 10,000
Solar Home Systems (SHS) with an inbuilt radio, 3 LED solar bulbs, mobile phone apparatus
charging hubs with full accessories and installation of 600 solar powered TV sets with one portable
professional sound system including inbuilt amplifier, two microphones, one wall mounted
speaker, four LED solar bulbs and one mobile charging hub that can at a time charge up to 200
mobile phones apparatus with the necessary accessories.
NEBE is mandated to conduct civic and voters’ education directly by itself and/or through
licensing of CSOs (25 licensed to conduct voter’s education for the 6th 2021 election) *. NEBE
will use public and private media (print and electronic- TV, Radio, bulk text messages & social
medias), at national and regional levels to raise the citizens’ awareness on their civic rights and
responsibilities by emphasizing the right to vote and responsibilities to conduct peaceful election.
It has been trying to employ various methods and media outlets to reach citizens across the country.
It has planned to use both public and private mass media outlets at federal and regional levels to
educate electorates on their rights and responsibilities, listen to parties’ dialog and to transmit other
vital election related information’s.
From the experience learned and donor’s election related supports, meaningful efforts have been
made by NEBE on information dissemination. However, the problem on how to disseminate the
election related vital information including voter’s education and making it accessible for remotely
located marginalized communities with no mass media exposure remains to be a difficulty, mainly
due to the unavailability of electricity and appropriate mass media tools.
The level of exposure to mass media is very low in Ethiopia where 85.5 % of rural women and
70.9% rural men have no access to any of the three-mass media (radio, TV & newspaper)1 even
once in a week and mass media exposure has a direct link with access to electricity where it stands
only 8% grid electricity source in rural areas of Ethiopia and below 5% in the targeted project areas
in Amhara, Oromia and SNNPR2.
This intervention aims to improve social and economic development of remotely located
marginalized communities by empowering women and youth through energy access and
promoting exposure to mass media. This can be achieved by promoting effective SHS solution
which can address the core interlinked gaps which are limited access to electricity and poor mass
media exposure simultaneously

1
Housing characteristic and household population survey Demographic and Health Survey (EDHS)
final report 2016 Ethiopia
2
National Electrification Program 2.0, “Ethiopia National Electrification Program 2.0 Report.”

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2. General Overview of the Project/ Background& Relevance /
2.1 General Overview
2.1.1 Demographic Overview
In 2019, the estimated population of Ethiopia was approximately 109.2 million people, with a
2.6% population annual growth rate3, where more than 80 percent living in rural areas.
According to the census data published by the CSA, of the total population 49.54 % are female.
2.1.2 Energy sector overview
According to the grid electrification summary of 2018, the overall grid access to electricity in
Ethiopia was estimated at 34 %. However, rural and urban access to the grid differ drastically,
with urban grid access ranging between 80 % and 90 %, while rural grid access ranges from 5 %
to 20 percent4. This means one in four households in Ethiopia have access to electricity 93% of
them being in urban areas and 8% in rural areas5.
Nationally, about 14.6 million households in Ethiopia rely on lighting sources other than the
national grid. These households are home to about 70.5 million people and make up about 67 %
of the total population of Ethiopia. In rural areas, 90 % of households are dependent on non-grid
lighting sources mainly kerosine, bio fuel and dry cell batteries6. From the above stated households
that are off-grid, six million households are under the short-term pre-electrification households
plan, this households may have to wait up to seven years for grid connections for their
communities. And the remaining 8 million households will get electricity from national grid
connection in the next decades7. These households are the broad target group of this project.
Where the project considers particularly remotely located and marginalized communities of
selected Amhara, Oromia and SNNPR. regions for setting the project beneficiary/target groups.
2.1.3 Mass Media Exposure/ Access to Information Overview:
Generally, the level of exposure to mass media is very low in Ethiopia, (for this project mass media
exposure is defined as: Individuals who regularly get exposure to mass media either Radio,
television or newspapers at least once a week.), at the national level including both urban and
rural; nearly three in four (74%) women and 62% of men have no access to mass media on a

3
Sources (as of December 2019): The World Bank, World Development Indicators 2019 | UNDP, Human
Development Report 2019. Footnotes: (1) Average annual growth rate. (2) Gender Inequality Index (GII
4
National Electrification Program 2.0, “Ethiopia National Electrification Program 2.0 Report.”
5
Housing characteristic and household population survey Demographic and Health Survey (EDHS)
final report 2016 Ethiopia
6
Source: Power Africa Geospatial Analysis 2019 and National Electrification Program 2.0, “Ethiopia National
Electrification Program 2.0 Report.”
7
Source: Power Africa Geospatial Analysis 2019

3|Page
weekly basis8. Among both women and men, radio was the most frequently accessed form of
media at least once in a week (17% and 29%, respectively), followed by television (16% and 21%,
respectively)8. Because of the low literacy rate, print media are not popular among either women
(4%) or men (9%)8. The Internet is also a critical tool through which information is accessed,
overall, 4% of women and 12% of men aged between 15-49 have used the Internet once in a year8.
When we consider the media exposure in rural areas 85.5 % of women citizens in rural areas of
Ethiopia have no exposure to any of the three-mass media (radio, TV & newspaper) even once in
a week8.
2.1.4 Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) Overview
As of March 2021; Of an estimated 2.7 million people currently internally displaced in Ethiopia,
1 million of which occurred in 2020, approximately 68 per cent were displaced by conflict,
underlining the rapidly evolving protection crisis in Ethiopia.9
2.1.5 Election Overview
Ethiopia is gearing up for the 6th national election which will be heled on the 5th of June 2021 on
all the nine-regional administration except Addis Ababa city, Dire Dewa city (which will be held
in June 2021) and Tigray region in which the election date has not been determined as if yet10.
There are 673 electoral regions and 49,407 election centers throughout Ethiopia except the Tigray
region in which the election date is not determined yet10. Of the total election centers 85.3 % i.e.,
42,160 of them are located in the four regions Oromia (17623), Amhara (12,199), SNNPR (8,281)
and Somali (4,057) respectively10.
The electoral cycle/ election period: is made up of three main parts. They are pre-election,
election time and post-election.
Pre-election: Pre-election is the time before polling day, when most of the election activity takes
place. In the run-up to the election, the preparation and registration of political parties, the
preparation of the legal framework, the recruitment of election officials, training and placement,
constituency demarcation, voter registration, gender participation, mass participation, civic and
voter education, polling station organization, candidate registration, it is a time when political
parties' election campaigns and the activities of the media are widely and deeply involved. This is
a time of great preparation by the Electoral Board of Ethiopia and other stakeholders.
2.1.6 Background/ Relevance of the project
The level of exposure to mass media is very low in Ethiopia where 85.5 % of rural women and
70.9% rural men have no access to any of the three-mass media (radio, TV & newspaper) even
once in a week8 and mass media exposure has a direct link with access to electricity where it stands

8
Housing characteristic and household population survey Demographic and Health Survey (EDHS)
final report 2016
9
UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs: OCHA's activities, please visit https://www.unocha.org/.
10
National Electoral board of Ethiopia (NEBE)

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only 8% grid electricity source in rural areas of Ethiopia and below 5% in the project areas11 i.e.,
in selected kebeles of Amhara, Oromia and SNNPR regions.

Election process Inclusiveness – women mainstreaming aspects of the project:

women make up almost equal to half of the country’s population and if they are marginalized from
full and equal participation in political and decision-making processes, the country cannot achieve
an inclusive, fair and credible election and effective political transition. Besides the involvement
of women in a country’s decision-making and governance is essential to maintaining a vibrant
society that is vital to social, economic, environmental and sustainable development of the nation.
Furthermore, societies that are more inclusive of women are often less violent and more tolerant,
this in return has positive impacts on women, men, girls and boys.
Election process Equitability – access to information / mass media exposure aspect of the
project:
Equal access to information is the pillar throughout the electoral cycle, through which pro-grams
can address barriers and increase the ability of marginalized citizens to exercise power at various
stages throughout an election. As such the core value/goal of this project is centered around
creating an informed and empowered citizen, which is a key for democratic, fair, free and credible
election. Equally it is a key for social and economic development of the nation.

Situational Analysis
In the past first round Election Support Project (ESP) implemented by NEBE & development
partners during the 2015 election a budget was allocated to a project titled “Strengthened capacity
of institutions and mechanisms for promotion of inclusiveness and participation in decision
making”12 from this budget for free airtime on public media’s (TV, Radio and newspaper columns)
the Government allocated Birr 30 million (1.5 million USD) to support contending political parties
in their election campaigns by Distributing Public Fund, and it can be said majority of the project’s
target and out puts were achived12.
For the upcoming 6th election of Ethiopia that will be held on June 5th ,2021 the United States and
the National Elections Board of Ethiopia (NEBE) signed a memorandum of understanding for a
new $30.4 million program to support the upcoming national elections, under this partnership, the
U.S government “support will utilize technology and leverage the reach of the Ethiopian media to
educate the public about elections, while ensuring greater transparency and promoting meaningful
participation among all citizens in the political process—with a focus on women, youth, and other
traditionally marginalized groups. USAID and its partners will also strengthen the capacity of
Ethiopian civil society organizations and political parties to respond to the needs of all Ethiopians
more effectively”12.

11
Power Africa Geospatial Analysis 2019
12
Website News International Foundation for Electoral Systems (IFES), USAID

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The USAID Ethiopia Mission Director Sean Jones said “These elections belong to the Ethiopian
people, and we are proud to be welcomed as a partner in supporting free and fair elections, and
ensuring that the voices of Ethiopians in every corner of the country are heard as this country
continues its remarkable journey”.
In this regard the Ethiopian National Electoral Board held:
• consecutive forums that aimed on improving marginalized people participation
particularly women,
• developed and distributed code of conducts and manuals on
✓ voter’s education and
✓ the use of mass media during the election process.
In addition to these remarkable efforts, the board recently promised to continue the efforts to
improve women’s participation, make the coming election peaceful, fair, transparent and credible.
Regarding Voters Education, since NEBE is mandated to conduct civic and voters’ education
directly by itself and/ or through licensing of CSOs it has currently licensed 25 CSOs to conduct
voter’s education.
With the support of current Election Support Projects by different donors, the NEBE has continued
to engage public and private media (print and electronic), at national and regional levels, to raise
the citizens’ awareness on their civic rights and responsibilities, by emphasizing the right to vote
and voters education, parties and media agencies responsibilities to conduct peaceful election.
NEBE will employ various methods and media outlets to reach citizens across the country. It has
planned to use both public and private media outlets, at federal and regional levels, to transmit
vital election related information including updated election calendar and voter’s education for
citizens. To this end, from the experience learned and donor’s election related supports program,
meaningful efforts have been made by NEBE and development partners. However, this time
stakeholders’ collaborative efforts are with high importance to meet some of the unaddressed
needs.
2.2 Relevance of the project
The media is one of the powerful stakeholders that should serve all sides involved in any election
process. It serves the election management body, the parties, the voters, and all other stakeholders
by disseminating information in an objective and imperial manner. Hence, the media highly
contributes to the transparency and peacefulness of elections. The media has the onerous
responsibility and duty in the election process.
However, the problem on: How the broadcasted election related vital information including voter’s
education becomes accessible for the targeted remotely located and marginalized communities;
which have limited mass media exposure; mainly due to the lack of electricity access and
appropriate mass media tools are the basic needs that have not been addresses yet.
These unaddressed gaps i.e., poor mass media exposure which is directly interlinked with lack of
access to electricity are the main causes for current poor level of mass media exposure in remotely
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located marginalized citizens; that which this project aims to tackle by enhancing access to
information for the beneficiaries by using different mass media outlets mainly Radios and TVs to:
➢ Support voter education.
➢ Support contending political parties in their election campaigns.
➢ Disseminate election related vital information which will be broadcasted through
different media outlets throughout the election period.
To address the above stated core problem this project chose to distribute and install solar powered
mass media tools and systems to increase media exposure for remotely located marginalized
citizens in the target areas particularly for women, youth and IDPs. The main reasons to choose
solar system solution among other alternative lies on its ability to address the core interlinked gaps
which are limited access to electricity and poor mass media exposure simultaneously. In addition,
the solution is also affordable, environmentally friendly and sustainable.
Concurrently the project addresses the following key democratization and development issues
namely:
i. Inclusiveness: Promote mass media exposure, access to election related information
and electricity for remotely located marginalized communities particularly women,
youth and IDPs.
ii. Gender Equity: Promoting women and men access to information through allocating
resource for solar powered mass media tools and access to electricity from Solar Home
Systems (SHS) for marginalized communities.
iii. Gender and Youth empowerment: Gender Mainstreaming: The planned
intervention; solar mass media tools and systems is for marginalized men and women
mainly for women in remote areas with no access to electricity and no exposure of mass
media to increase meaningful participation in political, economic, social and
community development.
iv. Poverty Reduction: Promote access to electricity through the planned Solar Home
Systems (SHS) that provides access to light, access to mobile charge, access to
information after the election period and it decrease their cost for lighting source ($560
per year)13, thus, directly related to poverty reduction. Besides after the election period
the women and youth focal point will generate income from charging mobiles for the
community, rent the solar sound systems for different events and could catalyze further
interventions.
v. Environmentally Friendly: Promoting clean-solar renewable energy, decrease carbon
emitted from biofuel and kerosene.
vi. SDG 7: Access to Affordable and Clean Energy.
vii. And Other Cross cutting goals of SDG.

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Power Africa Geospatial Analysis 2019

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 3. Direct and Indirect Beneficiaries
Interventions to improve access to election related vital information both to foster meaningful
political participation of remotely located marginalized communities and particularly to empower
women, youth and IDPs through access to energy give emphasis to women, youth and IDPs. By
working with local and international stakeholders, the project targets to address 600 women &
youth cooperatives with at least 30 members – Gender focal points which will benefits near to
180,000 members and additional 10,000 householders that makes the targeted total direct
beneficiaries up to 190,000. At access to information through access to clean energy level, the
main intervention is to promote access to two- different types effective Solar Home Systems (SHS)
with an in-built mass media tools and LED lighting bulbus. Since mass media is the most powerful
tool to reach many people at a time, there will be at least 40,000 indirect beneficiaries including
mobile charging service and various users of the portable solar sound systems and radio. That
makes a total targeted beneficiary 230,000 people. Of which

4. Objectives, Expected Results and Indicators of the Project.

4.1 Objective
To improve access to broadcasted election related vital information that foster meaningful
political participation for remotely located marginalized communities, during the 6th national
election of Ethiopia; focusing on women, youth and IDPs in Amhara, Oromia and SNNP regions

4.2 Specific Objectives:

I. To improve access to election related vital information - exposure to mass media for at
least 230,000 remotely located marginalize persons.
II. To improve social and economic development of remotely located marginalize
communities by empowering women and youth through energy access.

4.3 Expected Achievements and Indicators of the Project

EA-1- Marginalized people in a remotely located areas who have limited /no access to mass media
mainly due to lack of access to electricity will get informed about election related vital information,
increased level of women and youth voter’s registration, meaningful participation of remotely
located marginalized citizens during the 2021, 6th Ethiopian election periods will be enhanced.
Indicators of the Expected Achievement-1
Indicator 1.1 Six hundred (600) system sets of solar powered TVs equipped with one
portable professional sound system with inbuilt amplifier, two microphones, one wall
mounted speaker, four LED solar bulbs and one mobile charging hub, that can charge up
to 200 mobile phones apparatus at a time will be distributed and installed. Hence, election
related vital information that are broadcasted by different Ethiopian mass media agencies
outlets will be disseminate for pre identified marginalized and remotely located areas with
people who have no/limited exposure to any form of mass media and access to electricity,
using women’s associations and youth centers as a focal point.

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 Indicator 1.2 Near to 180,000 (one hundred eighty thousand) marginalized people/ direct
beneficiaries particular to the above stated system will have mass media exposure during
the election periods and get informed about election related vital information during the
election period including election calendars, importance of voter’s registration, voter’s
education their rights and responsibilities, political parties and candidates’ campaigns,
peaceful messages that encourages fair and credible election, election results, messages
against violence and post-election conflicts etc.
Indicator 1.3 Ten thousand (10,000) Solar Household System (SHS) units with solar
powered radio, 3 LED solar bulbs, mobile phone charger units and accessories will be
distributed; 70% for women and youth mostly women ,10% for people with disabilities in
a remotely located marginalized citizens and 20% for IDPs, which makes election related
information accessible for more than 10,000 direct plus 40,000 indirect beneficiaries that
makes a total of 50,000 beneficiaries from this particular SHS.
Indicator 1.4 Increased number of registered voters and voters who give their vote
particularly women and youth voters.
EA-2- Fair, free and credible election will be facilitated by making election related vital
information accessible to remotely located marginalized people from the utilization of solar
powered mass media tools during the election periods.
Indicator 2.1 Using solar powered mass media technologies make election related
information inclusive, equitable and media outreach programs accessible for a total of
near to160,000 beneficiaries.
Indicator 2.2 Informed citizens in the target area will be improved, peaceful / less violence
and meaningful participation of citizens will be observed.
EA-3- In the long run enhanced access to electricity, increased mass media exposure, enhanced
civic education, empowered youth and women, increased community participation in development
activities that help them to bring sustainable social, political and economic growth will be ensured.
Indicator 3.1 The community will have continuous information access.
Indicator 3.2 Empowered women and youth who actively participate in the economic and
social development activities of their community.
Indicator 3.3 Electrified communities with clean energy source mainly lighting.
Indicator 3.4 Reduced poverty level and improved livelihood of the beneficiaries.

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4.4 Main Activities and Timeline by Election period
During the pre-election period:
I. Planning & Implementation
a. Key stakeholders’ consultation & ensuring their involvement throughout the
project starting from the beginning of project proposal to the implementation.
b. Revised budget preparation, funding, financing and applying for grants.
c. Securing the finance in line with the project objectives, budget and election
calendar.
d. With private companies, procurement of solar powered mass media systems &
tools.
e. Logistics & resource coordination, with local administration and election
management bodies establish women’s associations and local youth centers as a
focal point to distribute and/or install the solar powered mass media systems &
tools.
f. Conduct workshop with key stakeholders and beneficiary community
representatives on the importance of the project.
g. Collaboratively work with key stakeholders throughout the project intervention
including identification/selection of direct beneficiaries, effective distribution &
installation of the procured solar mass media tools and Solar Home systems (SHS),
establishing sense of ownership with proper skill training for effective utilization
of the systems, fostering vital election related information accessible for the
beneficiaries.
h. With private company, provide trainings on how to troubleshoot, use and maintain
minor failures will be given for local agents and users.
i. Distribution and installation of the procured SHS.
II. Voter’s registration and voter’s education
a. Promote effective utilization of the SHSs to disseminate information.
b. Ensure election related vital information using accessible platform through the use
of SHS.
c. Assist the NEBE, licensed COSs., political parties & candidates particularly
women, poll workers and other key stakeholder in the election process to
disseminate vital information during the election period.
d. Promote meaningful participation of citizens by increasing the reach of Ethiopian
mass media existing outlets using solar systems mass media tools to educate the
beneficiaries
e. Facilitate licensed CSOs efforts to educate the importance of voters’ registration,
explain how and why women in particular and citizens in general should to register
and participate for the election.
f. Encourage women and citizens to register for voting based on the election calendar.
g. Informe voters about their rights and responsibilities.

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 h. Assist election management bodies in disseminating pro peace/peaceful and gender
sensitive voter’s education messages including prevention, mitigation and
management of election related violence/conflict by increasing exposure for mass
media in a remotely located areas with no or poor access to information.
III. Electoral Campaign
Increase media outreach for political parties particularly women candidates by increasing
access to electricity and mass media tools using solar technologies for campaign
information dissemination.
During post-election period
a. Promote election result at the national and regional level accessible on a timely
manner.
b. Foster accessibility of information to prevent, mitigate and manage election related
conflicts.
c. By strengthening the capacity of women associations/ focal points and youth
centers; the solar mass media tools will be contentiously function to maximum
participation of marginalized citizens particularly women and youth in the
community development activities which includes:
i. Promote civic education
ii. Increase information access.
iii. Help to narrow technology and gender gap
iv. Reduce violence against women and child abuse
v. Disseminate important development issues such as health & hygiene,
agricultural information etc.
vi. Basic life skill development, women leadership programs and coordinate
capacity development training can be optimized in the future using our
supplied solar systems.
vii. Finally, address some of the bottle necks to ensure sustainable community
development.
d. Conduct the project M&E, including impact assessment.
e. Knowledge Management: Disseminate information, knowledge and lessons from
the project results and share the experience learned.
f. Generate final project accomplishment report.
g. Catalyze the scale up of similar projects in other similar areas.

5. Strategic Approach

To achieve the goals and objectives of the project a strategic implementation plan is designed
to work in collaboration with key election related stakeholders.
Youth centers and established women’s association- Gender Unit focal point and other existing
traditional social structures will be used as a tool to reach the direct beneficiaries of the project.
This help ensure a dedicated resource within the ESP to spearhead and monitor gender

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 initiatives as well as reviewing potential electoral and other development related policies and
programs to see how these impacts the beneficiaries.

The on-shelf availability of certified and to the standard quality SHS products had been
identified and the plan is to procure these products from the local markets.
In addition to the installation and distribution of the systems, for the proper functioning and
effective utilization of the systems appropriate trainings on how to troubleshoot, use and
maintain minor failures will be given for local agents and users.

6. Project Cost: The total project cost is USD 2,919,012(Two million nine hundred
nineteen thousand and twelve USD)

7. Project Risks
➢ Perception problem from the political administration/ local authorities,
➢ Not timely enabling to support this innovative idea, that would have added value to the
entire election process and community development might be missed, due to time
constraint.
➢ Peace and security,
➢ Timely response to establish common understanding on the scope and modalities of the
project,
➢ Misusing of the systems by the ruling party cadre eras in favor of party’s affiliation
➢ Willingness to collaborate and facilitate timely implementation of the project activities
with key stakeholder’s,
➢ In case the required quantity is increased the time, it will take to import the solar systems,
access to bank permit, costumes clearance, significant currency fluctuations resulting into
changes in the resources of the project are some of the foreseen risks.

8. Monitoring and Evaluation

Progress monitoring and post-project performance evaluation reviews will be conducted: This
would help determine the extent to which the intended project activities are performed and the
expected achievements and objectives have been achieved; involving all relevant stakeholders, and
supported, possibly by external look and perspectives, such a review on understanding the overall
impact that would help to critically identify strengths and limitations, to promote the experience
learned and scale up the project, to generate inputs for policy – making, and to inform future
programming.
Documenting the project intervention process and sharing lessons learnt to catalyze future
programs is an integral part of this project M&E- implementation plan.

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9. Other Aspects
Innovation is at the key front of this project, with emphasis on electricity access- energy for
information access to improve mass media exposure which is to be implemented and piloted
combined with SHS technologies, with potential for scaling up through the International
Foundation for Electoral Systems (IFES), in coordination with the Electoral Assistance Division
of the United Nations Department for Political Affairs, UNDP set up an electoral support project,
Supporting Elections for Ethiopia’s Democratic Strengthening (SEEDS), or other interventions
under Election Support Projects(ESP).

Appendixes: Are attached as a separate PDF file

1. Consortium Partnership Agreement

2. Legal Documents

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