Hon. Minister Zenebu Tadesse Woldetsadik - Minister of Women, Children and Youth Affairs, Government of Ethiopia - DFID Girl Summit 2014

Panel Discussion: Spotlight on Progress - "It's Everyone's Business: Strong and Comprehensive National Responses to Child, Early and Forced Marriage"

Context: Partnering with the private sector is key, according to the moderator of "It's Everyone's Business: Strong and Comprehensive National Responses to Child, Early and Forced Marriage". This is one of the 14 "Spotlights on Progress" video-recorded sessions from the Girl Summit 2014, London, United Kingdom (UK). The sessions were organised to share "best practices" developed by practitioners, grassroots activists, and ministers of state who are working to address female genital mutilation (FGM) and child, early, and forced marriage (CEFM). The Girl Summit is a project of the United Kingdom (UK)'s Department for International Development (DFID).

Profile of speaker: Hon. Woldetsadik has been in charge of Ethiopia's Ministry of Women, Children and Youth Affairs since 2010. She was previously Ministry of Labour & Social Affairs from 2005-2010. She has also worked at the state level in Amhara state on a variety of sectors, including women's affairs, labour, and agriculture.

Strategy overview: In her presentation "Comprehensive Planning to Address Harmful Traditional Practices", which can be viewed in the video below, the Minister presented on national strategies and laws to tackle harmful traditional practices (HTPs), the ways in which these approaches support public awareness and community engagement, and the importance of effective partnerships to end CEFM and FGM. Hon. Woldetsadik stressed our collective duty to support girls and outlined the multi-sectoral approach of the Ethiopian national strategy and action plan, which contains three core elements: political will, public opinion, and partnership.

To that end, the Government of Ethiopia has developed a national strategy to address HTPs, focusing on prevention, protection, and provision. Ethiopia has also revised the penal code to incorporate the practice of child marriage and other forms of HTPs as criminal offences. [Editor's note: For further information, see this related, May 2013 paper: "Harmful Traditional Practices and Child Protection: Contested Understandings and Practices of Female Child Marriage and Circumcision in Ethiopia" [PDF] by Jo Boyden, Alula Pankhurst, and Yisak Tafere.]

Hon. Woldetsadik explained that, through this process, Ethiopia has focused on public awareness and attitudes. The government has conducted a campaign on the negative impact of child marriage, following a strategy of engaging: girls and women; tribal, religious, and community leaders; and those responsible for carrying out HTPs, such as circumcisers.

Overview of this Summit Session: "This Spotlight provides the opportunity to learn from a number of countries on their experiences of joined-up approaches to tackle child, early and forced marriage at scale - including the main challenges they faced and effective actions that helped bring success.

The session is opened by Rob Swartbol, Director-General for International Cooperation, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Government of Netherlands. The speakers, in order of appearance, are:
Hon. Minister Zenebu Tadesse Woldetsadik Minister of Women, Children and Youth Affairs, Government of Ethiopia
Patricia Bah National Coordinator for the Teenage Pregnancy Secretariat, Government of Sierra Leone
Raj Kumar Mahato Chairperson, BHORE
Laura Laski Chief of Sexual and Reproductive Health, UNFPA

The session is moderated by Rajesh Mirchandani, World Affairs Correspondent and Anchor, BBC News."

Footage of this (available below) and other "Spotlights" are available on DFID’s YouTube channel.

The Girl Summit is a project of DFID. Click here and scroll down to see the full list of individuals and organisations committed to working on girls' issues, as well as a list of Girl Summit Charter signatories.