The Ethiopian Spice Girls, sponsored by the UK.

[Gob]

UK taxpayers have picked up a £4million bill to fund Ethiopia’s own Spice Girls.

Yegna, a five-strong group, have launched a radio show and released a string of videos that aim to empower women in the African country.

But even Ethiopian critics of the project say the money is being wasted because the show reaches only a quarter of the population.

In Britain, the TaxPayers’ Alliance said the £10billion aid budget should not be squandered in this way.

Ethiopia has become one of the biggest recipients of British funds, despite being an autocratic one-party state. The new Yegna ‘entertainment brand’, established in April, is part of a £30million scheme called Girl Hub that also operates in Nigeria and Rwanda.

Like the original Spice Girls, the band members each have a nickname. Teref Kassahun, 26, plays the spoiled brat, Lemlem Hailemicheal, 26, a tomboy known as the defender, Zebiba Girma, 22, the mysterious character, Eyerusalem Kelemework, 27, is the genius and Rahel Getu, 22, the dependable one.

Lyrics to one of their songs, This House, included: ‘Women are sisters, women are mothers, women are wives. Let’s respect them. Tell that guy to respect girls and we will respect him.’

Yegna is behind a twice-weekly radio drama and talk show for adolescent girls. They have been given £3.8million by the Department for International Development and £800,000 by the Nike

A DfID spokesman said girls in Ethiopia faced challenges such as forced marriage, violence, teen pregnancy and dropping out of school.

‘Yegna addresses these issues using role models to champion the potential of Ethiopian girls in ways which are accessible and relevant,’ said the spokesman. But the Yegna radio broadcasts on Sheger FM in Addis Ababa and on other radio stations in the Amhara region, reach only 20million of the country’s 80million people.

Last year the Girl Hub project was condemned by the Independent Commission for Aid Impact. Its report warned of serious deficiencies in governance and told of an unacceptable lack of child protection policies. Girl Hub has also been accused of ‘poor budgeting and financial monitoring’.

[Gob]

Meanwhile, back at the ranch...

The number of people resorting to food banks for emergency help to feed their families has more than tripled following the squeeze on benefits which intensified in April.

David Cameron’s own poverty tsar warned last night of the danger of food banks becoming an “institutional part” of the welfare state – and urged the Prime Minister to set up an inquiry into the issue. Frank Field, a welfare minister under Labour, told The Independent he was shocked by the steep increase in their use and added: “Something very serious is happening to people at the bottom of society.”

The Trussell Trust, the country’s biggest food bank operator, said it distributed food to 355,985 people, including nearly 120,000 children, between April and September compared with 113,264 during the same period in 2012. It handed out food to more people during those six months than in the whole of 2012, the trust said.

It released the figures days after the Red Cross announced it planned to distribute food aid to the needy in Britain this winter for the first time since the Second World War.

The trust attributed the increase to above-inflation food and energy price rises and pay freezes, as well as the impact of welfare changes in April, including the introduction of the so-called “bedroom tax”, cuts in council tax benefits and changes to the rules governing crisis loans.

It said people going to food banks had started returning food that needed to be warmed up because they could not afford to switch on their electricity. More than 65,000 people were referred to food banks over the period because of benefit changes – a four-fold increase – and another 117,000 people were referred because of delays in paying their benefits.

[oldr_n_wsr]

Lyrics to one of their songs, This House, included: ‘Women are sisters, women are mothers, women are wives. Let’s respect them. Tell that guy to respect girls and we will respect him.’

Might want to play that tune to some of today's RAP stars.

“Something very serious is happening to people at the bottom of society.”

More are joining.

[Gob]

The government has axed plans to fund a five-member Ethiopian girl band, saying there are "more effective ways" to invest UK aid.

International Development Secretary Priti Patel reviewed the funding after reports that pop group Yegna had received millions from UK taxpayers.

The government planned to give Girl Effect, the organisation which created Yegna, £11.8m (USD $14.5 million,) between 2015 and 2018.

Girl Effect said its aims had been "wilfully misrepresented" in the media.

The project was created by the UK's Department for International Development and Nike Foundation in 2011 to promote women's rights in Ethiopia.

Girl Effect spent £100,000 promoting Yegna since 2015, which has been the subject of a long-running campaign by the Daily Mail. It dubbed the band "Ethiopia's Spice Girls" saying that grants to the group were a waste of money.

[rubato]

thanks, I like Ethiopian music and it was a good reminder to look some up on the YouTube.


yrs,
rubato

[Long Run]

The government has axed plans to fund a five-member Ethiopian girl band, saying there are "more effective ways" to invest UK aid.

Ethiopian Sponge Bread Attempt Fails to Add British Pounds.

[rubato]

Wat? No Injera no flab.


yrs,
rubato