Aster Zaoude was born in 1953 and raised in Addis Ababa until 1970 and after completing her Baccalaureate at Lycee Guebre Mariam she left for France to study Law pursuing her graduate studies in International Law at the Sorbonne University in Paris. Aster was raised by a mother who was a pioneer female entrepreneur and by an exceptional father who served his country with dedication and was a strong believer in equality and justice. She recalled that, “they believed in their girls and saw us reach the stars and become good citizens, responsible professionals and good parents. I have nothing to add to the basic values and principles that shaped my life and it is the same values that I have tried to pass on to my two children”. Zeleka Yeraswork is a graduate of Tufts and Columbia University and Zewde Yeraswork is a graduate of Stanford University.The importance of education, especially girls education, economic empowerment and gender equality were fully engrained early in her life and became her passion and the essence of her professional career.
Aster took early retirement from the United Nations in January 2011 after serving the Organization for three decades, in different capacities and at senior level positions including: Head of South/South Cooperation Project at UNECA in Addis Ababa; Chief of Evaluation Section and Manager of the Knowledge Bank at UNIFEM/New York; Regional Director of UNIFEM in West/Central and North Africa; Director of Gender and Development at UNDP/New York; and Chief Conduct and Discipline Unit at UN Peacekeeping Mission in Sudan. Following her retirement she worked for one year at the Institute of International Education in Addis to establish in 4 African countries “Centers of Excellence for women’s leadership”, a programme funded by the David and Lucile Packard Foundation.
Among her recent activities, Aster is an active member of the Rotary Club ‘Entoto’, and the initiator of the Tsehay Zewde Scholarship Fund for vision impaired students attending Addis Abeba University. This initiative named after her late sister, is set up to provide scholarship funds, special equipment and life skills/leadership training for vision impaired female students who face multiple challenges due to their disability. The Tsehay Zewde Memorial Scholarship program was founded for the memory of Asters sister Chief hostess Tsehay Zewde, who passed away on Comoros Island on the occasion of the Ethiopian airplane crash 24 years ago. The Tsehay Zewde Memorial Scholarship Programme hosted commencement day and awarding ceremony to honor Addis Ababa University’s visually impaired female graduates in 2019 awarded laptop computers to eleven female students who are visually impaired. Over 350 students have become beneficiaries of the scholarship program which offers financial support, training and electronic materials. Aster explained that the program has welcomed and provided opportunities of computer related skills, English proficiency, and job readiness training every year with a support from other volunteer organizations. “All universities have to give emphasis for inclusive education and empowerment for visually impaired female graduates” she noted.
Professor Tassew Woldehanna, President of AAU, on his part said that Addis Ababa University is the pioneer university in teaching large number of disabled students in Africa. “For the accomplishment of the task, we are working with individuals, and national and international volunteer organizations like Tshehay Zewde’s Memorial Scholarship program.” he added.
Tassew admires Tsehay Zewde Memorial Scholarship program for the unreserved support on empowering female visually impaired students to become successful and productive for the country.
Sources; Addis Ababa University and AWIB
