NATIONAL STATISTICS

* For the year 2000, the ILO projects that there will be 183,000 economically active children, 90,000 girls and 93,000 boys between the ages of 10-14, representing 38.42% of this age group. (ILO, International Labour Office - Bureau of Statistics, Economically Active Population 1950-2010, STAT Working Paper, ILO 1997)

* In 1995, there were 150,000 economically active children, 74,000 girls and 76,000 boys between the ages of 10-14, representing 39.62% of this age group. (ILO, International Labour Office - Bureau of Statistics, Economically Active Population 1950-2010, STAT Working Paper, ILO 1997)

GENERAL NOTES AND OBSERVATIONS

* The law does not prohibit trafficking in persons; however, there were no reports that such trafficking occurred to, from, within, or through the country. (US Dept of State, Country Reports on Human Rights Practices - 2000, February 2001)

* In 1997, there was evidence of children being trafficked to the Gulf from Eritrea and Sudan. (Anti-Slavery International, "Child Camel Jockeys in the Gulf States", Child Workers in Asia, April-September 1997)

GENERAL NOTES AND OBSERVATIONS

* In 1999, the Ministry of Labour and Human Welfare carried out a survey on commercial sex workers in the country. Although the study was on commercial sex workers in general and not child commercial sex workers in particular, the results of the survey threw some light on the extent and nature of child prostitution in the country. The survey revealed that 5% of sex workers surveyed were children between the ages of 14-17 years. It also indicated that a majority of the children entered the trade at an early age, with most of them starting off as street children and bar maids. Reports indicate that child prostitution is on the increase in the country. (ECPAT, CSEC Database citing the Ministry of Labour and Human Welfare survey 1999, http://www.ecpat.net/eng/ecpat_inter/projects/monitoring/online_database/index.asp)

NOTES ON GOVERNMENT FORCES

* It is widely acknowledged that Eritrea used children as soldiers in the war of independence against Ethiopia. Children may have participated in the border conflict since 1998. (CSUCS, Global Report on Child Soldiers - 2001, 12 June 2001)

* Recruits as young as 14 were reportedly used as reinforcements after Eritrea experienced massive military losses. Reports of a major new recruitment drive including children since the signing of the December 2000 peace accord have not been confirmed. (CSUCS, Global Report on Child Soldiers - 2001, 12 June 2001)

* There were reports that the Government inadvertently employed children under the age of 18 as soldiers. (US Dept of State, Country Reports on Human Rights Practices - 2000, February 2001)

* The representative of Ethiopia at the African Conference to Stop the Use of Child Soldiers, denounced the use of hundreds of children by Eritrea before and after the Independence. (CSUCS, Africa Report, April 1999, citing Y. Kidane, Ethiopian Government Representative at the African Conference on Child Soldiers, 19-22 April 1999)

NOTES ON PREVIOUS ARMED CONFLICTS

SPECIFIC SECTORS

* Street Vending - In urban areas, some children are street vendors of cigarettes, newspapers, or chewing gum. (US Dept of State, Country Reports on Human Rights Practices - 1999, 25 February 2000)