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Daily Mail
November 16, 2013
UK taxpayers have picked up a £4million bill to fund Ethiopia’s own Spice Girls.
Yegna, a five-strong group, have launched a radio show and released a string of videos that aim to empower women in the African country.
But even Ethiopian critics of the project say the money is being wasted because the show reaches only a quarter of the population.
In Britain, the TaxPayers’ Alliance said the £10billion aid budget should not be squandered in this way.
Ethiopia has become one of the biggest recipients of British funds, despite being an autocratic one-party state. The new Yegna ‘entertainment brand’, established in April, is part of a £30million scheme called Girl Hub that also operates in Nigeria and Rwanda.
Like the original Spice Girls, the band members each have a nickname. Teref Kassahun, 26, plays the spoiled brat, Lemlem Hailemicheal, 26, a tomboy known as the defender, Zebiba Girma, 22, the mysterious character, Eyerusalem Kelemework, 27, is the genius and Rahel Getu, 22, the dependable one.
Lyrics to one of their songs, This House, included: ‘Women are sisters, women are mothers, women are wives. Let’s respect them. Tell that guy to respect girls and we will respect him.’
Yegna is behind a twice-weekly radio drama and talk show for adolescent girls. They have been given £3.8million by the Department for International Development and £800,000 by the Nike Foundation.
A DfID spokesman said girls in Ethiopia faced challenges such as forced marriage, violence, teen pregnancy and dropping out of school.
‘Yegna addresses these issues using role models to champion the potential of Ethiopian girls in ways which are accessible and relevant,’ said the spokesman. But the Yegna radio broadcasts on Sheger FM in Addis Ababa and on other radio stations in the Amhara region, reach only 20million of the country’s 80million people.
Last year the Girl Hub project was condemned by the Independent Commission for Aid Impact. Its report warned of serious deficiencies in governance and told of an unacceptable lack of child protection policies. Girl Hub has also been accused of ‘poor budgeting and financial monitoring’.
