“አርፈህ ተቀመጥ፣ ትምህርት መማር እንጂ እዚህ መራገጥ አይደለም ስራህ!”

“Sit down, your only purpose is to learn and not fool around here!“

===========================================

This is a statement uttered by many a parent in the city I was born and raised in, Addis Ababa. Variations of the included sentiment are common in other rural, suburban and urban communities across the country. However, this is a derogation of the child’s right to play, a right explicitly protected by article 31 of the universally accepted United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child.

Parents can be seen demanding one thing or the other from their child once they are of a certain age. Their demands may be that they simply learn and not engage with their peers in different forms of play, or that they abandon their studies entirely and help them doing work in whatever manner possible. Some parents abandon their offspring to lead lives of hardship and suffering, while others exchange their children for economical gains through marriage or other arrangements. 

Killing and maiming of children; Recruitment and use of children by armed forces and armed groups; Sexual violence against children; Attacks against schools or hospitals; Abduction of children; and denial of humanitarian access for children are amongst recent violations of children rights due to conflict. Even outside of areas of conflict all these and other forms of violation of the rights of children exist in Ethiopia, a country that has supposedly adopted the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child.

Human rights are dignities, freedoms afforded to every human being regardless of any other factor besides their human nature. These rights are set on such a pedestal that one cannot help but be wary of the consequences that may result upon derogating them. However, Children’s rights, rights that should be given the same respect, if not more, are often disregarded. 

Children, as recognized by the UNDHR, deserve more protection and care. This is an obvious conclusion from their undeveloped state of mind and body that leaves them in a position more vulnerable than that of a fully grown human being. Consequently, their rights should be protected even more strongly than that of a fully developed human being’s as they lack the mental and physical capacity to act for their own best interest.

One of the ways to protect children’s rights and freedoms is having laws that explicitly state and officiate these rights. This way the existence of documented legislation would be inescapable proof of what the rights of children constitutes of. Not only that, the written law maybe reproduced and distributed amongst key stakeholders, and big actors in the sphere of children’s rights such as schools, orphanages, relevant social service institutions as well as the general public, which includes parents.

This would aid to increase the literacy rate regarding children’s rights in the country as well as awareness about the ensuing consequences of not respecting those rights. Aside from that, having a written law in this instance would help solidify the State’s stance towards children’s rights, highlighting the sanctions the state imposes on such derogations which is equivalent to the extent to which the abrogation of the rights of the child is, or in some cases should be, frowned upon by the society.

In Ethiopia, though the government has ratified specific international treaties such as the UNCRC as well as the African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child (ACRWC) in this regard, it still lacks explicit protections for these rights. The FDRE constitution of 1995, the highest legal authority within the country, contains only one article (article 36) specifically relating to this matter. 

As the constitution is a document that sets a general precedent for all other laws within the country, it fails to cover detail provisions that can possibly span across all the existing caveats. Thus, though it is instrumental in the protection of children’s rights by providing the baseline for the adoption of more legislations such as directives and regulations, alone this one article fails to adequately protect the rights it provides.

Furthermore, while the constitution recognizes the “Best Interest of the Child” principle, Ethiopian courts shying away from anything involving constitutional provisions as though it was infected inherently poses an obstacle in the actual application of this principle. Aside from this, even if children benefit from the provisions of the constitution that are in place to protect human rights, there is still a huge gap that needs to be bridged in order to ensure the efficient protectionof rights of children within the country.

Other legislations also mention children’s rights as an aspect to be considered as they regulate other relatively “major” issues. We can see Family law as one that considers the children’s rights aspect of the termination of a marriage and adoption, the Labor Proclamation considering the rights of legal child laborers and many other subsidiary legislations considering children’s rights a factor to be considered in the determination of a whole as opposed to giving these rights the deserved protection as one major agenda on their own. This is implicating of the low levels of concern that the government as well as the community reserve towards this issue, which in turn facilitates for even grosser derogations.

It is imperative that the society understand that the rights of the future generations that will be inheriting the country is a major concern that should not be disregarded. Furthermore, this major concern should be governed by legislation and given the appropriate attention and regard by professionals to ensure the rights and safety of children is safeguarded efficiently by law.

Unless such and other like measures are taken, the situation at hand will not only result in a future generation that has been deprived of its basic rights as a child due to the deprecation of children as a whole but also in one that reserves hatred, cruelty and neglect towards all things as it’s learned from its own experiences.

References:

• Degol, A., & Dinku, S. (2011). Notes on the principle “Best Interest of the Child”: Meaning, history and its place under Ethiopian law. Mizan Law Review , Volume 5 Issue 2, Pages 320 337,  Retrieved from https://www.ajol.info/index.php/mlr/article/view/145487/135014
• UNICEF. (2021, December 31). Grave violations of children’s rights in conflict on the rise around the world, warns UNICEF. *UNICEF East Asia and Pacific*. Retrieved from https://www.unicef.org/eap/press-releases/grave-violations-childrens-rights-conflict-rise-around-world-warns-unicef

Author: Danat Feleke , School of Law, Addis Ababa University (AAU)

About the Author:

Danat Feleke is a law student at Addis Ababa University (AAU) and a Fellow in Young Lawyers Initiative (YLI). Danat is also serving as the leadership Board Member of the YLI.  She can be reached at: danatfele2018@gmail.com