‘I know I’m too young to be a mother’: child marriage in Ethiopia – in pictures

05
Jul

‘I know I’m too young to be a mother’: child marriage in Ethiopia – in pictures

Joe Right of women and girls No Comments

Early marriage and pregnancy are challenges faced by many teenage girls in Ethiopia. Unicef’s Girls’ Empowerment photo project aims to document the hopes, dreams and aspirations of young women throughout Ethiopia

All photographs by Kate Holt for Unicef

Girls and women have their photographs taken in the maternity unit of the hospital in Gambella, Ethiopia Saturday, Feb. 28, 2015. The photos were taken as part of a project which aims to document the hopes, dreams and aspirations of Ethiopian girls in different parts of the country. Early marriage and pregnancy is a challenge faced by many teenage girls in Ethiopia..

A young woman with her baby in the maternity unit of the hospital in Gambella, Ethiopia. Early marriage and pregnancy are challenges faced by many teenage girls in Ethiopia.

Ariet Obang, who is 17, and is Married with one baby aged one year, poses for a photograph as part of a UNICEF photo project to show Girls Empowerment in the village of Awol, near Gambella Ethiopia Friday, Feb. 27, 2015"I enjoy school and it is very important for me that my child will also go to school and be able to finish school before she has a child" she says. The project aims to document the hopes, dreams and aspirations of Ethiopian girls in different parts of the country.

Ariet Obang, 17, who is married and has a one-year-old baby, in the village of Awol, near Gambella. ‘I enjoy school and it is very important for me that my child will also go to school and be able to finish school before she has a child,’ she says

Angae Nugwo, who is 15, poses for a photograph and does her household chores, like collecting water, as part of a UNICEF photo project to show Girls Empowerment in the village of Itang, near Gambella, Ethiopia Friday, Feb. 27, 2015. "Our father died and I want to stay with my mother and become a nurse here so I can help my community with health care" she says. The project aims to document the hopes, dreams and aspirations of Ethiopian girls in different parts of the country.

Angae Nugwo, 15, goes about her household chores, which include collecting water

Angae Nugwo, who is 15, poses for a photograph and does her household chores, like collecting water, as part of a UNICEF photo project to show Girls Empowerment in the village of Itang, near Gambella, Ethiopia Friday, Feb. 27, 2015. "Our father died and I want to stay with my mother and become a nurse here so I can help my community with health care" she says.

‘Our father died, and I want to stay with my mother and become a nurse here so I can help my community with healthcare,’ says Angae

Ajulu Peter, who is 13 years old, poses for a photograh at her home in the town of Itang, Gambella in, Ethiopia Friday, Feb. 27, 2015. "It is hard for my family to get support without my father who is now dead, to help, we can not get the money we need to get many things like exercise books for school" she says. AJulu is being photographed as part of a UNICEF photo project to show Girls Empowerment

Ajulu Peter, 13, at her home in the town of Itang, in Gambella

Ajulu Peter, who is 13 years old, poses for a photograh at her home in the town of Itang, Gambella in, Ethiopia Friday, Feb. 27, 2015. "It is hard for my family to get support without my father who is now dead, to help, we can not get the money we need to get many things like exercise books for school" she says. AJulu is being photographed as part of a UNICEF photo project to show Girls Empowerment

‘It is hard for my family to get support without my father, who is now dead, to help,’ Ajulu says. ‘We cannot get the money we need to get many things, such as exercise books for school’

Nyabuay Bol, 17 years old, and who has 2 children ages 3 years old and 10 months poses for a photograph with her youngest child at her home in Itang, Gambella, Ethiopia Friday, Feb. 27, 2015. She says: "When I got married and moved to this village, I could have gone to the 9th grade but my husband would not let me attend school after we got married" The project aims to document the hopes, dreams and aspirations of Ethiopian girls in different parts of the country.

Nyabuay Bol, 17, who has two children aged three years and 10 months, at her home in Itang, Gambella. She says: ‘When I got married and moved to this village, I could have gone to the ninth grade, but my husband would not let me attend school’

Men walk up a steep road with their donkeys on their way to market near the village of Addis ge keble, near Fiche, Ethiopia Saturday, Feb. 21, 2015. This village is one of hundreds in this Woreda of Gerar Jarso that are inaccessible by cars. When people are ill they have to travel up to twenty kilometers by stretcher that is carried by people to the nearest hospital.

Men walk up a steep road on their way to market near the village of Addis Ge Keble, near Fiche. This village is one of hundreds in the area that are inaccessible by car

Fayetu Mengestu Zeleke, 13 years old, poses for a photograph at her home, as part of a UNICEF photo project to show Girls Empowerment in Fiche, Ethiopia Friday, Feb. 20, 2015. Fayetu's older sister was removed from school by their father and was going to get married until she got support from a local NGO to sue her father who relented. This photo project aims to document the hopes, dreams and aspirations of Ethiopian girls in different parts of the country.

Fayetu Mengestu Zeleke, 13, at her home in Fiche. Her older sister was removed from school by their father and was going to get married until she got support from a local NGO to sue her father, who relented

Mestawet Abey, who is 15 years, old, poses for a photograph in her home, as part of a UNICEF photo project to show Girls Empowerment in the village of Addis Ge, near Fiche, Ethiopia Saturday, Feb. 21, 2015. Mestawet got married when she was 13, She was forced to drop out of school by her parents to look after their cows and shortly afterwards got married. T

Mestawet Abey, 15 , at her home in the village of Addis Ge, near Fiche. Mestawet got married when she was 13. Her parents forced her to drop out of school to look after their cows, and shortly after that they married her off

Gurdo Shenqut, 14 years old, lies in bed after giving birth to her first child in her mothers house in the vvillage of Addis Ge, near Fiche, Ethiopia Saturday, Feb. 21, 2015. Gurdo was married at the age of 11 to a man she hardly knew, and was forced to give up school, He is unable to look after her and their new baby properly as he is too poor so she is staying with her mother. She is also increasingly scared of him becuase he beats her when he gets angry.

urdo Shenqut, 14, lies in bed after giving birth to her first child in her mother’s house in Addis Ge. Gurdo married at the age of 11 and was forced to give up school. Her husband is unable to look after her and the baby as he is too poor, so she is staying with her mother. She is scared of him because he beats her when he gets angry

A young girl clings onto her mothers skirt in their home in the village of Addis Ge, near Fiche, Ethiopia Saturday, Feb. 21, 2015.

A young girl clings to her mother’s skirt in their home in Addis Ge

Zamzam Kadir (L), who is 16, and her sister Najiyat (R) pose for photographs as part of a UNICEF photo project to show Girls Empowerment in Darecha, Ethiopia Thursday, Feb. 12, 2015.Zamzam has had to give up school becasue their mother can only afford to send Najiyat, to school. Zamzam makes pottery and her dream is to one day open her own shop.

Zamzam Kadir, left, with her sister Najiyat in Darecha. Zamzam, 16, has had to give up her education because the girls’ mother can only afford to send Najiyat to school. Zamzam makes pottery, and her dream is to open her own shop one day