Biruh Tesfa: Safe Spaces for Out-of-school Girls in Urban Slum Areas of Ethiopia
Biruh Tesfa protects the rights of vulnerable urban girls by reducing their social isolation and providing them with health information, including HIV prevention, and services to address sexual exploitation and abuse.
Biruh Tesfa creates safe spaces and activities for girls between the ages of 7 and 24 years. Trained female mentors lead girls' clubs to provide literacy, life and livelihood skills, and HIV/reproductive health education.
Biruh Tesfa (meaning “Bright Future” in Amharic) is a program for adolescent girls in urban slum areas of Ethiopia. The program is designed to assist out-of-school girls by creating safe spaces through which they can build support networks with other girls, as well as relationships with supportive adults (watch a video about this innovative program from our multimedia page).
Social mobilization of the most marginalized urban girls
Trained female mentors recruit girls by going house-to-house, identifying eligible out-of-school girls aged 7–24. The house-to-house visit allows mentors to contact girls who may otherwise be missed, such as child domestic workers who are largely confined to the home. In addition, contact at the household level allows mentors to negotiate for girls' participation with gatekeepers such as employers of domestic servants, and to serve as advocates for girls in the event they encounter future problems. Once the girls are in groups, the program provides basic literacy, life skills, financial literacy and savings, and HIV/reproductive health education through girls' clubs led by adult female mentors. Girls' clubs are held in meeting spaces donated by the kebele (local administration). Meeting times are varied to accommodate the schedules of working girls. In addition, a new partnership with Handicap International is attempting to increase the participation of girls with disabilities in the program.
Building a bridge to basic health care
Given the dire poverty of most Biruh Tesfa participants, even basic health care is out of their reach. Girls in need of basic medical and HIV services are provided with vouchers that entitle them to subsidized or free services at a network of participating clinics in the public and private sectors. Mentors provide the vouchers and also offer to accompany girls who may have misgivings about accessing services on their own.
Significant reach nationwide
Over 35,000 out-of-school girls have participated in Biruh Tesfa groups in the poorest areas of 17 cities in Ethiopia, including the capital, Addis Ababa. Biruh Tesfa girls are from very disadvantaged backgrounds: nearly half of the beneficiaries have lost at least one parent, and 1 in 7 participants have lost both parents. The project is one of the first of its kind to target child domestic workers; one-third of Biruh Tesfa beneficiaries are engaged in child domestic work, and one-third are daily manual laborers.
Biruh Tesfa has been profiled as a best practice in several publications. The program has been featured on American Idol’s "Idol Gives Back" and has been visited by members of the TODAY show, US Congress, and the European Parliament, among others.
Offsite link
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Biruh Tesfa procure aux employées domestiques, aux orphelines et aux immigrantes des zones urbaines éthiopiennes une assistance sociale, une formation sur le VIH ainsi qu'un programme de développement des compétences (PDF)
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Project Stats
Location: Ethiopia (Addis Ababa, Bahir Dar)
Program(s):
Poverty, Gender, and Youth
Topic(s):
Financial literacy/livelihoods
Sexuality education
Social isolation/support
Duration: 1/2007 - 12/2013
Population Council researchers:
Annabel Erulkar
Gebeyehu Mekonnen
Non-Council collaborators:
Addis Ababa Youth and Sport Commission
Ethiopia Ministry of Youth and Sport
Donors:
George and Patricia Ann Fisher Family Foundation
Nike Foundation
The Turner Foundation
United Nations Foundation
United Nations Population Fund
US Agency for International Development
US President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief
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