Child rights monitoring and enforcement mechanisms under ethiopian law january 2010

Child Rights Monitoring Framework under Ethiopian Law (Draft),
January 2010

Child Rights Monitoring Framework under
Ethiopian Law (1st Draft)

Prepared for submission to the EHRC

Ghetnet Metiku
January 2010

Ghetnet Metiku Woldegiorgis
Socio-Legal Researcher
E-mail: gmgiorgis@gmail.com
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January 2010

Contents
1 Context ................................................................................................................................................. 3
1.1 Basic Country Information........................................................................................................... 3
1.2 Socio-Economic Context.............................................................................................................. 3
1.3 Situation of Children .................................................................................................................... 4
2 Policy and Legislative Measures for the Implementation of Child Rights ........................................ 5
3 Actors in Child Rights Monitoring in Ethiopia (Stakeholder Analysis) .............................................. 7
3.1 Government Actors ..................................................................................................................... 7
3.2 Independent Monitoring Institutions ......................................................................................... 7
3.3 Civil Society Actors ....................................................................................................................... 8
4 Assessment of the Child Rights Monitoring Framework ................................................................... 9
4.1 Legal Issues ................................................................................................................................ 10
4.2 Policy Issues ............................................................................................................................... 10
4.3 Strengths and Opportunities...................................................................................................... 11
4.4 Gaps and Challenges ................................................................................................................... 11

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1 Context

1.1 Basic Country Information
Ethiopia, officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia (FDRE), is a land-locked country in
north-eastern Africa. Ethiopia is the oldest independent country in Africa and one of the oldest in the
world.1 The country is also noted for its pioneering role in the establishment of international and
regional inter-governmental organizations. Ethiopia was a member of the League of Nations, a
founding member of both the United Nations and the OAU. The headquarters of many regional
organizations including the former OAU, current AU and the UNECA are located in the capital Addis
Ababa.

Geographically, the country covers a land area of 1,133,380 sq km (437,600 sq mi) of which 0.7% is
covered by water bodies. It shares international borders with Somalia and Djibouti in the east, Eritrea
on the north, Kenya on the south, and Sudan in the west.2 Ethiopia’s climatic conditions vary from
cool temperate highlands over 2,500 meters above sea level, moderate warm lands lying between
1500 to 2500 meters above sea level as well as hot lowlands lying below 1500 meters.

The recent political history of Ethiopia covers a turbulent transition from a feudal state to a decade
and half of military rule finally culminating in an emerging democratic system in the last fifteen years
or so. Currently, the country has a federal system of government consisting of a federal government,
nine ethnically-based regions, and two federal cities, Addis Ababa and Dire Dawa.3 It is further
subdivided into 550 woredas and six special woredas. Recently, the Addis Ababa City Administration
was re-organized in ten Sub-City Administrations.

1.2 Socio-Economic Context
Ethiopia is a populous country with an estimated total population of around 77 million. It is the
second most populous country in Africa next to Nigeria.4 Among the total number 62,895,000
(83.8%) are estimated to be living in rural areas while 12,172,000 (16.2%) live in cities and towns.
According to the latest official reports issued in 2006, an estimated 43.7% (male 16,373,718; female
16,280,766) of the population is believed to be between 0-14 years, 53.6% (male 19,999,482; female
20,077,014) 15-64 years, and 2.7% (male 929,349; female 1,117,652) 65 years and over. Current
estimates put the proportion of children in the population at a little more than half (more than 51%). 5

1
Pankhurst, Richard K.P. Addis Tribune, "Let's Look Across the Red Sea I", January 17, 2003.
2
Microsoft Encarta Encyclopedia, Standard Edition, 2006
3
The status of Dire Dawa as a federal city administration is not confirmed in the Constitution.
4
Central Statistical Authority, Statistical Abstract 2005, P. 20: The latest census for which figures are
available was performed in 1994; this figure is the July 2006 official estimate. The CIA World Fact Book
(2006) puts the population at 74,777,981 while UNICEF (mid-2005) estimates are 77,431,000.
5
UNICEF, 2007: Around 39,792,000 of the estimated total population of 77,431,000 or around 51.4% are
reported to be below 18 years.
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January 2010

The sex ratio at birth is 1.03 male(s)/female, 1.01 male(s)/female under 15 years, 1 male(s)/female for
15-64 years, and 0.83 male(s)/female for 65 years and over.

The population is growing at an estimated rate of 2.31% in 2006 with a birth rate of 37.98 births/1,000
and a death rate of 14.86 deaths/1,000 population. The infant mortality rate is 93.62 deaths/1,000 live
births while life expectancy at birth is 49.03 years for the total population, 47.86 years for male, and
50.24 years for female.6 The total fertility rate is 5.22 children born per woman.

Ethiopia is one of the poorest countries in the world today characterized by very low macro-
economic, social and demographic indicators7. In 2003/2004 the country recorded an unprecedented
GDP Growth of 11.6% mainly because agricultural production improved significantly following two
consecutive drought years (2001/02-2002/03).8 Official statistics released by the government as well
as international organizations show similarly high rates of growth in subsequent years. However,
despite improvements in the economic situation in the country, a recent report indicated that 23% of
the population of the country still lives on less than one US dollar a day.9 According to the same
report, income per capita in Ethiopia is also one of the lowest in the world at around 160 dollars.

Moreover, the HIV/AIDS pandemic has had substantial negative impact on the already vulnerable
socio-economic condition of the country. Ethiopia ranks among most heavily affected countries in
terms of national adult prevalence rate and the number of people living with HIV/AIDS. The national
HIV prevalence in 2005 is estimated 3 % among males and 4% among females while there are an
estimated 1.32 million PLWHA.

1.3 Situation of Children
The situation of children in Ethiopia is very critical. Despite recent advances in coverage, the
education system in the country still suffers from comparatively low enrolment ratios, gender
disparity in accessibility, disparity in regional distribution of facilities, lack of a sufficient number of
qualified teachers, and lack of adequate textbooks. While increases have been reported in gross
enrollment ratios at the primary level, the net enrolment ratios (male 58 and female 55) as well as
attendance ratios (male 33 and female 28) are still very low.10

Similarly, while access to primary health care services has shown some increase over the past
decade, health care delivery has been adversely affected by regional and rural-urban disparity as well
as inadequacy of primary health care facilities due to lack of skilled man power and finance. The most
critical health problems of Ethiopian children are caused by inadequate to immunization,
inaccessibility of clean water, inadequate sanitation facilities and malnutrition resulting in high infant
and under-five mortality rates.

6
45.5 UNDP 2004 and 46 UNICIEF 2003
7
UNICEF ranked Ethiopia 169th among 192 countries on the basis of under-five mortality rates in 2005.
8
Ministry of Finance and Economic Development (MOFED), Development Planning and Research
Department (DPRD), Annual Progress Report (2003/04), Addis Ababa, March 2005.
9
UNICEF, The State of the World’s Children, 2007
10
UNICEF, 2007
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January 2010

As a result, infant mortality in Ethiopia for the most-recent year, i.e. 2005, is reported as 109 per 1000
births and under-five mortality for the same year is 164 per 1000 births.11 The report also notes that
38% of children were underweight while 11% and 47% of children suffer from moderate and severe
wasting and stunting respectively. The HIV/AIDS pandemic has also affected a large number of
children both directly and indirectly. In addition to the large number of infected children, more than
half a million children were orphaned due to AIDS.

Furthermore, due to the poor socio-economic condition in the country, attitudes about childhood
and the existence of numerous harmful traditional practices, Ethiopian children are vulnerable to all
forms of physical, psychological and sexual violence, abuse and exploitation. For instance, the
percentage of children affected by the worst forms of child labor, child marriage, and FGM have
been reported as 43%, 49% and 74% respectively.

2 Policy and Legislative Measures for the Implementation of Child Rights
Ethiopia ratified the Convention on the Rights of the Child and the African Charter on the Rights and
Welfare of the Child.12 However, neither the Convention nor the Charter has yet been published in
the Official Gazette as previously recommended by the CRC Committee. General human rights
instruments ratified by Ethiopia include the Convention for the Suppression of the Traffic in Persons
and the Exploitation of the Prostitution of Others, the International Covenant on Economic, Social
and Cultural Rights, the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, and the Convention on
the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW). The Ethiopian government
has also ratified the ILO Conventions No. 29 (Forced Labour), No. 182 (Prohibition and Immediate
Action for the Elimination of the Worst Forms of Child Labour),13 No.138 (Minimum Age Convention),
No. 181 (The Private Employment Agencies Convention), No. 105 (The Abolition of Forced Labour
Convention), and No. 111 (Discrimination in Employment and Occupation).

Important child rights instruments that have not been ratified to date include the two Optional
Protocols to the CRC on Armed Conflict and the Sale of Children, the Convention Against
Transnational Organized Crime, the Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Person,
Especially of Women and Children, the Conventions on Migrant Workers14, and the Hague
Convention on Inter-country Adoption. During the examination of the third report of the Ethiopian
government to the Committee on the Rights of the child the Ethiopian delegation responded that
the two optional protocols to the CRC were under review while one of the Protocols to the UN

11
UNICEF, 2007
12
Ethiopia acceded to the Convention on May 14, 1991 and it came into force in June 13, 1991.
13
Both on 2 September 2003 according to the third report to the Child Rights Committee.
14
Ethiopia has not ratified the Convention on Migrant for Employment Convention (revised), 1949 (No.
97); the Migrant Workers (Supplementary Provisions) Convention, 1975 (No. 143), The Convention on
the Promotion of Equality of Opportunity and Treatment of Migrant Workers, 1975, and the UN
International Convention on the Rights of Migrant Workers and their Families, 1990.
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January 2010

Convention against Transnational Organised Crime was submitted to Parliament.15 The Hague
Convention on Inter-country Adoption is also under review.

The FDRE Constitution reflects express commitment to realize the rights of children as recognized in
the international child rights framework in Ethiopia. The Constitution, under articles 9 and 13, makes
international agreements ratified by Ethiopia part of the law of the land and makes them standards
for the interpretation of its human rights principles. In particular, Article 36 enshrines the rights of
the child to life, name and nationality, to know and be cared for by parents or legal guardians, to be
protected from labor exploitation and not to be forced to undertake work that may harm his or her
education, health and well-being, to be free from harsh or inhuman punishment that may be inflicted
on his body, in schools or child care institutions.

In accordance with these provisions of the Constitution and its obligations under the CRC, ACRWC
and other relevant international instruments, the government of Ethiopia has been revising domestic
legislation. Notably, the government has revised the 1957 Penal Code and replaced it with a new
Criminal Code which entered into force as of May 2005, replaced the family law provisions of the
1960 Civil Code with a new Family Code in 2000, revised the Labour Law and issued a number of new
legislations like the Private Employment Agency Proclamation (Proclamation No. 104/1998).
Legislations that are on the pipeline include a draft legislation concerning Vital Registration
submitted to the parliament and a refugee proclamation already approved by the Ethiopian
parliament16. Yet, notwithstanding these positive legislative measures, the lack of a systematic
legislative review and adoption of a comprehensive Children’s Code was expressed as a concern by
the CRC Committee in its 2006 Concluding Observations on the report submitted by the Ethiopian
government.

Though Ethiopia does not yet have a single comprehensive policy dealing with the rights of children,
child rights concerns are addressed in the various policy documents on related matters. These
include the Developmental and Social Welfare Policy (1996), the Cultural Policy, the National Youth
Policy, National Education Policy, and the National Health Policy.

In addition to these policy documents, a set of national action plans relevant to the promotion and
protection of rights of children are in existence. These include the National Programme of Action for
Children and Women (1996 - 2000), the National Plan of Action on Orphans and Vulnerable Children
(2004 – 2006), the National Plan of Action for Children (2003 – 2010) and the National Action Plan on
Sexual Abuse and Exploitation of Children (2006 - 2010). Similar action plans on child labor and Civil
Registration and Vital Statistics Systems are reportedly being developed.

15
NGO Group for the Convention on the Rights of the Child, State Party Examination of Ethiopia's Third
Periodic Report, Session 43 of the Committee on the Rights of the Child.
16
The Refugee Proclamation was approved by the House of Peoples’ Representatives in 2004.
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January 2010

3 Actors in Child Rights Monitoring in Ethiopia (Stakeholder Analysis)
Monitoring human rights in general and the rights of children in particular is new to Ethiopia. The
engagement of both government and non-government child rights actors in monitoring activities is
generally limited to the reporting mechanisms under the UN CRC with a few localized assessments in
between. Thus, with the exception of those outputs from international human rights organizations,
there are very few national child rights monitoring reports.

3.1 Government Actors
The mandate and responsibility for child rights in general and the implementation of the UN CRC in
particular rested with the Ministry of Women Affairs (MoWA). Other key government bodies
established for the implementation of the rights of the child include the National Inter-Ministerial
Committees at Federal Level, and Children's Rights Committees at regional, zonal, wereda and
kebele levels.

The National Inter-Ministerial Committee on the CRC, which was established in 1994 with the overall
mandate of monitoring and guiding the implementation of the CRC, is composed of the ministries of
Health, Education, Information, Justice, Finance and Economic Development, Culture and Sports as
well as the Police Commission and the Prime Minister’s Office, and chaired by the Children, Youth
and Family Affairs Department of the Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs. Subsequently, MOLSA also
established a National CRC Committee wherein government ministries, international organizations
and national NGOs are members with mandate to follow-up the implementation of the CRC by the
member organizations. CRC Committees were also formed at regional and local levels with similar
mandates. As per the most recent official government report to the Child Rights Committee (April
2005), 396 local level CRCs were formed between 2002 -2004.

This implementation and monitoring structure established from the zonal to the federal level was
responsible for the development of the initial government report to the CRC Committee as well as
two periodic reports. In addition to these reports, the Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs has
produced a number of reports on the situation of children in Ethiopia. These include: Survey on the
Prevalence and Characteristics of AIDS Orphans in Ethiopia (2003,) the Orphans and Vulnerable
Children Rapid Assessment, Analysis and Action Planning Report (OVC-RAAAP).17 MoLSA has also
prepared the Government Response to Questionnaire on Violence against Children (2005) prepared
by the UN to assess the situation of VAC in Ethiopia.

3.2 Independent Monitoring Institutions
In addition to the above implementation and monitoring structure, two independent monitoring
institutions with mandates and responsibilities inclusive of monitoring the rights of children have
been established by the Ethiopian government. These are the Human Rights Commission and the
Ombudsman. The Ethiopian Human Rights Commission and Ombudsman institution were established
by law in 2000 and the Human Rights Commissioner and Ombudsman have been appointed in 2004.

17
MoLSA, Government Response to Questionnaire on Violence against Children, 2005, pp. 37-38.
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January 2010

Similarly, the Parliament has established a Women’s and Children’s Affairs sub-committee under the
Social Affairs Standing Committee.

Despite their mandates, the role of the Human Rights Commission and the Ombudsman in
monitoring child rights has so far been minimal. The limited role of these independent monitoring
institutions has been attributed to delays in becoming operational as well as budgetary and
institutional capacity limitations.

3.3 Civil Society Actors
The UN CRC is unique among international human rights treaties in that it gives non-governmental
organizations a major role in raising public awareness about the Convention and specifically invites
their participation in the reporting and monitoring process. Governments are urged to involve all
sectors of society in the preparation of reports. While a few consult non-governmental organizations
extensively in the reporting process and incorporate their contributions into reports to the
Committee, individual non-governmental organizations or coalitions can prepare alternative reports
for the Committee's consideration.

However, the engagement of Ethiopian CSOs in human rights monitoring has generally been limited.
Yet, there are some child rights monitoring activities undertaken by indigenous and international
non-government organizations. Chief among these are the complementary reports prepared by
CSOs to accompany the official government reports submitted so far to the CRC Committee. The first
report (initial report) was prepared by a coalition of NGOs coordinated by ANNPCAN while the
second complementary report was prepared with the coordinating role of the Save the Children
alliance. The final and most recent complementary/alternative report was prepared within the
framework of the CRDA Children and Youth Forum.

Non-government actors have also contributed to child rights monitoring through more limited
reports. The following are just a few among the list of such reports;

The various child rights situation analysis reports including a duty bearer profile and a child
rights actors’ directory produced by the Save the Children Alliance CRC – Advocacy task-
group and member organizations;

The study on violence against children conducted by the African Child Policy Forum and Save
the Children Sweden;

The report of the study on HTPs conducted by Ye Ethiopia Goji Limadawi Dirgitoch Aswogaj
Mahaber (EGLDAM), formerly known as National Committee on Traditional Practices of
Ethiopia (NCTPE); and

Research reports produced by Forum on Street Children, ANPPCAN, EWLA, and other
indigenous NGOs on child prostitution, abuse and exploitation of children, trafficking in
children, and other themes.

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January 2010

These non-government child rights actors have also successfully undertaken collaborative efforts
with key government actors including child rights monitoring initiatives. Prominent among these
efforts are the National Steering Committee against Sexual Abuse and Exploitation of Children which
coordinated the development of the National Action Plan on Sexual Abuse and Exploitation of
Children and the establishment of Child Protection Units (CPUs) and Community Based Correction
Centres (CBCC) through collaborative efforts involving Save the Children Sweden, Forum for Street
Children, ANPPCAN, and city level and regional police commissions

4 Assessment of the Child Rights Monitoring Framework
According to Child-watch International,18 monitoring children’s rights have two objectives: to fulfill
the government’s obligations as a state party to show the progressive achievement of children’s
rights; and to maintain systematic information systems on the national conditions of children’s lives
in order to plan, implement and evaluate interventions for their welfare. The Committee on the
Rights of the Child19 has also prioritized the need for a monitoring system at national, local and
regional level that can gather all qualitative and quantitative information on children. These goals
and aims require a monitoring mechanism that is sustainable, applicable to the situation and needs
of a country and that inputs into the policy, programmes and advocacy strategies of a country.
Therefore, monitoring involves the following specific measures:

– Collection of sufficient and reliable data on children, disaggregated to enable identification
of discrimination and/or disparities in the realization of rights;

– The development of a unifying, comprehensive and rights-based national strategy or national
plan of action for children that is relevant to the situation of children, covering all the rights
of children and developed through a process of consultation;

– Ensuring that the best interests of the child are a primary consideration in all actions
concerning children and that all the rights of children are respected in legislation and policy
development and delivery at all levels of government through a continuous process of child
impact assessment20 and child impact evaluation21.

– The establishment of independent human rights institutions to monitor independently the
State’s compliance and progress towards implementation and to do all it can to ensure full
respect for children’s rights;

– Coordination among central government departments, among different provinces and
regions, between central and other levels of government and between Government and civil

18
Judith Ennew, Monitoring Children’s Rights: Indicators for Children’s Rights Project, 1997
19
UNICEF, Implementation Handbook for the Convention on the Rights of the Child, 1998, p. 67
20
Predicting the impact of any proposed law, policy or budgetary allocation which affects children and
the enjoyment of their rights
21
Evaluating the actual impact of implementation
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society to ensure respect for all of the principles and standards of child rights for all children
within the State jurisdiction and to ensure that the obligations inherent in the Convention are
recognized across government agencies.

Relating to the effective enforcement of the law facilities should be made available to accommodate
the services provided for in the law and complaint handling mechanisms should be established. To
this end, reviewing the impact of laws on a regular basis aims at strengthen and improve services
delivery from public authorities to OVC in practice.

4.1 Legal Issues
Policies and laws need institutions with human and financial resources, political support and
specialized technical expertise to give them effect. The role of legislation in the creation of a
monitoring and enforcement framework for the situation and rights of the child mainly relates to the
establishment and mandating of institutions and arrangements. To this end, the law should typically
provide for:

– A central/focal body responsible for the implementation of child rights;

– Institutions with the authority and resources for law enforcement, regulation, social
protection and/or promotional purposes;

– Distribution of mandates across sectors and levels of administration, including provisions for
the involvement of non-government actors; and,

– Establishment and mandating of national human rights institutions (such as children’s
commissioners and ombudsmen with monitoring and advocacy responsibilities along with a
mandate to see to it that national laws and statutory instruments are in line with
international conventions).

The core mandate for the implementation of the child rights framework in Ethiopia resides with the
Ministry of Women’s Affairs (now the Ministry of Women’s, Youth and Children’s Affairs) with the
Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs having specific mandates on child labor issues. The Ministries of
Education, Health and Justice as well as the Judiciary also have key roles in the monitoring
framework deriving from their generic mandates within their respective areas of responsibility.
Finally, overall human rights monitoring mandates reside with the Ethiopian Human Rights
Commission.

4.2 Policy Issues
The core role of policies in the monitoring framework can be seen in the development of a
comprehensive national action plan for children. Such a document would address all relevant aspects

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of monitoring including data collection, impact assessment and coordination. In the absence of such
a document, the following arrangements are apparent from the relevant policy documents:

– The national, regional and local CRC committees established to follow up on the
implementation of the UNCRC;

– Multi-sector arrangements on legal reform and enforcement of laws on violence against
children coordinated by the MoJ; and,

– The Children’s Affairs Department of the MoWA responsible for the coordination of
children’s affairs across sectors, including the National Steering Committee on Sexual Abuse
and Exploitation of Children.

Though their functionality is not clear, similar multi-level arrangements have also been established
through the National Action Plan on OVCs and the National Action Plan on Children.

4.3 Strengths and Opportunities
The above described monitoring framework benefits from the involvement of multi-sector and multi-
level actors and stakeholders including non-government institutions. These actors and stakeholders,
which often come together through formal coordination structures, bring relevant mandates and
expertise to the overall national response to the situation of children vulnerable to and affected by
HIV/AIDS. The establishment and role of national human rights institutions, especially the Ethiopian
Human Rights Commission, is also an important strength in the framework.

4.4 Gaps and Challenges
Gaps and challenges that may be identified in the legislation and policy on monitoring and
enforcement include:

– The existence of multiple and overlapping coordination and monitoring arrangements, which
is a likely result of the multiplicity of national action plans, poses some challenges to clarity.
Ideally, two core institutions for implementation and enforcement aspects and multi-actor
arrangements for specific issues (such as child labor or sexual exploitation of children)
would be more appropriate.

– The consolidation of women’s rights and child rights mandates within MoWA may be both an
opportunity and a challenge. From one perspective, there are important cross cutting issues
equally relevant to the two areas of engagement such as gender-based discrimination and
violence, which are even more important in the context of HIV/AIDS. On the other hand, the
consolidation of the mandates creates a risk of consolidation of responses which would
result in undue aggregation and decreased visibility of both women and children.

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– The current monitoring arrangement also poses challenges in determining the respective
mandates of some key institutions. This is particularly true for the comparative
responsibilities of the MoWA, the MoLSA, and the Ethiopian Human Rights Commission in
monitoring and evaluation. For instance, the MoWA is mandated to “follow up the
implementation of treaties concerning women and children and submit periodical reports to
the concerned organs” making it the focal child rights monitoring institution. The EHRC, on
the other hand, is responsible for ensuring compliance of legislation with “the human rights
of citizens guaranteed by the Constitution” and making recommendations for legislative and
policy revision. The issue becomes more complicated in connection with child labor where
the MoLSA also has relevant mandates.

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Child rights monitoring and enforcement mechanisms under ethiopian law january 2010

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