Zeru Desta Member

ZERU FANTAW DESTA
Cell: 251911104234 or 251911057259, email: fzeru@yahoo.com, skype: desta5
Mr. Zeru Fantaw Desta is a Child Protection, youth and Education expert with over fifteen years of experiences relating to work in child rights, child protection/Safeguarding, protection for gender based violence and conflict resolution, children in emergency, Education in Emergency and HIV/AIDS programming. I have also executed and overseen Monitoring and Evaluation (M&E)-related activities. I have gained most of these relevant experiences working in Ethiopia, but also has in-country experiences in South Sudan, Sri Lanka, Lebanon and Jordan for the Syria Response based in Beirut. I have led and participated in assignments for SOS Village Int’l, Plan International, World Vision, Save the Children International and African Network for the Prevention and of Protection against Child Abuse and Neglect (ANPPCAN).
Currently I have been serving as Regional Child Safeguarding advisor in SOS Children Village Int’l for Eastern and Southern Africa Region. I also served as interim Head of Programs and Child Protection Country Program Lead for Plan International in Ethiopia, by managing the Protection of Children from Violence (PCV) country program and provided technical support to the Child Protection in Emergencies (CPiE) Project. I also focused on major functions of program design and management, portfolio development, grant management, partnership development and strengthening, policy influencing and networking, and personnel management. My conflict resolution experiences include the role of Project Manager for Protection of Gender–based violence and Conflict Resolution through Strengthened Capacity of Communities and Governance in Warrap State for World Vision in South Sudan. In this role, I focused on supporting project activities that aimed to strengthen the community’s capacity for security and resilience under the Warrap Reconstruction for Peace and Human Security project. My responsibilities included establishing youth and children groups within project areas that would act as peer educators for awareness raising on protection, gender, and child rights.
Other relevant experience includes serving as Regional Child Protection in Emergency Technical expert for both Lebanon and Jordan for the Syrian response that entails both protection and Education and Project Coordinator Child Protection of Humanitarian Emergency Affairs (HEA) Community-based Psycho Social Support Projects for World Vision Sri Lanka during 2009 and 2010. In these roles, I developed a clear strategy for child and youth protection programs responses, including a focus on vocational skills training, both in the immediate and longer term. Keeping needs of the war-affected, marginalized, and vulnerable children and youth at the forefront of program design and coordinated plans with government, UN agencies, and NGOs in education, child, and youth protection issues.
Mr. Zeru holds a Master of Social Work degree from Addis Ababa University’s School of Social Work, as well as a Post-Graduate Diploma in Children Youth and Development from the Institute of Social Studies, in The Netherlands. I am an Ethiopian national, speaks Amharic and English, and resides in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.