GER launches Plan International children’s race and official charity campaign

Plan International Ethiopia launched its 2018 Children’s race and the ‘Running for a Cause’ official charity campaign for this year’s Total Great Ethiopian Run, on October 4, 2018 at the Hilton Hotel. Plan International is the message sponsor for both the Great Ethiopian Run and the Children’s Race and the organization is promoting: ‘Empower Girls Now; they are the next leaders’.
The launch event was attended by prominent personalities and had a panel discussion that included Addis Ababa Women and Children Affairs head Meron Aragaw, the newly assigned CEO of the Ethiopian Tourism Organization Lensa Mekonnen; Artist Amleset Muche and others who will discuss topics in their fields of expertise.
During the occasion the country director of Plan International Ethiopia, Geraldine Breukers stated that “Plan International Ethiopia feels the urgency of empowering girls, who are the next leaders, and as a result, puts them at the heart of both our day to day activities and long term strategic plan,” the director also added ‘Globally we want to directly reach out 100 million girls in our five year strategic plan which will end in 2022’.
The running for a cause campaign has been going on for the past few years as the official charity campaign of the Great Ethiopian run and this year a total of 1.7 million birr is targeted to be raised and distributed for 4 selected beneficiaries. The beneficiaries are Addis Ababa Women Association; Sele Enat Mahiber; Ethiopian Diabetic Association and Joyful Life respectively.
Concerning the upcoming Great Ethiopian Run, a statement read that there will be several new additions to expect. Based on customers’ requests, GER will be starting a new membership package. It was also stated that GER will take additional steps to bring more awareness on safety and will provide various information and technical support as to how participants can make sure that their health status is right before getting into the race.
The registration for the Children’s race will start on Monday October 8, 2018 at the Great Ethiopian Run office and Hilton Addis. This year a total of 3,500 participants are expected to take part. The race will be held at the Ethiopian Youth Sport Academy.