New projects against child exploitation in Ethiopia

The three projects will take place in the Amhara Region, a province in the north-west of Ethiopia. In the northern cities of Lay Garint and Bahir Dar City – which is also the province’s capitol – and Adama City in the centre of Amhara region there are several issues in with children as the main victims.

By estimation, Lay Garint has about 240.000 inhabitants of which about 40 percent is below the age of fifteen. Unemployment is rampant, a lot of people live in poverty and there is a lack of education and healthcare. Of the children who do go to school, one in ten does not graduate. These children end up on the streets and are an easy victim for human traffickers who promise them work in Bahir Dar. They’re put to work as a house slave. Lots of girls are forced to work as a sex worker to stay alive.

Together with local partner WABE Children’s Aid and Training (WCAT), Terre des Hommes and Kinderpostzegels invest in education for 240 children. Because children who go to school and graduate are less likely to fall into the hands of human traffickers. The families of these children also receive extra support to create a better life, by, for example, giving them sheep and goats for their livestock population.

Sexworkers

In Bahir Dar City more than 310 children between 9 and 15 work in the sex industry. Together with the Forum on Sustainable Child Empowerment (FSCE), Terre des Hommes and Kinderpostzegels will focus on the protection of 190 children. Forty of these children, who are sex workers, will be helped to stop their work. Furthermore, 120 children will be reunited with their families and 40 families will receive support in the form of goats and sheep for more income. In the city of Adama there are also a lot of children working in the sex industry. Together with FSCE 50 children will be saved from this exploitative situation and preventive measures will be taken to protect 50 additional children who are also at risk of being exploited sexually. By reuniting families and offering education, these youths will learn a profession and be enabled to start their own businesses so they can provide for themselves.

Community

Besides direct help to the children, every project spends a lot of attention on raising the awareness of the community. A lot of parents are not aware of the importance of education and don’t know the danger their children are in of being victimized by human traffickers. By, amongst others, spreading brochures and showing documentaries more than 10.000 people will be made aware of the risks of sexual exploitation