The current ORDA Ethiopia was founded in February 1984, originally called the Ethiopian Relief Organization (ERO). ERO was established in response to severe rural poverty exacerbated by the persistent drought of 1984, civil war, and above all, the political turmoil of the Derg regime. ERO was legally registered as a local NGO in 1991 by the Ethiopian Relief and Rehabilitation Commission and again in 1999 by the federal Ministry of Justice (MOJ). Following enactment of the Charities and Societies Legislation, it was re-registered by the MOJ as the Ethiopian Residents Charity under licence number 0607.
Strategic Planning Periods
The first strategic plan prioritised natural resource protection, agricultural development, rural water supply, and access road construction. During this period, ORDA implemented seven Food Security and Integrated Rural Development Projects in Sekota, Ebinat, Belessa, Wadla, Tach Gayint, Lay Gayint, Gublafto and Gidan woredas.
This period refined earlier priorities and restructured ORDA into five technical programmes: Agricultural Development & Environmental Protection, Forest Resources Development, Water Resources Development, Capacity Building, and Disaster Prevention & Relief. ORDA's grassroots visibility rose significantly during this period.
During the final year of this period (2013), ORDA managed 78 diversified projects in 63 woredas, partnering with 32 funding organisations and deploying 973 staff (27% female). ORDA reached 3.5 million people with a budget of ETB 1.59 billion.
Aligned with the Government's Second Growth and Transformation Plan (GTP-2), this period saw ORDA expand across Ethiopia beyond the Amhara Region, diversifying programmes and increasing budget size year-on-year.
ORDA expanded to five programmes: Forest, Environment & Climate Change; Water, Sanitation & Hygiene; Agriculture & Livelihoods; Disaster Risk Reduction; and Gender Equality & Social Inclusion — operating across all regions of Ethiopia.
