Committee on the Rights of the Child

Sixty- ninth session

25 May–12 June 2015

Item 4 of the provisional agenda

Consideration of reports of States parties

List of issues in relation to the combined fourth and fifth periodic reports of Ethiopia

The State party is requested to submit in writing additional, updated information, if possible before 15 March 2015 (10,700 words maximum).

The Committee may take up any aspects of the children’s rights set out in the Convention during the dialogue with the State party.

Part I

In this section, the State party is requested to submit its responses to the following questions.

Please provide information on the implementation and outcome of the National Plan of Action for Children (2003–2010) referred to in paragraph 27 of the State party report(CRC/C/ETH/4-5), and on the development of any new national plan or policy in this regard.

Please provide further detailed information on measures to coordinate activities under the Convention across sectors and between central, regional and local levels. In particular, with reference to paragraph 21 of the State party report, please provide detailed information on human and financial resources allocated to the Ministry of Women, Children and Youth Affairs, and also elaborate on the Ministry’s working strategies referred to in paragraph 22 of the State party report.

Please indicate the steps taken, if any, towards establishing a centralized data collection system, disaggregated by age, sex, ethnicity, geography and socioeconomic background.

Please inform the Committee about measures taken to address the discrimination and stigma faced by girls, children with disabilities, and children of ethnic minorities, as well as by children who live with HIV/AIDS and/or noma (cancrum oris).

With reference to paragraph 99 of the State party report, please provide updated information on current measures taken to raise awareness among the general public about the harmful impact of corporal punishment and about alternative forms of discipline. Please also inform the Committee about any particular efforts made to combat the frequent violence, including domestic violence, suffered by girls and women, as well as to provide sufficient women’s and children’s shelters.

Please provide updated and detailed information on measures taken to prevent sexual abuse of children and to protect children from sexual abuse. Furthermore, please indicate the measures taken, if any, to combat sexual abuse against children with disabilities, and to ensure the prosecution of perpetrators.

Please provide detailed information on the measures taken to combat all forms of commercial sexual exploitation of children. In so doing, please also elaborate on the measures taken to implement the law that prohibits profiting from the prostitution of children and inducing children to engage in prostitution. Please also indicate whether the law criminalizes children engaged in prostitution.

Please inform the Committee about the measures taken to combat early and forced marriage, including the practice of marriage by abduction. Please indicate whether any particular measures are being taken in this regard in the Amhara and Tigray regions where, according to reports, many girls are married between the ages of 7 and 15. Please also indicate whether any resources are being allocated to civil society and community organizations — such as the Berhane Hewan programme — that work to raise awareness of the harm caused by early marriage, as well as to provide support to girls.

With reference to paragraph 218 of the State party report regarding the widespread practice of female genital mutilation (FGM) and referring to “the success of several prevention measures”, please provide the Committee with further detailed information on these prevention measures and on their effectiveness. In view of reports that no criminal charges have ever been brought for FGM, please elaborate on the measures taken to implement the State party’s legislation prohibiting and criminalizing FGM.

With reference to paragraphs 198 and 201 of the State party report, please elaborate on the measures taken, or intended, to increase the support provided to the very high number of children deprived of a family environment. Please also elaborate on measures taken, if any, to provide support to families in order to avoid the abandonment of children.

Please provide detailed information on the resources allocated to the services available for children with disabilities. In view of the high number of children with disabilities who are being cared for by single mothers, please indicate whether any particular support is provided to these families. Please also indicate whether the national strategy mentioned in paragraph 153 of the State party report includes any special measures for children with disabilities, and please provide more details on the programmes and projects by governmental and non-governmental entities also referred to in paragraph 153.

Please indicate the measures taken, specifically with regard to prevention, provision of nutritious food aid,and awareness-raising campaigns, to tackle the impact of noma, which predominantly affects children, in particular malnourished children up to the age of 6. Furthermore, please indicate whether the State party has taken any initiative to ask external partners such as the World Health Organization or the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) for help and support to combatthis disease.

Please provide updated and detailed information on the measures taken to address the leading causes of child mortality such as pneumonia, diarrhoea, malaria, neonatal problems, malnutrition and HIV/AIDS, as well as combinations of these conditions. Please also indicate which measures are being taken, if any, to address the geographic disparities regarding HIV infection, and whether the free services for neonatal care, vaccination, prevention of transmission of HIV/AIDS from mother to child and anti-retroviral therapy are accessible for mothers and children living in remote and rural areas.

Please indicate the resources allocated to preventing maternal mortality. Please also elaborate on the measures taken to combat the deep-rooted cultural practices mentioned in paragraph 172 of the State party report. Furthermore, please indicate the measures taken, if any, to raise awareness about contraception.

Please comment on the relocation of a significant number of indigenous families, belonging, inter alia, to the Anuak, Nuer or Oromo, under the “villagization” programme. In view of information that these families have frequently been moved from their farmlands to areas unsuitable for agricultural use, where they lack access to education and basic necessities, please elaborate on measures that are being taken to provide the relocated population with adequate nutrition, water and sanitation, as well as with adequate infrastructure and social services.

In view of the significant number of children dropping out of school, please indicate the measures taken to tackle the root causes, reported to be family disapproval, marriage, poverty and lack of schooling facilities. Please indicate whether any efforts have been made to raise awareness about the importance of secondary education and to provide scholarships, and whether there is any intention to increase schooling opportunities, particularly in rural areas and especially for girls. Please also indicate whether all schools are provided with adequate sanitation facilities for girls, to avoid them missing school when they menstruate.

Please provide updated and detailed information on the measures taken to provide children in street situations with access to shelter, health care and education, as well as on the resources allocated to these measures. Please also indicate whether any particular measures are being taken to provide support to children with disabilities, who live and/or work in the streets.

With reference to paragraph 139 of the State party report, please provide updated information on the measures taken to combat child trafficking. Furthermore, in view of paragraph 313 of the State party report indicating the criminalization of trafficking for purposes of labour or sexual exploitation, please inform the Committee whether the sale of children is also criminalized. Please also comment on reports according to which a high number of children in migration situations have disappeared from refugee camps.

Please provide updated and detailed information on measures taken to eliminate the worst forms of child labour as defined in article 3 of ILO Convention No. 182 (1999). Please indicate whether the prohibited forms of employment according toarticle 89 (3) of the Labour Proclamation include domestic work. Furthermore, please provide updated and detailed information on programmes for the rehabilitation of children subject to child labour, and please indicate whether any steps have been taken to raise the minimum age of employment.

Part II

In this section, the Committee invites the State party to briefly (three pages maximum) update the information presented in its report with regard to:

(a)New bills and laws, and their respective regulations;

(b)New institutions and their mandates, and institutional reforms;

(c)Recently introduced policies, programmes and action plans and their scope and financing;

(d)Recent ratifications of human rights instruments.

Part III

Data, statistics and other information, if available

Please provide updated statistical data (disaggregated by age, sex, ethnic origin, national origin, geographic location and socioeconomic status) for the past three years on:

(a)Cases of abuse and violence against children, including all forms of corporal punishment, with additional information on the type of assistance given to child victims and the follow-up provided, including prosecution of the perpetrators, and the sentences handed down, in the State party;

(b)Investigations into cases of sexual violence and rape, including when carried out by teachers and educators, and on the outcome of trials, including information on the sentences handed down and on redress and compensation offered to the victims;

(c)The number of girls who have become victims of FGM;

(d)The number of children who have been married;

(e)The number of children who have died from noma, as well as the number of children currently living with noma;

(f)The number of child and teenage pregnancies;

(g)The number of children engaged in child labour, both in the formal and the informal sector, particularly including children working as domestic workers;

(h)The number of children living and/or working in the streets.

Please provide data, disaggregated by age, sex, socioeconomic background, ethnic origin and geographical location, regarding the situation of children deprived of a family environment, covering the past three years, indicating the number of children:

(a)Separated from their parents;

(b)Whose parents have died from HIV/AIDS;

(c)Living in child-headed households;

(d)Placed in institutions;

(e)Placed with foster families;

(f)Adopted domestically or through inter-country adoptions.

Please provide data, disaggregated by age, sex, type of disability, ethnic origin and geographical location, covering the past three years, on the number of children with disabilities:

(a)Having become victims of sexual abuse or exploitation;

(b)Living with their families;

(c)Abandoned by their families;

(d)Living in institutions;

(e)Attending regular primary schools;

(f)Attending regular secondary schools;

(g)Attending special schools;

(h)Out of school;

(i)Living and/or working in the streets.

Please provide data, disaggregated inter alia by age, sex, socioeconomic background, geographical location and ethnic origin, covering the past three years, on:

(a)The enrolment and completion rates, in percentages, of the relevant age groups in pre-primary schools, in primary schools and in secondary schools;

(b)The number and percentage of dropouts and repetitions;

(c)The teacher–pupil ratio.

Please provide the Committee with an update of any data in the report that may have been superseded by more recent data collected or have been affected by new developments.

In addition, the State party may list areas affecting children that it considers to be of priority with regard to the implementation of the Convention.