ETHIOPIA: WORST FORMS OF CHILD LABOR UPDATE

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 ADDIS ABABA 000209

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

DEPARTMENT FOR DRL/IL: LAUREN HOLT
DEPARTMENT OF LABOR/ILAB: TINA MCCARTER

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: ELAB EIND ETRD PHUM SOCI USAID
SUBJECT: ETHIOPIA: WORST FORMS OF CHILD LABOR UPDATE

REF: 05 STATE 143552


1. Requested information about the worst forms of child
labor in Ethiopia follows and is organized per reftel
instructions.


2.


A. LAWS AND REGULATIONS PROSCRIBING THE WORST FORMS OF CHILD
LABOR

Ethiopia's Labor Proclamation (42/93) prohibits children
below the age of 14 from working. The same proclamation
limits conditions of work for children between the ages of 15
and 18, but such children are allowed to work so long as it
is not hazardous to their health or developmental progress.
The proclamation also outlines certain conditions for young
workers (i.e., maximum of seven working hours per day,
prohibition of overtime and night work, and provision of
weekly rest and public holidays). (Note: Age 15 is
consistent with the age of completing primary education,
while 18 years is consistent with the age of completing
secondary education. Article 176 of Ethiopia's Criminal Code
identifies minors as age 15 or younger, identifies age 18 as
the age of legal majority, and notes that those between age
15 to 18 belong to an "intermediary age group." End Note.)

The Ethiopian Penal Code outlaws work specified as hazardous
by the International Labor Organization (ILO) convention, but
the labor law of Ethiopia does not define or specify the
worst forms of child labor. The GOE ratified Convention 182
on May 8, 2003. As the Ethiopian constitution states that
all international conventions and covenants ratified by
Ethiopia are an integral part of the law of the land, the
list of occupations listed by the ILO Convention would also
apply in Ethiopia. The country has not developed an explicit
list of occupations considered to be the worst forms of child
labor.

Children are prohibited from working in the following
sectors: transportation of passengers and goods by road,
railway, air or water; work carried out on dockside and
warehouse involving heavy weight lifting, pulling or pushing
of heavy items or any other related type of work; work
connected with electric power generation plants, transformers
or transmission lines; underground work such as mines,
quarries and similar work; construction work on high
scaffolding; working in sewers and digging in tunnels; street
cleaning; toilet cleaning; separation of dry and liquid waste
materials and transportation of waste materials; working on
production of alcoholic drinks and cigarettes; hotels,
motels, nightclubs and similar service giving activities;
grinding, cutting and welding of metals; work involving
electrical machines to cut, split or shape wood, etc.;
felling timber; and, work that involves mixing of chemicals
and elements which are known to be harmful and hazardous to
health.

ILO noted that the Ethiopian government was in the process of
developing a list of occupations considered to be the worst
forms of child labor, but a formal list has yet to be
officially published.


B. REGULATIONS FOR IMPLEMENTATION AND ENFORCEMENT

The responsible authority for implementing children's rights
provisions in Ethiopia is the Ministry of Labor and Social
Affairs (MOLSA). Courts are responsible for enforcing
children's rights. Criminal and civil penalties may be
levied in child rights violation cases. According to MOLSA,
a national strategy is being formulated to enforce child
labor laws. Due to the absence of a national strategy,
investigation and disposition of child rights violation cases
is minimal. The Forum for the Street Children in Ethiopia
reported that only one of 213 child rights cases had been
adjudicated in a court of law.


C. SOCIAL PROGRAMS

The Ethiopian government encourages children to attend
school, but it is not/not compulsory. In recent years, the
government increased its budget for primary education. A
number of schools, particularly in rural and remote areas,
have been under construction, while existing schools have
been rehabilitated, to maximize capacity for enrollment.
There are not enough schools, however, to accommodate
Ethiopia's population of school age children. According to
the Ministry of Education, 79.8 percent of school age

ADDIS ABAB 00000209 002 OF 002


children attended school in the 2003/2004 academic year.

The Ministry of Education provided the following primary
school retention rates for the 2003/2004 academic year:

GRADE GR 2 GR 3 GR 4 GR 5 GR 6 GR 7 GR 8
-------------- -------------- -------------- -------------- -------------- -------------- --------------
BOYS 66.9% 54.9% 44.9% 37.7% 30.3% 27.1% 20.8%
GIRLS 67.8 56.4 47.2 40.3 33.2 30.7 24.1
-------------- -------------- -------------- -------------- -------------- -------------- --------------
TOTAL 67.3 55.5 45.9 38.8 31.5 28.5 22.1


D. COUNTRY POLICIES AIMED AT ELIMINATING WORST FORMS OF
CHILD LABOR

There is no particular policy in Ethiopia designed to ensure
the effective abolition of child labor and to raise the
minimum working age progressively, but there are various
economic and social policies that have indirectly addressed
the issue. For example, the Ethiopian government initiated
the education and training policy aimed at achieving
universal enrollment in primary school by 2015. A new
National Plan of Action (NPA) is being drafted which will
include a component on improving the well-being of Ethiopian
children. Little information about the implementation and
effectiveness of government policies involving the protection
of children is available, at this time.


E. PROGRESS TOWARDS ELIMINATING WORST FORMS OF CHILD LABOR

Child labor is widespread in Ethiopia. A 2001 ILO report
estimates that Ethiopia has 18 million children (age 5-17)
who comprise 33 percent of the population; one-third of those
children combine work and school, while one-half work without
attending school. MOLSA reports that 92 percent of children
work in households without pay, while 3 percent are engaged
in activities other than domestic chores. On average,
children work 33 hours per week. Thirty-eight percent
confirm that their work affects their schooling. Two in
three children indicate that they volunteer to assist with
household work, while one in four children indicate they must
work to supplement household income. According to MOLSA, two
out of five children in Ethiopia who work are below the age
of six.

Child labor in Ethiopia is generally comprised of children
working in subsistence farming alongside their parents in
rural areas. (Note: Eighty-five percent of Ethiopian
population is engaged in subsistence agriculture. End Note.)
The GOE does not perceive this as a child labor issue as much
as a development problem, and therefore tries to tackle it
through school construction and agricultural development.

MOLSA provided the following data collected in 2001; it is
the most recent government-issued information.


Table 1.

ENGAGED IN ENGAGED IN
PRODUCTIVE HOUSE-KEEPING NOT
AGE WORK ACTIVITIES WORKING
-------------- -------------- -------------- --------------
5-9 38.9% 35.4% 25.7%
10-14 62.4 32.9 4.7
15-17 67.5 29.7 2.8

Table 2.

EMPLOYMENT
TYPE (CHILDREN 5-17) MALE FEMALE TOTAL
-------------- -------------- -------------- --------------
Domestic Employee 0.4 1.8 0.9
Employee (not domestic) 4.1 1.3 3.0
Self-Employed 2.2 4.1 3.0
Unpaid Family Work 92.6 91.7 92.3
Apprentice 0.1 0.0 0.1
Not Stated 0.6 1.1 0.7
HUDDLESTON