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News > Culture

‘Tibeb Girls’: The Feminist, Ethiopian Powerpuff Girls

  • The show is geared towards teaching young girls about activism and leadership.

    The show is geared towards teaching young girls about activism and leadership. | Photo: Facebook / Tibeb Girls የጥበብ ልጆች

Published 10 April 2017
Opinion

The Ethiopian-led series hopes to raise awareness about social issues among young women.

They're feminist Powerpuff-inspired superheroes that tackle issues of social injustice.

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These are the Tibeb girls, the stars of a new animated Ethiopian adventure series, geared towards teaching young girls about activism and leadership. Tackling issues that devastate girls and young women the most in the region, such as those of HIV and child marriage, it hopes to bridge the education gap on these issues.

The group behind the project is Whiz Kids Workshop, an Ethiopian organization that “believes that mass-media can be the most cost-effective and immediate way to make an impact on large educational gaps in the developing world.”

The group cites information from Girl Up, a campaign of the United Nations foundation, which found that only 38 percent of girls and young women between the ages of 15 and 24 in Ethiopia are literate, that one in five girls is married before she hits 15, and that girls between the ages of 15 and 19 are seven times more likely to be HIV-positive than their male counterparts.

“By broadcasting a program that will examine harmful practices and explore girls’ agency in addressing those challenges, Tibeb Girls will foster a culture of conversation among girls, families, and throughout the broader community,” the creators wrote about their program. “Through our partnerships detailed below, the Tibeb Girls is an Ethiopian-led, innovative, scalable and sustainable approach to measurably improving coordination around girls’ issues in Ethiopia.”

While the show is seeking support for the initial pilot season of the series, it has already planned out a second season, which will yield 13 radio and 13 television episodes.

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