Building programs to address child marriage: The Berhane Hewan experience in Ethiopia

The Population Council is an international, nonprofit, nongovernmental organization that seeks to improve the well-being and reproductive health of current and future generations around the world and to help achieve a humane, equitable, and sustainable balance between people and resources. The Council conducts biomedical, social science, and public health research and helps build research capacities in developing countries. Established in 1952, the Council is governed by an international board of trustees. Its New York headquarters supports a global network of regional and country offices. The United Nations Population Fund is an international development agency that promotes the right of every woman, man and child to enjoy a life of health and equal opportunity. UNFPA supports countries in using population data for policies and programmes to reduce poverty and to ensure that every pregnancy is wanted, every birth is safe, every young person is free of HIV/AIDS, and every girls and women is treated with dignity and respect. aCknowledgements This report was made possible through support from UNFPA. We are grateful to the Berhane Hewan project staff who shared their experiences, including collaborators from the Ethiopian Ministry of Women, Children and Youth Affairs, the Amhara Regional Bureau of Women, Children and Youth, and Kebele officials. Many thanks to Ato Tesfahun Wondie and Ato Aragaw Lamesgin who coordinated the qualitative data collection in Amhara. We are grateful to Ato Berhanu Legesse for the excellent comments made on earlier drafts of the report.