ETHIOPIA: CHILD LABOR INFORMATION FOR TRADE AND DEVELOPMENT

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 ADDIS ABABA 000097

DOL/ILAB FOR TINA MCCARTER
STATE FOR DRL/ILCSR TU DANG, AF/E

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: ELAB EIND ETRD PHUM SOCI USAID ET
SUBJECT: ETHIOPIA: CHILD LABOR INFORMATION FOR TRADE AND DEVELOPMENT
ACT (GSP) 2008 REPORT

REF: STATE 127448


1. Per reftel, this cable provides information on the child labor
and the worst forms of child labor in Ethiopia and the Government of
Ethiopia's (GOE's) efforts to address these problems for the period
March 2008 to present.


A. Laws and Regulations
--------------


2. Ethiopia's constitution explicitly protects children against
exploitive practices and work conditions that threaten their health,
education, or well-being, and such protections are reflected in
implementing laws and regulations. Specifically, by law children
below the age of 14 are prohibited from working and children between
the ages of 15 and 18 are barred from work that is hazardous to
their health or developmental progress, including: dockside or
warehouse work that involves heavy weight lifting; pulling or
pushing of heavy items; work connected with electric power
generation plants, transformers or transmission lines; underground
work, such as in mines or quarries; grinding, cutting and welding of
metals; work involving electrical machines to cut, split or shape
wood; felling timber; and work that involves mixing of chemicals and
elements which are known to be harmful and hazardous to health.
Young workers are also prohibited from working more than 7 hours per
day or from working late night shifts. Finally, Ethiopia has
ratified all eight International Labor Organization (ILO)
conventions, including the ILO conventions on the Abolition of
Forced Labor and on the Worst Forms of Child Labor; as above a list
of "worst forms" has been developed in accordance with the terms of
the latter convention.


3. Ethiopia has not passed any new child labor laws. The Ethiopian
penal code since 1959 has expressly criminalized: slavery (five to
20 years imprisonment); child rape (not more than 15 years
"rigorous" imprisonment); the trafficking of children for forced
labor; sexual outrages "on" infants or young people (not more than
five years "rigorous" imprisonment for sexual intercourse and other
indecent acts) of minors between 15-18 year old (simple
imprisonment); trafficking in minors for prostitution (rigorous
imprisonment not more than five years (or longer with aggravating
circumstances)) or for other purposes (rigorous imprisonment not
more than three years); incest involving infants or young persons
(rigorous imprisonment not more than ten years); abduction of minors
(rigorous imprisonment not more than five years); the display, sale
or distribution of pornography to children (fine or simple
imprisonment not more than three months); and the maltreatment of
minors (through beating, ill-treatment, neglect or
"over-tasking")(imprisonment not less than one month). Concurrently
with imprisonment, fines may also be levied with many of the
foregoing violations. The minimum age for participation in the
military is 18.


B. Regulations for Implementation and Enforcement
-------------- --------------


4. While the Ethiopian penal code provides for criminal penalties
for child rights violations, investigations, arrests, prosecutions
and convictions for child rights violations are rare. In
coordination with the police and the MOJ, an internationally funded
local NGO runs Child Protection Units (CPU's) in eleven Addis Ababa
subcities to rescue and collect information on trafficked children
to facilitate return to their families. The Ministry of Labor and
Social Affairs (MOLSA) is the lead agency for child social welfare
and receives limited support from the Ministry of Women and
Children's Affairs (MOWCA). Cooperation, information sharing, and
coordination between the two the ministries has been poor. City and
local governments also have under-resourced offices for dealing with
social welfare cases. In January 2008, the Ministry of Foreign
Affairs (MFA) established a Trafficking Control Department (TCD).
Three research assistants coordinate with the Ministry of Justice
(MOJ),the Federal Police Command Post, the Immigration Authority,
MOLSA and MOWCA to address child trafficking. As a start-up entity,
the TCD has generated little information to date. In December,
2008, the TCD hosted an inter-ministerial panel discussion on child
trafficking and child labor abuse issues.


C. Social Programs
--------------


5. The Addis Ababa Merkato CPU, the International Organization for
Migration (IOM) and the Organization for Prevention, Rehabilitation
and Integration of Female Street Children (OPFRIS)(an
internationally funded local NGO) each provide shelter, medical
care, counseling, and reintegration assistance to girls and boys
victimized by trafficking. The police assist in the investigation
of these cases, and in Dessie Town, Amhara region the police have

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replicated these social programs without international assistance.


6. The Confederation of Ethiopian Trade Unions (CETU),whose
membership consists predominantly of workers in government-owned
factories, has focused one-third of its programming on forced child
labor prevention, conducting media awareness (radio and television
public service announcements) and labor law workshops for employers
in Mekelle, Bahir Dar and Addis Ababa. CETU is conducting a study
on the status of child coffee and tea plantation laborers. The
initial findings indicate a high prevalence of forced child labor in
the Southern Nations, Nationalities and People's Region (SNNPR) and
spurred CETU, MOLSA and the ILO to co-host policy drafting forums
for a total of 90 trade union leaders in Bahir Dar and Mekele in
October and November 2008. Their various draft policies have not
been implemented.


D. Comprehensive Policy
--------------


7. Ethiopia has no comprehensive policy to eliminate the worst forms
of child labor, although work has been done on a draft national
action plan on child labor and First Lady Azeb Mesfin chairs a
quarterly "pressure group" of state ministers designed to heighten
senior government official awareness of child labor issues.
Ethiopia's poverty reduction strategy is not targeted specifically
to eliminate child labor, but Ethiopia's government is pursuing
universal primary education as a millennium development goal.
Currently, 91.7 percent of Ethiopian children have access to primary
education. Ethiopian law does not state specifically that primary
education is compulsory or free; however, students can go to
government schools for free.


E. Progress
--------------


8. Child labor predominantly occurs in rural areas where children
assist in subsistence farming. As more than eighty percent of
Ethiopians engage in subsistence farming, the GOE perceives this as
a development issue, not a child labor issue. This did not change
during the year. The GOE has not done a child labor survey since
2001 and therefore has no recent data on the issue. Ethiopia's
Central Statistics Agency is planning to undertake the next survey
in 2009. Though the government lacks the resources to provide
material assistance to trafficking victims, joint police-NGO child
victim identification and referral mechanisms operate in the
capital. In the first eleven months in 2008, CPUs reunified 204
trafficked children with parents or relatives in Addis Ababa, placed
93 children in temporary shelters until their families were traced,
and reunified 976 children with parents or relatives in other
regions. The Social and Civil Affairs Department of the Addis Ababa
city government reunified 46 children with families and placed 40
children in foster care in 2008.
YAMAMOTO