Recently, the Ministry of Women, Children and Youth Affairs (MWCYA) announced that 699 kebeles across the country have been freed from harmful traditional practices (HTP) as part of the effort to zero HTP by 2030.
Minister of MWCYA, Yalem Tsegay recently told the media that the success is the outcome of a collaborative work of the Ministry, development partners and local communities. The project mainly targeted kebeles which are prone to the practice of female genital mutilation and early marriage.
Most of the kebeles are found in Afar, Amhara, and Somali states. Community elders, religious leaders, representatives of local administrations and civil society organizations have actively taken part in the efforts aimed to end the practices by raising awareness on the negative impact of such practices, she added.
HTPs violate and negatively affect the physical, psychological well-being, human rights and socio-economic participation and benefits of women and children. The document from the Ministry of Women, Children and Youth Affairs shows that whilst there is a wide range of HTPs in Ethiopia, female genital mutilation or cutting FGM/C, abduction and child marriage are widely practiced and adversely affect millions of women and children.
Most HTPs are manifestations of inequalities and power imbalances between men and women, deeply entrenched in the social and economic structures and inhibit women’s full and equal enjoyment of their basic human rights. HTPs are thus, deep-rooted in community beliefs, social norms and values.
Accordingly, in order to eliminate such detrimental practices, the ministry has given due emphasis to bring about attitudinal transformation and behavioral change at individual, family and the wider community and institutional levels.
The Government has also taken strategic and programmatic measures to eliminate FGM/C. Some of the key actions include; endorsement of the National Strategy and Action Plan on Harmful Traditional Practices against Women and Children and Communication Strategy for Social Norm Change and establishment of the National Alliance to End Child Marriage and Female Genital Mutilation/Cutting.
Further, a lot of effort has been undertaken to strengthen and improve safe and secure enabling socio-legal and policy environment, ensure effective law enforcement, and support institution building for the effective implementation of anti-HTP efforts. In addition, it is essential to ensure the reinstatement or restoration of
women and children affected by HTPs to their original social, economic and psychological positions through the rendition of various supportive amenities and provision of multi-sectoral responses, as to the Minister.
In recognition of the need for a comprehensive strategic framework for addressing the prevention and abandonment of HTPs, MWCYA has, therefore, embarked upon the National Strategy on Harmful Traditional Practices since 2013, with the technical and financial involvement of development partners and relevant stakeholders.
The Strategy was inspired by a vision of creating a nation free of harmful traditional practices, whereby women and children enjoy the realization of their fundamental rights and freedoms.
According to the National Strategy the engagement towards the prevention and elimination of HTPs should be guided by two strategic rationales: the first one is to take the issue of HTPs as a manifestation of deep-rooted gender inequalities in the society and the second one is to treat HTPs as having strong and positive correlation with the existence of poverty with all its manifestations.
Consequently, the prevention and elimination of HTPs should be placed at the center of the poverty eradication and the democratization activities of the country. Thus, the issue of protection of women from the incapacitating effects of HTPs has been treated within the larger and more comprehensive national development and in light of the human rights frameworks.
In these preventive, protective and responsive endeavors, in addition to the overall leadership, commitment and coordination of the government, community participation, ownership and the technical and financial support of all development partners has had paramount importance. Most importantly, the role of women and youth organizations especially, the involvement of grassroots women and youth development armies has been invaluably vital.
Learning from the best experience that the Ministry got from the achievement in these kebeles, Yalem said activities to end harmful traditional practices in other areas will continue in an integrated way.
The Ethioipan Herald May 2/2019
BY ESSEYE MENGISTE
