OUR CAUSES
TaYA is dedicated to address the health and wellbeing of adolescents and young people, to create an enabling environment for them to grow and thrive.
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), adolescence and youth constitute the second decade of life, which is neither framed as children nor adult. While adolescents constitute the age range 10-19 years, post adolescence (youth and young people) are in between 20-24 years of age (WHO, 2002). The WHO further specifies early adolescence as 10-14 and late adolescence as 15-19 years of age. At a global level there are significant variations on the age of so called ’young people’ in terms of age. In the Ethiopian context, there is no official reference to adolescence with the wider age group 15-29 years considered ‘youth’ (MoYS, 2004).
In Ethiopia, adolescents and youth constitute the larger proportion of the population- the 10-24 age range make up over 32% of the total population, while those aged 15-29 constitutes 28% of the total population (CSA, 2007). Based on census report of 2007, the proportion of those aged 10-14, 15-19, 20-24 and 25-29 years were found to be 12% 10%, 9% and 8% of the total population. Such age variation implies diverse needs, capacities.
Yet, adolescence and/or youth-hood is known to be a time when their rights to information, services, participation and their remaining needs are believed to be compromised. Denial of the human rights of a child by the practice of child, early and forced marriage is a violation that remains commonplace in many countries and most regions worldwide — even where laws forbid it. Vulnerability to child abuse, early and forced marriage is related to extreme poverty, the low status of women, and community vulnerability, as much as to cultural norms.
The Ethiopian youth are recognized to have played formidable role in the country’s social, economic and political life (MoYS 2004). Nonetheless, it is also documented that young people in Ethiopia encounter multitudes of problems including access to sexual reproductive information, friendly services, harmful traditional practices, school dropouts and employment opportunities (Mirgissa, 2012).
Adolescent & Youth SRH
We advocate for enabling environment for adolescents and young people to enjoy their sexual reproductive health rights.
Youth Engagement
Girls and Women Empowerment
We strive for empowerment of girls and young women through increasing access to education, expanding economic opportunities and fighting harmful traditional practices like early marriage.
Youth Employment
Youth unemployment is a preventable situation with multiple consequences. By addressing youth unemployment, TaYA will positively impact Ethiopia’s youth.