The UK foreign aid budget,which is hugely generous compared to most EU countries, is ruining out of control if we can waste money on stuff like this.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2016...pite-previous/

This silly foreign aid target has meant there is no real control or accountability for these funds - we must spend to meet the target and as long as we spend it on something or anything that's fine,

I'm not saying you're wrong, but why is it a waste of money?

Should promoting one girl band be a spending priority? Why doesn't Simon Cowell sign them up?

Not the job of governments at all - housing, feeding and caring for those who can't look after themselves should be instead.

Every poll I see the UK public want the aid budget reduced. It's crazy we are borrowing money to give away and in many cases be wasted while people here are in need. It's actually immoral. Aid should be up to individuals not the state unless for natural disasters.

It appears from the article the objective is to inspire positive change in girls in Ethiopia. If you can change people's lives the housing, feeding and caring tends to take care of itself.

It's far better to invest in changing things rather than reacting to it. That's not a liberal viewpoint- it's just not a knee jerk reactionary one

I pass the DFID (Department For International Development) every morning on my way to work. If we did away with our Foreign aid budget how would all the middle class employees be able to afford their tweed jackets with elbow patches? They are by far the most middle class bunch of employees I have ever laid eyes on and I have worked in a couple of government departments.
I always found it incredibly amusing that the DFID office in East kilbride is also considered a large 'local' employer. I get the train with huge numbers of DFID employees and the vast majority have accents originating south of Cambridge.

Yegna is not just a girl band, the girl band is part of the Girl Effect Yegna multi-platform youth brand. That encompasses films, a radio drama, a radio talk show, a girl band/music, and outreach programmes particularly in rural areas aimed at educating and empowering adolescent girls. A brand that has over 2 million viewers and nearly 2 million listeners. The money is for the entire Girl Effect Yegna multi-platform youth brand and includes services in kind and third party funding.

It is currently entering the assessment phase and its value for money will be evaluated based on its effect at changing society. Whether or not more girls are staying in school or avoiding pregnancy or early marriage, etc as a result. There is already some evidence that it is being successful in changing social attitudes on forced marriages, teenage pregnancy, women's education, and women's independence, etc.

For example:

76 % of girl listeners say Yegna has inspired them to continue their education

95% of boys aged 10-19 who regularly listen to Yegna agreed with the statement ‘You would speak to someone if you saw a young girl being forced to get married’, compared to 53% of boys who are not aware of Yegna (statistically significant, even when controlling for other factors)

93% of women who regularly listen to Yegna agreed with the statement ‘You would speak to someone if you saw a young girl being forced to get married’, compared to 53% of women who are not aware of Yegna (statistically significant, even when controlling for other factors)

42% of girls aged 10-19 who regularly listen to Yegna agreed with the statement ‘a young girl can take some action if she was beaten by her parents’, compared to 23% of girls who are not aware of Yegna (statistically significant, even when controlling for other factors)

59% of girls aged 10-19 who regularly listen to Yegna agreed with the statement ‘Girls who were beaten by their parents should report it to the authorities’, compared to 31% of girls who are not aware of Yegna (statistically significant, even when controlling for other factors)

76% of men who regularly listen to Yegna agreed with the statement ‘Girls who were beaten by their parents should report it to the authorities’, compared to 46% of men who are not aware of Yegna (statistically significant, even when controlling for other factors)

96% of girls aged 10-19 who regularly listen to Yegna disagreed with the statement ‘It is OK for husbands to beat their wives if they argue with them’, compared to 80% of girls who are not aware of Yegna (statistically significant, even when controlling for other factors)

98% of women who regularly listen to Yegna disagreed with the statement ‘It is OK for husbands to beat their wives if they argue with them’, compared to 73% of women who are not aware of Yegna (statistically significant, even when controlling for other factors)

As a way of changing the cultural values of over 2 million people it might be a cost effective means of reducing forced marriage, reducing violence against women, increasing women's education and independence.

^^ What people answer in response to a questionnaire is not necessarily the same as what they actually do and how they behave. Such responses therefore don't indicate any actual change in what is going on, for that you would need statistics to show a decline in the behaviour the questions are asking about.

Halenga - Abet
https://youtu.be/AvFDJjPcWEo

To quote another contributor....

"What people answer in response to a questionnaire is not necessarily the same as what they actually do and how they behave. Such responses therefore don't indicate any actual change in what is going on, for that you would need statistics to show a decline in the behaviour the questions are asking about."

Disgusting!

I know...yet another 'outraged' thread based on misinformation, I guess the group being black and female might have something to do with the outrage.

I don't recall Nike's involvement being mentioned in the news reports, probably because the papers don't want to offend an advertiser?

As this is taxpayers money, we should have more transparency. We have a right to see the accounts and know where this money is going. Until we can afford to look after the elderly, disabled, the mentally unwell, and the homeless in this country, overseas aid should be restricted to emergency aid for famine and disasters.

It is entering its evaluation phase as I mentioned in my post that evaluation will be based on whether or not more girls are staying in school or avoiding pregnancy or early marriage, etc. The evaluation will be based on stats on behaviour change, actions, not attitude surveys.

The foreign aid budget is a fixed percentage tied up with GDP figure rather than the real revenue of HMRC. That's just bonkers as it essentially means that we have borrow money before giving it away, considering we have a huge national debt for which we have to pay interests.

You mean your jerky knees ?

The age of the fake news story. It's just a shame we don't have enough buses to get all of this tripe printed up properly.

Fingers in ears, La.la,la.......

Oh another thread on this for all the faux outrage.

Maybe we can get a couple more in before Christmas.

The UK's foreign aid budget is substantially higher than the likes of France and Germany, I wonder why we feel the need to subsidise the world when our EU partners don't ?

I expect because in general we are known as a caring nation with caring people.

Of course, there are always exceptions.

Yep, the exceptions being our own sick, old and disabled who no one seems to give a toss about.

Really? You clearly live in a different world to me.

Our EU partners Sweden, Luxembourg, Denmark, Netherlands give a higher percentage of their GDP in foreign aid than the UK.