These trainees are at a project known as “Connecting 1,500 Women and Girls to the Export Market”. The project was created in 2014 by Ethiopia’s First Lady, Mrs. Roman Tesfaye and trains women and girls to develop skills in industries such as leather, weaving, basketry, embroidery, gemstones, and spinning and connect them to global markets to increase the trade of their goods.

“Ethiopia has ambitious visions and dreams for women,” said First Lady Tesfaye. “We want to see women not only come out from the shackles of poverty but become the engines and drivers of our development.”

United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon visited the project during the Financing for Development Conference in Addis Ababa.

“The United Nations take gender equality, women’s equality, as one of the top priorities, and this is one of the very important elements of the Millennium Development Goals,” said the Secretary-General. “Now we are moving into the Sustainable Development Goals where we work much, much harder to enhance women’s empowerment.”

UN Photo/Eskinder Debebe