PROJECT
ETHIOPIA:
Berhane Hewan "Light for Eve" Project for Girl
Youth Empowerment to Deter Child Marriage
In the Amhara region of Ethiopia, rates of child marriage are among the highest in the world. Half of all girls in Amhara are married before their 15th birthday. Population Council researchers conducted a survey of more than 2,900 adolescent boys and girls in Amhara and Addis Ababa, where many girls flee when they are trying to avoid arranged marriages or to escape marriages that have already occurred. As described by girls in Amhara, marriage effectively forced girls into having unwanted, uninformed sexual relations with a relative stranger. Ninety-five percent of the girls surveyed did not know their husband before marriage, and 85 percent were given no forewarning that they were going to be married. More than two-thirds of married girls reported that they had not started menstruating when they had sex for the first time. Not surprisingly, many of these marital unions are unstable, and 12 percent of girls in Amhara aged 10–19 are already divorced.
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"I hate early marriage. I was married at an early age and my in-laws forced me to sleep with my husband and he made me suffer all night. After that, whenever day becomes night, I get worried thinking that it will be like that. This is what I hate most." (Amhara girl, age 11, married at age 5) |
Berhane Hewan (meaning “Light for Eve” in Amharic) is a new program underway in Amhara designed to assist unmarried girls by imparting the knowledge, skills, and resources they need to avoid child marriage. The program promotes functional literacy, life skills, reproductive health education, and opportunities for saving money. In developing the project, local Ministry of Youth, Sports and Culture staff felt strongly that the program needed to address the economic motives for the practice of child marriage. Accordingly, economic incentives were added to encourage families to allow their daughters to participate in girls’ groups that meet five days per week, and to remain in school.
The project has already received an enthusiastic response from the community—over 750 girls have joined Berhane Hewan. In addition, a parallel activity is offered for married girls, who meet once a week to obtain much-needed health information, peer interaction, and social support.
Location
Amhara, Ethiopia
Duration
December 2004–June 2008
Population Council researchers
Annabel Erulkar, Tekle-Ab Mekbib
Non-Council collaborator
Ethiopian Ministry of Youth, Sports and Culture
Donors
UK Department for International Development
United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF)
United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA)
The Turner Foundation, Inc.
Publications/Resources on this project