About Us
The Hailemariam & Roman Foundation (HRF) was established in April 2018 as non-profit international NGO based on the agreement reached with the Government of the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia.
Who We Are
The founders, the Former Prime Minister of Ethiopia, H.E. Mr. Hailemariam Dessalegn, and the Former First Lady of Ethiopia, H.E. Mrs. Roman Tesfaye, have unwavering commitment to continue working with the government, people, and partners to support national and regional efforts in bringing socioeconomic transformation in Ethiopia and the broader Horn of Africa. Our foundation focuses on maternal & child health and nutrition, and climate smart ecotourism and conservation.
Our Vision
We envision seeing “A healthy and economically empowered community in a well conserved environment.”
Our Mission
We catalyze development players’ interventions and inspire citizens to build healthy communities and develop a sustainable environment in support of socio-economic transformation in Ethiopia and the broader Horn of Africa. Our distinctiveness and partnerships at local and international levels are keys in furthering our mission.
Our Distinctiveness
We aim to catalyze and contribute to development players’ interventions by leveraging our biggest assets:
Credibility and trust
We speak from a source of truth with authenticity, building on our past work experiences of leading and advocating for improved maternal & child health and nutrition, and climate smart eco-tourism and conservation. Over the next few years, we will exert our efforts in areas with the highest perceived needs where we could add value by fostering partnerships.
Convening potential
One of our core strengths is our ability to convene leading local and international players around critical topics, increasing multi-sectoral collaboration, fostering partnerships and creating effective discussion forums.
Access at the highest and grassroots levels
We will continue to develop relationships with heads of state, private and social sector leaders, and community leaders and elders at the grassroots using our existing networks and relationships.
Deep understanding of the contexts
Our pathways have given us great opportunities to understand the contexts deeply and be aware of the situations on ground while carrying out our mission in a way that builds local ownership, leadership, and delivering capacity to contribute towards attaining dramatic results in our focus areas and ensuring sustainability.
Our Guiding Principles
We strive to:
Put community at the centre
Citizens are at the centre of everything we do. We believe in the power and potential of our citizens – especially women and young people – to change their own lives, communities, the nation and the world. We inspire local communities to lead the change.
Create sustainable and scalable models
We prioritize and focus our activities to create solutions and initiatives that will have lasting impacts. We do not look for quick fixes. We build scalable models that integrate economic, social, environmental, and policy elements.
Catalyze development players’ interventions
We contribute to interventions where we can add value to meet the perceived needs in our focus areas.
Enhance partnerships
We drive impact by creating and enhancing partnerships at local and international levels with communities, governments, international agencies, donors, and other key stakeholders.