Meskerem Assegued

Ethiopian women's rights advocate who pioneered girls' education in rural areas

Meskerem Assegued (born 1972) is a trailblazing Ethiopian activist whose work transformed access to education for girls in sub-Saharan Africa. As founder of the Kids of Ethiopia Thrive organization, she developed innovative community-based programs that enrolled over 50,000 girls in school by 2010. Her Girls' Empowerment Model combines literacy training with vocational skills like weaving and agriculture, creating sustainable income streams for participants.

Assegued's 2003 initiative to build 200 girls-only schools in Ethiopia's Amhara region directly addressed cultural barriers through engagement with local leaders. Her approach emphasized female teachers and menstrual hygiene infrastructure, reducing dropout rates by 73% in pilot areas. A 2015 TEDx talk (link) highlighted her work's impact on early marriage rates and maternal health outcomes.

Her 2008 partnership with UNICEF expanded the program to Kenya and Tanzania, establishing a replicable model now used in 14 countries. Assegued's advocacy led to Ethiopia's 2016 policy mandating girls' education through ninth grade. Her work has been featured in National Geographic and Foreign Policy magazine, though she remains relatively unknown outside development circles.