Empowering young female domestic workers in Ethiopia
The YWCA of Ethiopia has been a partner in the Population Council’s Birhu Tesfa programme for over a year, and the collaboration is growing stronger and expanding. Birhu Tesfa is an example of a targeted programme for poor and at-risk girls ages 10-19, who migrate from rural to urban areas to escape child marriage and other harmful traditional practices and to seek educational and economic opportunities. Ethiopia’s young female migrants constitute a huge group (45% of adolescent girls in a low-income area of Addis Ababa reported internal migration) particularly vulnerable to mistreatment and abuse when they arrive illiterate and destitute in unfamiliar urban environments with no personal support.
The Birhu Tesfa programme for adolescent girls takes place in urban slums and is designed to assist out-of-school girls (including migrants, orphans and domestic workers) by creating safe spaces through which they can build support networks with other girls, as well as relationships with supportive adults. Trained female mentors recruit girls by going house-to-house, identifying eligible girls. Once in groups, the programme promotes functional literacy, life skills, livelihoods skills, and HIV/reproductive health education through girls’ clubs led by adult female mentors. Over 10,000 girls have participated in Biruh Tesfa groups in five cities in Ethiopia, and the programme is extending to additional cities.
The partnership between the Population Council and the YWCA of Ethiopia demonstrates the impact of strategic inter-institutional collaboration. Departing from a shared mission to empower the most vulnerable girls and young women, the YWCA offers a broad network and years of experience working in and around the poorest communities in the world. The Population Council brings expertise in developing and using research evidence to inform the design of effective programmes to build girls’ social, health and economic resources. Together, we are transforming lives and strengthening communities.
The Population Council and YWCA Member Associations will be hosting skill-building sessions at the IWS, Young Women’s Leadership Dialogue and the World Council in Zurich. Delegates coming to Zurich can attend to learn more about enabling “the Girl Effect” in their programmes.
