The Awra Amba community is governed by a main committee (Development Committee) and eleven sub-committees. There are two levels of membership: Community Membership and Cooperative Membership.
Development committee: the central committee of the community. It has fifteen council members. The responsibility of the committee is to coordinate and oversee all the activities performed by all sub-committees. In addition, the committee also make the rules and regulations governing the community, reforms those rules if necessary, and controls their implementation.
“Lewegen Derash” charity committee: the responsibility of the committee is to coordinate and manage the work that all the members of the community participate in once a week, on Tuesdays. The funds generated from this day, as well as the entrance fee collected from visitors, make up a fund called ‘Lewegen Derash’. The committee manages and allocates this fund to people who are unable to work due to ageing and health problems. The committee has seven executive members and three auditors.
Guest reception committee: the responsibility of the committee is to receive the guests who came to visit Awra Amba, show them around and tell them about the lifestyle and practices of the community. It has seven executive members.
Lost and found property storing committee: the responsibility of the committee is to store the properties lost by somebody that have been found by a member of the community. The committee receives the property by recording who found it, where it was found and when it was found. Then they return the item back to the owner if the committee receives reasonable information from the owner. If the committee can’t find the owner of the property, the property will be donated to the ‘Lewegen Derash’ fund. The committee has three executive members.
Elderly, orphans, patients and maternity care committee: the responsibility of the committee is to care for the elderly, the orphans, the patients and women who have given birth (new mothers). The committee assigns someone to care for the sick, and for the new mothers. It has three executive members.
Problem identifying committee: the responsibility of the committee is to identify people who are in trouble and to report the case to the ‘Lewegen Derash’ committee in order to solve the problem. It has three executive members.
Complaint resolving committee: the responsibility of this committee is to resolve complaints when a disagreement occurs among the community members through discussion as the disagreement occurs. If the committee can’t resolve the complaint, it will be brought to the general assembly where the problem will be solved. It has three executive members.
Security committee: the responsibility of the committee is to maintain the peaceful life of the community by assigning community members to guard the village. The committee also safeguards the community from robbery. It has three executive members.
Water and sanitation committee: the responsibility of the committee is to supply clean water to the community without interruption and collect service fees from the users. In addition the committee is given responsibility to keep the village clean by coordinating sanitation duties done by the members of the community. It has five executive members and three auditors.
Fieldwork assigning committee: the responsibility of the committee is to assign the members their respective tasks, according to their capabilities and the plan provided from the development committee. It has three executive members.
Residential area allocating committee: the responsibility of the committee is to allocate 150m2 residential area for the cooperative members who have no other residential area.
Education committee: the responsibility of the committee is to provide educational materials, keep the kindergarten school safe, and to make sure children and adults have access to education. It has five executive members.
