| Total
Child Labour |
NATIONAL STATISTICS
* For the year 2000,
the ILO projects that there will be 3,375,000 economically active
children, 1,632,000 girls and 1,743,000 boys between the ages of
10-14, representing 41.10% of this age group. (ILO, International Labour Office - Bureau of Statistics, Economically Active Population 1950-2010, STAT Working Paper, ILO 1997)
* 3,928,758 children
between 10-14 years and 4,147,961 between 15-17 years are economically active.
(ILO, Yearbook of Labour Statistics, 1999)
* In 1995, there
were 2,847,000 economically active children, 1345,000 girls and 1,502,000
boys between the ages of 10-14, representing 42.30% 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
*
Children in rural Ethiopia start assuming household or farm responsibilities
as early as four years of age. Some 15 percent of the boys and about
20 percent of the girls started participating in work activities
before they celebrate their fifth birthday. (Centre for Development
Research, ZEF Bonn, Assefa Admassie, The Incidence of Child Labour
in Africa with Empirical Evidence from Rural Ethiopia, No 32, Bonn,
October 2000)
*
A research study published in 1999 reported that the prevalence
of child abuse among urban child labourers is 70%, compared with
24.5% among non-economically active children from the same urban
district. (US
Dept of State, Country Reports on Human Rights Practices - 2000,
February 2001)
*
Child labour is pervasive throughout the country, especially in
the informal sector. (US Dept of State, Country Reports on Human Rights Practices - 1999, 25 February 2000)
* Large numbers of
children of all ages grow and harvest crops in the countryside, or work
as street peddlers in the cities. (EI, EI Barometer on Human and Trade Union Rights in the Education Sector, 1998)
|
| Child
Slavery |
GENERAL NOTES
AND OBSERVATIONS
* Involuntary servitude
and slavery were officially abolished in 1942, but there are numerous anecdotal
accounts of young people, especially girls, being sent by their families
into involuntary servitude in Saudi Arabia and other Arabian Peninsula
states to work as house servants and nannies, some of whom are kept in
bondage. (EI, EI Barometer on Human and Trade Union Rights in the Education Sector, 1998)
|
| Child
Trafficking |
GENERAL NOTES
AND OBSERVATIONS
* Under aged girls
are sent to the Middle East as house servants and 'nannies', and some of
them are kept in sexual bondage. (US
Dept of State, Human Rights Report, 1998)
|
| Child
Prostitution and
Pornography |
GENERAL NOTES
AND OBSERVATIONS
* A study carried
out by the NGO FORUM revealed that in the Mercato area , hotels,
bars and landladies, most of them former prostitutes, are engaged
in renting rooms to young girls for prostitution. The age of girls
engaged in prostitution in this area is reported to be between 15
and 18 years.(ECPAT,
CSEC Database citing FORUM study http://www.ecpat.net/eng/ecpat_inter/projects/monitoring/online_database/index.asp)
* According to another study carried out by the same organisation
in 2000 in Dessie, one of the growing cities in the country, sexual
harassment, and child prostitution and the enticement of schoolgirls
for sexual reasons were found to be prevalent in the city. (ECPAT,
CSEC Database citing FORUM study http://www.ecpat.net/eng/ecpat_inter/projects/monitoring/online_database/index.asp)
* In October 1999,
the National Steering Committee Against Sexual Exploitation of Children
reported that child prostitution is on the increase especially in major
urban centers; however, there are no statistics available. (US Dept of State, Country Reports on Human Rights Practices - 2000, February 2001)
* In October, the
Committee reported that child prostitution is on the increase especially
in major urban centres of the country. (US Dept of State, Country Reports on Human Rights Practices - 1999, 25 February 2000)
* There have been many
press reports of the large-scale employment of children, especially underage
girls, as hotel workers, barmaids, and prostitutes in resort towns and truckstops
south of Addis Ababa. (US Dept of State, Country Reports on Human Rights Practices - 1999, 25 February 2000)
* Thousands of young
girls are brought and stolen from countrysides for prostitution, and there
is reportedly a network of sex smugglers based in tourism and the import-export
sector. (US
Dept of State, Human Rights Report, 1998)
|
| Children
in Crime |
GENERAL JUVENILE
CRIME STATISTICS
* There are
approximately 200,000 street children in urban areas, of which 150,000
reside in Addis Ababa; however, the figures are difficult to estimate,
and observers believe the problem is growing. These children beg,
sometimes as part of a gang, or work in the informal sector in order
to survive. (US Dept of State, Country Reports on Human Rights Practices - 2000, February 2001)
* In 1998 there
were 3,114 reported cases of juvenile crime, representing 1.63%
of all criminal cases. The specific offences were: 101 cases of
murder (1.27% of all
murders) 1,082 cases of serious assault (2.06% of all cases) 957
cases of all types of theft (2.29% of all cases) 76 cases of aggravated
theft (1.22% of all cases) 53 cases of robbery and violent theft
(1.09% of all cases) 25 cases of breaking and entering (1.99% of
all cases) 41 cases of theft of motor cars (3.63% of all cases)
878 cases of other theft (2.55% of all cases) 43 cases of fraud
(0.72% of all cases) 4 cases of counterfeit currency offences (2.35%
of all cases) 7 cases of drug offences (1.96% of all cases)
(INTERPOL, International Crime Statistics
for 1998, citing National
Statistics)
|
| Child
Soldiers |
GOVERNMENT
FORCE STATISTICS
* An estimated 14,000-20,000
Ethiopian government troops were captured over the years by the Eritrean
Peoples Liberation Front (EPLF) with at least several hundred estimated
to be at most 14 years old. (Ilene Cohn and
Guy Goodwin Gill, Child Soldiers, 1994, citing T. Lansen, "Dragged from
soccer field", Sydney Morning Herald, 11 June 1998)
RECRUITMENT
LAWS AND REGULATIONS
*
Under Ethiopian law, the minimum age for recruitment into the armed forces
is 18 years. (CSUCS, Update 3, July 2000)
NOTES ON GOVERNMENT FORCES
*
In Ethiopia, credible sources reported that thousands of teenage
boys were forcibly recruited into the Ethiopian army, particularly
during the build-up to the major offensive launched against Eritrea
in May. Children (primarily from Oromos and Somali ethnic groups)
were targeted in schools and also press-ganged from marketplaces
and villages. Once recruited, children were reportedly sent to camps
for military training and indoctrination and then sent to fight.
(HRW,
World Report 2001)
* Ethiopia also accused
Eritrea of using child soldiers and circulated lists of Eritrean children
whom Ethiopia had taken as prisoners of war. (HRW, World
Report 2001)
*
Thousands of teenage boys have been forcibly recruited into the Ethiopian
army, particularly during the major offensive launched by Ethiopia in May
2000. (CSUCS, Update 3, July 2000)
* There were reports
that some children under the age of 18 were recruited into the military.
(US Dept of State, Country Reports on Human Rights Practices - 1999, 25 February 2000)
* Lucy Hannan refers
to Ethiopian prisoners of war, including 16-year-old Kadir Abdulkadir from
Jigiga, Somali region, Ethiopia, who claims he was forcibly recruited from
school. An interview with a 17-year-old POW, Dowit Admas, claimed that he
was playing football in Gondar High School when Ethiopian government soldiers
rounded up 60 boys and sent them to Bershelk Military Training Camp in Gojam.
(CSUCS,
Africa Report, April 1999)
* During the African
Conference on the Use of Children as Soldiers, the Eritrean authorities
denounced the use of children as young as 14 years of age. (CSUCS,
Africa Report, April 1999)
* The government is making
serious efforts to respect the minimum age of 18 years for entry into the
armed forces. (CSUCS,
Africa Report, April 1999, citing Rädda Barnen)
*
There are reports of juveniles as young as 12 being conscripted.
(Rädda
Barnen, Childwar database, citing UN Commission on Human Rights,
The Question of Conscientious Objection to Military Service, 1997,
quoting Amnesty International)
NOTES
ON OPPOSITION FORCES
* Internal armed opposition groups have also been known
to recruit children, some as young as 11 years old. Thousands of children
were recruited, many forcibly, during the recent border conflict with Eritrea.
(CSUCS,
Global Report on Child Soldiers - 2001, 12 June 2001)
NOTES
ON PREVIOUS ARMED CONFLICTS
* After the withdrawal
of the Oromo Liberation Front (OLF) from transitional government,
during a surprise attack, the EPDRF captured 22,000 OLF soldiers,
of which 40% were under 18. (Rädda
Barnen, Childwar database, citing War Resisters' International, The
CONCODOC Project, 1998)
* A form of press
ganging, known in Ethiopia as 'afesa', was prevalent in the 1980s,
when armed militia, police or army cadres would roam the streets picking
up anyone they encountered. (UN, Graca Machel, Impact of Armed Conflict
on Children, 26 August 1996, citing Rachel Brett and Margaret McCallin,
Children: The Invisible Soldiers, April 1996)
* Before 1995, it
was alleged that Oromo Liberation Front (OLF) recruited children and peasants
by force. (CSUCS,
Africa Report, April 1999, citing War Resisters' International, The CONCODOC
Project, 1998)
|
| Domestic
Child Servants |
GENERAL NOTES
AND OBSERVATIONS
* Child domestic workers
are common. (US Dept of State, Country Reports on Human Rights Practices - 1999, 25 February 2000)
|
Other
Hazardous
Child Labour |
GENERAL NOTES
AND OBSERVATIONS
* A research study
of child labour sponsored by CETU's National Federation of Farm,
Plantation, Fishery, and Agro-industry Trade Unions and published
in 1999 focused on rural locations. The study reported that 30%
of the workers on state farms surveyed were between the ages of
7 and 14. Child workers, who worked alongside parents hired by the
state, typically worked 6 days a week, received no benefits, and
earned less than $10 (80 birr) a month. At one plantation, 75% of
the children worked 12-hour days. (US Dept of State, Country Reports on Human Rights Practices - 2000, February 2001 citing CETU's National
Federation of Farm, Plantation, Fishery, and Agro-industry Trade
Unions)
*
In urban areas, children in large numbers can be seen working in
a variety of jobs, including shining shoes, hustling passengers
into cabs, working as porters, selling lottery tickets, and herding
animals. (US Dept of State, Country Reports on Human Rights Practices - 1999, 25 February 2000)
SPECIFIC
SECTORS
* Street Vending - Large
numbers of children of all ages work as street peddlers in the cities.
(EI, EI Barometer on Human and Trade Union Rights in the Education Sector, 1998)
* Street Children - UNICEF
estimates that there are approximately 150,000 street children in the urban
areas, of which 100,000 reside in Addis Ababa. These children beg, sometimes
as part of a gang, or work in the informal sector in order to survive.
(US Dept of State, Country Reports on Human Rights Practices - 1999, 25 February 2000)
* Street Children
- Many thousands of street children live in Addis Ababa.
(EI, EI Barometer on Human and Trade Union Rights in the Education Sector, 1998)
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