According to recent researches, over 100 harmful traditions are being practiced in Ethiopia. These harmful practices include psychological, physical, societal, economical and other serious human rights violations. Badly most of these practices are mainly affecting children and women.
Among several harmful traditional practices, female genital mutilation (FGM) and early marriage are the worst practices almost common across the country, though the government has been demonstrating considerable effort that has reduced the prevalence of these practices, researches indicate the necessity of more commitment to eliminate them.
To end these harmful activities, all the concerned bodies must accelerate the current activities and carry out their moral as well as civic responsibilities. According to Ministry of Women, Children and Youth, in order to eliminate FGM by 2030 and early marriage by 2025, it needs increasing seven fold and tenfold of the current efforts respectively.
Realizing the necessity of increasing current efforts to curb the
traditions, the Ministry said that it has been preparing a five-year road map to end early marriage and female genital mutilation. “The roadmap is on its final step phase and will be launched soon this fiscal year,” the Ministry stated.
Women Mobilization and Participation Enhancement Directorate Director at the Ministry Seleshi Tadesse told The Ethiopian Herald that the five-year roadmap has been prepared aiming at ending these harmful traditional practices in Ethiopia by highly investing on community mobilization and awareness creation activities.
According to the Ministry, the nation signed an agreement in 2014 to end FGM and early marriage. “The roadmap is a practical response to the agreement,” Seleshi noted adding that the roadmap has clearly specified an action plan, clear strategy, focus areas, stakeholders’ responsibilities and the coasted budget needed for programs implementation.
The director also stated that Ethiopia was implementing prevention, protection and fast response strategies so far to tackle all harmful traditional practices across the country. As the best way of cutting these activities, the Ethiopian government gives due attention on attitudinal changes. To realize basic progresses on the attitudinal changes, it continues intensifying community mobilization and awareness creation, he added. As to him, the roadmap is the continuation of the past strategies that help to further the current efforts that eliminate the traditional practices with clearly identified goal and period.
Enhancing societal awareness and mobilization, strengthening information flow, raising budget allocation to the sector and strengthening legal enforcement are the four mechanisms of the roadmap.
In addition enhancing capacity of girls and their family, enabling the community to stand fighting against these practices, networking a system, creating favorable conditions at all levels, changing the attitude of the society through creating awareness, properly applying strong legal system and facilitating continuous information flow with clear data are the strategies of the roadmap, he stated.
During the Ministry’s eight months performance report to the House of Peoples’ Representatives (HPR) last week, Minister Yalemtsegay Asfaw reported that the country has planned to make one-third of nation’s kebele from these traditional practices through national movement strategy. She added that 699 kebeles in Amhara, Tigrai, Oromia, Southern Nations, Nationalities and Peoples Region (SNNPR), Afar and Benishangul/ Gumuz states are becoming free from these practices up to the eight months performance of this fiscal year.
Seleshie noted that the concerted efforts of making free societies from harmful traditions have been strengthened since the launching of the National Movement strategy in 2016.
The director noted that although the states reported that these kebele’s are free from practicing the traditions, it needs further investigation, evaluations and the commitment of the society not to repeat the traditions.
For the effective implementation, the roadmap needs the commitment of all stakeholders, concerned organizations and the society’s serious integration and commitment. Thus, eliminating these harmful traditional practices needs changing the attitude of the society at all levels and as the program needs more stakeholders’ commitment, integration and additional efforts are necessary.
The Ethiopian Herald April 13, 2019
BY DARGIE KAHSAY
