History of BEZA
The Beza Posterity Development Organization (BPDO) was founded in 2000 G.C. as an anti-HIV/AIDS club at a time when the virus was the leading cause of death for countless children and young adults and there was a lot of stigma and discrimination surrounding social and cultural activities in the operation area. A dedicated group of young people who had been affected by the epidemics founded the club.
After transitioning from an anti-HIV/AIDS club to an association, BPDO is now a non-governmental humanitarian organization that is legally registered and licensed as a local NGO with registration number 1221 by the FDRE Authority for Civil Society Organization Proclamation No. 1113/2019.
BODO's headquarters were recently relocated from Kombolcha to Addis Ababa. In collaboration with various international NGOs, government bodies, and community-based organizations, BPDO has experience delivering high-impact community-based programs in ten regional states of the country, including Amhara, Addis Ababa, Afar, Dire Dawa, Harar, Somalia, Gambella, Benishangul Gumuz, and Tigray.
In general, there is an assembly at the apex, followed by board members. The executive team is mandated by the board to carry out operational duties led by the executive director. The organization currently has four major departments: program, monitoring and evaluation, finance and grants, and human resources and logistics. Within these departments, there are 155 men and 104 women, a total of 259 full-time employees, and over 3000 volunteers actively involved in its operations. For effective program management, the organization maintains regional and coordinating offices in Addis Ababa, Kombolcha, Bahir Dar, Semera Logia, Jigjiga, Dire Dawa Somalia, and Harar in addition to its headquarters.
Over the last 23 years, with the vision of seeing a Healthy, Productive, and Transformed Society, BPDO has put the community at the center of program design and has been determined to address key community challenges such as contributing to national goals of reducing HIV new infections, addressing socio-economic challenges for women, girls, and youths. Furthermore, BPDO designed vocational capacity-building support programs in collaboration with other stakeholders to maximize resilience, self-reliance, and sustainability.