Enhance Worldwide works to make education a reality for over 150 girls and young women in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. Our Kinship Care and Rising Autonomy Programs ensure that girls and young women living in poverty can attend school and have the resources and skills they need to succeed. The girls in our programs are not only learning to break the intergenerational cycle of poverty -- they are empowered to fight against gender inequality by ensuring their own financial independence.
Girls in Addis Ababa are more likely to be out of school if they come from poor households because they often have to work or care for younger siblings. Additionally, public education is not free in Ethiopia. The majority of girls in our programs have lost one or both parents and some are living with HIV/AIDS. They are also at high risk for child marriage, trafficking, child labor, and street violence. This kind of poverty makes education an impossible dream for many.
Enhance Worldwide mitigates barriers to education by providing Conditional Cash Transfers (CCTs) for school fees, school uniforms, socks and shoes, as well as backpacks and school supplies. Our field team monitors report cards and attendance, conducting monthly home visits to ensure that the girls and young women receive home support. Our supplemental nutrition program benefits not just the health and wellbeing of girls and young women in our programs, but their entire households.
Pathways out of poverty require more than classroom education -- girls must learn to navigate the risks of their environment. Enhance Worldwide established the Pathways Project to foster life skills such as critical thinking, reflection, assertiveness, negotiation, and confidence. Since January 2015, we have reached more than 150 girls (and their households) through workshops on healthy relationships, community building, sexual and reproductive health, school success, and financial literacy.
This project has provided additional documentation in a PDF file (projdoc.pdf).
