Berhane Hewan program featured on Voice of America—Amharic Service

 

The Berhane Hewan program implemented by the Evidence Project that used solar lanterns as a conditional asset transfer to prevent child marriage in Beneshangul Gumuz, Ethiopia was featured on Voice of America—Amharic Service on 30 January 2020. To date, over 8,000 girls have been provided with school materials and solar lanterns in ten districts to prevent /delay early marriage. School participation and income generating activities have led girls to generate their own income from the solar lanterns provided. This initiative has helped reduce child marriage and increase girls’ education rates in Ethiopian communities.

On the Amharic broadcast was Habtamu Demele, Program Officer from the Population Council Ethiopia office, a government partner from the regional Bureau of Women, Children and Youth Affairs, and a project beneficiary who describes—among other things—opening a bank account with the money she made from using the solar lantern to battery charge cell phone.

Links to this broadcast as well as other broadcasts the project has been featured on:

• Voice of America—Amharic Service radio segment
• Voice of America—USA segment “Searching for Solutions
• BBC’s “People Fixing the World Series” in a radio and video segment

To learn more about the history of the Berhane Hewan program, please visit the Population Council website.