This report presents examines the key drivers of shifting and persisting social norms surrounding early marriage
in the Amhara region of Ethiopia, and its effects on adolescent girls’ educational opportunities and broader
wellbeing. It focuses on how gendered social norms are shaped by individual agency, socioeconomic conditions,
demographic factors and social institutions.
The Ethiopia study is part of a multi-country, multi-year initiative (also covering Nepal, Uganda and Viet Nam)
funded by the UK Department for International Development (DFID) on gender justice for adolescent girls. In this
second year of the Ethiopia study, the Overseas Development Institute (ODI), in partnership with national
researchers at Addis Ababa University, used a common set of qualitative research tools adapted to the local
context to examine how early marriage practices and related social norms limit girls’ future life chances.
Fieldwork was undertaken in 2013 and 2014 in three sites in Amhara Regional State: Dembashi (West Gojjam
zone), Bulbullo (South Wollo zone) and Metema (North Gondar zone).