ADDIS ABABA - November 2, 2007: The Government of Norway today donated 100 million Norwegian Kroner (15.4 million USD) for UNFPA/UNICEF joint five-year project titled "Right Based Approach to Adolescent and Youth Development in Ethiopia".
The project will focus for the next five years on five major regions (that are the focus of the United Nations Development Assistance Framework - UNDAF), namely Oromia, SNNPR, Amhara, Afar and Addis Ababa. These regions constitute over 80% of the Ethiopian population, and were selected based on size of adolescent and youth population, HIV prevalence, severity of Gender Based Violence, Harmful Traditional Practices (including early marriage), limited resource availability for adolescent and youth development, UNICEF and UNFPA presence and experience in those regions.
This innovative Joint Programme will give particular attention to adolescent girls and girls within marriage, orphans and vulnerable adolescents, sex workers, adolescents and youth pastoralistcommunities, and students of higher learning institutions.
The 100 million Kroner pledged by the Norwegian Government will enable UNICEF and UNFPA to dramatically scale up their interventions in support of the young and adolescent of Ethiopia; the most vulnerable and marginalized will be provided with knowledge, skills and opportunities required to make a successful transition to adulthood, and will also seek the fulfilment and respect of their rights.
Ethiopia has the second largest population in Africa; more than 40% of Ethiopia's entire population is under the age of 29, with adolescents between 10 and 18 alone comprising about 20% of the entire population.
This section of the population is known to face various problems due to widespread unemployment, limited or non existence of livelihood skills, lack of recreational opportunities and limited participation in their own and their local development initiatives. Consequently, young people in Ethiopia are vulnerable to sexual and reproductive health problems including HIV; girls face additional problems due to the 'culturally prescribed' gender based discrimination and sexual violence and vulnerability to harmful traditional practices such as female genital cutting, early marriage, rape and abduction.
Over the last few years, UNICEF and UNFPA have been supporting programmes that intend to address the rights and increase the participation of adolescents and young people. Such interventions have proved to work and young people have enthusiastically participated in the process while communities and government have also recognized the importance of such initiatives. Ethiopian youth are being more proactive, demanding their personal space and services.
"Adolescents and young people in Ethiopia make up a large proportion of the population and government has taken proactive measures to empower young people. If we are to achieve youth development in Ethiopia, we will have to include this important group of our society as part of the solution. Not only by addressing the vulnerability of youth and adolescents, but also by empowering them to be in charge of their own destinies". Viviane Van Steirteghem, UNICEF Deputy Representative.
"Unless the full potential of the young child is nurtured and developed during childhood, adolescence, youth and adulthood, we cannot claim any victory but only a partial and incomplete contribution to the overall goal of giving people freedom to become what they can and want to become.
We should not solve problems, we should promote human rights, and while do so, we also address vulnerabilities. And this contribution from the Norwegian Government will allow us to do so". Dr. Alessandro Conticini, Adolescent Development Section Chief, UNICEF Ethiopia.
"Denying adolescents including married adolescents, access to Family Planning information and services has led to rampant unwanted adolescent pregnancy which is now major cause of death and ill health particularly among teenagers. Sexuality of adolescent girls is frequently violated where rape, abduction and Female Genital Cutting are widespread through out the country. This project will give additional impetus to scale up experiences and lessons gained from previous success full experiences in different parts of the country." Monique Rakotomalala, UNFPA Resident Representative.
"So far UNICEF and UNFPA have successful managed to work with the Ethiopian Government and other partners in implementing the previous Norwegian funded projects. This will continue at a larger scale in this programme. I am sure that this collaboration will not only be limited to the extension of financial assistance to these partners but as outlined in the programme will also facilitate transfer of knowledge and experience which is crucial for sustainability in the preservation of women and girls rights, HIV/Aids prevention and population growth issues .", remarked Jens-Petter Kjemprud Ambassador of Norway to Ethiopia and expressed the Norwegian Government's happiness with its partnership with UNICEF and UNFPA in Ethiopia.
Contact details:
Ayehualem Tameru, National Programme Officer, 09 11 638182 (UNFPA), tameru@unfpa.org
or
Mirgissa Kabba, HIV/AIDS Programme Officer , UNICEF mkabba@unicef.org
Ashenafi Gizaw, Embassy of Netherlands, ashenafi.gizaw@mfa.no