Capacity building of Ethiopian Parliamentary institutions to ensure gender mainstreaming as well as empowering the youth by supporting out-of-school adolescent girls

Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia

Amount € 315,000.00

Overview

IAG (Inter-Africa Group) project aimed at addressing gender equality, to help mainstream gender in the laws and policies of Ethiopia, and to assist parliamentarians to exercise their oversight and legislative functions to ensure greater political, social, and economic empowerment of women in Ethiopia. The project provided short-term training to enhance gender research and policy analysis capacity. They also facilitated lectures on critical gender issues in Ethiopia and provided research support to the respective Standing Committees by recruiting graduate students with relevant gender expertise as interns. During the project’ second phase of the project provided formal education and skills training for 1100, young, out-of-school girls aged 12-18 from marginalised communities in the Tigray, Harari and Somali Regional States of Ethiopia. A girls’ only, after-school study programme was also instituted to assist the girls in achieving their academic goals.

Key results

• The Inter Africa Group (IAG) project supported 1 100 out-of-school young girls between the ages of 12 and 18 to re-enrol in school and provided them with mentorship and basic needs support. To ensure the project’s success, a mentorship programme was established to provide on-going support and guidance to the girls.

• The girls were empowered with life skills training to develop the personal and social awareness and to increase their level of social and economic participation.

• The project improved and restored the self-image, status and dignity of a number of young girls who were leading a dangerous and desperate life. Beneficiaries shared their dreams and aspirations of continuing their education to tertiary level and gaining employment in the formal sector to lift themselves and their families out of poverty.