Dear friends and partners,

The year 2003 was a special year to the Relief Society of Tigray (REST). It marked the 25th anniversary of REST. REST’s 5th general assembly was also conducted the same year. Twenty-five years ago, REST was established by a group of concerned individuals both from within and outside of Tigray in order to mitigate the suffering of the people of Tigray caused by the then civil war and drought. Established in 1978 during the period of armed struggle in the liberated area of Tigray, REST has carried out various activities ranging from relief to development. During the infamous famine that occurred in 1984/85 and took the lives of millions of people in Tigray, REST was instrumental in minimizing the disaster through the provision of food aid, transporting victims to the safe haven and rehabilitating them. In that regard, REST played a pivotal role in the lives of millions of Tigreans. From the very outset, REST’s vision was to create a truly indigenous capacity to deal with the challenges of poverty and good governance. We feel that much has been achieved over the past 25 years. During the course of these years, REST has emerged as peoples’ advocate not only at a regional level but also at a national level particularly in the fight against poverty.

In 2003 REST convened its 5th General Assembly Meeting. The purpose of that assembly was to review achievements and strategies towards food security, examine and analyze REST’s memorandum of Association and to nominate and approve Board members. This was conducted successfully jointly with our 25th founding anniversary celebration. The year 2003 also marked a profound development challenges. As a result of rain failure during the Belg and Meher season, over 1.8 million people were in need of emergency food aid in Tigray. The situation was reversed with an emergency food aid and healthand agriculture assistance carried out jointly with government, donors and the international community . Further, REST has strengthened its development activities in 2003. Currently, REST has continued to expand its work on food security, on agriculture development, on water resources and on health and education sectors. Also, in order to minimize the impacts of drought in the long term, REST has undertaken various water harvesting technologies in the same year.

Finally, on behalf of REST I would like to express my warm appreciation to all our donors and partners who have over the last twenty-five years generously responded to REST’s appeal for relief assistance and development projects. Their support has enabled us save millions of lives; build their livelihoods and over all improve their living conditions. With the support of our friends and partners, we believe that we have been successful in implementing our development oriented projects and made a change in the lives of millions of our people. We also believe that much still needs to be done in order to further improve the lives and livelihoods of our people. There are still challenges but we are confident that with your continuous support and encouragement, we shall overcome those challenges.
On behalf of REST, I would like to thank you all for your continuous support.

Thank you very much

Teklewoini Assefa
Executive Director of REST

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