Berhane Hewan: Supporting Married and Unmarried Girls in Rural Ethiopia
Berhane Hewan ( “Light for Eve” in Amharic) is designed to assist unmarried girls by imparting the knowledge, skills, and resources they need to avoid child marriage.
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
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.
Berhane Hewan (meaning “Light for Eve” in Amharic) is a project 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 and Sports 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.
After two years of implementation, Council researchers undertook an impact evaluation among adolescent girls in the pilot site as well as comparable girls in a control site. The evaluation found significantly fewer girls in the experimental area had been married during early adolescence (ages 10–14) compared to girls of similar age in the control site. Among married girls, girls living in the project site were nearly three times more likely to use family planning methods.
Delaying early marriage among disadvantaged rural girls in Amhara, Ethiopia, through social support, education, and community awareness (PDF)
Muthengi,Eunice; Erulkar,Annabel S.
Promoting Healthy, Safe, and Productive Transitions to Adulthood Brief (no. 20)
Publication date: 2011
Les programmes de lutte contre le mariage des enfants : cerner le problème (PDF)
Amin,Sajeda
Promouvoir la santé, la sécurité et la productivité transitions vers l'âge adulte Bulletin (N 14)
Publication date: 2011
Programs to address child marriage: Framing the problem (PDF)
Amin,Sajeda
Promoting Healthy, Safe, and Productive Transitions to Adulthood Brief (no. 14)
Publication date: 2011
Retarder le mariage précoce chez les filles défavorisées en milieu rural dans la région Amhara, en Éthiopie, grâce au soutien social, à l'éducation et à la sensibilisation des communautés (PDF)
Muthengi,Eunice; Erulkar,Annabel S.
Promouvoir la santé, la sécurité et la productivité transitions vers l'âge adulte Bulletin (N 20)
Publication date: 2011
Supporting married girls: Calling attention to a neglected group (PDF)
Santhya,K.G.; Erulkar,Annabel S.
Promoting Healthy, Safe, and Productive Transitions to Adulthood Brief (no. 3)
Publication date: 2011
Community based reproductive health (RH) intervention resulted in increasing age at marriage: The case of Berhane Hewan Project, in East Gojam zone, Amhara region, Ethiopia
(abstract) (PDF)
Mekbib,Tekle-Ab; Molla,Mitike
Ethiopian Journal of Reproductive Health 4(1): 16-25
Publication date: 2010
Evaluation of Berhane Hewan: A pilot program to promote education and delay marriage in rural Ethiopia (PDF)
Erulkar,Annabel S.; Muthengi,Eunice
Publication date: 2008
Casamento infantil no contexto da epidemia do VIH (PDF)
Bruce,Judith
Promover transições para a idade adulta saudáveis, seguras e produtivas Sumário (N 11)
Publication date: 2007
Child marriage in the context of the HIV epidemic (PDF)
Bruce,Judith
Promoting Healthy, Safe, and Productive Transitions to Adulthood Brief (no. 11)
Publication date: 2007
The girls left behind: Outside the box and out of reach (HTML)
Bruce,Judith
Global AIDSLink 101
Publication date: 2007
Child marriage briefing: Ethiopia (PDF)
Child Marriage Briefings
Publication date: 2005
Trends in the timing of first marriage among men and women in the developing world
Mensch,Barbara S.; Singh,Susheela; Casterline,John B.; Lloyd,Cynthia B.; Behrman,Jere R.; Stromquist,Nelly P.; Cohen,Barney
from The Changing Transitions to Adulthood in Developing Countries: Selected Studies, pp. 118-171
Publication date: 2005
Trends in the timing of first marriage among men and women in the developing world (PDF)
Mensch,Barbara S.; Singh,Susheela; Casterline,John B.
Policy Research Division Working Paper (no. 202)
Publication date: 2005
A world apart: The disadvantage and social isolation of married adolescent girls (PDF)
Haberland,Nicole; Chong,Erica; Bracken,Hillary J.
Brief based on background paper prepared for the WHO/UNFPA/Population Council Technical Consultation on Married Adolescents
Publication date: 2004
A world apart: The disadvantage and social isolation of married adolescent girls [Arabic] (PDF)
Haberland,Nicole; Chong,Erica; Bracken,Hillary J.
Brief based on background paper prepared for the WHO/UNFPA/Population Council Technical Consultation on Married Adolescents
Publication date: 2004
Adolescent life in low income and slum areas of Addis Ababa, Ethiopia (PDF)
Erulkar,Annabel S.; Mekbib,Tekle-Ab; Simie,Negussie; Gulema,Tsehai
Publication date: 2004
The experience of adolescence in rural Amhara Region, Ethiopia (PDF)
Erulkar,Annabel S.; Mekbib,Tekle-Ab; Simie,Negussie; Gulema,Tsehai
Publication date: 2004
Project Stats
Location: Ethiopia (Amhara)
Program(s):
Poverty, Gender, and Youth
Topic(s):
Child marriage
Duration: 12/2004 - 6/2008
Population Council researchers:
Annabel Erulkar
Non-Council collaborators:
Ministry of Youth and Sports
Donors:
The Turner Foundation
UK Department for International Development
United Nations Children's Fund
United Nations Population Fund
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