VZCZCXRO8492
PP RUEHROV
DE RUEHDS #0097/01 0160727
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 160727Z JAN 09
FM AMEMBASSY ADDIS ABABA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 3393
RUEHC/DEPT OF LABOR WASHINGTON DC PRIORITY
INFO RUEHGV/USMISSION GENEVA 4433
RUCNIAD/IGAD COLLECTIVE

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 
 
ADDIS ABAB 00000097  002 OF 002 
 
 
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