The UK government has decided to stop plans of funding a five-member girl band dubbed “Ethiopia’s Spice Girls”, saying there are many “more effective ways” to invest UK aid.
Following reports that the pop group Yegna had received millions from UK taxpayers, the International Development Secretary Priti Patel reviewed the funding.
According to the BBC, the UK government planned to give Girl Effect, the organization that created Yegna, £11.8m between 2015 and 2018.
Girl Effect in their defense have said that their aims had been “wilfully misrepresented” in the media.
The organisation was created by the Nike Foundation and given funding by the UK’s Department for International Development (DfID) to help promote women’s rights in developing countries. It used some of its funding to create and promote Yegna.
Yegna has been the subject of a long-running campaign by the Daily Mail, which claims grants to the group were a waste of money.
The band was founded in 2013 with an aim of tackling issues which include domestic violence and forced marriage through songs and online videos.
The DfID said its partnership with Girl Effect has ended following the review, but insisted that “empowering women and girls around the world remains a priority”.
It said the decision had not been influenced by press coverage of Yegna.
“We judge there are more effective ways to invest UK aid,” a spokeswoman said, adding that the government will “deliver even better results for the world’s poorest and value for taxpayers’ money”.
Yegna perform a weekly dram and talk show on Ethiopian radio as well as as running a YouTube channel. They released their first song, Abet, meaning “We are here” in Ethiopia’s official language Amharic, four years ago.
According to Girl Effect, Yegna aims to “change the culture of Ethiopia in a good way, to explain the problems in the society”.
