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People Fixing The World

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Discover the people and the projects trying to make the world a better place

Discover the people and the projects trying to make the world a better place.

Discover the people and the projects trying to make the world a better place.

A weekly programme looking at common challenges around the world and the creative ways people are trying to tackle them.

Presenter Myra Anubi speaks to reporters, experts and innovators to investigate how effective different solutions are, share their successes and inspire listeners with what is possible.

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People Fixing The World: Stopping child marriage with solar lanterns

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Stopping child marriage with solar lanterns

BBC World Service - People Fixing The World, Stopping child marriage with solar lanterns

Solar-powered lamps are giving girls independence and stopping them becoming child brides

In Ethiopia, thousands of girls are being given small solar-powered lanterns. The lamps are helping to stop child marriage and changing the way girls are seen.

It’s estimated that more than 100 million girls under the age of 18 will be married in the next decade.   
 
One country that’s trying to end the practice of child marriage is Ethiopia. There, the Berhane Hewan programme, meaning ‘Light for Eve’ in Amharic, promises families a solar-powered light if their daughter remains unmarried and in school until she’s at least 18. This approach is known as a conditional asset transfer.
 
The solar lanterns enable girls to study after dark and they can also be used to charge mobile phones, which is particularly useful in remote areas with no electricity. Girls are taught to make money from the lanterns by charging neighbours to power up their mobile phones too. 
 
People Fixing the World visits Dibate, a small village in western Ethiopia. More than 600 girls in this part of the country have received a solar lamp.
 
Reported by Lily Freeston
Produced by Ruth Evans and Hadra Ahmed

(Photo Credit: BBC)

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