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Women's and Girls' Empowerment: Preventing Early Marriage

The practice of early marriage remains widespread in Ethiopia, especially in the northern Amhara and Tigray regions, where parents consent to their daughters’ consummated marriages (betrothal occurs earlier) when they are still as young as 10 or 12.

In Amhara, 50 percent of girls are married by the age of 15, despite the enactment in 2000 of the revised Family Law, which sets the legal age for marriage at 18. In accordance with the local values of large families to show prestige and individual wealth, these young girls are subjected to early years of child-bearing, often with dire consequences for their own health and welfare. Young girls are far more likely to die giving birth or have complications with pregnancy, such as the debilitating and stigmatizing condition of obstetric fistula, in which a fistula (hole) develops between either the rectum and vagina or bladder and vagina after severe or failed childbirth when adequate medical care is not available.

Pathfinder International/Ethiopia works in collaboration with local partners to prevent such practices through community and legal interventions. Pathfinder played a major role in the passing of the revised Family Law and the new penal code, enacted in 2003, which established explicit punishments for early marriage and other harmful traditional practices. Pathfinder now directs its advocacy efforts to audiences at the national, district, and community levels, involving all levels of civil society in identifying and intervening to prevent early marriages. Specifically, Pathfinder:

Conducts workshops with district, regional, and zonal judicial bodies, such as judges, prosecutors and police, and religious leaders from Orthodox Christian, Muslim, Catholic, and Protestant faiths, to educate these groups in methods of early marriage intervention. Trains members of Early Marriage Committees, composed of religious leaders, women’s associations, Community-Based reproductive health agents (CBRHAs), health and village administration officials, parents, teachers, and girls themselves. CBRHAs, girls, and teachers report upcoming early marriages to the committee. The chain of intervention then goes through the department of women’s affairs at the district level, which responds with legal action through the police or through representation provided by the Ethiopian Women’s Lawyers Association. In some Early Marriage Committees, the community members respond immediately through direct intervention with the parents of both bride and groom, and call in local police if needed.

In 2005, Pathfinder and its partners prevented more than 9,000 early marriages in Amhara, and an additional 3,000 in Tigray. Communities in these project areas have widely accepted reasons to end early marriage through the educational efforts of CBRHAs, women’s associations, teachers and religious leaders.

Religious leaders from the Orthodox Church and the Ethiopian Islamic Affairs Supreme Council have also contributed by developing and signing statements of action condemning early marriage and other harmful traditional practices, and exhorting religious bodies throughout Ethiopia to advocate against these in their communities. Useful advocacy tools developed include radio spots in regional languages, and an educational booklet on the new penal code. A video on obstetric fistula was produced, linking the prevalence of fistula directly to early marriage and addressing other factors affecting early maternal mortality such as female genital cutting and unattended birth.

projects in ethiopia

Family Planning and Reproductive Health Services: A USAID-funded project that partners with local organizations to support family planning and reproductive health activities in four regions.

HIV/AIDS Care and Support: A project seeking to reduce the spread of STIs and HIV/AIDS, reduce stigma and discrimination against people living with HIV/AIDS, and improve the qualify of life of those infected and their families.

Women’s and Girls’ Empowerment Project: A project designed to improve the health, rights, and social status of adolescent girls and women. Pathfinder works with local partners to educate girls and women about reproductive health, provide opportunities for education, promote life skills and leadership development, and advocate for the elimination of harmful traditional practices and gender-based violence.

Access to Family Planning through the Private Sector: A project that worked from 2002-2006 to increase affordable and sustainable access to reproductive health and planning services through the private, for-profit sector.

The Carter Center Accelerated Health Officer Training Program: A recent project that saw the renovation of 17 training hospitals in support of the Carter Center's effort to improve the quality of university-level health science education in Ethiopia.

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Reproductive Health and Family Planning

Social Change

Advocacy

Seada Abdurahman, from Cheffarobit, was asked for her hand in marriage twice. Both times she ran to her aunt, who prevented the marriage with the help of the kebele Early Marriage Committee. Her parents were unhappy with her reluctance and complained that they did not have enough money to send her to school. She does not want to get married until she has a job and meets a man as educated as herself. She is still in school and participates in the girls’ club, which advocates among peers against early marriage, abduction, and other harmful practices.

Women's and Girls' Empowerment Project

Youth in Need of Range of Services in Ethiopia, Pathfinder Working to Ensure Needs are Met: Read more about Pathfinder's work with Ethiopian youth.

Addressing the Consequences of Early Marriage: An Ethiopian woman with fistula finds hope.