Oromo Legacy Leadership & Advocacy Association

WHAT WE DO

Oromo Legacy Leadership & Advocacy Organization is a non profit, international, Oromo-led institution, entirely focused on advocating for human rights, addressing the injustices committed against the Oromo people and proactively working to solve the diverse challenges facing Oromos through:

1. Advocacy
   OLLAA Advocacy strives to promote universal values of human rights by focuses on four main areas: global diplomacy, legislative advocacy, community engagement, and researching and reporting.
2. Development
   Our Mission is to help and unite young individuals, creating a structure that enables them to be well-versed and use their passion, knowledge and skills, to advance the Oromo cause.
3. Education
   Our education program’s main goal is to serve the Oromo community in the diaspora, primarily in the United States, Australia and European countries, by providing language and culture education to motivate and inspire individuals to embrace and learn about the Oromo identity. The education program also focuses on providing professional and community engagement workshops to enhance the overall experiences and the development of members of the community as they build a strong sense of who they are and who they can be.

Already in 2021, OLLAA has made huge strides for the Oromo community. Some of the highlights include: appearing on BBC Afaan Oromo as well as CNN to bring light to and speak out against the challenges Oromos are facing; meeting with four bureaus within the state department where they agreed to make the language more inclusive; traveling to numerous Oromo communities across the US to encourage connection and education about what is happening in Ethiopia; partnered with GOCA for a rally in Washington DC where an important discussion of hunger strike prisoners was brought to life.

IT IS OUR MISSION TO RELENTLESSLY AMPLIFY THE OROMO VOICES BY COORDINATING WITH ALL PEOPLE, GOVERNMENTS, AGENCIES, AND NGOS THAT CARE ABOUT HUMAN RIGHTS AND TO HOLD THE ETHIOPIAN GOVERNMENT ACCOUNTABLE FOR ITS GROSS VIOLATIONS AGAINST THE OROMO.

WHY OUR WORK MATTERS

Oromo people are the largest ethnic group in Ethiopia and represent over 49.5% of Ethiopia’s population. Afaan Oromo, the language of the Oromo people, is the third-largest language spoken in Africa. Many rights organizations, including Amnesty International, have documented numerous atrocities against Oromos, including extrajudicial killing, mass arrest, rape, torture, village burning, etc.

The uncertainty and growing need for stability in Ethiopia require us to be proactive in order to secure and protect our identity. In 2020 alone, we witnessed mass arrests, extrajudicial killings, and targeted acts of violence on a scale never seen before.

The lack of established strong relationships and allies among Oromos — both within Ethiopia and internationally — forces those within the diaspora to depend on the strength of numbers until we address those shortcomings. Unfortunately, there is a severe lack of concrete data to support the claims of a large Oromo, partially due to largely informal community networks that exist independently of each other in various regions.

As one of the largest and most well-respected Oromo organizations, OLLAA is perfectly situated to identify and unite Oromos in the United States and other global diaspora communities. Its impressive accomplishments and track record of professionalism place OLLAA in a position to be highly trusted outside of affiliation with, or loyalty to, any particular political organization.

YOUR DONATION AT WORK

The focus of our fundraising efforts is to support the Grand Oromo Diaspora Database project to be created and executed by OLLAA. This is designed to serve as a valuable resource for all Oromos by:

1. Providing visibility to the vast number of Oromos within the diaspora
2. Serving as a reference to connect communities
3. Uniting Oromos by connecting them to a shared history and heritage 

Our diaspora community, founded by those who fled the persecution of an abusive government, needs guidance and training to be a voice for our silenced brothers and sisters in Ethiopia and around the world. Together, we can utilize our collective power and be an engine for change. Change is possible, but it will only be realized if we work together to amplify our collective voices.