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Yene Raey – My Future

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 Ethiopia (100.0%) Show m ap +

2019 annual report: summary of results Latest updates from this project
31-Aug-2020
2018 annual report: Project
summary
Vilja Liikanen via web
Akseli Ahtiainen
Plan International Finland
Progress towards achieving the project outcomes:
15-May-2019 (edited on 15-May-
2019)
Adolescent girls and boys
The most significant change has been observed in how adolescents deal with menstruation and treat See all updates for this project.
each other regarding menstrual hygiene management. Boys are supporting girls; they discuss
menstruation and menstrual hygiene management (MHM) together and participate in the preparation of
sanitary pads and pants. Target schools have facilitated separate rooms for girls to get and change
sanitary pads and to get relief from anxiety during menstruation. As a result, many girls are not absent
from school due to menstruation. Based on a monitoring survey, 96% of the boys and girls in the project
intervention areas are familiar with menstruation and have adequate knowledge on menstrual hygiene
management.

In addition to MHM, adolescents feel more confident talking about other SRHR issues. SRHR issues
were a taboo before, but now adolescents have started discussing SRHR issues openly without fear.
They have discussions in peer sessions and openly transmit key SRHR messages for example on MHM,
body growth and reproduction, contraceptives, and safe abortion without shame at their schools as well
as at community events. Based on the monitoring survey, the percentage of adolescents who reported
being very positive about having courage to talk about sexual matters with adults increased from 27%
to 40% and the courage to talk about sexual matters with friends increased from 40% to 45%. Also 85%
of boys and girls report having basic confidence in making decisions related to their SRHR and express
what they want with a sexual partner. This is a significant increase to the baseline of 37%. 63% also
reported that they would have courage to ask for contraceptives.

At least 85 adolescent girls were saved from child marriage and 278 children (131F/147M) were
returned from child labor exploitation, getting a chance to continue their education. Most of these cases
were reported by their peers to school principals, club leaders or kebele administrators, and they were
able to take action to solve the issue. 56% of the peer-to-peer group participants reported that they are
taking action together with their peers regarding SRHR issues and 58% of the respondents felt that
reporting incidents such as rape to the concerned bodies is easy. The reason for not reporting cases of
rape might be associated with existing social norms and weak law enforcement bodies.

Parents, leaders and community members

The awareness on menstruation has improved within communities as parents and other community
members now have less false beliefs and myths related to menstruation. Also, religious leaders have
gained a better understanding on menstruation and MHM and they have stopped attributing
menstruation to a curse in some of the project communities. Religious leaders and elders are
requesting the opinion of the girl as well as the age confirmation certificate from relevant institutions
before permitting marriage. The other encouraging result that came out from the monitoring survey is
that 64% of adolescents strongly agreed that their parents would respect their decision if they said no
for marriage. Last year the percentage was 52%.

Parents have gained a better understanding on the harmful effects of female genital mutilation (FGM)
and child marriage and most parents do not have an interest in taking their children to FGM. This is
based on a discussion with the project staff and parents. The monitoring data also confirmed that 84%
of the community members believe that FGM should not continue in their community.

The percentage of community members who value gender equality and girls’ rights increased from 32%
to 49% during the reporting year. 84% reported that a man can take part in domestic chores like
cleaning, cooking, and taking care of the children. It was also observed that boys and men have started
giving more support within the household: taking care of the children, fetching water, and making
purchases from the market.

Parents and community members feel more comfortable to talk about SRHR issues with adolescents.
According to the monitoring survey results, 74% of the respondents agreed being comfortable to
discuss feelings and emotions on sexual issues compared to 58% the previous year. 76% felt confident
to discuss relationships, affection and marriage compared to 61% the previous year and 80% agreed to
discuss reproduction including contraception compared to 65% the previous year. However, the most
significant achievement observed concerned discussing sexual practices and sexual wellbeing to which
73% agreed being comfortable compared to 48% the previous year. The survey results also revealed
that females show more confidence in discussing these issues freely than men. Hence, this indicates
that we need to address and work even more with men to bring the intended attitudinal change.

Alternative sources for income generation and increased savings skills contributed to the increased
resilience at a family level and the ability of the families to respond to unexpected disturbances. 812
(461F/351M) children were provided seed money and trainings to be engaged in different income
generating activities, and 34 households with adolescents were supported. New Village Savings and
Loans Associations (VSLA) have been established, and existing ones supported with trainings on
financial management, savings, gender equality and SRHR, reaching altogether 54 VSLAs. 125
members were able to start their own business during the reporting year. In addition, women’s self-help
groups and community based social safety net initiatives have been supported.

Civil society actors

The organizational and technical capacities of the implementing partners (KMG, Hundee and PADet)
have improved and they are better equipped to achieve the intended results of the project. For
example, after providing capacity building, we have seen the capacity to capture disaggregated data
among beneficiaries increased as well as topics related to SRHR integrated better in their work. To
address the overall SRH issues KMG has contextualized its Community Conversations training manual
to address SRH issues in general, for example.

The commitment of 82 local CSOs to address the issue of adolescent SRHR was enhanced. Among
others Iddirs, religious institutions, Community Care Coalitions, peer groups, school clubs and other
social structures have enhanced their capacities and are serving as change agents for SRHR
information and service provision in their respective communities. Parent-Teacher Associations have,
for example, advocated for separate rooms for girls and in 30 schools these have been arranged for
girls to change their pads, take some rest when they get ill and also to take advice from the girls club
leader if needed. Community Care Coalitions were able to integrate issues of SRHR with their regular
activities. Some CSOs have initiated SRHR information provision using the local language and many
CBOs are engaged in resource mobilization and have started supporting orphan and vulnerable
children. All of these are due to various capacity building trainings and technical and financial support
by Plan and partners.

Government and local authorities

The awareness of health workers on the importance of adolescent friendly SRH services has been
enhanced. Health centres have, for example, organized and arranged separate rooms for adolescents
to exercise their privacy and discuss sensitive SRH issues freely. The share of respondents who
reported it is possible to overhear counselling sessions has decreased from 67% to 15% during the
reporting year. 85% of health extension workers reported that they have encouraged adolescents to
ask questions and 92% felt that they were able to provide relevant information. In addition, 69% of the
health professionals allocated sufficient time to discuss SRHR issues with adolescents. HEWs have
incorporated SRHR issues in their daily activities and can serve as agents of change to transmit
appropriate SRHR information.

According to both adolescents and health care workers, adolescents are more often able to get
services they require from health stations. The number of girls who seek SRH services and information
in all six districts has grown based on our observations during monitoring visits and discussions with
health workers.

Challenges and lessons learned:

Even if the monitoring survey results shows that 92% of health workers respect the diversity of
young people and their specific needs, based on our monitoring visits we have observed that
some attitudes of the health workers regarding the needs of children with disabilities did not meet
the standards. There was also a shortage of appropriate teaching aid materials and a lack of a
person who knows sing language. Providing this service was a challenge. From this we have
learned that we must work more on awareness raising sessions for health workers, developing
IEC/BCC materials for children with disabilities in collaboration with ECDD and relevant
government offices.

Deep rooted social and gender norms and patriarchal attitudes in the communities make it
challenging to discuss SRHR issues as planned. For example, discussing sex and sexual
practices openly is a challenge. Addressing the culturally sensitive situation requires an effective
contextualization of interventions and a facilitation of an open platform for dialogue at the
community level. Engagement of local authorities/opinion leaders like Iddirs, clan heads and
religious leaders in different trainings and community conversation interventions are crucial due
to their ability to influence social norms and practices.

Political instability and frequent conflicts among different ethnic groups are becoming a challenge
and making it difficult to deliver planned activities at the right time. Besides that, conflicts can
jeopardize and put the project staff at risk. This is something to be considered in annual planning
and risk analysis [2020 is the election year].

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