Education matters more, especially for girls, project builds upon the success of the project “Education matters more, especially for girls”, which was implemented between February 2015 and February 2017. Through strong cooperation between schools, government and community members, that project tackled a range of barriers, which kept girls from going to school or caused them to drop out. As a result, significantly more girls now go to and stay in school and support for girls’ education has increased within the wider community. This follow up proposal encompasses a two-year timeframe, to maintain and strengthen achievements of the previous project, attend to lessons learned and expand activities to 5 new locations and 10 schools. We will upscale the approach to reach more girls (and boys) and work ever more closely with community groups and government agencies.
“Education Matters more, especially for girls”. The overall goal is to ensure that girls in the target areas attend and complete primary and secondary education. And, the aim was to overcome obstacles to girls’ education in two rural and semi-rural districts of North Shewa Zone of the Ethiopian Regional State of Amhara. Activities engaged some 2,000 girls from primary and secondary schools directly and another 10,000 people indirectly (parents, siblings, teachers and other community stakeholders).
Communication for Health, a current project being funded by John Snow Inc. (JSI/JHU), is receiving funding from USAID in order to increase knowledge and beneficial practices concerning health through Social and Behavioral change communication (SBCC) approach in the East Gojam Zone of Amhara. This project mainly focuses on multiple health areas including: reproductive health, maternal newborn and child health (RMNCH), Malaria, Tuberculosis (TB), WASH, Mother to Child Transmission of HIV (PMTCT) and Nutrition.
The proposed project works to address the following objectives.
1. To increase knowledge and healthy practice of community members across the 6 health areas through implementing SBCC activities at seven Woredas in North Showa Zone in 21 months (January 2018- September 2019).
2. To enhance and sustain SBCC through engaging health offices/facilities, health extension workers (HEW) and schools in its implementation at seven Woredas in North Shewa Zone in 21 months (January 2018-September 2019).
3. To improve the use of data for decision making in SBCC across the seven target Woredas in North Shewa Zone in 21 months (January 2018-September 2019)
Program approach
The project implementation approaches comprise of community mobilization, awareness raising for behavior change, community based age segmented and status oriented discussions and/or dialogues, and capacity buildings including trainings and engaging male as a cross-cutting strategy for gender equality. The approaches are intended to address target beneficiaries through SBCC across the six health areas for the positive health behavior practice of target beneficiaries to become healthy, happy and productive. The approaches focus to address the six health interventions around specific circumstances and life stages of the target beneficiaries. The implementation of the approaches focuses on the targets’ health information needs, timing and ability to take health related actions at the most appropriate times, so that they will have information and knowledge necessary to make positive choices about their lives from RMNCH/FP problems and communicable diseases including mother to child transmission of HIV, malaria and tuberculosis. The approach further enables the target communities to use potable water, keep personal hygiene and sanitation and follow adequate nutrition. Besides, the wider community is informed about the issues and is therefore able to create a supportive and positive and healthy environment for the development of the community particularly women, children and youth.
Target beneficiaries and impact of the Program on beneficiaries
The direct target beneficiaries to the proposed project are currently married couples (700 wives and husbands each), 1400 pregnant mothers, 1400 mothers with children aged up to 6 years, 1400 children, and 1400 adolescents and youth (50% female). While at least 6,300 will be direct targets to be reached by the intervention, community based organizations, religious leaders, health extension workers and professionals, health offices and health posts will indirectly benefit from the project. The program implementation impacts the practice of positive health seeking behavior across the six health areas. The program will benefit the young unmarried youth to prevent SRH related risk behaviors, life skills, hygiene, nutrition and communicable disease prevention methods. The married couples will be able to benefit on good husband-wife communication to jointly plan for the future household management, RMNCH/FP, hygiene, nutrition including during pregnancy, safe delivery, optimal breastfeeding and commentary feeding practice, delaying first birth, optimal spacing between births and adoption of modern contraceptives, prevention of mother to child transmission of HIV and communicable diseases including malaria and tuberculosis. Mainly the program sought to bring better health condition and wellbeing of the community at large.
Expected Results
As a result of the intervention, better communication and shared responsibility will be created between household members (mainly husband and wife) and the community on the six health areas; children and youth are informed and empowered on the healthy practices; and there will be better and consistent client oriented services across the six health areas. Quality and appropriate health information and services delivered and communicated to in school and the wider community. In addition, proactive multi-sectoral networks at the local level are created and functional. The detail results are provided as outcomes in the causal framework section.
To address early marriage as well as early and closely spaced pregnancies in the Amhara region, Hiwot Ethiopia has been implementing a community based adolescent and youth reproductive health program in four woredas (districts) of the North Shewa Zone since 2002 with the support of the German Foundation for World Population and the David & Lucile Packard Foundation. Currently the organization has been implementing such project with the support of other Amplifychange and others.
The overall objective of the program is to delay marriage and promote birth spacing among young peoples and newly married couples. The program is based on the lessons acquired from a similar project model known as PRACHAR, which is implemented in Bihar, India. PRACHAR is a community based program which uses multi-disciplinary youth focused age and life stage appropriate communication methods. Hiwot has adopted selected components of this model and employed a three pronged objectives:
- Empowering girls and young couples with SRH/FP information
- Improving access to SRH/FP services
- Fostering an enabling environment
Major achievements
The youth friendly health centers in close collaboration of public and private health facilities play a significant role in providing quality reproductive health information and services for young people.
Created strong referral arrangement with private and public health care facilities to provide youth friendly referral services for young people on SRH/FP/HIV prevention, counseling and testing and other services
In collaboration with health facilities, youth clubs, trained health extension workers and house to house facilitators, provided quality and youth friendly sexual reproductive health information and services for young people.
Young people living in the program areas were attended an age segmented (10-14, 15-19 & 20-24) peer group discussions and created better understanding and behaviors on sexual and reproductive health issues, including family planning and factors that expose young people to HIV and STIs
Safe houses created near to high schools in the woredas supported girls to attend the school and eliminating the daily trek to school. The safe home program provided support and companionship for girls, including reading rooms and educational materials. Due to the safe house support, we have seen a dramatic reduction in dropouts.
Community groups, religious leaders, government representatives, school community groups attended on outreach programs and received adequate information on girls education and barriers of girls education.
Youth clubs capacities improved so as to reach their peers in quality youth friendly information and services on SRH/FP/HIV prevention, counseling and testing and other.
Community action teams were established and strengthened which are comprised from religious fathers, government stakeholder and school representatives to fight against child marriage promotion of girls education.
Sanitary pad support: Girls were absent during menstrual cycle from the regular classes, this is serious problem in the country. In order to help girls to attend their education and reduce absenteeism, Hiwot has been provided training on skills of locally made sanitary pad preparation , management of menstrual cycles and Sexual Reproductive Health information for girls living in the safe home and outside of the same home. As a result of such intervention girls school attendance increased