The “Yegna Girls” are role models for millions of girls. They stand for women’s rights and want to motivate girls to believe in themselves. The name “Ethiopian Spice Girls” does not suit them at all.

“When I first heard this phrase, it really saddened me, not because I do not like the Spice Girls, but because what we do is so much more than singing – I see myself as an ambassador or a teacher”, Yegna member Zebiba Grima answered in the KURIER interview when asked if the term “Ethiopian Spice Girls” was right for them. She was inspired by the knowledge “to be a part of something that changes the view of society on girls”.

“Believe in potential of girls”

Women in Ethiopia face countless problems. The equality debates are not about a gendered anthem. It’s about basic things: school access for girls, jobs for women, no domestic violence. Yegna is Ethiopia’s first girl band to draw attention to these deficits. The five-member band, popularly referred to in Western media as the “Ethiopian Spice Girls”, is committed to women’s rights. Her topics: Child marriage, sexual harassment, violence, education and migration. Their goal: To motivate girls to “think about what it means to be a girl in Ethiopia these days”. But the band does not just want to appeal to the female population. On her Facebook page read: “Yegna means ‘our’ and is designed to

In 2017, the project was in financial distress. The UK Department of International Development cut funding for the non-profit organization Girl Effect, which oversees Yegna. There are “more effective ways to invest British aid,” said the department. Other ways and sponsors provided a remedy. Despite the setback, Girl Effect continues to be convinced of his projects. “We are a brand designed by Ethiopians for Ethiopians,” quoted The Guardian Gayathri Butler, executive director of Girl Effect for Ethiopia. Yegna sing their lyrics in Amharic, the official language of Ethiopia. The relationship to tradition and language is very important to the success of the band. According to a 2017 Girl Effect study, Yegna has already reached some nine million people with their message. Two out of three girls surveyed in the Addis and Amhara regions, where the band has its own radio show, have become more self-conscious through Yegna.

“Be a warrior, you are a pioneer!”

Nearly a fifth of Ethiopian girls marry before the 15th birthday. In the Amhara region, 45 percent of girls marry as minors (under 18). Thus, the region has the highest child marriage rate in the country. To improve the situation, Yegna uses different channels. In addition to their pop music and their YouTube channel, the band produces a radio talk show and radio drama programs, in which they discussed complex topics or thematized with the help of fictitious stories. The lyrics are also being reworked by “gender teams” to make sure that they are “meaningful without being morally preachy,” Butler said in an interview with The Guardian.

In their songs, the band wants to motivate with phrases like “Be a warrior, you’re a forerunner!”. For the 14-year-old Bilen and her sister Yegna is a role model: “Yegna taught us the motto” Yes we can! “,” She explains. Thanks to their fans, the Yegna girls always receive an “inspirational injection”, Zebiba Grima tells in a KURIER interview. In the future, Yegna will be active throughout Ethiopia to reach even more girls.

(Veronika Ebner)