Girl Effect’s youth brand in Ethiopia,Yegna, encourages positive behaviour change and increased agency for girls by tackling real-life challenges through stories and music.
Girls in Ethiopia, like millions of girls globally, are keen to learn more about issues that matter to them whilst they are navigating adolescence, from education to sexual health.
Yegna is a media platform using music, radio, and storytelling to support girls on their individual and collective journeys to adulthood. The latest data* from Yegna shows that:
- 8.9 million people, half of the population of Addis and Amhara, are aware of Yegna
- 3.6 million of these people listened to Yegna’s radio programmes or watched the Yegna film in 2017
- 1 million of these people listen to Yegna’s radio programmes at least once every 2 weeks
- TV is the most popular form of media for girls and boys in Addis and Amhara regions.
Yegna helps girls to feel more comfortable speaking to a friend or trusted adult about sexual reproductive health
Almost two thirds of girls aged 10-19 said they would feel comfortable talking about sexual and reproductive health (SRH) with someone they know, and girls feel most comfortable talking about issues with a friend. Younger girls feel least comfortable, with only 36% of girls aged 10-12 saying they would feel comfortable compared to 74% of girls aged 16-19.
One of our key findings is that Yegna has a positive influence on how comfortable girls feel about discussing SRH. Awareness of Yegna, even without consuming a product, has a positive impact on how comfortable girls feel discussing SRH. Going on to consume Yegna’s products builds significantly on this outcome for girls.
Attitudes towards menstruation are negative, but Yegna is shifting these attitudes among girls, boys and adults
Half of the people we surveyed in Addis and Amhara in 2017 think girls should be ashamed of menstruation. This negative attitude is most prevalent among men and people living in the Amhara region. Even 40% of girls think they should be ashamed.
Girl Effect’s research found that consuming a Yegna product in the past 12 months had a positive impact on this attitude among girls, boys and adults, and it has the strongest impact on girls.
Learn more about Yegna.
* In 2017, Girl Effect conducted our fourth audience survey in Addis and Amhara regions of Ethiopia. Between October and December, data from 7,019 girls, boys and adults was collected to find how many people Yegna is reaching, the experience of the Yegna audience, the impact of Yegna, and the media habits of our target audience.
We conducted regression modelling to assess impact: regression analysis allows us to compare those people exposed to Yegna with those that haven’t been exposed, taking into account the potential influence of other factors which may affect outcomes; including age, household wealth, level of education and access to other media.
Download the factsheet below for the latest Yegna data.