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Music Mayday Ethiopia

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Areas of expertise & Fields of activity:	Economic and Social: Citizenship and Governance Culture Development Disabled Persons HIV/AIDS Volunteerism Women/gender Equality Youth Social Development: Employment Youth Sustainable Development: Poverty
Geographic scope:	National
Country of activity:	Ethiopia
Millennium Development Goals:	Combat HIV/AIDS, malaria and other diseases Promote gender equality and empower women Reduce child mortality Improve maternal health
Mission statement:	Music Mayday Ethiopia (MMET) has chemistry; no other NGO in Ethiopia has applied for the past nine years. We target young people with embedded talents in the age group (15-25), unemployed and out-of-school. We strongly believe that creative youth are one of the key players in obtaining and sustaining social, cultural and economic progresses in Ethiopia. Our Mechanics… We have a Talent Factory as our major intervention. In this Factory, we nurture embedded talents of young people for a year, and for free. We train in; Theater, Literature, Dance (traditional and modern), Music (vocal and instrument), Fine art, and Film Production. Each year, due process of invitation through media, selection (with a transparent audition by professionals) and admission of talented, unemployed and out of school youth is carried out. In addition to these talent nurturing trainings, we provide Life Skill and entrepreneurial trainings regularly including mentorship. After a year-long training and four stage evaluation shows, MMET – Talent Factory graduates the young artists. What makes us different is the fact that we don’t simply graduate them and send them away; rather we shape their future being with them until they are able to stand on their own and turn back to help their fellow young citizens as Return-on-Investment. After graduating from our Talent Factory, these beneficiaries are categorized in three groups: • Five to 10 best performers are annually awarded scholarships to Addis Ababa University Schools of Music, Arts, and Theater and ENTOTO TVET College, based on the agreement MMET has with these partners. • Each year, about 50 young artists are organized in groups (with support from MMET and other development partners/microfinance institutions) and enter the entertainment industry right away. (For example, there are several youth bands working in clubs all over the country and traditional bands in many Ethiopian traditional restaurants.) • The majority of the graduates are provided with resources and encouraged to produce creative art works/artistic campaigns on various socio-economic challenges in the country. They are, most of the times, engaged in awareness building activities. For example, from the team that just graduated in May 2011, 73 young artists conducted a revolutionary artistic journey on maternal and newborn health in Ethiopia. They performed on 13 locations in three regional states and Addis Ababa. MMET has partnered with the Federal Ministry of Health and Save the Children UK to realize the vision. With projects/campaigns and events like this, MMET ensures visibility of the young artists in the eyes of the media and the public, helps the participants earn regular income so that they can support themselves and their dependants, and we promote active citizenship amongst the youth by engaging them in various socio-economic issues of their own nation. This is done for two reasons (to build an active citizen that makes informed decisions, and second is to mobilize the population towards several development challenges and make Ethiopia a place comfortable for its future citizens). In addition to this major programmatic intervention, MMET is known for organizing a bi-weekly book review and reading session (which has run effectively for the past eight years). No other organization has carried out such a powerful platform for the youth to develop their reading culture. Currently, the session is conducted at the National Museum. In order to help participants of the review sessions, MMET has a free public library around Sedest Killo, which has been lending books and other reference materials since 2009. In addition to these interventions, MMET has over 10 additional innovative projects (under implementation) such as: bi-weekly youth dialogue session on RH and HIV; weekly child nurturing program; voluntarism; bi-weekly hygiene and sanitation programmes with the community.
Year established:	2003
Year of registration:	2003
Organizational structure:	MMET has been re-restructured according to the Charities and Societies Law 2009 Framework. Accordingly, MMET has a structure where the general assembly (composed of 15 members) is the highest decision making body, which elects members of the Board of Directors. And, the Board of Directors assigns an Executive Director who manages the overall programs and projects of the organization; and reports monthly to the Board and annually to the general Assembly. Currently MMET has 28 full-time employees, all of them Ethiopian nationals. In addition, there are over 10 part-time employees of MMET. All financial and operational manuals and procedures are developed according to the Charities and Societies Proclamation 621/2009 and related directives and regulations.
Funding structure:	Donations and grants from domestic sources Funds from other Non-Governmental Organizations Foreign and international grants

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