Committee on the Rights of the Child examines the report of Ethiopia

22 May 2015

The Committee on the Rights of the Child today concluded its consideration of the combined fourth and fifth periodic report of Ethiopia on its implementation of the provisions of the Convention on the Rights of the Child.

Introducing the report, Zenebu Tadesse, Minister of Women, Children and Youth Affairs of Ethiopia, said that Ethiopia had laid a solid foundation to transform into a middle income country by 2025. It had in place the National Plan of Action on Children and the rights of children were mainstreamed in national development programmes and plans. Corporal punishment in institutional settings was prohibited, while Special Investigation and Prosecution Units had been established in all regional states to tackle violence against children and women. Ethiopia had achieved Millennium Development Goal 4 on reducing child mortality, with the under-five mortality rate declining by two-thirds, from 204 per 1,000 live births in 1990 to 68 per 1,000 live births in 2012. Also, female genital mutilation prevalence had dropped from 74 per cent in 2005 to 23 per cent in 2010, and the prevalence of early marriages had dropped from 33 per cent in 1997 to 8 per cent in 2013/14. In the last four years, almost five million children were provided with community-based alternative care services and sustained efforts were underway to address the root cause of child abandonment and raise income levels of poor households, including through cash-transfer programmes which enabled the survival and development of children of vulnerable households.

Committee Experts recognized the significant progress Ethiopia had made, including in reducing poverty and improving the health of the population, and commended the political will to address the outstanding challenges. Lack of information on the budgetary allocation for children made it difficult to understand the dimension of the investment made in children, particularly vulnerable children, such as poor children, children with disabilities and street children. Concerns were expressed about female genital mutilation which, despite prohibition, was still practiced, and about the very high number of children deprived of a family environment who were lacking a broad national strategy to place them in alternative care. Experts welcomed the establishment of special courts for children, the national policy on juvenile justice and the existence of community-based mechanisms to support young offenders, but were very concerned about the very low age of criminal responsibility – only nine years of age, prosecution of children aged 15 to 18 as adults, and the lack of separation of children from adults in places of detention.

Responding to the questions and comments by Committee Experts, the delegation said that Ethiopia did not intend to adopt a separate Code on Children, because the national legal framework sufficiently protected children and there were no gaps or incompatibilities with the Convention. Student gatherings in 2014 had not been in any way peaceful, but were supported by terrorists; the police judged that measures taken were proportional to the level of threat and therefore there was no need for an independent Commission of Inquiry into those events and deaths. Ethiopia did not plan to revise the Anti-Terrorism Proclamation because it helped the Government protect the State and safety of its people. The Civil Society and Charity Law had been designed to fill gaps in legislation and to develop an effective and efficient civil society at all levels. Ethiopia considered that democracy and human rights must be home grown, and international civil society organizations working on those issues were not allowed to operate in the country for the time being. Significant progress had been achieved in curbing female genital mutilation, but there was a need to continue addressing its root causes of poverty and deeply entrenched cultural beliefs. General education for grades one to ten was free since 1994, and the law making it compulsory was currently being drafted. There was a move towards inclusive education, and to that end, the Special Needs Education Strategy was revised and expanded, and contained measures to eradicate discrimination against children with disabilities.

Bernard Gastaud, Committee Expert and Country Rapporteur, in his closing remarks said that the Committee took note of the progress achieved, and of the commitment of Ethiopia to address remaining challenges. Concluding recommendations would contain the Committee’s legitimate and numerous concerns and would hopefully guide Ethiopia in preparing laws and policies to address the situation of children.

In her closing remarks, Ms. Tadesse reiterated the commitment of Ethiopia to the Convention on the Rights of the Child and this Committee and stressed the critical importance of democracy and human rights for the country. Ethiopia had created enabling conditions for children to freely express their views, for flourishing of grassroots groups who understood children, and to secure better lives for children.

The delegation of Ethiopia included representatives of the Ministry of Women, Children and Youth Affairs, Ministry of Education, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ministry of Justice, Ministry of Health, and the Permanent Mission of Mexico to the United Nations Office at Geneva.

The next public meeting of the Committee will be at 10 a.m. on Wednesday, 27 May, when it is scheduled to start the examination of the fourth periodic report of the Netherlands (CRC/C/NLD/4) under the Convention on the Right of the Child and its initial report under the Optional Protocol on the involvement of children in armed conflict (CRC/C/OPAC/NLD/1) in Chamber A.

In Chamber B, the Committee will consider the initial reports of the Lao People’s Democratic Republic under the Optional Protocol on the sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography (CRC/C/OPSC/LAO/1) and under the Optional Protocol on the involvement of children in armed conflict (CRC/C/OPAC/LAO/1).

Report

The combined fourth and fifth periodic report of Ethiopia under the Convention on the Rights of the Child can be read via the following link: (CRC/C/ETH/4-5).

Presentation of the Report

ZENEBU TADESSE, Minister of Women, Children and Youth Affairs of Ethiopia, said that Ethiopia had travelled a long distance in the 24 years since the change of the political order, during which it had laid a solid foundation to transform into a middle income country by 2025. The Constitution guaranteed children’s rights, the National Plan of Action on Children was in place, while the rights of children were mainstreamed in national development programmes and plans. Corporal punishment in institutional settings was prohibited and efforts were in place to raise awareness of parents about positive discipline approaches. Special Investigation and Prosecution Units had been established in all regional states to tackle violence against children and women, and ensure that victims got one stop service from medical professionals, police and prosecutors and to avoid secondary victimization. Legal aid centres established by the Ethiopian Human Rights Commission played a pivotal role in curing gender-based violence and child abuse, while the Integrated Care and Justice System Pilot Project had been set up in Addis Ababa and Dire Dawa to support and provide justice to victims. A National Alliance to End Child Marriage composed of representatives of several ministries, law enforcement agencies, courts and non-governmental organizations had been set up to combat harmful traditional practices and sexual violence, and the Government had adopted an Action Plan and National Strategy on the Elimination of Harmful Traditional Practices and Female Genital Mutilation which was being implemented in all regional states. As a result, female genital mutilation prevalence had dropped from 74 per cent in 2005 to 23 per cent in 2010, and the prevalence of early marriages had dropped from 33 per cent in 1997 to 8 per cent in 2013/14.

The Government sought to address the abandonment of children by putting in place the National Guidelines on Alternative Child Care which promoted family and community-based care and support services to orphans and vulnerable children. In the last four years, almost five million children were provided with community-based alternative care services. Sustained efforts were underway to address the root cause of child abandonment and raise income levels of poor households; the National Poverty Reduction Programme implemented in rural and urban areas had resulted in the decline of poverty levels from 29.6 per cent in 2010/11 to 26 per cent in 2012/13, and food poverty had declined from 33.6 per cent to 31.8 per cent in the same period. Focusing on children, cash-transfer programmes enabled the survival and development of children of vulnerable households. To this end, the Productive Safety Net Programme was playing a major part in achieving food security for families; the 2005-2009 programme had a budget of $ 500 million per year, and had provided services to almost eight million vulnerable citizens. Ethiopia had achieved Millennium Development Goal 4 on reducing child mortality, with under-five mortality rate declining by two-thirds, from 204 per 1,000 live births in 1990 to 68 per 1,000 live births in 2012. The Government had put in place a comprehensive plan of action to curtail illegal migration and human trafficking, and was committed to continue to promote public awareness on the harmful effects of child labour. Monitoring and oversight mechanisms had been strengthened through the introduction of a national labour inspection system and regular conduct of workplace inspection to verify compliance with labour standards.

Questions by the Committee Experts

HATEM KOTRANE, Committee Expert and Country Rapporteur, recognized the significant progress Ethiopia had made, including in reducing poverty and improving the health of the population. Taking positive note of the ratification by Ethiopia of a number of human rights international instruments, Mr. Kotrane asked about intentions to ratify the Third Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child, the Rome Statute, the International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families and the Hague Convention. What was the status of the adoption of the Code of Children, and what financial resources had been allocated for the implementation of the policies and programmes for children? Lack of information on the budget specifically allocated for children and indigenous people was a concern and made it difficult for the Committee to understand the dimension of the investment into children, particularly poor children, street children, children with disabilities and children living with HIV. It was not clear how the best interest of the child was included in all policies concerning children, and how children were heard in the judicial and adoption procedure, and in cases of divorce.

BERNARD GASTAUD, Committee Expert and Country Rapporteur, took note of the problems facing children in Ethiopia and the commendable will that existed to tackle them, but remarked that sometimes, results of measures taken in crucial sectors were modest, programmes were not consistent and often overlapped and the Government was reluctant to cooperate with others. The rate of birth registration of children was still rather low, which could be partly due to inadequate resources allocated to tackling this significant problem, and the birth registration of the refugee population was still an issue. Mr. Gastaud asked the delegation to explain how children were elected to Children Parliaments and how local associations operated, and to inform the Committee about the recent incidents in which students involved in demonstrations were killed. What was being done to prevent violence targeting religious minorities and to prosecute perpetrators? Freedom of expression was extremely restricted, particularly after the adoption of the Anti-terrorism legislation in 2009, which justified arbitrary arrest, among others. Did Ethiopia intend to revise this law and ensure greater respect for freedom of expression?

HYND AYOUBI IDRISSI, Committee Expert and Country Rapporteur, asked about measures to further align the National Human Rights Commission with the Paris Principles and to raise its status from B to A, whether it would be enabled to enter into all places of deprivation of liberty, and about complaints the Commission received concerning the violation of children’s rights. What were the plans concerning setting up a complaint mechanism for children, which would be accessible to all children and in all areas? People were not familiar with the legal definition of the child, particularly in rural areas and among refugees, where early marriages still happened partly because of ignorance about the legislation. Was there any intention to raise the age of criminal responsibility which currently was set at nine years of age? Ms. Idrissi recognized the many initiatives in Ethiopia addressing violence against children and asked the delegation to describe measures to combat corporal punishment, actions in place to support children victims of violence, and to prosecute the perpetrators of female genital mutilation which was a prohibited practice in the country.

Other Experts asked about the content of media programmes targeting children and whether it was monitored by anyone, and about the access of children to the Internet, and requested detailed information about the national action plan to eliminate female genital mutilation and about restrictions placed on the work of civil society organizations and whether there was an intention to alleviate them and allow national and international non-governmental organizations to work. An Expert said that crimes of sexual violence or abuse were committed in silence and without witnesses, and asked if the legal requirement of a witness to that crime would be removed in order to make them prosecutable.

Replies by the Delegation

Concerning the ratification of international human rights instruments, the delegation said that Ethiopia was undertaking a study on national and international adoptions and was in the process of considering the ratification of the Hague Convention. The process of ratification of the International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families had been initiated, but was in its early stage. Ethiopia had ratified the two Optional Protocols to the Convention only last year and was focusing on their implementation, and therefore was not considering the ratification of the Third Optional Protocol as yet. Concerning the ratification of the Rome Statute and the recognition of the International Criminal Court, the delegation stressed that there should be no impunity for crimes against humanity and crimes of genocide; crimes of genocide were punishable by the Criminal Law and Ethiopia was expecting the expansion of the African Union Court of Human Rights. A study on the compatibility of the national legislation with the provisions with the Convention on the Rights of the Child had been undertaken in order to decide whether to adopt a Code on Children. The existing national legislative framework sufficiently protected children and there were no gaps or incompatibility of the national legislation with the Convention.

The Convention was being implemented by the judges, but there were challenges in its full use in rendering judgements. The law required judges to consult children in matters of custody. There was indeed a gap in the legislation on birth registration for refugees, and the Government was currently taking action to fill it.

Student gatherings in 2014 had not been in any way peaceful, they were supported by terrorists and aimed to achieve terrorist agendas; while there were deaths, no children had been killed in the police response.

A Committee Rapporteur remarked that the best way to deal with such incidents was to establish an independent Commission of Inquiry, especially as people, including children had been killed.

The Police and Government agencies always conducted an assessment on the proportionality of the use of force, and found that the measures taken were proportional to the level of threat and therefore there was no need for an independent Commission of Inquiry. With regard to religious violence, Ethiopia was extremely religious, tolerant and a good example to the rest of the world. Challenges existed, but did not emanate from different religions, but from the efforts of terrorists to establish an extremist state. The Government had been forced to intervene to maintain the respect for the Constitution and peace and security, and currently trials of a group of people were ongoing in the courts, which were independent. Ethiopia was very impartial on religious issues, it was a secular Government which treated all equally and did not take sides. There was no intention to revise the Anti-Terrorism Proclamation because it helped the Government protect the State and safety of its people.

A Committee Expert noted that the official version of facts was very different from the information obtained by the Committee from different sources, and it was surprising to hear that the classification of “terrorist” was being used to qualify students.

The delegation said that as in any other country, there were concerns, and that the protesters could have been influenced by a totally unacceptable ideology. The cases were before the court and the Committee would be informed about the outcomes. The content of the Anti-Terrorism Proclamation was compatible with similar legislation in existence in the developed world and the charges were not too broad.

Steps were being taken to upgrade the status of the Ethiopian Human Rights Commission from B to A, including by publishing its annual report and the reports on the human rights situation in the country. It was allowed to visit all places of detention in the country, and had visited all official places of detention without any restrictions. The Commission had a broad complaint mechanism, and had expanded its branches to eight regions which received complaints. In addition, there was a toll-free line and complaints could also be lodged via the Internet. The complaints varied in nature and were very carefully examined and followed up.

Civil Society and Charity Law had been designed to fill gaps in legislation and to develop an effective and efficient civil society at all levels. There were different types of civil society organizations, international and local; international ones did not have any restriction on funding but had the requirement to be completely transparent about their use, and also they had to sign a specific agreement with the Government to be able to operate in the country. As far as Ethiopia was concerned, democracy and human rights must be home grown, and there was no interest in having others coming in and telling the country how to do things; therefore, international civil society organizations working on those issues were not allowed to operate for the time being. There were many non-governmental organizations working in the areas of health, education, development and other sectors affecting children.

Concerning coordination, the delegation stressed that issues concerning children were cross-sectoral and were not implemented by one sole entity, but was in the mandate of many Ministries. Sectors were obliged to send in their reports on issues affecting children to the Ministry of Women, Children and Youth Affairs. Significant progress had been achieved in curbing female genital mutilation, but there was a need to continue addressing its root causes of poverty and deeply entrenched cultural beliefs.

The Ministry of Women, Children and Youth Affairs had representatives at grass-roots levels, and was working in close cooperation with women developmental groups which had a direct role in all developmental achievements in the country, namely progress in education and health, reduction in child mortality and female genital mutilation, and also worked on addressing other harmful traditional practices within the framework of the National Action Plan 2013 to 2018. School clubs and women developmental groups played an important role in preventing early marriages; awareness raising and community sanctions against those applying the practice were crucial. Marriages were approved by local authorities upon the presentation of birth certificates and health approvals for the spouses to be.

The phenomenon of refugees was not new in Ethiopia, which was currently hosting 660,000 persons from neighbouring countries; some 200,000 refugees came from South Sudan, and more than 70 per cent of all refugees were children. The children enjoyed access to education on a par with the children from the local communities, including access to vocational training. An out of camp policy was in place for almost all refugees, including for the youth.

Questions by the Committee Experts

HATEM KOTRANE, Committee Expert and Country Rapporteur, expressed concern about the high number of children deprived of a family environment and without protection, and about the lack of a broad national strategy to assist them and place them in alternative care. The Committee was also concerned about the prevalence of child labour, including its worst forms, and the fact that the law allowed the employment of children as young as 14 in hazardous conditions, and asked about the evaluation of national action plans to eradicate child labour including worst forms of child labour. Mr. Kotrane welcomed the establishment of special courts for children, the national policy on juvenile justice and the existence of community-based mechanisms to support young offenders, but was very concerned about the very low age of criminal responsibility, the prosecution of children aged 15 to 18 as adults, and the lack of separation of children from adults in places of detention.

BERNARD GASTAUD, Committee Expert and Country Rapporteur, asked about coordination of the many programmes targeting children to avoid overlap and how they were assessed and financed; about programmes and budgeting of efforts to further reduce child mortality and child malnutrition; and about measures to address the growing number of early pregnancies, particularly among most vulnerable children; and to inform about the HIV policy, breastfeeding policy, and measures to eradicate discrimination against children with disabilities. The National Strategy for Girls and Women had been put in place; what were its results? What specific measures were in place to prevent children from living in the street?

HYND AYOUBI IDRISSI, Committee Expert and Country Rapporteur, took up the issue of sexual exploitation and abuse, which was a real problem, and its main causes were poverty and vulnerability of children, including disability. What was the Government doing to understand those forms of exploitation, including collecting disaggregated data or studies into types of exploitation and categories of children.

Another Expert remarked that the Family Code contained a provision that a child could be adopted while still in the uterus, and asked how technically those adoptions were finalized.

The data provided by Ethiopia stated that 2 per cent of children were disabled, while those by the World Health Organization pointed to 18 per cent; could this be due to gaps in the birth registration process and the reluctance to register children with disabilities? What strategy was in place for inclusive education and inclusive society?

The delegation was asked to outline mental health services, their accessibility for children and adolescents, and in particular for victims of violence, abuse and rape, and to describe the support provided to victims of trafficking to deal with the trauma; the situation of children of incarcerated parents; steps to counter discrimination against refugee children and to eradicate harmful traditional practices among refugees; specialized care provided to mothers during birth; and to explain the practice of abduction of girls for purposes of marriage and steps to address it.

Replies by the Delegation

The Convention had been translated into five languages and disseminated throughout the country, and was also translated into Braille. Juvenile offenders were split into two categories, children aged 9 to 15 and those aged 15 to 18; imprisonment of children aged 9 to 15 was extremely rare and judges usually decided on measures to ensure their education and protection. Children aged 15 to 18 were tried as adults, but the death penalty could not be imposed upon persons under the age of 18; judges were given wide discretion in sentences and were encouraged to impose soft sentences on young offenders. As far as corporal punishment was concerned, the priority was to ensure that it was not being used by parents as the primary mean of discipline and measures were in place to raise awareness of parents and society about the harm caused by corporal punishment.

A variety of mechanisms were in place to identify and assist children victims of sexual violence and abuse, and one of the most successful was community policing which ensured that communities took upon themselves to ensure peace and security and the rule of law, and to identify child abuse within the community. The Police had specialized units which investigated all cases of child abuse reported to the police, while judges hearing the cases were trained in children’s rights. The primary tool in combatting female genital mutilation was awareness raising, but the law also played a role and recently, 14 people had been convicted for engaging in this practice.

Lack of separation of children from the adult prison population was a challenge; Ethiopia had come a long way in ensuring that prison facilities ensured this separation, but the complete separation of juveniles from the adult population had not yet been achieved. This situation would improve with the economic growth of the country. Adoption before birth was a provision in the law which aimed to provide an alternative to abortion, and to ensure the right to life of the child. This technique had not been used however. Different strategies were put in place to ensure food security and increase incomes of families in the rural areas, in order to protect children from abandonment. There were clear procedures for inter-country adoptions and an institution which acted as a central adoption authority, despite the fact that Ethiopia was not a signatory to the Hague Convention.

Since 1994, general education which encompassed grades one to ten was free; it was also becoming compulsory under the General Education Law which was currently being drafted. The education budget was on the increase and currently stood at 25 per cent of the Government’s public expenditure. Community education management and administration guidelines had been in place since 2002, which prohibited corporal punishment of students, physical violence between students, violence against girls and any form of sexual violence. Ethiopia was moving towards inclusive education and the Special Needs Education Strategy had been revised and expanded, and also contained measures to eradicate discrimination against children with disabilities. A critical challenge to the education of children with disabilities was the attitude of parents, who considered that such children could not learn; attitudes and behaviours were being addressed by community education and awareness campaigns.

There was no requirement of two or more witnesses for sexual harassment cases; the prosecution understood that those were secretive crimes and the police did their utmost to collect the necessary evidence. Facilities were available to ensure that children could bring their testimony with privacy and video feeds into a courtroom were permitted.

The Community Health Information System was implemented in 65 per cent of rural communities, whereby community health workers collected and maintained health data, including birth, for the members of the community. Community-based new-born programmes had been introduced and specialized neonatal units were being set up in hospitals in an effort to further reduce neonatal deaths. Malnutrition was a significant problem in the country, which was being addressed via the coordination committee which existed at the central and regional levels. Nutrition interventions were the underlying factors contributing to the significant reduction in child mortality; rates of stunting were reduced as well and now stood at 40 per cent. The Penal Code had set criteria to allow termination of pregnancy under certain circumstances, for example it allowed abortion of pregnancy resulting from rape, incest, or if it endangered the life of mother. Data showed that 41 per cent of mothers received specialized services during birth, and maternity units were being constructed throughout the country. The national literacy rate in 2013/14 was 64.5 per cent.

Poverty, disintegration of family, and loss of parents were the most common causes underlying child labour and living in the street. The strategy focused on prevention, rehabilitation and reunification, and included measures such as awareness raising about harmful impacts of child labour, labour inspection, and poverty eradication initiatives.

With regard to services provided to refugees, the delegation reiterated that there was no discrimination of this population, and refugees received health and education services and food on equal footing with local communities. Refugees were also provided with security and protection which was critical, particularly in areas bordering South Sudan, where risks of attacks were real. Ethiopia was a country of destination of migrants, and there were also hundreds of thousands of Ethiopians living abroad. As a result of the crises in Yemen, Libya and South Africa, Ethiopians abroad were in a serious situation and the Government was trying to live up to its responsibility and bring its citizens back.

All secondary schools had Internet connections and mobile access was expanding fast. Access to information was a Constitutional right which was taken seriously, and age appropriate television programmes in different languages were provided to children. A Positive Child Discipline Manual had been developed to help build this culture at home as an alternative to corporal punishment; the Manual was translated in several national languages and promoted through television, the media, and posters among the public.

Concluding Remarks

BERNARD GASTAUD, Committee Expert and Country Rapporteur, thanked the delegation for their substantial and positive contribution to the dialogue today. The Committee took note of up to date information on efforts undertaken and progress achieved, and of the challenges and the commitment of Ethiopia to address them. The legitimate and numerous concerns of the Committee would be contained in concluding observations which would help lead Ethiopia in preparing new laws and policies to address the situation of children.

ZENEBU TADESSE, Minister of Women, Children and Youth Affairs of Ethiopia, said that Ethiopia was committed to the Convention on the Rights of the Child and this Committee and hoped that it had provided sufficient clarity to the issues raised. Human rights and democracy were critical for Ethiopia which would continue building democratic institutions to ensure better living of its children. Ethiopia had created enabling conditions for children to freely express their views, for flourishing of grassroots groups who understood children, and to secure better lives for children.

RENATE WINTER, Committee Vice-Chairperson, stressed the importance of data which was crucial for any country to measure progress.

____________

For use of the information media; not an official record