In Amhara region the practice of child marriage is one of the main causes to maternal and child health related problems. Amhara region is known to have one of the highest rates of child marriage in Ethiopia. Almost 50% of girls in Amhara Region are married by the age of 15 years (DHS, 2011)  and other studies show that 82% of girls married before age 18 that makes the median age at first marriage to 14 year. The HSTP  identifies that maternal mortality and morbidity (such as fistula), abortion, and other pregnancy-related complications are still very high due to harmful traditional practices (HTPs) including child marriage, bearing many children, sexual violence and use of unlawful traditional healers.

The antenatal, delivery and postnatal care services particularly in the rural areas are still far behind expectation to reduce maternal and newborn morbidity and mortality. In Amhara region only 46.2% of women aged 15-49 received antenatal care by a skilled service provider between the years 2011- 2014.  In the year 2011-2014, 12% of women aged 15-49 delivered babies at the health facilities in the region.  The reasons for not delivering at the health facilities was that most women think that it was not necessary and not customary; and also the health facilities are too far besides transportation problems.  Despite the fact that a large proportion of maternal and neonatal deaths occur during the 48 hours after delivery, the level of postnatal care coverage is extremely low in Amhara region including the target area.

• Socioeconomic profile: Apart from a small percentage of the population engaged in the services and industry sectors, nearly 84 percent of the population resides in rural areas and is engaged in agriculture
• Poverty: poverty s pervasive in the Amhara region with about 26.1 percent of the population living below the nationally defined poverty line compared to 23.5 percent for the entire country in 2016. In 22011, the Amhara region had a child poverty rate of 34 percent.
• Access to education services: the Amara regional state has made impressive progress in expending access to basic education services delivery in the past decades. Access at all levels of the education system increased at a rapid rate in line with sharp increase in the number of teachers, schools and institutions. Despite these noted achievement, the quality of education remains a challenge in the region.
• Access to health service: The Amhara region has poor health status compared to other regions in Ethiopia. Child mortality rates in the region are among the highest in the country. Even though there have been positive developments in reducing the level of malnutrition, the region still has the highest stunning rate and is among the regions with the highest rates.
• Access to safe water and improved sanitation: According to the 2011 DHS, about 47 percent and 95.a percent of households in Amhara region did not have access to safe drinking water and improved sanitation facilities respectively.