Reaching vulnerable adolescent girls with information and connecting them to services are not straightforward tasks. Poor girls in
Ethiopia have few opportunities to access public institutions such as youth or community centers, health services, financial institutions, and schools. They may not know that they have a right to these services, and service delivery staff might not welcome them. But the Council’s experiences in Ethiopia show that when HIV prevention programs are shaped by evidence and designed for replication and scale-up, they can reach large numbers of the people at greatest risk and increase their ability to avoid infection. The report describes the environment of the HIV epidemic in Ethiopia, explains the rationale for providing adolescent girls with support and services that build protective assets, and outlines the Population Council’s distinct approach of using safe spaces as a platform for reaching girls and providing them with essential protective assets. The report details the achievements of three programs and summarizes keylessons learned that may be useful in launching and expanding similar programs elsewhere.