COMMITTEE ON THE RIGHTS OF THE CHILDForty-third session 11-29 September 2006

WRITTEN REPLIES BY THE GOVERNMENT OF ETHIOPIA CONCERNING THE LIST OF ISSUES (CRC/C/ETH/Q/3) RECEIVED BY THE COMMITTEE ON THE RIGHTS OF THE CHILD RELATING TO THE CONSIDERATION OF THE THIRD PERIODIC REPORT OF ETHIOPIA (CRC/C/ETH/3)

[Received on 24 August 2006]

GE.06-44004

_________________

* In accordance with the information transmitted to States parties regarding the processing of their reports, the present document was not formally edited before being sent to the United Nations translation services.

General Background

The Ministry of Women’s Affairs (MoWA) has tried to provide appropriate and relevant information in reply to the feedback of the CRC Country Report previously submitted to the CRC Committee in Geneva. The reply was based on the information obtained from various organisations working in different sectors. However there are still major data gaps on various issues which in fact is one of the limitations that exist in the sector and that need to be addressed in our future plan.

A. Data and statistics

1.Please provide disaggregated statistical data (by sex, age groups, ethnic groups, urban and rural areas) covering the years 2003, 2004 and 2005 on the number and percentage of children under 18 living in Ethiopia.

Total Population by age group in Ethiopia
Sub pop	2004	2005
Rural, age 0 to 4 yrs	10,524,357.408	10,631,811.000
Rural, age 10 to 14 yrs	7,127,670.383	7,217,537.000
Rural, age 15 to 19 yrs	6,404,983.256	6,545,088.000
	24,057,011.047	24,394,436.000
Total, age 0 to 4 yrs	11,917,056.352	12,077,537.000
Total, age 10 to 14 yrs	8,339,406.328	8,448,020.000
Total, age 15 to 19 yrs	7,711,167.291	7,883,892.000
	27,967,629.970	28,409,449.000
Total, Female, age 0 to 4 yrs	5,902,878.396	5,980,596.000
Total, Female, age 10 to 14 yrs	4,107,505.804	4,162,235.000
Total, Female, age 15 to 19 yrs	3,796,150.010	3,882,214.000
	13,806,534.210	14,025,045.000
Total, Male, age 0 to 4 yrs	6,014,177.957	6,096,941.000
Total, Male, age 10 to 14 yrs	4,231,900.523	4,285,785.000
Total, Male, age 15 to 19 yrs	3,915,017.281	4,001,678.000
	14,161,095.760	14,384,404.000
Urban, age 0 to 4 yrs	1,393,079.956	1,445,726.000
Urban, age 10 to 14 yrs	1,211,825.226	1,230,483.000
Urban, age 15 to 19 yrs	1,306,123.896	1,338,804.000
	3,911,029.078	4,015,013.000

Population Distribution

A/ By Regions (2005) in millions

-Tigray 4.223 (5.80%)

-Afar1.359 (1.90%)

-Amhara18626 (25.50%)

-Oromiya25.817 (35.30%)

-Somali 4218 (5.80%)

-Benishangul Gumuz 0.610 (0.84%)

-Southern Nations, Nationalities

and Peoples Regional State14.490 (19.84%)

-Gambella0.240 (0.33%)

-Harari0.190 (0.26%)

-Addis Ababa2.887 (3.95%)

-Dire Dawa0.384 (0.53%)

B/By rural/Urban (2005) in millions

-Rural 61.369

- Urban 11.675

2.In the light of article 4 of the Convention, please provide disaggregated data on budget allocations and trends (in absolute figures and percentages of the national and regional budgets) for the years 2003, 2004 and 2005 regarding the implementation of the Convention evaluating also the priorities for budgetary expenditures given to the following:

(a)Education (different types of education, i.e. pre-primary, primary and secondary education);

Education Expenditure

Year	Expenditure (in Million Birr)
2002/03	3,293.10
2003/04	4,146.00
2004/05	4,638.89

Source: Statistical Annual Abstract 2005

(b)Health care (different types of health services, i.e. primary health care, vaccination programmes, adolescent health care, HIV/AIDS and other health-care services for children, including social insurance);

Heath Budget Allocation
Region	Year	Capital Budget	Recurrent Budget
Tigray	2004/05	30,730,000	81,732,000
Afar	2004/05	12,494,000	46,845,000
Amhara	2004/05	79,100,000	134,474,000
Oromia	2004/05	165,450,000	176,177,000
Somali	2004/05	11,840,000	19,990,000
Benshangul-Gumuz	2004/05	7,520,000	16,359,000
SNNPR	2004/05	84,880,000	77,209,000
Gambella	2004/05	3,940,000	12,861,000
Harari	2004/05	4,180,000	13,006,000
Addis Ababa	2004/05	26,660,000	65,012,000
Dire Dawa	2004/05	4,640,000	11,144,000
Ethiopia	2004/05	689,354,000	986,089,000
Federal MOH	2004/05	257,920,000	331,280,000
Tigray	2003/04	26,780,000	68,780,000
Afar	2003/04	17,170,000	13,780,000
Amhara	2003/04	8,481,000	120,790,000
Oromia	2003/04	113,050,000	165,390,000
Somali	2003/04	36,480,000	17,230,000
Benshangul-Gumuz	2003/04	10,980,000	16,070,000
SNNPR	2003/04	85,320,000	79,740,000
Gambella	2003/04	7,050,000	10,550,000
Harari	2003/04	3,440,000	12,090,000
Addis Ababa	2003/04	94,120,000	62,670,000
Dire Dawa	2003/04	8,090,000	10,800,000
Ethiopia	2003/04	517,810,000	652,530,000
Federal MOH	2003/04	517,810,000	74,640,000
Tigray	2002/03	26,800,000	68,800,000
Afar	2002/03	17,200,000	42,900,000
Amhara	2002/03	84,800,000	178,900,000
Oromia	2002/03	113,100,000	429,700,000
Somali	2002/03	36,500,000	16,600,000
Benshangul-Gumuz	2002/03	11,000,000	16,100,000
SNNPR	2002/03	85,300,000	100,700,000
Gambella	2002/03	7,100,000	13,200,000
Harari	2002/03	3,400,000	12,100,000
Addis Ababa	2002/03	94,100,000	55,700,000
Dire Dawa	2002/03	8,100,000	10,800,000
Ethiopia	2002/03	517,900,000	1,020,100,000
Federal MOH	2002/03	30,500,000	74,600,000

	Maternal Health
Region	ANC	Delivery	FP
	2003	%	2004	%	2005	%	2003	%	2004	%	2005	%	2003	%	2004	%	2005	%
Tigray	115,135	71.1	112,802	67.9	66,279	39.0	56,787	36.0	57,896	34.8	58,711	34.4	329314	42.6	381208	47.8	344,494	42
Afar	74,40	16.9	11,077	24.6	NA	NA	458	1.4	942	2.1	NA	NA	30235	12.2	17868	7.1	NA	NA
Amhara	208,019	29.8	240,515	33.7	308151	42.0	49,563	7.1	58,478	8.2	90,246	12.3	759279	22.2	912223	25.9	1,287,550	36
Oromia	164,746	16.2	446,603	42.3	385876	36.0	71,816	7.1	64,803	6.2	60,270	6.0	627395	13.5	850921	17.7	1,096,855	22.2
Somali	7,021	4.9	22,747	15.3	5717	4.0	3,907	2.7	6,545	4.4	3,973	3.0	11575	2.9	22477	2.8	3904	1
B.Gumz	7,545	32.5	10,016	42.2	9652	40.0	2,367	10.1	2,572	10.8	2,756	11.3	29307	25.1	9893	8.2	9893	8
SNNPR	186,683	32.0	244,141	40.7	375730	61.0	38,478	6.6	43,597	7.3	113,084	18.3	658410	24.6	790946	28.8	681979	25
Gambella	NR	NA	NR		1655	20.0	882	11.1	NA	NA	1,029	12.3	15012	28.1	NA	NA	2855	5.2
Harari	2618	41.3	3,342	50.7	3874	57.4	1,154	18.2	1,654	25.1	1,603	24.0	79821	100	16781	39.6	14,652	35.20
A. Ababa	49,716	80.4	52,280	82.1	54689	83.4	20,378	32.9	25,402	39.9	24,013	37.0	330224	37.8	209671	23.3	183063	7
D.Dawa	3,993	30.2	13,690	48.3	7329	52.0	2,709	21.5	4,460	32.6	3,749	26.4	61054	72.1	6543	12.83	6002	25.2
National	752,916	27.4	1,150,134	40.8	1,218,922	42.0	248,495	9.0	266,349	9.5	359,434	12.4	2942734	21.5	3,223,182	23

Achievement of Maternal, New Born, Child and Adolescent Programs

Budget Allocation and Expenditure

Year	Budget Allocated in, 000	Expenditures in 000
	Capital	Recurrent	Allocation for MNCH	Capital	%	Recurrent	%
2003	517,900	1,020,100	13.4	297,800	57.5	526,600	51.6
2004	517,810	652,530	13.4	378,416	73.1	532,172	81.6
2005	689,354	986,089	13.4	355,850	51,6	873,820	88.6

Source: Health and health related indicator 2003-2005, MOH

(c) Programmes and services for children with disabilities;

There is a national Association of Persons with Disabilities the members of which are:

Persons affected by Leprosy

Visually impaired

Hearing impaired

Persons with Physical disabilities

Mentally retarded children and Youth

Autistic Children

These associations include services for adults as well as children with disabilities; that means, there are no separate national associations for children with disabilities.

The programes undertaken on persons with disabilities (which also include children) include:

Awareness raising,

Information and education on HIVAIDS

Production of orthopedic appliances – including provision of new ones and maintenance of old ones especially for children. Most of the programs and services for children with disabilities are undertaken by NGOs.

The services, however, are limited compared with the number of beneficiaries and the demand for the service.

(d) Support Programmes for Families

In Ethiopia a significant number of families live in harsh conditions. Thus attacking the non income elements of poverty is at the core of the government’s strategy. Various efforts in undertaking support programs for families are being made by the governmental and nongovernmental organizations.

These include:

Skills training and income generation for poor families

Awareness raising on family planning and positive parenting

Saving and credit service by the government at the community level so as to help families become productive and self-sufficient.

Similarly development associations established and operating in the different regions are undertaking various projects and programmes at the community level through provision of similar services in addition to building infrastructure so as to improve the living conditions of the rural communities. A lot of successful achievements have been recorded so far in this regard. However the scope of the services is limited when compared with the number of needy families and a lot more remains to be done in this regard. At policy level the Social Welfare Development Policy and the Family Law are in place and contribute to strengthening the family unit through social services and legal protections.

(e) Support for Children living below poverty line

The case of children living under poverty line is considered together with families in the same category. Thus some organizations (mostly NGOs) provide direct support to children while others support the family so as to strengthen their parenting skill. Some of the services are similar with those mentioned under support for families like saving and credit services, skills training for families as well as older children with provision of technical and financial supports.

(f) Protection of children who are in need of alternative care including the support of care institutions

Various activities focusing on protection for children in need of alternative care are undertaken by different governmental and nongovernmental organizations. This includes health and education services, counseling, play and recreation activities, and temporary shelter for abandoned and street children, skills training for older children. The services however are limited compared with the number of children in need of alternative care. In this regard community based child care has been given focus as opposed to institutional care. The service, however, is limited in scope and geographic coverage and is mostly limited to big towns.

(g) Programmes and activities for the prevention of and protection from child Abuse, child sexual exploitation and child labour

Various organizations including government and nongovernmental organizations, CBOs and UN agencies are actively working on the prevention and protection of children from various forms of abuse - sexual abuse and child labour at various levels. This includes awareness raising on the issue of child rights and child abuse and neglect as well as the role of the different bodies in preventing children from abuse and neglect, training for children, parents, teachers, counselors and experts working with children. In addition cases of child abuse are reported to child protection centers based in police stations even though the service is mostly limited to big towns. In addition a national plan of action on sexual exploitation of children has been prepared so as to strengthen and better coordinate the activities undertaken in this regard.

(h) Programmes and services of for children belonging to minorities

Children of minority groups are given services designed for their conditions. These include mobile education for children of pastoralists. The service in this regard is limited.

(i) Programmes and services of for abandoned children, including street children.

Abandoned and street children are given services that help them reintegrate into the community. The programmes and projects comprise temporary shelter, counseling, skills training and reunification and reintegration. The projects and programmes are undertaken by different organizations, most of them nongovernmental organizations. In some cases community based organizations are also involved in rehabilitation of abandoned and street children.

(j) Juvenile justice and the reintegration of juvenile offenders

Child Protection Programme was established in the Police Station in 1996 with the cooperation and support of a nongovernmental organization involved in advocating for the protection of children in need of care and protection. One of the main objectives of the programme was to involve the police in alternative treatment of young offenders in place of custodial treatment. In line with this child protection units were established with the major objectives of involving the police in the use of alternatives to prosecution and detention of children accused of having committed offences, Community based correction programme centers established in some parts of the country. The programme in the main focuses on awareness raising and training of the police on the rights and issues of children in need of special care and protection. The focus in this regard is alternative correction (community-based) measures instead of the traditional institutional programmes. Encouraging results have been recorded in this regard such as progressive positive change of attitudes.

(k) Programmes proving the necessary services and support for children victims of armed conflicts

3.With reference to children deprived of a family environment and separated from parents please provide disaggregated data (by sex, age groups, if possible ethnic groups, urban and rural areas) for the years 2003, 2004 and 2005 on the number of children:

(a)separated from their parents;

(b)placed in institutions;

(c)placed with foster families; and

(d)adopted domestically or through inter country adoptions.

Inter-country Adoption

Children are given for inter-country adoption when there are no opportunities for in-country adoption. The following table shows the number of children that were given inter-country adoption for the two-year period.

Year	Sex	Total
	Male	Female
2003/04	701	714	1415
2004/05	985	870	1855

4.Number of children with disabilities, up to the age of 18, disaggregated by sex, age groups and if possible, ethnic group, urban and rural areas, covering the years 2003, 2004, 2005;

Out of the total disabled persons

17.7% in the age group 0 – 14 (Children)

48.0% in the age group 15-49 (Children and adults)

34.3% in the age group 50 and above

In general it is estimated that persons with disabilities comprise 10% of the total population of Ethiopia; half of them being children with disabilities.

5.Please provide disaggregated statistical data (by sex, age groups, if possible ethnic groups, urban and rural areas) covering the years 2003, 2004 and 2005:

a/ rates of infant and child mortality

Rates in Service Provision, Morbidity and Mortality

Year	Infant and child mortality	Rate of Malnutrition
			Wasting	Stunting	Under weight
2003	96.8	140.1	10.50%	51.50%	47.50%
2004	96.8	140.1	10.50%	51.50%	47.50%
2005	77	123	48.30%	46.90%	37.10%

b/ rates of immunisation

Achievement of Maternal, New Born, Child and Adolescent Programs

Region	Immunization
	DPT 3	TT2+ PW
	2003	2004	2005	2003	2004	2005
Tigray	92,812	138,072	131089	37,487	34,918	170,650
Afar	1,005	12,397	17,902	6,070	8,763	18,492
Amhara	291,982	461,962	474,096	167,313	301,192	374,965
Oromia	281,513	557,007	620,642	259,700	355,094	393,684
Somali	3,289	10,084	14,959	5,375	6,244	144,585
B.Gumz	4,790	9,370	6,991	6,089	5,880	4,847
SNNPR	127,343	412,177	488,699	379,922	313,794	377,621
Gambella	1,275	241	1,114	1,839	461	614
Harari	3,199	4,316	5,003	2,904	2,961	3,320
A. Ababa	32,053	46,400	45,015	36,905	41,450	34,257
D.Dawa	4,909	4,927	5,920	3,869	4,730	4,400
National	844,170	1,656,953	1,811,430	907,473	1,075,487	2,904,872

(d) adolescent health, including early pregnancy and sexually transmitted infections (STIs) and mental health

Efforts have been made to address the growing prevalence of HIV among adolescents and young people in the age range of 10-24 at different levels by various organizations. The national strategic framework highlights preventive efforts such as behaviour change, condom promotion, and distribution voluntary counseling and testing (VCT) and community based are. (Source: Ethiopia: Youth Friendly Voluntary Counseling and Testing, September 2004).

6.With reference to Child abuse, please provide disaggregated data by age, sex, if possible by ethnic groups and types of child abuse reported) covering the years 2003, 2004, and 2005.

a/ number of reported child abuse cases

The case of child abuse has been increasing from time to time even though it may be difficult to state the specific figure due to lack of comprehensive data in this regard.

7.With reference to the right to education please provide disaggregated statistical data (by sex, age groups, urban and rural areas, immigrant children) covering the years 2003-05 in percentage of the relevant age group

Pre-primary Education

Pre-primary level in education in Ethiopia includes children of ages 4-6. At this level the government develops curriculum, trains teachers, and provides supervisory support while Non government organizations, communities, private institutions, and faith-based organizations run programmes. The number of these institutions is increasing every year, particularly in urban areas (Education statistics Annual Abstract 2004-05). In 2004-05 about 153,280 children in 1497 kindergartens have and access to pre-primary education out of the estimated total 6,647,796 children of the appropriate age group (age 4-6). This figure is higher than that of the previous year by about 10.3%.

Elementary age population aged 7-14

-Total=14.75 million

-Female= 7.28 million

Projected School Age Population Size (in thousands) by Region and Sex 2003-2030

Year	Population Aged	Population Aged	Population Aged
	7 – 12	13 – 14	15 – 18
	T	M	F	T	M	F	T	M	F
2003	10,760	5,452	5308	3126	1587	1539	6131	3116	3,015
2004	11,151	5,645	5,506	3,142	1,596	1,546	6,253	3,175	3,078
2005	11,545	5,840	5,705	3,209	1,630	1,579	6,366	3,229	3,137

Gross Enrollment at Primary (1-8)

Year	Male	Female	Both
2002/03	74.6	53.8	64.4
2003/04	77.4	59.1	68.4
2004/05	88.0	71.5	79.8

In 2004-05 the primary school (grades 1-8) age population was estimated to be 14,342,358 while total enrollment in primary school in the regular and evening programmes was 11,448,641. The primary gross enrollment ratio at national level has become 79.8% and when disaggregated by gender it is 71.5% for girls and 88.0% for boys. Compared to the previous year (2003-04) the figures show an increase of 11.4% points both sexes, and 12.4 and 10.6 percentage points for girls and boys respectively. At national level the average annual growth rate for the last five years is 11.5%. In general a good progress has been made in expanding access to primary education.

Net Enrollment Rate (NER) at Primary (1-8) Level

by Year (2003-2005)

Year	Male	Female	Both
2002/03	60.6	47.2	54.0
2003/04	62.9	51.8	57.4
2004/05	73.2	63.6	68.5

The Net Enrollment ratio for regular students for the year 2004-05 was 73.2% for males, 63.6% for females and 68.5% for both. The data for the last five years on primary net enrollment rate shows an increasing trend for both boys and girls.

Senior Secondary School age population aged 15-18

-Total = 6.37

-Female = 3.14

Enrollment in Secondary Schools

In 2004-05, 860,734 students were enrolled in secondary schools (9-10). This figure is higher by 25.5% compared to that of the previous year. Of the total enrollment 306,820 (35.6%) were girls. Enrollment at this level has been increasing annually on average at a growth rate of 20.0%.

Net Enrollment Rate (NER) at Secondary (9-10)

Level by Year (2003-2005)

Year	Male	Female	Both
2002/03	10.1	6.7	8.4
2003/04	12.0	7.5	9.8
2004/05	14.2	9.3	11.8

The Net enrollment ratio of the first cycle of secondary (9-10) level was increased from 9.8% in 2003/04 to 11.8% in 2004/05. It was increased by 5.2 Percentage during the past five years (2001-2005).

Primary Pupils per Teacher Ratio (2002/03-2004/05)

Year	Pupil to Teacher Ratio
2002/03	64
2003/04	65
2004/05	66

Pupil-teacher Ratio at Lower (1-4) and Upper Primary (5-8) Level

Region	Grade 1-4	Grades 5-8	Region	Grade 1-4	Grades 5-8
Tigray	50	44	SNNPR	71	59
Afar	34	27	Gambella	38	49
Amhara	66	66	Harrari	22	22
Oromiya	90	58	Addis Ababa	36	37
Somali	109	30	Dire Dawa	42	40
Benishangul-Gumuz	47	57	National	71	55

At the primary level the Pupil-teacher ratio in the first five years has shown an increasing trend at national level; that is from 60 in 2000/01 to 66 in 2004/05 while for regular secondary schools (9-12) the PTR ratio has increased from 48 in 2003/04 to 51 in 2004/05.

General Measures of Implementation

Street children

The number of street children is increasing from time to time even though there is no recent study undertaken on the issue and it is estimated that there are over 100 thousand street children in the country. In light of this various governmental and nongovernmental organizations are undertaking preventive and rehabilitative programmes and projects so as to mitigate the problem.

Data collection: There is no clear system in place for data collection and the activity is undertaken on demand. In this regard efforts are underway to incorporate the issue in the next country programme.

HIVAIDS

A policy for supplying Anti-Retroviral Treatment (ART) to AIDS sufferers, better tracking, measurement and prevention programmes for AIDS was introduced. In addition porgrammes to control mother-to-child transmission of HIV/AIDS, blood safety, and sexually transmitted diseases was introduced. Various programmes and projects have been undertaken to care for AIDS orphans and people living with HIV/AIDS by various organizations - governmental, nongovernmental organizations and CBOs.

A National OVC Task Force was establishedwith the aim of coordinating all porgrammes and projects undertaken focusing on orphans in the country. The purpose is to strengthen coordination and multi sectoral approach in effectively tackling the problem of OVC.

Education

Emphasis has been given a great attention to primary education to achieve Universal Primary Education in light of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs. In addition to ensure the universalisation of primary education several alternative basic education centers have been established in various regions so as to fulfill the education needs of out-of-school children. The gross enrollment rate in the alternative basic education program is 5.2% for both sexes and 6.9% for females. Spending on education by government increased from 35 Ethiopian Birr per person in 2001/02 to Birr 72 per person by 2004/05. One of the major achievements also include execution of major programmes to improve the quality of education, including upgrading teacher training, revising the curriculum and textbooks, etc (Source: Ministry of Finance and Economic Development, 2005).

Definition of the Child

In Ethiopia a child is any person under the age of 18 in accordance with the provisions of the Constitution of the country as well as the CRC. On the other hand in the context of legal proceedings children are grouped as a/ children under the age of 9 years not liable to charge, children 9-15 years to be treated in special/separate courts, and children aged 15-18 years treated in adult courts but not liable to life sentence or capital punishment. Further efforts will be made for improvement in this regard.

Juvenile Justice

Professionals from the Ministry of Women’s Affairs made experience sharing visits to other countries and acquired quite a lot of useful experiences in this regard. In light of

this various measures have been taken including establishing child-friendly courts in eight regions undertaken by the government and new child protection units by nongovernmental organization. In addition formulating consolidated child law is under process on the basis of the experiences gained from the experience sharing visit made to other African countries.

4.The responsibility for coordinating children’s rights in the country has been transferred from the Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs to the Ministry of Women’s Affairs /MoWA/ as per Proclamation No 471/2005 of Ethiopia. The Ministry of Women’s Affairs is in the process of organizing itself in human and financial aspects.

5. The previous National Plan of Action/NPA/ for Women and Children was reviewed and the lessons learned from the review were incorporated in the current plan of action for children (2003-2010). In the process of implementation of the CRC there has not been financial constraint but a shortage of qualified manpower coupled with high turnover both at federal and region levels.

Child Right Committees were strengthened at all levels of the government structure (from federal to Kebele levels). The rolled out of the National Plan of Action for children as well as awareness raising on the CRC was undertaken at region level.

6.The Convention on the Rights of the Child has been implemented without any discrimination among all children of the country. This is based on the premises that the Constitution of the country equally considers/treats all children of the country, irrespective of their ethnic backgrounds, religion, the status of their families, etc. Thus there is no problem of discrimination among children in the implementation of the CRC all over the country.

7.The mandate of the National Human Rights Commission and the Ombudsman--- The case of identifying individual complaints (as a result of the post election demonstrations of 2005) is being handled/ investigated by an independent committee, established by the Parliament.

8. Support given to refugees

Refugees are given services in different camps in various parts of the country. The Administration for Refugee and Returnee Affairs (ARRA), a government body responsible to head the services for refugees, works in partnership with various nongovernmental and governmental organizations as well as UN agencies in running various programmes and services for refugees and returnees. The services include water, sanitation, health, education, HIVAIDS and reproductive health, community services vocational skill training, etc), care and maintenance, protection, as well as repatriation.

9. Special services have been given to children of minority groups.

Care has been taken to provide access to basic services for children of minority groups in different areas. For example, mobile education service has been given to children of pastoralist families aimed at fulfilling the specific needs of the children in their contexts.

10. The efforts underway to disseminate the Convention on the Rights of the Child by the State Party

A lot of efforts have been made to disseminate the convention at various levels b y various governmental and nongovernmental organizations using various media. Various training and awareness raising activities on the Convention on the Rights of the Child have been undertaken by various organizations-governmental and nongovernmental organizations and the UN agencies for various target groups; namely, children, CRC clubs, teachers, social workers and professionals working for and with children. In addition to the manual prepared by the Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs, a training manual has been prepared by Save the Children Norway-Ethiopia.

12.The responsible government organizations for implementing the CRC (E.g. previously MoLSA, and currently the Ministry of Women’s Affairs) have been working in cooperation with local and international organizations as well as UN agencies in undertaking various activities as part of implementing the CRC. The cooperation and partnership is an ongoing process and will be strengthened further.

13.Issues that currently affect children and hence require the most urgent attention of the government are HIV/AIDS, streetism (street children), and chronic poverty that undermine the growth and development of children and young people and expose them to further vulnerability. For instance, some of the daunting effects of HIV/AIDS are child mortality and morbidity as well as increase in the generation of orphans and vulnerable children.

Part Two

Copies of the Convention in all the languages into which it was translated (to be attached)

Part Three

Additional elaboration on Information included in the previous report:

New bills or enacted legislation: There are no new bills or enacted legislation as part of CRC implementation;

There are child friendly Child Protection Units

Newly implemented policies: Newly implemented policies include the youth policy and Plan of Action for Sexual Exploitation of Children

Newly implemented programmes and projects and their scope: The National OVC Task Force was established and a national OVC plan of action was prepared and is in the process of implementation. As part of this Regional OVC Task Forces have been established in various parts of the country with the objective of implementing the National OVC Plan of Action all over the country.

The role of the OVC Task forces at both federal and regional levels in the main is to coordinate the various OVC-related initiatives in each region as well as at federal levels.

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