Pathfinder International / Ethiopia

Women’s Empowerment in Ethiopia

New Solutions to Ancient Problems
Pathfinder International Table of Contents
Pathfinder International believes that reproductive health is a basic human Executive Summary................................................... 2
right. When parents can choose the timing of pregnancies and the size of Introduction............................................................... 4
their families, women’s lives are improved and children grow up healthier.
Women in Ethiopia.................................................... 5
For 50 years Pathfinder has promoted reproductive health and family Harmful Traditional Practices..................................... 5
planning services around the world. Projects promote maternal and child Early Marriage..................................................... 5
health, including providing care to women suffering from the complications Female Genital Cutting........................................ 6
of unsafe abortions. Efforts address the needs of adolescents and youth, Violence and Abuse............................................. 7
providing them with the knowledge and tools necessary to make responsible
Empowering Girls and Women................................ 7
reproductive health decisions. Others work to prevent HIV/AIDS and
advocate for sound reproductive health policies in the US and abroad. Focusing on Reproductive Health............................... 8
Working with Leaders............................................... 8
Addressing Harmful Traditional Practices .
Pathfinder International in Ethiopia in the Community..................................................... 9
Since 1993, Pathfinder has pioneered in introducing reproductive health Changing the Law.................................................. 10
and family planning to some of the poorest communities of Ethiopia. Gender Equity Training............................................ 11
Our extensive network of nearly 50 nongovernmental organizations has Microcredit Programs for Independent Income......... 12
trained and mobilized close to 10,000 Community-Based Reproductive
Transformational Results....................................... 12
Health Agents, who bring information and services into people’s homes
The Power of Knowledge and Example.................... 13
and introduce them to facility-based care. Through improvements to health
Mentoring and Role Models............................... 13
care facilities and introduction of equipment and contraceptives, Pathfinder
programs have reached more than 40 percent of the population of the Conclusions and Recommendations..................... 15
country, including specific programs targeting adolescents and people Acronyms and Abbreviations................................. 16
vulnerable to HIV/AIDS. In program areas, Pathfinder has significantly
influenced the increasing use of contraception.

Cover: Zarha Mohamed was married at the age of 14. Fortunately, her parents accepted her
back home after she left her marriage, because she wanted to go to school. Shortly after, her
www.pathfind.org
father died. Now at 21, Zarha has a scholarship from Pathfinder that enables her to continue
going to school. She dreams of becoming the Minister of Agriculture for Ethiopia someday.

cover photo: Amel Belay, Pathfinder International/Ethiopia

photo above: Jennifer Wilder, Pathfinder International
Women’s Empowerment in Ethiopia
New Solutions to Ancient Problems

September 2007

Bogalech Alemu, M.Sc., Gender Technical Advisor, Pathfinder International/Ethiopia

Mengistu Asnake, M.D., M.P.H., Deputy Country Representative, Pathfinder International/Ethiopia

Developed and written by Jennifer Wilder, Senior Technical Communications Advisor, Pathfinder International
 Executive Summary
Through 50 years of bringing quality reproductive health care and family planning services to
women in developing countries, Pathfinder has continually been challenged to incorporate activities
that address harmful traditional practices and social and economic structures that limit women’s
access to health care and well-being.

In Ethiopia, women traditionally enjoy little independent decision making on most individual
and family issues, including the option to choose whether to give birth in a health facility or seek
the assistance of a trained provider. Harmful traditional practices, including female genital cutting,
early marriage and childbearing, gender-based violence, forced marriage, wife inheritance, and a high
value for large families, all impose huge negative impacts on women’s Reproductive Health (RH).

Today, Ethiopia has the second largest population in sub-Sahara Africa, and the average woman
bears 5.4 children, placing an insupportable burden on families, communities, and a country facing
chronic food shortages and environmental degradation. High maternal and infant mortality rates
are inevitable results.

Since 2003, the David and Lucile Packard Foundation has leveraged its support to ongoing RH
and Family Planning (FP) Pathfinder projects funded by USAID. Two such projects have focused
specifically on the empowerment of women and girls in Ethiopia, improving the social, religious,
and economic climate for females to be able to shake off damaging Harmful Traditional Practices
(HTPs) and begin assuming responsibility for and control of their reproductive lives. Focusing
in the regions of Tigray, Amhara, Oromia, and SNNRP, where we have worked for many years,
Pathfinder has challenged traditions through trainings, workshops, public meetings, dramas, and
long hours of collaboration with national, regional, and community leaders, as well as financial
contributions in the form of scholarships to keep girls in school. The beliefs and behaviors of
community and religious leaders, husbands and wives, adolescent girls and boys have been examined
and challenged in a spirit of understanding and respect for people’s traditions, as well as a comparable
respect for the power of knowledge to bring about changes in ideas and behavior.

Pathfinder has trained a broad network of nearly 10,000 Community-Based Reproductive Health
Agents (CBRHAs) in more than 6,000 kebeles (villages) to provide women with family planning
counseling and methods (or referrals) and maternal and child health care. Women and men learn
of the true harm that comes from female genital cutting, early child bearing, and many other
HTPs. Hundreds of religious leaders and former circumcisers have become ardent advocates for
reproductive health care and family planning. The Women Lawyers Association and legal advocates,
with help from Pathfinder, were able to push through major changes in the law affirming 18 as
the legal age of marriage; and explicitly outlawing female circumcision, rape, forced marriage,
and other damaging practices. CBRHAs talk with parents, convincing them to keep their girls
in school, delay girls’ marriage until they are educated, and stop the custom of circumcision.
Pathfinder scholarships keep girls in school, while a network of successful Ethiopian women
visit rural schools as mentors and become inspiring role models of another possible way of life.
Thousands of women have received microcredit loans and training in small-scale business
management, paving the way for their economic contributions to family and community that
will transform their status forever.

 Women’s Empowerment in Ethiopia | Pathfinder

The impact of the Women and Girls Empowering Projects has been staggering. Pathfinder works
closely with partners, key leaders, and medical providers, so there are many contributors to the
remarkable progress that has taken place in recent years, including a significant drop in the numbers
of young women being circumcised, as well as drops in forced marriages. A few numbers help to
clarify the scope of Pathfinder’s role in this impact:

The Impact of the Women and Girls Empowering Projects

Activity Number

CBRHAs in the 4 regions 10,000

Woreda Advisory Committees created to support RH/FP 200

New users of contraception served by CBRHAs 3.64 million

Children referred by CBRHAs for emergency health care (2002-2007) 6.52 million

Community/religious leaders and others trained in RH/FP, gender advocacy, and HTPs 7.6 million

Judges, police officers, and prosecutors trained in implementation of new laws 1,200

NGO and other local staff trained in gender equality concepts 12,700

Women trained in small business management and given microcredit loans 2,400

Girls helped to evade early marriage (in two provinces in 2004 only) 12,950

Girls received scholarships to stay in school 122

Girls’ clubs formed 156

Girls trained as peer educators 1,500

Community members sensitized on gender issues and HTPs 7.46 million

Adolescents receiving RH and adolescent health messages (in and out of school) 25.3 million

Women mentors and role models 48

Traditional Birth Attendants trained on HTPs and RH 350

Traditional circumcisers trained to promote RH 650

Fistula cases referred for repair 500

The impact of these many activities is cumulative, with a heightened level of awareness of the
importance of improving women’s status and well-being throughout society. By integrating women’s
reproductive health needs with economic, educational, social, and legal concerns, people are
adopting gender sensitivity across society. By sensitizing all levels of society, from national, to
regional, to local leaders and throughout local communities, in conjunction with the different
interventions, the transformation of beliefs and behavior takes on a momentum of its own.

Pathfinder | Women’s Empowerment in Ethiopia 

 Above: Girls and young women walk
great distances to fetch water and
Introduction
firewood. If alone or in small groups,
Located in the Horn of Africa, Ethiopia is, proudly, the only country in Africa to have escaped
they are at risk of being raped or
taken captive for forced marriage. Western colonization. Yet today, Ethiopia remains one of the world’s poorest countries. Of a
In 2005, eight percent of women population exceeding 77 million people, 78 percent live on less than $2 per day. Ethiopia’s
reported that they had been married struggle with poverty and slow development is inextricably tied to its history of conflict,
by abduction.
recurrent drought, and environmental degradation. This situation is further complicated by
photo: Amel Belay
deep traditional social and economic patterns that place powerful constraints on the rights of
Pathfinder International/Ethiopia
women and their opportunities to direct their own lives or participate in and contribute to
community and national development.

With a largely Muslim and Christian population, Ethiopians of different religions have traditionally
lived in relative harmony, sharing a predominantly rural, agrarian (85 percent) culture, bound
to the land and conservative values. The Ethiopian government, in partnership with many
nongovernmental organizations, including Pathfinder, has targeted the needs of women in its
efforts to meet the United Nations’ Millennium Development Goals.

Pathfinder’s core mission is to bring quality Reproductive Health and Family Planning (RH/FP)
services to people in the poorest countries and most difficult to reach communities. In Ethiopia,
as in most developing countries, this mission is made more complex by constraints on women’s
access to education and their rights to control major decisions in their lives, including the number
and spacing of their children. Although women’s rights are, today, protected by the Ethiopian
Constitution, male dominance remains the order of the day in both public and private spheres.

 UNFPA, State of the World Population, 2005.

 Population Reference Bureau, (PRB) 2006 World Population Data Sheet (http://www.prb.org/datafind/).
 PRB, 2006.

 Women’s Empowerment in Ethiopia | Pathfinder

Women in Ethiopia
From her birth, an Ethiopian female in most families is of lower status and commands little
respect relative to her brothers and male counterparts. As soon as she is able, she starts caring for
younger siblings, helps in food preparation, and spends long hours hauling water and fetching
firewood. As she grows older, she is valued for the role she will play in establishing kinship bonds
through marriage to another family, thereby strengthening the community status of her family.
She is taught to be subservient, as a disobedient daughter is an embarrassment to her family.

Low status characterizes virtually every aspect of girls’ and women’s lives. Given the heavy
workload imposed on girls at an early age, early marriage without choice, and a subservient role
to both husband and mother-in-law, girls and women are left with few opportunities to make
and act on their own decisions.

Low status characterizes virtually every aspect of girls’ and women’s lives.
Given the heavy workload imposed on girls at an early age, early marriage without
choice, and a subservient role to both husband and mother-in-law, girls and women
are left with few opportunities to make and act on their own decisions.

Harmful Traditional Practices

The National Committee for Traditional Practices in Ethiopia identified 120 Harmful Traditional
Practices (HTPs), including Female Genital Cutting (FGC), early and forced marriage, rape, and
wife inheritance. Pathfinder programming addresses many of these barriers to women’s progress
in an effort to grant them physical and social access to quality reproductive healthcare services.

Early Marriage
More than 85 percent of Ethiopians live in rural areas. In the Amhara Region, 48 percent of
women are married before the age of 15—the highest early marriage rate in the country. The
average Ethiopian woman bears 5.4 children during her lifetime; those who marry very young
are likely to bear more children.

Traditional practices endure in conservative societies because they go unquestioned. In rural

Ethiopia, individual status is closely linked to family strength and success. A daughter brings pride
and status to her parents by being successfully married and establishing strategic kinship links
with another family. Great shame is brought onto parents whose daughter never marries—she is
their failure. A pregnancy out of wedlock, whether consensual or by rape, is deeply shameful to
the entire family. For many families, marrying a daughter at a young age is understood as the
best way to protect her from sexual advances and an unwanted pregnancy.

 Pathfinder International. Causes and Consequences of Early Marriage in the Amhara Region of Ethiopia, 2006, p. 20.
 Population Reference Bureau, available at www.prb.org/DataFind/prjprbdata/wcprbdata7.asp?DW=DR&SL=&SA=1.

Pathfinder | Women’s Empowerment in Ethiopia 

 Many development professionals consider early marriage to be
the most significant harmful traditional practice for women
in Ethiopia, as it harms women’s physical and psychological
well-being and curtails their education and future income-earning
potential. Not only do women married young bear more children
over time, but an adolescent mother is less prepared to care for
her children and to manage a household.

The Pathfinder study in Amhara on the causes and consequences

of early marriage found that more than half of young marriages
in that state were arranged with a man at least a decade older
than the girl, usually someone she had never met. This age
difference represents a huge power imbalance and invites abuse,
itself already a substantial risk because girls are raised subservient
to men. Many young wives are subject to sexual violence and
exposure to sexually-transmitted infections. Pregnancy is an
obvious risk and dangerous for young wives: when not fully
mature, a young girl’s body may be unable to support a pregnancy
or a successful delivery. At least one percent of Ethiopian
women have experienced obstetric fistula—a perforation of the
lining of the womb connecting to the bladder or rectum during
extended labor that, if untreated, causes perpetual leakage of
urine and/or feces. Given the ensuing dreadful odor, a woman
with obstetric fistula is usually thrown out of her home by her
husband and typically again rejected by her parents, forcing her
to live on her own.

Above: This woman suffered from the Once married, a girl rarely remains in school. Among girls under the age of 24 in the Pathfinder
consequences of fistula. A Pathfinder study, more than 78 percent of those never married were attending school, while only 8.9 percent
CBRH agent helped her receive
surgery to correct the problem.
of currently married girls were in school.

photo: Margot Kane/Pathfinder International That same study revealed that 13 percent of marriages end in divorce or separation. Many divorced
girls return to their families but, if turned away, they often migrate to a city to seek employment
as housemaids. Too often, they have to resort to commercial or transactional sex work. With no
income-generating skills and little knowledge of how to make positive reproductive health decisions,
they are at high risk of contracting HIV/AIDS and other sexually-transmitted infections.

Female Genital Cutting

Women in Ethiopia are subject to a variety of HTPs that qualify as serious abuse. More than
74 percent of Ethiopian women of all ages have been subjected to female genital cutting (FGC
or circumcision), a practice centuries old. Health risks associated with FGC are considerable.
According to the United Nations, circumcised women are up to 70 percent more vulnerable to
potentially fatal bleeding after delivery. According to a World Health Organization study published

 Pathfinder Amhara Study, 2006.

 EDHS, 2005.
 Pathfinder Amhara Study, 2006, p.44.
 EDHS, 2005.

 Women’s Empowerment in Ethiopia | Pathfinder

in The Lancet, women who have undergone the procedure are also more likely to need Caesareans
and the infant mortality rate among their babies is as much as 50 percent higher.10 Yet, even though
circumcised women face a lifetime of pain and suffering, the practice is difficult to eradicate.

According to the 2005 DH Survey, the practice has declined today in Ethiopia, as only 62.1
percent of women age 15-19 had been cut, compared to 73 percent of those aged 20-24. The
vast majority of ethnic groups perform this procedure when the girl is an infant. Fewer than a
third of the women interviewed believed that the practice should be continued.

Though its true origins are not known, the reasons given today for circumcision generally remain
unexamined by most Ethiopians. Usually women, more than men, fear their daughters will otherwise
be unworthy of marriage and without respect in the community. An uncircumcised woman is
thought to be promiscuous and a threat to the family. Many believe that it is a religious obligation,
while others believe that it protects a woman’s virginity and is medically beneficial. Traditionally,
women perform the procedure with crude, unsterilized knives or razors, putting girls at risk of
infection or contracting HIV.

Violence and Abuse

Nearly 8 percent11 of currently married women were abducted and forced into marriage—a
custom, prohibited by law but not enforced until recently, that vividly illustrates the enormity
of male dominance in Ethiopian tradition. Rape is common, and too often its threat drives
parents to keep their girls home, out of harm’s way, but also out of school. Domestic violence
is so accepted that 81 percent of women interviewed believed there are justifiable reasons for a
husband to beat his wife.12 The practice of marrying one’s sister-in-law (without her consent)
upon the death of her husband is widespread and particularly pervasive in certain areas in the
south of the country. Today, this practice is feeding the HIV/AIDS epidemic, when widows
lose their husbands to the virus and carry it to the next marriage.

Above: “Women’s role has only been

Empowering Girls and Women: Effective Social Change to bear and rear children, but we are
very poor, and our area cannot develop
Between April 2003 and June 2006, Pathfinder implemented the Empowerment of Ethiopian without the involvement of women.
Women project with support from the David and Lucile Packard Foundation. This funding has Yes, family planning changes our lives,
even though it started only recently.
also leveraged and advanced extensive Pathfinder programming supported by USAID. Focused Look out into the community—many
on removing obstacles to women’s basic rights—both social and economic—the project has women have 12 or 13 children!
promoted access to RH/FP services and freedom from sexual exploitation, violence, forced “We are working for the next
marriage, and other HTPs. The project was carried out in the Amhara and Oromia Regions as generation and their daughters
well as the capital city of Addis Ababa. In 2005, the Packard Foundation awarded Pathfinder a and sisters. We are not just fighting
poverty—we are also fighting
second related grant for the Women and Girls Empowerment Project, designed to continue the women’s diseases. We are healthier
effort, but expanding the focus to adolescent girls in recognition of a need for early intervention. now and equal to men.”
This second project works to increase awareness and education among girls and women (CBRHA trainee in Oromia Region)
about RH/FP and personal rights, as well as to emphasize education, life skills, and leadership photo: Jennifer Wilder/Pathfinder International
development. It also provides educational support to poor girls and promotes female education
through role models and mentoring.

10 WHO Study Group on Female Genital Mutilation and Obstetric Outcome. “Female genital mutilation and obstetric outcome: WHO
collaborative prospective study in six African Countries.” The Lancet (3), June 2006, 1835-1841.
11 EDHS, 2005.
12 EDHS, 2005.

Pathfinder | Women’s Empowerment in Ethiopia 

 Focusing on Reproductive Health
Only 10 percent of Ethiopian births are attended by skilled
birth attendants.13 Maternal mortality is 673/100,000,14 and
infant mortality is 77/1,000 live births.15 Most of these deaths
are preventable with knowledge that precipitates changes in
personal and health-seeking behavior, as well as access to
medical services.

To bring quality RH and FP services to all women in the country,

Pathfinder has addressed the social and cultural barriers that
prevent men and women from understanding the medical,
psychological, and social consequences of strongly-held beliefs
and practices. In a culture where a child’s illness or mother’s
death in childbirth is most often attributed to God, fate, or
the “evil eye,” Pathfinder fosters a popular understanding that
everyone can protect their own lives and those of their children
with quality health care.

Over the course of ten years, Pathfinder has built and trained
a corps of about 10,000 Community-Based Reproductive
Health Agents (CBRHAs) in the four most populous regions
of Tigray, Amhara, Oromia, and SNNRP. Every CBRHA has
Above: Sayid Umar Musxafaa (center) been trained in basic reproductive health issues, contraception methods, and the fundamentals of
is Chairman of the Artuma Fursi
maternal and child health. Visiting house-to-house, they provide contraceptive pills and condoms,
Woreda WAC. He reports, “At first,
WAC members were not aware make referrals for clinical procedures, and talk to their neighbors about the advantages of birth
of problems related to female planning, the steps one can take to ensure a safe delivery, and the virtues of antenatal and post-
circumcision. Now, many are strong natal care from trained providers. CBRHAs make referrals to clinics for emergencies, HIV/AIDS
advocates against it. They have been
testing and treatment, childhood illnesses, and a myriad of other medical issues. Pathfinder
able to virtually stop the practice in
the city, though it is still a struggle CBRHAs have identified and counseled more than 600 women suffering from fistulae, and have
in rural areas. But, they have been referred them to hospitals where they can receive restorative surgery.
able to give alternative training to
all of the women who used to do the The curriculum Pathfinder helped develop to train CBRHAs has been adopted by the Government
cutting, so it has become difficult of Ethiopia for training all CBRHAs and Health Extension Workers across the country. Pathfinder
to find someone who will do it.”
projects have served 3.64 million new users of contraception through CBRHAs and referrals. This
Ato Musxafaa is meeting here with
Pathfinder field officers Abadi Dagnew process is nothing short of revolutionary for women and families, who are beginning to recognize
and Ambaye Areru. that they can have some control over their health and the welfare of their children.
photo: Jennifer Wilder/Pathfinder International

Working with Leaders: Strength through Knowledge

Ethiopian society is highly structured, and great deference is paid to religious, political and
civil leaders, teachers, and other prominent community members. Over many years, Pathfinder
has developed trusting relationships with political and traditional leaders, from the national
level down to the smallest communities. Pathfinder has developed a special civic cadre of leaders
through the creation of Woreda (District) Advisory Committees (WACs), to advocate for

13 PRB, 2005. Women of Our World.

14 EDHS, 2005.
15 PRB, 2006. World Population Data Sheet.

 Women’s Empowerment in Ethiopia | Pathfinder

reproductive health and other community needs at district and
community levels. WAC members include government and
religious leaders, members of the Women’s Association, youth
organizations, educators, and many others who act in concert
to pave the way for public acceptance of family planning and
changed traditions.

Religious leaders—both Orthodox Christian and Muslim—

hold great influence over public opinion. Pathfinder has spent
several years engaging religious leaders around issues of early
marriage, family planning, and FGC. In workshops, the Bible
and Koran are closely analyzed to prove that neither document
forbids family planning or demands circumcision. Muslim
leaders have gone on Pathfinder study tours to Egypt and
Tunisia to confer with their counterparts in those countries.
Today, a growing number of these leaders are ardent supporters
of Pathfinder’s work and tirelessly promote RH and FP to their
congregations.

Addressing Harmful Traditional Practices in

the Community
CBRHAs are the front line of social change, bringing new
messages into communities through voices the people know
and trust. For thousands of mothers and fathers, especially
in remote areas, the CBRHAs are the first to explain the
connection between health problems and early marriage,
youthful childbearing, female circumcision, poor diet and
hygiene, and other common practices. While introducing a woman to contraceptive options, the Above: This leader in the Orthodox
Christian Church now advocates
agent can also explain the medical dangers of having her daughter circumcised and discuss other
for family planning in his community,
reasons to break with tradition. She can point to a young woman who was allowed to stay in school, after having received training
rather than marrying, attained a good job, and now contributes financial support to her family. from Pathfinder.
Similarly, the CBRHA can be the first to reveal the causal connection between fistula and the photo: Margot Kane/Pathfinder International
mother’s physical development.

Though the 1960 Ethiopian Penal Code explicitly prohibited removal of body parts, little effort
was ever made to invoke the law as protection from circumcision. The recently adopted Ethiopian
Criminal Code has made a number of harmful traditional practices, such as FGC, early marriage,
widow inheritance, and forced marriage, punishable under the law. As with many other harmful
traditional practices, Pathfinder has approached FGC as a problem linked to reproductive health
and a woman’s right to take ownership and care of her own body. Sound medical arguments
against FGC, shared with women and men by respected members of their communities, have
proven effective in changing attitudes and behaviors.

Pathfinder | Women’s Empowerment in Ethiopia 

 Above: During the first six months As with early marriage, great success has been achieved by teaching religious leaders about the
he was a CBRHA, Ashebir’s (above
medical and psychological consequences of FGC. Accurate knowledge of the details and implications
left) life was threatened many times
as he visited farmers in their fields of the practice is limited among men. After learning of the enormous danger, pain, and suffering
to promote family planning. People caused by FGC, religious leaders generally become outspoken opponents and carry this message
distrusted the idea, because having to their congregations. Pathfinder also works with women who perform the cutting, training
children denotes wealth and success.
them in alternative means of earning an income, and inviting them to become community educators
Over time, he gained respect and people against FGC.
began to listen. Sani Muhammad
was wary of his new bride (Birtukan)
using family planning. They had only Changing the Law
just met, and he didn’t trust that she
Pathfinder and other civil society organizations have played leading roles in support of the
would remain faithful to him if she used
contraception. But, gradually Ashebir Ethiopian Women Lawyer’s Association, the federal Ministry of Justice, and religious and other
convinced them to wait for children civic groups seeking to introduce new laws to protect the rights of women. In 2001, the Ethiopian
until they had saved some money. Revised Family Law and the new Ethiopian Criminal Code set the legal age of marriage at 18,
“At least we will have something for
the child,” says Sani. “I have seen my
although this fact remains unknown by much of the population. In addition, FGC, abduction,
neighbors who have so many children and rape have been explicitly criminalized.
that are dying or not growing. I should
delay and space children, so we Though law enforcement continues to lag far behind the written code, Pathfinder has trained
are waiting.” over 1,200 judges, police officers, and prosecutors to recognize the many forms of gender-based
photos: Jennifer Wilder/Pathfinder International
violence and how to implement the new laws. Issues related to women’s reproductive health and
rights are included in the training. With new understanding of the reasoning behind women’s
rights, law enforcement personnel are now responding to requests for protection under the law.
This strengthened enforcement not only provides assistance to individual girls and women, but
indirectly promotes respect for the rule of law across the country.

10 Women’s Empowerment in Ethiopia | Pathfinder

With the law on their side, as well as CBRHAs, teachers, local women, and religious leaders,
many Ethiopian girls are standing up for their rights. Many communities have established a
requirement that the WACs must approve all marriages, which forces parents to prove a daughter’s
eligibility. Though some parents resist, many are now listening—moved by new insight into the
high risk of fistulae or shocked by the high divorce rate among marriages between young girls
and older men. Parents are also now witness to examples of girls who have completed their
education, contributing to their family’s income and leading very successful and satisfying lives.

Women, as well as their husbands, accept the view that under some circumstances, a man is
justified in beating his wife. Refusal to have sex is a serious domestic offense and weighs heavily
against women who try to negotiate condom use with a husband who might be HIV-positive.
Pathfinder has again joined with the Ethiopian Women’s Association and other civic groups to
enhance enforcement provisions in domestic violence laws.

Women’s status, including family and community roles,

profoundly influences their ability to make decisions about
their own health care and childbearing, which, in turn, affects Above: Aman Buli (left center) is a
CBRHA in Tuse Town, Oromia. He has
their vulnerability to illness and HIV/AIDS. counseled more than 4,500 women
on contraception and has convinced
a large majority of his community to
give up FGC by convincing religious
leaders to preach against it.
Gender Equity Training His message is clear: FGC causes
serious complications during labor
To build the capacity of Pathfinder and its partner organizations in addressing gender issues, the and sometimes death, and it can
training and sensitization of project personnel and managers address gender, reproductive health, inflict lifelong pain. The religious
harmful traditional practices, and gender-based violence. IEC and BCC materials, including cue leaders have no problem condemning
the practice once they learn more
cards, radio messages, and videos, have been widely distributed throughout project communities. about the facts from Aman.
Community conversation sessions stimulate men and women to abandon harmful traditional
photo: Jennifer Wilder/Pathfinder International
practices and gender-based violence.

Women’s status, including family and community roles, profoundly influences their ability to make
decisions about their own health care and childbearing, which, in turn, affects their vulnerability
to illness and HIV/AIDS.

Pathfinder has integrated the mainstreaming of gender equity awareness into all projects to ensure
an equal distribution of resources and opportunities for both sexes. An important manual developed
by Pathfinder/Ethiopia for this purpose, Building Gender Mainstreaming into Reproductive Health,
Family Planning, and HIV/AIDS Programs, specifically focuses on the Ethiopian context, but has
relevance to other countries as well.

Over the course of the project, nearly 12,700 partner organization staff have been trained in basic
gender equality concepts, including reproductive health and rights, harmful traditional practices
affecting women’s health, women’s position in society, legal provisions that protect women’s
reproductive health and rights, and related issues. Pathfinder, in partnership with Progynist,

Pathfinder | Women’s Empowerment in Ethiopia 11

 has established gender advisory committees in five government
institutions, which will promote gender equality within their respective
organizations. These efforts demonstrate Pathfinder’s commitment
to community-wide saturation with workshops, conversation and
debate, thought-provoking public theatre, and other behavior change
communication materials. Such comprehensive public education is
informed by the understanding that deeply entrenched attitudes and
gender roles can only evolve after a critical percentage of people in a
community engage in the discourse. These widespread messages
resonate immediately with many powerful girls and women, and a
great many thoughtful and responsive men also take on leadership
roles in debating and popularizing these new ideas.

Microcredit Programs for Independent Income

In Amhara, Addis Ababa, and Oromia, Pathfinder has trained and
provided resources to women’s associations that enable members to
earn an independent income and develop business skills. Through
these programs, more than 2,400 women have undertaken training in
small-scale business management. Participants have learned vegetable
and horticultural production and marketing, animal husbandry,
pottery making, restaurant and tea shop management, and garbage
collection and recycling. Women form their own savings and credit
groups, supporting one another as they develop business skills and
repay their loans. Six hundred participants received loans of the
money generated through a revolving fund in the Oromia region,
Above: These women are attending while another group of commercial sex workers started small businesses outside the sex trade, as
a regional celebration for zero
did 500 women who collect firewood around Addis Ababa. These women also received much-
tolerance of FGM. They carry sticks,
given to them by their mothers when needed counseling, skill-building in resisting unwanted sex, and information on HIV and STIs,
they married. According to Oromo in addition to information on the importance of reproductive health and family planning services.
tradition, if a woman is mistreated by
her husband, she leaves her home
carrying this stick, and she is joined by
her neighbors carrying their sticks, and
Transformational Results
they all proceed to meet with the It doesn’t take long for a young girl to see her future life in a whole new light when presented
elders of the community to appeal
for justice.
with the possibility that, instead of marrying an older man she has never met, she can finish
high school and perhaps even continue to university. She can earn her own money, and—finally
photo: Mengistu Asnake
Pathfinder International/Ethiopia —choose her own husband.

These girls do not stand alone. Throughout the course of the Women and Girls Empowerment
projects, Pathfinder has reached out to more than 3.5 million people through public rallies promoting
women’s reproductive health and rights. A single such rally in Oromia, against gender-based
violence, was attended by more than 30,000 people, including the Ethiopian Women’s Affairs
Minister, the region’s vice president, and numerous other civic and religious leaders. In Addis
Ababa, the mayor and key policy makers have attended public rallies organized by the Addis
Ababa Women’s Association, where these leaders publicly emphasized their commitment to end
violence against women. Regular television and radio messages reinforce and expand upon these
new social ideas.

12 Women’s Empowerment in Ethiopia | Pathfinder

 Left: Fato Jemal and Bertalu Hossein
used to be circumcisers, but with
Pathfinder training, they both have
found alternative sources of income
and have become two of the strongest
voices against FGC.
Bertalu did circumcisions for ten years,
but recognized that women always had
painful intercourse later and serious
problems with childbirth. “The area
is scarred by the cutting, so it cannot
stretch in childbirth and there is
tearing,” she says. “It causes greater
danger for HIV transmission as well.”
Today, they both go house-to-house
talking to women and discouraging
them from having their daughters cut.
Their efforts are making a difference.
With more and more uncircumcised
young women visible and not
promiscuous (contrary to stereotype),
they are less often seen as a threat
to the community.

photo: Jennifer Wilder/Pathfinder International

The Power of Knowledge and Example

The enduring source of energy for this social transformation in Ethiopia comes from the girls
themselves. Over the course of the two projects, 156 girls’ clubs have been organized in schools.
Girls learn about reproductive health, become conscious of the opportunities that come with
education, and support one another when a parent proposes circumcision or marriage.

Over the course of the two projects, 156 girls’ clubs have been
organized in schools. Girls learn about reproductive health,
become conscious of the opportunities that come with education,
and support one another when a parent proposes circumcision
or marriage.

Mentoring and Role Models

In recent years, Pathfinder has initiated a powerful mentoring program introducing young girls
in isolated communities to strong and successful women, who have successfully defied traditional
gender roles and can inspire others to do the same. More than 30 women leaders from around
the country have visited groups of girls in remote areas, speaking about their own families,
education, and careers, and offering themselves as examples of what is possible. Their chief goal
is to inspire girls to remain in school and develop their own dreams and life goals.

Pathfinder | Women’s Empowerment in Ethiopia 13

 Right: Abeth (center) is a CBRHA
and traditional birth attendant. Sadia
(left) and Kadija (right) were both
engaged to older men when they
were 12 and 13. Abeth persuaded
Sadia’s parents to leave her in school
by pointing to the success of her own
daughter, who has finished school and
is now marrying a young man of her
choice from the university. Sadia is now
15 and intent on finishing high school
and going on to higher education.
Kadija’s parents wanted her to marry
a 30-year-old man she had never met.
She is a good student and strongly
wanted to stay in school. Abeth
engaged the help of the director
of the school, the local WAC, and
eventually, the police, forcing Kadija’s
parents to back down. Now, at 16, she
definitely plans to finish school.
Many members of the community
leadership are coming together to
protect the rights of these girls, as they
themselves have become convinced
about the importance of delaying
marriage and educating women. More than 1,500 girls have completed another training program that prepares them as peer
photo: Jennifer Wilder/Pathfinder International educators able to support, inform, and encourage their friends to pursue a future of their choosing.
Gaining leadership and negotiation skills and learning about their rights and reproductive health
needs, many peer leaders are deeply inspired to seek advanced education.

Throughout Pathfinder project regions, girls have started

refusing to marry, despite parental demands. In Amhara and
Tirgray alone, 12,950 marriages were canceled in 2004.

Based on the experience of girls in project communities, Pathfinder realized that staying in school
involves more than avoiding marriage: education is also a financial challenge. To date, Pathfinder
has funded scholarships for 122 girls, removing all financial barriers to completing high school.
Many of these students were chosen for scholarship support because of their commitment to
education and their personal struggles to escape engagement or marriage. These funds backed
up their dreams, and through the awards, Pathfinder sent a strong message to parents and village
members that these girls’ dreams are both valid and attainable, and that educated daughters just
might end up bringing new financial resources back to their parents.

Throughout Pathfinder project regions, girls have started refusing to marry, despite parental
demands. In Amhara and Tirgray alone, 12,950 marriages were canceled in 2004. Some CBRHAs
and peer educators act as village marriage monitors, using friends and other contacts to learn of

14 Women’s Empowerment in Ethiopia | Pathfinder

planned marriages or circumcisions. Girls now know that they can go
to teachers, village elders, members of the Women’s Association, or
even the police for support. To have leaders within the village who will
protect their personal rights is totally revolutionary for Ethiopian girls.

Conclusions and Recommendations

The roles played by men and women in a society, the rights of women
to make decisions and act independently, and their treatment by the
males around them all have an immediate influence on the quality of
reproductive health care available to them. Demand for quality care
must and will come from women, but resources are only as good as
women’s rights to use them. Gender responsive programs should
recognize that practices such as FGC, early marriage, abduction,
rape, lack of access to and control over resources, and the absence of
decision-making and negotiation power all negatively affect women’s
reproductive health and rights. Because many women have limited
control over their sexual lives and contraceptive use, integrating gender
issues into reproductive health and HIV/AIDS program interventions
becomes critical. Active male involvement in reproductive and family
care-giving enhances responsible parenthood and reduces gender-
based violence that affects women’s reproductive health and rights.

To accelerate the process and realize Pathfinder’s goal of gender equality,

more work has to be done to provide women and girls with access
to education and information. Women and girls continue to need
economic support, as poverty exacerbates their isolation, and earning
power enhances their community and family status. Progress also
demands that entire communities take individual and collective measures
against gender-based violence and harmful traditional practices.
Above: Hawa Hassan is the proud
owner of a new house that she paid
By undertaking research on gender-specific reproductive health and rights, Pathfinder has been
for herself from the profits she made
able to develop and implement effective evidence-based interventions. Developing widespread raising animals. She borrowed 2,000
communications and harnessing innovative media techniques, when linked to scaling up these Birr (about $235) with which she
interventions, will enable us to reach even more women and girls across the country. bought a camel. By renting the camel
out to carry heavy loads, she has been
able to buy two cows, an ox, five goats,
and build the new house. So far, she
has also paid back 500 Birr.
This newfound independence in
earning has also transformed Hawa’s
status in both her family and the
community.

photo: Jennifer Wilder/Pathfinder International

Pathfinder | Women’s Empowerment in Ethiopia 15

 Right: Scholarship beneficiaries who
were victims of early marriage from
Awabel Woreda in the Amhara region.

photo: Pathfinder International

Acronyms and Abbreviations

CBRHA Community-Based Reproductive Health Agent

FGC Female Genital Cutting

FP Family Planning

HTP Harmful Traditional Practice

RH Reproductive Health

SNNPR Southern Nation, Nationalities, and People’s Region

WAC Woreda Advisory Committee

16 Women’s Empowerment in Ethiopia | Pathfinder

Acknowledgements
Pathfinder International/Ethiopia would like to thank the Amhara, Oromia, and Addis Ababa Women’s
Associations, as well as EGLDAM (the Ethiopian National Committee on Traditional Practices) for
their invaluable collaboration and deep commitment to our ongoing efforts to promote women’s
empowerment. We are equally grateful to the community and religious leaders, WAC members,
teachers, mentors, and many others in kebeles across the project regions, who are deeply committed
to social progress for women. They are bringing about exciting changes in their communities that
are truly transforming women’s lives forever.

photo: Mengistu Asnake, Pathfinder International/Ethiopia

Pathfinder International / headquarters Pathfinder International / ethiopia
9 Galen Street, Suite 217 P.O. Box 12655
Watertown, MA 02472 Addis Ababa
USA Ethiopia
Tel: 617.924.7200 Tel: 011.251.11.6613.330

www.pathfind.org

0907/1.5K