Updates on Girls Gotta Run Programs

Photo by Jason Suarez

As the conflict in Ethiopia rages on, many of our supporters have reached out to inquire about the safety and well-being of the women and girls in our programs. We are grateful for the concern and are happy to share reports from our program sites.

The current military conflict is concentrated in the northern region of Tigray, far from the Girls Gotta Run program sites in Bekoji and Soddo. While the communities we work with are not experiencing a direct humanitarian crisis in relation to the conflict, they are continuing to suffer from the COVID-19 pandemic. One of the most devastating consequences has been the disruption to the school year. Most students in rural parts of Ethiopia have been out of school since March, with no access to alternative learning contexts. Officials at Ethiopia's Ministry of Education recently expressed concern over the rise in cases of child marriage, child labor, and gender-based violence as a result of the nationwide school closures.

Girls Gotta Run has worked to mitigate these issues in Bekoji and Soddo. Our COVID-19 Emergency Fund has been used to increase our provision of soap, masks, hand sanitizer, sanitary pads, and menstrual hygiene resources, and access to safe hygiene facilities for hand washing. To combat food insecurity, The Girls Gotta Run communities are provided with healthy, daily lunches despite school closures. All members of the Girls Gotta Run Mothers' Savings Group have been granted access to small business grants to strengthen their ability to generate income for their families in a strained economy. Our students and families will also continue to have access to a medical subsidy to cover any necessary medical costs during this time.

We will continue to monitor the human rights landscape in Ethiopia so as to best respond to the needs of those most vulnerable. We will work to adjust our programming in consultation with local community partners to prevent the further spread of COVID-19 while also combatting child marriage, child labor, and gender-based violence.