Letting Girls Learn

Around the world, girls face complex physical, cultural, and financial barriers in accessing education. As a girl grows older the fight to get an education becomes even harder. Her family must be willing to pay school fees. She may have a long, unsafe walk to school. She may be forced to marry. And she often lacks the support she needs to learn.

In celebration of International Women’s Day on March 8 of this year, First Lady of the United States Michelle Obama gave a speech to recognize the progress made on the one year anniversary of Let Girls Learn, a U.S. Government initiative to ensure adolescent girls get the education they deserve. In her speech (a portion of the speech is here), she highlights the story of Fiker, an Ethiopian girl who was bold enough to stop an early marriage planned by her parents thanks to support from USAID.

You can read Fiker’s story here:

https://web.archive.org/web/20150906001838/https://www.usaid.gov/results-data/success-stories/taking-stand

Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WVz9SFVnHk0

Justice for All-Prison Fellowship Ethiopia (JFA-PFE), initially Prison Fellowship Ethiopia, is a non-profit and non-governmental organization founded in 1992 G.C. out of the abhorrent prison conditions and human rights abuse that were personally experienced by the founders in 1988 when they were incarcerated. From its establishment, JFA-PFE started its work in prison to improve the treatment and livelihood of prisoners. Later on, the organization expanded its operation to embrace the entire justice sector of the country, encompassing all institutions of the justice sector: court, police, prosecutor, and prison administration.

Thus, the JFA-PFE evolved toward promoting human rights, good governance, peace and dialogue, and the rule of law in Ethiopia. Since then, JFA-PFE has become the leading national NGO on the matters of Human Rights, Justice Reform, Conflict Resolution, Peace Building, and the Rule of Law. Some of its recent interventions include the development of the Court Annexed Mediation Manual, Restorative Justice Manual, Case-Flow Management Manual for Courts, Prosecutors Handbook, Police Investigation Manual, Community Policing Manual, Legal Dictionary, Public Complaint Handling Manuals, and so much more. It has also contributed to the development of national policies, including the Criminal Procedure Code, Media Law, Commercial Code, Pardon Law, and many more.

https://jfapfe.org/