Promoting a culture of rights

The Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) is the most widely ratified human rights treaty in history. It sets forth a wide range of provisions that encompass civil rights and freedoms, family environment, basic health and welfare, education, leisure and cultural activities and special protection measures. Ethiopia joined the CRC in 1991 but has struggled to ensure all children have access to those rights.  

In 2018, UNICEF strengthened its partnerships within Ethiopia to increase advocacy efforts regarding child rights and to persuade others to take action.

Promoting rights through partnerships

UNICEF partnered with BBC Media Action to use an innovative communication approach to develop radio ‘soaps’ around baby and infant hygiene which was communicated to listening groups through local health development armies. 

UNICEF supported the Ministry of Women Children and Youth, the Ethiopian Human Rights Commission and the Ethiopian Institute of Ombudsman to promote and monitor the implementation of the UN and African Committee Concluding Observations and Recommendations on child rights. Group efforts led to the dissemination of the National Children’s Policy, development and implementation of the child friendly framework, and enhancement of child and adolescent participation in local planning.

Promoting rights for women and girls

PM Abiy Ahmed’s commitment to women’s empowerment provided critical advocacy opportunities for UNICEF. Throughout 2018, UNICEF engaged the PM, President, First Lady, as well as Ministers and new Regional Presidents to advocate for increased efforts for girls’ empowerment, with a focus on ending harmful practices and expanding quality secondary education.

UNICEF worked closely with the Government, UNICEF’s Data and Analytics Division, and the National Alliance to End Child Marriage and FGM/C to produce Ending Child Marriage: A profile of progress in Ethiopia, a data-driven report that emphases the need to accelerate efforts to reach the government target of eliminating child marriage and FGM/C by 2025. UNICEF used the findings for advocacy with senior officials in Afar and Somali regions to revisit ongoing efforts and accelerate programming. At federal level, UNICEF used the findings during high-level advocacy with senior officials to champion support to the protection and development of adolescent girls. UNICEF continued to disseminate messages on ending child marriage and FGM/C through a popular weekly radio programme and on national television.

Using evidence to promote rights

In partnership with research and government institutions, UNICEF contributed to 18 studies, surveys and research, and one evaluation in 2018. Evidence-generation was expanded in the two critical areas of climate change and urbanization, which informed UNICEF’s work related to the PSNP and resilience building.

UNICEF worked with the Economic Policy Research Institute and Central Statistics Agency to produce a study on multidimensional child poverty in Ethiopia. The study indicated that 88 per cent of Ethiopian children are multidimensionally deprived regarding access to basic services and are at risk of not developing to their full potential, resulting in negative impacts on human capital and the Government’s effort to become a lower-middle-income country. In 2019, UNICEF Ethiopia will prioritize support to Ministry of Finance on the research roadmap of fiscal policy reforms.

The research study titled Generation El-Nino: The Long-term Impact on Children Well-being, was recognized as one of the 12 best UNICEF research papers by the INNOCENTI, and has led to important recommendations, including the development of a comprehensive strategy for building children’s resilience across sectors and strengthening institutional and strategic foundations for child-sensitive disaster risk management

To understand the effectiveness of the UNICEF-introduced SRGBV Code of Conduct in schools, qualitative research was conducted in partnership with London University College of Education. It revealed a growing awareness on the Code, acting as a deterrent for SRGBV and enabling students to speak out about violence. The research also indicated that violence experienced by students was not always reported through the SRGBV system. UNICEF will use the findings to implement a response plan with the Government in 2019.