Ethiopia

Cluster Munition Ban Policy

Last updated: 22 June 2016

Summary: Non-signatory Ethiopia has expressed interest in the convention, but has not taken any steps toward accession. It has participated in several meetings of the convention, most recently in 2013, and voted in favor of the first UN resolution on the convention in December 2015. Ethiopia denies that it has stockpiled or used cluster munitions, despite evidence to the contrary. It also states that it has not produced cluster munitions.

Policy

The Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia has not acceded to the Convention on Cluster Munitions.

Ethiopian officials rarely comment on the government’s position on accession to the convention.[1] In 2010 and 2011, government officials said that Ethiopia was considering acceding to the convention.[2] In late 2008, an official said it was not a question of whether Ethiopia would sign, but rather when.[3]

On 7 December 2015, Ethiopia voted in favor of the first UN General Assembly (UNGA) resolution on the Convention on Cluster Munitions, which urges states outside the convention to “join as soon as possible.”[4] A total of 140 states, including many non-signatories, voted in favor of the non-binding resolution.

Ethiopia attended a few meetings of the Oslo Process that created the Convention on Cluster Munitions, but participated only as an observer in the formal negotiations in Dublin in May 2008.[5]

Ethiopia was invited to, but did not attend the convention’s First Review Conference in Dubrovnik, Croatia in September 2015. It participated as an observer in a Meeting of States Parties of the convention in 2013 and attended intersessional meetings in Geneva in 2012–2014 as well as regional workshops on the convention, such as one held in Pretoria, South Africa in March 2010.

Ethiopia has abstained from voting on recent UNGA resolutions condemning the use of cluster munitions in Syria, most recently in December 2015.[6]

Ethiopia is a State Party to the Mine Ban Treaty. It is not party to the Convention on Conventional Weapons.

Use, production, transfer, and stockpiling

Ethiopia stated in April 2013 that it has never produced or used cluster munitions.[7] In a June 2012 letter to the Monitor, Ethiopia stated that it “does not possess cluster bombs and did not possess them during the Ethiopia-Eritrea conflict.”[8]

Ethiopia and Eritrea both used cluster munitions during their 1998–2000 border war. Although Ethiopia has denied it, there is ample evidence that it attacked several parts of Eritrea with cluster munitions. The Mine Action Coordination Center of the UN Mission in Ethiopia and Eritrea has identified approximately 30–40 cluster munition strikes inside Eritrea.[9] There have also been reports of Ethiopia using cluster bombs in other areas in the late 1980s and early 1990s.[10]

In a June 2012 letter, Ethiopia claimed, “cluster munitions from the former military regime era were left at the former Ethiopian Air Force base in Asmara, Eritrea. The Eritrean regime used some of these cluster bombs to attack an elementary school in Ayder, Tigray National Regional State on 5 June 1998 during the Ethio-Eritrean conflict. The remnants of these cluster munitions are still found in the area, some of which were presented as evidence to the Ethiopia-Eritrea Claims Commission in The Hague.”[11]

Cluster munition remnants including PTAB-2.5M and AO-1SCh submunitions have been found near Somalia’s border with Ethiopia, near the Somali border town of Dolow.[12] The contamination is believed to date from the 1977–1978 Ogaden War between Somalia and Ethiopia, but it is unclear who was responsible for the use.[13]

The Monitor and others have consistently reported that Ethiopia is still believed to possess cluster munition stockpiles, including British BL755 cluster bombs, Soviet-era RBK series cluster bombs containing PTAB submunitions, and Chilean CB-500 cluster bombs.[14] Ethiopia also possesses Grad 122mm surface-to-surface rockets, but it is not known if these include versions with submunition payloads.[15]

[1] In its last public statement on the matter in April 2013, a representative said that Ethiopia was participating in meetings of the convention to learn more about its provisions. Statement of Ethiopia, Convention on Cluster Munitions Intersessional Meetings, Geneva, 16 April 2013.

[2] Telephone interview with Fortuna Dibaco, Director, Specialized Agencies and Intergovernmental Organizations Affairs Directorate, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, 27 February 2011; CMC meeting with Fortuna Dibaco, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, New York, 21 October 2010.

[3] CMC, “CMC Newsletter, October 2008,” Issue 4, 17 November 2008.

[4] “Implementation of the Convention on Cluster Munitions,” UNGA Resolution 70/54, 7 December 2015.

[5] For details on Ethiopia’s policy and practice regarding cluster munitions through early 2009, see Human Rights Watch and Landmine Action, Banning Cluster Munitions: Government Policy and Practice (Ottawa: Mines Action Canada, May 2009), pp. 201–202.

[6] “Situation of human rights in the Syrian Arab Republic,” UNGA Resolution 70/234, 23 December 2015. Ethiopia abstained from voting on similar resolutions on 15 May and 18 December 2013 and on 18 December 2014.

[7] Statement of Ethiopia, Convention on Cluster Munitions Intersessional Meetings, Geneva, 16 April 2013.

[8] Letter 066/2012-A from the Permanent Mission of the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia to the UN in Geneva, 13 June 2012.

[9] For additional information, see Human Rights Watch and Landmine Action, Banning Cluster Munitions: Government Policy and Practice (Ottawa: Mines Action Canada, May 2009), p. 201.

[10] Africa Watch, “Ethiopia: ‘Mengistu has Decided to Burn Us like Wood,’ Bombing of Civilians and Civilian Targets by the Air Force,” News from Africa Watch, 24 July 1990, pp. 16–17; and Africa Watch, “Evil Days: 30 Years of War and Famine in Ethiopia,” September 1991, pp. 241–242.

[11] Letter 066/2012-A from the Permanent Mission of the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia to the UN in Geneva, 13 June 2012. In April 2009, the Eritrea-Ethiopia Claims Commission in The Hague awarded Ethiopia US$2.5 million “in respect of deaths and injuries, medical expenses and property damage resulting from the dropping of cluster bombs in the vicinity of the Ayder School in Mekele.” See Eritrea-Ethiopia Claims Commission, “Ethiopia’s Damages Claims between the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia and the State of Eritrea,” The Hague, 17 August 2009. According to the commission’s report, “Ethiopia’s claim in the present case is based…upon the fact that Eritrean aircraft also dropped cluster bombs that killed and wounded civilians and damaged property in the vicinity of the Ayder School and the surrounding neighborhood in Mekele town. Ethiopia states that those bombs killed 53 civilians, including 12 school children, and wounded 185 civilians, including 42 school children.” Eritrea-Ethiopia Claims Commission, “Partial Award–Central Front–Ethiopia’s Claim 2, between the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia and the State of Eritrea,” The Hague, 28 April 2004, p. 24.

[12] Interview with Mohammed A. Ahmed, Director, Somalia Mine Action Authority, in Geneva, 16 April 2013.

[13] Email from Mohammed A. Ahmed, Somalia Mine Action Authority, 17 April 2013. Photographs of the cluster munition remnants are available here. It is not possible to determine definitively who was responsible for this cluster munition use. The Soviet Union supplied both sides in the Ogaden War, and foreign military forces known to have cluster munitions fought in support of Ethiopia, including the Soviet Union and Cuba.

[14] The types listed are based on the unexploded submunitions identified by clearance organizations at cluster munition strike sites in Eritrea. See Mines Action Canada and Landmine Action, Explosive remnants of war and mines other than anti-personnel mines: Global Survey 2003–2004 (London: Landmine Action, 2005), pp. 60 and 64–65; Landmine Action, Explosive remnants of war: Unexploded ordnance and post-conflict communities (London: Landmine Action, 2002), pp. 50–53; and Rae McGrath, Cluster Bombs: The Military Effectiveness and Impact on Civilians of Cluster Munitions (London: Landmine Action, 2000), p. 38.

[15] International Institute for Strategic Studies, The Military Balance 2011 (London: Routledge, 2011), p. 424.

Mine Ban Policy

Last updated: 02 November 2011

Commitment to the Mine Ban Treaty

Mine Ban Treaty status	State Party
National implementation measures	Has not drafted new implementation measures
Transparency reporting	March 2011

Policy

The Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia signed the Mine Ban Treaty on 3 December 1997 and ratified it on 17 December 2004, becoming a State Party on 1 June 2005.

Ethiopia has submitted four Mine Ban Treaty Article 7 reports, most recently in March 2011.[1]

Ethiopia has not reported on measures to enact specific legislation to enforce the Mine Ban Treaty, but it has listed three laws that it states are “consistent with Article 9.”[2]

Ethiopia is not party to the Convention on Conventional Weapons.

Production, stockpiling, transfer, and use

Ethiopia has stated that it has not produced antipersonnel mines, and has not imported the weapon since the 1991 overthrow of the Mengistu regime.[3]

The Mine Ban Treaty required that Ethiopia destroy all of its stockpiled antipersonnel mines by 1 June 2009. In a July 2008 report, Ethiopia reported that 39,759 items described as stockpiled antipersonnel mines were destroyed between 2004 and 2007. Of the declared items, only 5,867 appear to be antipersonnel mines.[4] In November 2008, Ethiopia reported that, as a result of inventories carried out by the Ministry of Defense during 2008, it concluded its original stockpile to be 55,569 antipersonnel mines, of which 40,189 had already been destroyed.[5] In April 2009, Ethiopia stated that 54,455 antipersonnel mines had been destroyed, fulfilling the Article 4 stockpile destruction obligation on 2 April 2009.[6]

In March 2011, Ethiopia reported that it has retained a total of 303 mines for training by the Ethiopian Mine Action Office (EMAO), the same number as reported in the Article 7 reports submitted since 2008. Ethiopia indicated the mines are used in mine detection dog training programs.[7]

The UN Monitoring Group on Somalia has alleged transfer of antipersonnel mines from Ethiopia to Somalia, most recently in 2006.[8] In 2007, Ethiopia described the allegations as “without foundation…unsubstantiated…[and] false.”[9] Attempts by two Presidents of Meetings of States Parties of the Mine Ban Treaty to clarify and seek further information from the UN Monitoring Group about its reports of mine transfers have gone unanswered.[10]

There have been no reports of new use of antipersonnel mines since the end of the 1998–2000 war with Eritrea.[11] Between 2003 and 2008 there were incidents caused by newly laid antivehicle mines in the Temporary Security Zone separating Eritrea and Ethiopia, according to news reports and the UN Mission in Ethiopia and Eritrea (UNMEE) Mine Action Coordination Center (MACC).[12]

^{^[1]} Ethiopia submitted reports on 31 March 2011, April 2010, 30 April 2009, and 5 July 2008.

^{^[2]} Certain sub-articles of Ethiopia’s Constitution, Regulation No. 70/2001 establishing the EMAO, and Ethiopia’s Penal Code specifically Articles 500, 499, 497, and 481. Mine Ban Treaty Article 7 Report, Form A, 30 April 2009; Mine Ban Treaty Article 7 Report, Form A, April 2010; and Mine Ban Treaty Article 7 Report, Form A, 31 March 2011.

^{^[3]} Ethiopia first made this statement in 1997. Statement by Amb. Dr. Fecadu Gadarmu, Embassy of Ethiopia to Canada, Mine Ban Treaty Signing Ceremony, Ottawa, 3 December 1997, p. 2.

^{^[4]} Mine Ban Treaty Article 7 Report, Form G, 5 July 2008. Antipersonnel mines declared destroyed are as follows: PMD-6M (111), PMN (4,227), TS-50 (one), M2A3B (two), M3 (620), M14 (306), M16 (21), POMZ-2M (361), V-5 (two), M69 (151), M35 (10), M21 (14), GOYYATA (29), “Egypt antipersonnel mine” (two), and antipersonnel mines of unknown type (10). The remaining items included detonators, blocks of explosives, practice mines, signal mines, fuzes, and booby-traps.

^{^[5]} Ethiopia stated its intention of destroying a further 14,266 mines (54,455 in total) before its June 2009 deadline, with the remaining 1,114 mines to be retained for training purposes. Statement of Ethiopia, Ninth Meeting of States Parties, Mine Ban Treaty, Geneva, 26 November 2008.

^{^[6]} Ethiopia indicated that 40,189 mines had been destroyed in 2008 and another 14,266 mines in 2009, again providing a list, which included many items that do not appear to be antipersonnel mines. Of the 54,455 items listed, it appears that 32,650 were antipersonnel mines. Mine Ban Treaty Article 7 Report, Form F, 30 April 2009. The 32,650 mines include: PMN (14,318), M16 (7,023), PMD-6M (6,178), POMZ-2M (3,471), M3 (503), M14 (390), M69 (318), MD-9 (182), Goyyatta (132), MK-1 (30), PPMI (29), V5 (23), M2A3 (17), GOYTA (13), M35 (nine), unknown (eight), NR490 (three), and MON-50 (three). The other items include detonators, fuses, strikers, detonating cord, blasting caps, TNT, and plastic explosives. In its 2010 and 2011 Article 7 reports, Ethiopia reaffirmed that 54,455 antipersonnel mines of different types had been destroyed.

^{^[7]} This included PMD (76), PMN (60), M14 (58), POMZ (43), M16 (43), M3 (13), and Type 69 (10). Mine Ban Treaty Article 7 Report, Form D, 31 March 2011.

^{^[8]} In 2006, the UN Monitoring Group reported that in September 2006 the Ethiopian military transferred 180 antipersonnel mines and other unspecified mines to Puntland and Qeybdiid militias. “Report of the Monitoring Group on Somalia pursuant to Security Council resolution 1676 (2006),” S/2006/913, 22 November 2006, pp. 19–22. It also reported transfers of antivehicle mines and unspecified mines to other Somali entities.

^{^[9]} It stated that “Ethiopia is in full compliance of its obligations under the Convention.…[T]here has never been any transfer of antipersonnel mines to any third party including in Somalia.” Letter from Amb. Samuel Assefa, Embassy of Ethiopia to the United States, 11 July 2007.

^{^[10]} For details of statements and actions by the two Presidents relating to the UN Monitoring Group reports, see Landmine Monitor Report 2008, p. 373.

^{^[11]} While not openly acknowledging the use of antipersonnel mines during the border conflict with Eritrea from 1998–2000, in April 2002 Ethiopia provided the UN with detailed maps of mines laid by Ethiopian forces in Eritrea during the conflict. Email from Phil Lewis, Chief Technical Advisor, UNMEE MACC, 23 April 2002.

^{^[12]} See Landmine Monitor Report 2008, p. 374.

Mine Action

Last updated: 15 November 2016

Contaminated by: landmines (extent of contamination unclear) and other explosive remnants of war (ERW).

Article 5 Deadline: 1 June 2020
(Unclear whether on track to meet deadline)

In September 2015, the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia reported that 5.9km² of confirmed mined areas still remained in the country, along with 314 suspected hazardous areas (SHAs) with a total size of more than 1,193km². No land release occurred in 2015. Ethiopia failed to request an extension to its Article 5 clearance deadline before its expiry in June 2015, putting it in violation of the Mine Ban Treaty for nearly six months until a late extension request was approved in December 2015.

Recommendations for action

Ethiopia should significantly improve the quality and frequency of its reporting both at Mine Ban Treaty meetings and through Article 7 transparency reports.
Ethiopia should develop a resource mobilization plan and clarify how financial resources will be used to fulfil its extension request targets.

Contamination

In September 2015, Ethiopia reported that nearly 5.9km² of confirmed mined areas still remained in the country, along with 314 SHAs with a total size of more than 1,193km².[1] According to its March 2015 Article 5 deadline extension request, SHAs remained across six regions (Afar, Benishangul, Gambela, Oromia, Tigray, and Somali), as set out in the table below. The Somali region is believed to be by far the most heavily affected.[2] Based on past operational experience, however, Ethiopia estimated that after technical survey as little as 0.5% of the SHAs’ estimated area would contain mines, which would amount to a total of less than 5.6km². At the same time, it also reported higher estimates that 2% or 3% of the total size of the SHAs could be expected to be confirmed, meaning between 24km² and 36km² of actual mine contamination would remain.[3]

SHAs by region as at end 2014[4]

Region	SHAs	Area (km²)
Afar	14	3.7
Benishangul	2	0.05
Gambela	20	0.8
Oromia	13	1.05
Somali	262	1,186.9
Tigray	3	0.7
Total	314	1,193.2

Due to multiple discrepancies in its reporting on the total number and size of remaining contaminated areas in its 2015 Article 5 deadline extension request, Ethiopia was asked by States Parties to the Mine Ban Treaty to clarify its estimates of contamination, as well as to disaggregate information according to suspected versus confirmed hazardous areas (CHAs).

In its response, on 26 September 2015, Ethiopia confirmed the remaining challenge consisted of 314 SHAs with a total estimated size of 1,193,168,623m² (1,193km²); however, it only listed four regions as affected (Afar, Benishangul, Somali, and Tigray). It did not provide detail as to the size and location of the contaminated areas or disaggregated figures for CHAs and SHAs. It also reported “suspended minefields” in Benishangul and Tigray over a total size of 753,000m², which it included in a table of “suspended mined areas” (see table below).[5]

Areas reported as containing “suspended minefields” in September 2015[6]

Region	Areas	Area (km²)
Afar	6	1.80
Benishangul	2	0.05
Oromia	8	0.10
Somali	27	3.80
Tigray	2	1.50
Total	45	7.25

Ethiopia has also reported that estimates of contamination do not include the area along the Ethiopia-Eritrean confrontation border, where no survey has been carried out and the border has not been demarcated, and is now under the control of the UN Mission in Ethiopia and Eritrea (UNMEE). When asked what efforts had made to address this contamination, Ethiopia replied that it had taken steps to clear behind its own defensive lines, but it was not possible to enter or clear the area between the two countries’ defensive lines due to security concerns, and that clearance would have to wait until the demarcation has been completed.[7]

Ethiopia’s mine problem is a result of internal and international armed conflicts dating back to 1935, including the Italian occupation and subsequent East Africa campaigns (1935–1941), a border war with Sudan (1980), the Ogaden war with Somalia (1997–1998), internal conflict (1974–2000), and the Ethiopian-Eritrean war (1998–2000).

Mines and ERW are reported to continue to cause socio-economic harm, including through: denying access to agricultural and pasture land, which contributes to food insecurity and serious economic hardship for certain communities; blocking access to water for communities and particularly for nomadic pastoralists; and blocking secondary and tertiary roads important to local communities.[8]

Program Management

In 2001, following the end of the conflict with Eritrea, Ethiopia’s Council of Ministers established the Ethiopian Mine Action Office (EMAO) as an autonomous civilian body responsible for mine clearance and mine risk education.[9] In 2011, however, EMAO’s governing board decided that the Ministry of Defense was better suited to clear the remaining mines because Ethiopia had made significant progress in meeting its Mine Ban Treaty clearance obligations and that the remaining threat did not warrant a structure and organization the size of EMAO. It has further asserted on numerous occasions that a civilian entity such as EMAO would have difficulty accessing the unstable Somali region.[10]

The transition of EMAO to the Ministry of Defense appeared to be in limbo for several years in 2013–2015,[11] until September 2015, when Ethiopia reported that oversight of national mine action activities had been re-established as “one Independent Mine Action Office” under the Combat Engineers Main Department.[12] This office would include a number of sub-departments, including for operations, risk education, information management, quality assurance, and training, and it noted that a demining company, technical survey and explosive ordnance disposal (EOD) teams, and a mechanical demining team had been formed.[13]

EMAO expected to clear approximately 3km² per year,[14] but it appears that only very limited clearance of 0.1km² has taken place since the transfer of EMAO’s responsibilities to the Ministry of Defense in 2012.[15]

In June 2015, Ethiopia stated that over the previous two and a half years, four demining companies with a total of 140 men had received “basic humanitarian deminers’ training,” with the first training course held from July to November 2013.[16] In September 2015, it indicated that the trainings and drills would commence for the demining company, while the technical survey teams would receive refresher trainings on survey and land release procedures. It requested technical support for trainings on the International Mine Action Standards (IMAS) for all teams.[17]

Standards

Under its extension plan targets, Ethiopia stated in 2015 that its National Mine Action Standards (NMAS) would be “developed and updated” and that standard operating procedures for mine clearance and land release would be updated using the current IMAS.[18]

Information management

Ethiopia reported that EMAO had previously installed and customized a new version of the Information Management System for Mine Action (IMSMA) database and had been working on capacity development to upgrade data processing. However, it stated that database challenges remained and until “the gap” in the IMSMA system could be resolved, the National Defense Force would “continue using alternative data processing packages together with IMSMA for planning, reporting, and analysis.” In its extension request, Ethiopia requested technical advisory and training support to finalize the IMSMA database and make it fully functional.[19]

The quality of Ethiopia’s reporting on its mine action activities in recent years has been poor. As of mid-September 2016, Ethiopia had not submitted any updated annual Article 7 transparency reports mandated by the Mine Ban Treaty covering years 2012–2015. Its March 2015 extension request is riddled with inconsistent figures and mathematical errors.

Land Release

Ethiopia did not report any survey or clearance for 2015 or the first half of 2016. The last reported land release activities took place in 2013. (See Ethiopia’s 2015 Mine Action country profile for details.)

In its extension request, Ethiopia stated that, following training, four demining teams and four technical survey and rapid response teams were scheduled to start clearance and survey as of November 2015, and an additional four technical survey and rapid response teams would be deployed in December 2015.[20]

Article 5 Compliance

At the Mine Ban Treaty Fourteenth Meeting of States Parties in December 2015, Ethiopia was granted an extension to its Article 5 mine clearance deadline to destroy all antipersonnel mines in mined areas under its jurisdiction or control as soon as possible, for a period of five years until 1 June 2020.

Ethiopia’s original Article 5 deadline expired on 1 June 2015. It failed, however, to submit an extension request with sufficient time to allow States Parties to consider extending the deadline prior to its expiry, thus placing Ethiopia in violation of the convention until the approval of the late request by the Fourteenth Meeting of States Parties on 4 December 2015.[21]

Previously, in 2014, Ethiopia informed States Parties that it intended to request a two-year extension to its Article 5 deadline.[22] In March 2015, however, Ethiopia submitted a request for an extension of five years until 1 June 2020 to complete survey and clearance of all remaining mined areas.[23] In the request, Ethiopia provided the following intended yearly milestones and targets:

In 2015–2017, non-technical survey (NTS) and technical survey would be carried out on all remaining 314 SHAs covering a total area of more than 1,193km². Of this, 22 SHAs with an area of almost 30km² would be addressed in 2015; 149 SHAs covering 516km² in 2016;[24] and a further 143 SHAs with a size of almost 648km² in 2017.[25]
It further projected that a total of 0.45km² would be cleared in 2015, 4.88km² in 2016, and 4.8km² in 2017; a total of 10.135km².
In 2018–2020, clearance would continue in the surveyed areas, mainly in the Somali region.[26] Ethiopia promised that an updated workplan would be submitted to States Parties by April 2017.[27]

In its March 2015 extension request, Ethiopia listed the following reasons for its inability to comply with its 1 June 2015 Article 5 deadline: insecurity in and around some suspected and confirmed mined areas; the absence of basic social services and infrastructure necessary for mine action operations in rural areas; continuous redeployment of demining teams in scattered mined areas; lack of funding; the finding of additional hazardous areas; climate factors such as a three-month rainy season; and a lack of precise information on the number and locations of all mined areas in the country.[28]

With no functioning mine action program as at the end of 2015 and little progress reported in clearance since September 2011 (see the table below), Ethiopia’s ability to meet its future extension request plan is dubious. As of mid-September 2016, Ethiopia had not submitted an annual Article 7 transparency report since 2012, itself a violation of the Mine Ban Treaty. The inconsistencies and errors throughout its extension request do not provide sufficient clarity on or confidence in the true extent of mine contamination remaining or a realistic estimate of when clearance could be completed.[29]

Mine clearance in 2011–2015[30]

Year	Area cleared (km²)	Antipersonnel mines destroyed	Antivehicle mines destroyed
2015	N/R	N/R	N/R
2014	N/R	N/R	N/R
2013	0.10	10	N/R
2012	N/R	N/R	N/R
2011	0.84	508	57
Total	0.94	518	57

Note: N/R = not reported

In its extension request, Ethiopia claims it will cost a total of more than US$37 million to complete clearance by May 2020, an unexplained increase from the $10 million that EMAO reported was required to clear all remaining areas in 2012.[31] The request stated that Ethiopia would cover most of the mine action program’s administrative costs, including quality assurance, information management, and training to respond to residual contamination, but did not report the size of its national contribution.[32]

Ethiopia affirmed that primary concerns around implementing its extension request milestones and completing clearance by 2020 included the security situation in affected areas, funding, population movements, high metallic content in hazardous areas, and heavy rainy seasons.[33] Specifically, Ethiopia reported that as of March 2015, it was possible for military demining to commence in the Tigray border minefield. However, it said that addressing the Afar, Benishangul, Gambela, Oromia, and Somali mined areas presented challenges due to insecurity and lack of infrastructure, social services, and access in remote areas.[34]

Ethiopia has called on a number of occasions for technical and financial support from international NGOs to meet its mine clearance obligations.[35] In June 2015, Ethiopia requested the transfer of mine detection and clearance technologies from States Parties to assist in clearing mine and improvised explosive devices.[36]

The Monitor gratefully acknowledges the contributions of the Mine Action Review supported and published by Norwegian People’s Aid (NPA), which conducted mine action research in 2016 and shared it with the Monitor. The Monitor is responsible for the findings presented online and in its print publications.

[1] “Response by Ethiopia to Committee on Article 5 Implementation request for additional information on its Mine Ban Treaty Article 5 deadline Extension Request,” submitted 26 September 2015; and Article 5 deadline Extension Request, 31 March 2015, pp. 7, 24, and 41–43. Ethiopia’s extension request contains multiple inconsistencies and at least six different sets of figures for the number and size of SHAs remaining throughout the document. Upon requests for clarification, Ethiopia later stated that some of the figures were typographical errors as well as “errors of terminology usage.”

[2] Article 5 deadline Extension Request, 31 March 2015, pp. 26 and 42.

[3] Ibid., pp. 7 and 42.

[4] Ibid., pp. 26 and 42; and statement of Ethiopia, Mine Ban Treaty Intersessional Meetings, Standing Committee on Article 5 Implementation, Geneva, 9 April 2014.

[5] “Response to Committee on Article 5 Implementation request for additional information on its Mine Ban Treaty Article 5 deadline Extension Request,” submitted 26 September 2015; and Analysis of Ethiopia’s Article 5 deadline Extension Request, 19 November 2015, p. 3.

[6] Ibid.

[7] “Response to Committee on Article 5 Implementation request for additional information on its Article 5 deadline Extension Request,” submitted 26 September 2015; and Analysis of Ethiopia’s Article 5 deadline Extension Request, 19 November 2015, p. 3.

[8] Article 5 deadline Extension Request, 31 March 2015, p. 6.

[9] Council of Ministers, Regulation No. 70/2001, 5 February 2001.

[10] Statements of Ethiopia, Mine Ban Treaty Intersessional Meetings, Committee on Article 5 Implementation, Geneva, 25 June 2015; April 2014; and 24 May 2012.

[11] In March 2013, a representative from the Ministry of Defense confirmed that transfer of all demining assets had been completed and reported that it was preparing to deploy survey and clearance teams to the Somali region. Ethiopia noted, though, that its demining capacity had been reduced due to secondment of three demining groups to the UN peacekeeping operation in Sudan. Presentation of Ethiopia, Ministry of Defense Combat Engineering, African Union/ICRC Weapon Contamination Workshop, Addis Ababa, 5 March 2013.

[12] Statements of Ethiopia, Mine Ban Treaty Intersessional Meetings, Committee on Article 5 Implementation, Geneva, 9 April 2014; and 25 June 2015; “Response to Committee on Article 5 Implementation request for additional information on its Article 5 deadline Extension Request,” submitted 26 September 2015; and Analysis of Ethiopia’s Article 5 deadline Extension Request, 19 November 2015, p. 3.

[13] “Response to Committee on Article 5 Implementation request for additional information on its Article 5 deadline Extension Request,” submitted 26 September 2015; and Analysis of Ethiopia’s Article 5 deadline Extension Request, 19 November 2015, p. 3. In its 2015 extension request, Ethiopia reiterated that the Ministry of Defense was better placed to hold responsibility for the national mine action program as the military would have better access to remaining mined areas, and that it would be better placed to budget for operations with limited funding, and that it would more effectively employ available mine action capacity on the basis that Ethiopian forces participate widely in peacekeeping operations around the world.

[14] EMAO, “Draft Strategic Planning 2011–13”; and “Transitioning Mine Action Programmes to National Ownership: Ethiopia,” GICHD, March 2012, p. 3.

[15] Statements of Ethiopia, Mine Ban Treaty Intersessional Meetings, Committee on Article 5 Implementation, Geneva, 25 June 2015; and 9 April 2014.

[16] Statements of Ethiopia, Mine Ban Treaty Intersessional Meetings, Committee on Article 5 Implementation, Geneva, 25 June 2015; and 9 April 2014.

[17] “Response to Committee on Article 5 Implementation request for additional information on its Article 5 deadline Extension Request,” submitted 26 September 2015.

[18] Mine Ban Treaty Article 5 deadline Extension Request, 31 March 2015, p. 11.

[19] Ibid., p. 37.

[20] Article 5 deadline Extension Request, 31 March 2015, pp. 11 and 44.

[21] The request is dated 31 March 2015 but according to the Implementation Secretariat Unit it was not received until 16 June 2015. See Mine Ban Treaty website for more details.

[22] Statement of Ethiopia, Mine Ban Treaty Intersessional Meetings, Standing Committee on Mine Action, Geneva, 9 April 2014. Ethiopia had confirmed informally that it intended to request a two-year extension to its Article 5 deadline until June 2017. ICBL meeting with Muez Gebre Tsadik, Ministry of Defense, in Geneva, 10 April 2014.

[23] Article 5 deadline Extension Request, 31 March 2015, p. 10.

[24] Ibid., p. 46. In the extension request, Ethiopia appears to give different figures for the number and amount of SHAs to be addressed per year: in a separate table, also on p. 46, it also reports that 12 SHAs covering 28.3km² would be surveyed in 2015. On p. 45, however, it reverses figures for clearance and survey and erroneously reports that over the course of 2015, 452,890m² would be addressed by non-technical and technical survey, while a total of 28.1km² would be cleared. It also reports a different figure of 160 SHAs with a size of more than 517.5km² to be surveyed in 2016 in the table on p. 46.

[25] Mine Ban Treaty Article 5 deadline Extension Request, 31 March 2015, pp. 45–46. However, these figures add up to 1,193,826,634m², which is greater than any of the four slightly different figures reported in the extension request as the total size of the remaining SHAs. Likewise, the alternate figures listed in the preceding footnote total 1,193,681,680m², which is also greater than any figure reported for the size of the total remaining SHAs. To add to this confusion, in its statement to the Mine Ban Treaty Intersessional Meetings in June 2015, Ethiopia reported that only 22 SHAs covering an area of 647,810,293m² would be addressed in 2015–2017. Statement of Ethiopia, Mine Ban Treaty Intersessional Meetings, Committee on Article 5 Implementation, Geneva, 25 June 2015.

[26] Statement of Ethiopia, Mine Ban Treaty Intersessional Meetings, Committee on Article 5 Implementation, Geneva, 25 June 2015; and Article 5 deadline Extension Request, 31 March 2015, p. 47.

[27] Statement of Ethiopia, Mine Ban Treaty Intersessional Meetings, Committee on Article 5 Implementation, Geneva, 25 June 2015; and Mine Ban Treaty Article 5 deadline Extension Request, 31 March 2015, p. 45.

[28] Article 5 deadline Extension Request, 31 March 2015, pp. 40–41.

[29] According to figures presented in the request, as of March 2015, 5.9km² of land is confirmed as mined and it is estimated that an additional 35.8km² will be confirmed to contain mines following survey; yet Ethiopia’s extension request outlines the clearance of 10.1km² by 2020.

[30] “Transitioning Mine Action Programmes to National Ownership: Ethiopia,” GICHD, March 2012, pp. 16–17; and statement of Ethiopia, Intersessional Meetings, Standing Committee on Article 5 Implementation, Geneva, 9 April 2014.

[31] Statement of Ethiopia, Mine Ban Treaty Intersessional Meetings, Standing Committee on Mine Action, Geneva, 24 May 2012.

[32] Article 5 deadline Extension Request, 31 March 2015, p. 48. Ethiopia also reported that the government had contributed a total of US$8 million to demining in 2001–2012. It reported that over the same period a total of US$80 million had been spent on demining in Ethiopia thanks to other donor contributions. Article 5 deadline Extension Request, 31 March 2015, p. 33.

[33] Ibid., pp. 48–49.

[34] Ibid., p. 42.

[35] Ibid., pp. 48–49.

[36] Statement of Ethiopia, Mine Ban Treaty Intersessional Meetings, Committee on Article 5 Implementation, Geneva, 25 June 2015.

Support for Mine Action

Last updated: 07 October 2013

In 2012, the mine action program in the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia was transferred from the Ethiopia Mine Action Office (EMAO) to the Ministry of National Defense. At the same time, EMAO reported it needed US$10 million to clear the remaining mined areas, but with mine action transferred to the Ministry of National Defense,[1] funding was impeded because donors that support humanitarian demining through their foreign aid programs are generally constrained from providing funds to the army. The funding for clearance in 2012 went to Norwegian People’s Aid (NPA), who have since closed its mine action program in Ethiopia.[2]

The United States (US) contribution through the Leahy War Victims Fund of the US Agency for International Development went to the ICRC to support rehabilitation centers in Ethiopia.[3]

International contributions: 2012[4]

Donor	Sector	National currency	Amount ($)
Norway	Clearance, victim assistance	NOK6,915,350	1,188,592
US	Victim assistance	$939,700	939,700
Austria	Victim assistance	€150,000	192,885
Netherlands	Clearance	€150,000	192,885
Total			2,514,062

Summary of international contributions: 2008–2012[5]

Year	Amount ($)
2012	2,514,062
2011	3,797,268
2010	10,780,398
2009	7,578,249
2008	9,463,549
Total	34,133,526

[1] Statement of Ethiopia, Mine Ban Treaty Standing Committee on Mine Clearance, Geneva, 24 May 2012.

[2] Email from Aubrey Sutherland-Pillai, Programme Manager, NPA, 22 August 2012.

[3] ICRC, “ICRC Annual Report 2012,” p.538.

[4] Response to Monitor questionnaire by Ingunn Vatne, Senior Advisor, Department for Human Rights, Democracy and Humanitarian Assistance, Royal Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, 11 April 2013; ICRC “ICRC Annual Report 2012,” p.538; response to Monitor questionnaire by Robert Gerschner, Unit for Arms Control and Disarmament in the framework of the UN, Federal Ministry for European and International Affairs, Austria, 26 February 2013; and response to Monitor questionnaire by Fabienne Moust, Policy Advisor, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Netherlands, 19 March 2013. Average exchange rate for 2012: NOK5.8181=US$1 and €1=US$1.2859. US Federal Reserve, “List of Exchange Rates (Annual),” 3 January 2013.

[5] See Landmine Monitor reports 2008–2011; and ICBL-CMC, “Country Profile: Ethiopia: Support for Mine Action,” 26 August 2011.

Casualties and Victim Assistance

Last updated: 26 December 2016

Action points based on findings

Increase the number of prosthetic and orthotic centers to cover all regions and meet the need for affordable mobility devices.
Fund the sustainable capacity of national disability umbrella organizations to represent the rights of persons with disabilities, including survivors.
Create economic inclusion opportunities for mine/explosive remnants of war (ERW) survivors, as well as other persons with disabilities, in physically accessible facilities.

Victim assistance commitments

The Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia is responsible for landmine survivors, cluster munition victims, and survivors of other ERW. Ethiopia has made a commitment to victim assistance through the Mine Ban Treaty.

Ethiopia ratified the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) on 7 July 2010.

Casualties

Casualties Overview

All known casualties by end 2015

16,849 (9,431 killed; 7,401 injured; 17 unknown)

No mine/ERW casualties were identified in 2015.[1]

The last identified (mine) casualties were in 2010, when two deminers were injured.[2]

There were at least 16,849 casualties (9,431 killed; 7,401 injured; and 17 for whom the outcome was unknown) through the end of 2013. Between 2004 and the end of 2014, the Monitor identified 233 casualties (90 killed; 126 injured; 17 unknown).[3] The most complete single data source remains the Landmine Impact Survey (LIS) completed in 2004, which recorded 16,616 mine/ERW casualties (9,341 killed; 7,275 injured).[4]

Cluster munition casualties

At least 272 casualties occurred during the use of cluster munitions in Mekele and Adigrat in 1998.[5] No unexploded submunition casualties were recorded.

Victim Assistance

There are at least 7,401 known mine survivors.[6] The total number of mine/ERW survivors in Ethiopia is unknown as there is no centralized data collection; many survivors, particularly veterans, live in urban locations, including the capital, which were not surveyed by the LIS.[7]

Victim assistance under the Cartagena Action Plan 2010–2014

There was an overall gradual increase of the availability of services in rural and remote areas, however, many survivors and other persons with disabilities continued to live in poverty and far from existing facilities, which prevented them from accessing these services.

Improvements were made in healthcare coverage and emergency response through long-term health sector development plans linked to Ethiopia’s poverty reduction strategy. Throughout the period of victim assistance monitoring, physical rehabilitation was limited and services were concentrated in urban areas. Improvements in the quality and accessibility of physical rehabilitation services were reported since 2009, though challenges in accessibility remained. Most service users, particularly people with disabilities living in rural areas, had difficulty in getting to physical rehabilitation centers and had hardly any access to services.

Throughout the period, the Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs (MoLSA) was responsible for national coordination of the physical rehabilitation sector and for issues concerning persons with disabilities more broadly, while services were coordinated by the regional Bureaus of Labor and Social Affairs offices (BoLSA) with support from the ICRC. MoLSA’s coordination of the disability sector, including victim assistance, improved markedly since 2009 and was prioritized in the development of strategies and plans. In the period before 2009, victim assistance and disability issues were not prioritized in Ethiopia because of critical development conditions overall, poor coordination among key actors, and a lack of capacity. The adoption of the National Plan of Action on Disability 2012–2021 was a critical step in increasing progress in victim assistance and upholding the rights of persons with disabilities more generally.

Psychosocial support and economic reintegration services, mostly operated by NGOs, remained limited and were inadequate to deal with the needs of mine/ERW survivors and other persons with disabilities. The availability of economic inclusion services was significantly reduced from 2009 due to the closure of Landmine Survivors Network/Survivor Corps Ethiopia. In 2014, former Landmine Survivors Network staff established the Survivors Recovery and Rehabilitation Organization (SRaRO) to provide limited psychosocial support to landmine survivors and amputees.[8]

Victim assistance in 2015

In 2015, three new government-run prosthetic and orthopedic centers opened to provide more services to mine and ERW survivors and other persons with disabilities. Those gains in service provision were matched by a decline in the availability of similar services being offered by NGOs. Service quality is less than ideal due to a shortage of staffing for all centers.

Assessing victim assistance needs

No national assessment activities took place in 2015. The Ethiopian Center for Disability and Development (ECDD) conducted a survey of the inclusiveness of family planning and reproductive health services to assess the current level of usage of such services by persons with disabilities and identify the barriers encountered. The survey was limited to three areas.[9] There is also a Baseline Survey on the Status of Inclusive Education Practice in the Educational System in Addis Ababa that is under way.[10]

SRaRO along with Strategic Partner Group (SPG) joined the survey on the availability and usage of inclusive education in Addis Ababa.[11]

Victim assistance coordination[12]

Government coordinating body/focal point	MoLSA: responsible for issues regarding persons with disabilities, including mine/ERW survivors, and for coordinating rehabilitation services
Coordinating mechanism	MoLSA and regional BoLSAs
Plan	National Plan of Action on Disability2012–2021 and Growth and Transformation Plan (GTP)

Ethiopia has reported that there is no specific victim assistance program and that the needs of mine/ERW survivors are addressed through programs for persons with disabilities more generally.[13]

MoLSA is responsible for issues relating to persons with disabilities, including mine/ERW survivors, and is the international focal point for victim assistance. However, there is no single point of contact for disability issues within MoLSA. BoLSAs in each region of the country managed disability-related issues in a regional context using a MoLSA policy framework.[14] BoLSAs are responsible for coordinating both public and private services for persons with disabilities in their respective regions. MoLSA developed national policies with the input of the BoLSAs. Other relevant ministries also have disability departments. MoLSA is the focal point for implementation of the CRPD and the Ethiopian Human Rights Commission is tasked with the supervision of MoLSA’s implementation, just as the commission is responsible for supervision of other human rights treaties. To assist with implementation of the convention, MoLSA established a committee with representatives from relevant ministries and members of civil society. Ethiopia’s federal model of government has meant that each region of the country is also involved in implementation and in the South Nations, Nationalities and Peoples State, a region-specific task force of 14 government agencies and six disabled people’s organization (DPOs) has been established. DPOs are also able to participate in the implementation process through the National Council of Persons with Disabilities both as individual organizations and through the Federation of Ethiopian National Associations of People with Disabilities (FENAPD), an umbrella organization.[15]

The National Council of Persons with Disabilities was responsible for coordinating, evaluating, and monitoring the implementation of the CRPD. Council members were drawn from relevant ministries, NGOs, DPOs, and other stakeholders.[16]

There are three national strategic plans relevant to victim assistance: the second Growth and Transformation Plan, 2015/16–2019/20; the National Plan of Action on Disability, 2012–2021; and a five-year National Physical Rehabilitation Strategy. The National Physical Rehabilitation Strategy was included in the National Social Welfare Policy in 2010 and a plan of action for the practical implementation of the National Physical Rehabilitation Strategy was drafted and under discussion in 2012.[17] Under the second Growth and Transformation Plan (GTP II), availability of physical rehabilitation services is expected to increase such that the number of people receiving services will triple by the conclusion of the plan.[18]

Ethiopia did not provide any updates on victim assistance within the national disability framework at the Fourteenth Meeting of States Parties of the Mine Ban Treaty or its intersessional meetings in 2015. Ethiopia has not reported on victim assistance in Mine Ban Treaty Article 7 reporting since 2009.[19]

Participation and inclusion in victim assistance

Representatives of DPOs were included in coordination activities of MoLSA and the National Council of Persons with Disabilities and as members of various technical committees.[20] In January 2014, MoLSA and a national NGO, Yitawekilgn Yeakal Gudatagnoch Mehiber (YYGM), held consultations about the development of a proposal for establishing a national landmine survivors association, and in June 2016, YYGM obtained formal registration as a charity.[21] However, since Landmine Survivors Network/Survivor Corps closed down in 2009, survivors were not specifically represented in coordination.[22] Mine/ERW survivors were active members of DPOs operating in the country.[23]

Persons with disabilities were included among the staff and volunteers and in the implementation of services of many NGOs and DPOs. There was progress and improvement in the participation of persons with disabilities and DPOs in coordination, but it was still generally believed that not enough had been done to ensure the active involvement of persons with disabilities. More consultation with persons with disabilities and their representative organizations was needed, as well as their more active involvement in relevant decision-making processes at all levels.[24]

Mine/ERW survivors were not included on delegations at international meetings in 2015.

Service accessibility and effectiveness

Victim assistance activities[25]

Name of organization	Type of organization		Type of activity	Changes in quality/coverage of service in 2015
BoLSAs	Government		Prosthetics, social services, social benefits, and feedback to MoLSA	Ongoing
Prosthetic Orthotic Center (POC)Addis Ababa	Government		Physical rehabilitation, including physiotherapy, prosthetics, production of assistive devices	Ongoing
Cheshire Services Ethiopia (CSE)	National NGO		Physical rehabilitation, prosthetics for amputees, mostly mine/ERW survivors and for other persons with disabilities and their families; child-focused community-based rehabilitation network; economic inclusion services for family members of children with disabilities; support to students with disabilities; assembly of wheelchairs	Reduced geographic coverage to provide assistive devices for persons with disabilities through mobile outreach activities
Yitawekilgn Yeakal Gudatagnoch Mehiber (YYGM)	National NGO		Peer support, social and economic inclusion activities (established by former Landmine Survivors Network, LSN Ethiopia)	Ongoing
Ethiopian Center for Disability and Development (ECDD)	National NGO		Promotes inclusive development in mainstream government and NGO development projects, programs, and services; training and awareness-raising	Improvements in program quality and number of clients
Survivors Recovery and Rehabilitation Organization (SRaRO)		National NGO	Conducts peer support for trauma recovery; increases awareness on victim assistance; supports victims in physical rehabilitation, economic and psycho- social reintegration, and also increases their capacity; develops partnership and networking	Ongoing
Handicap International (HI)	International NGO		Increasing and improving physical rehabilitation services, technical support, and training; capacity-building for DPOs; support to persons with disabilities in refugee camps	Closed camp-related operations in Somali region, started services in camps in Gambella
ICRC	International organization		Support for nine physical rehabilitation centers; direct support to people by covering their fees at the centers; transportation and accommodation	Ongoing

Medical care and rehabilitation

Many hospitals in Addis Ababa, including Zewditu Hospital, the city’s largest public facility, are inaccessible to persons with physical disabilities.[26]

Physical rehabilitation including prosthetics

Ethiopia lacks enough physical rehabilitation centers to meet demand. There were at least 14 functioning centers, the four government-run prosthetic and orthotic centers, four centers run by CSE (three of which provide prosthetic and orthopedic services), and nine ICRC-supported facilities. MoLSA also has plans for the construction of two more facilities.[27] The physical rehabilitation services available in the country were limited and remain concentrated in the urban areas. Owing to their isolated geographical situation, most persons with disabilities living in rural areas had hardly any access to physical rehabilitation services and those in most need had great difficulty in getting to the rehabilitation centers.[28] CSE operates a mobile rehabilitation clinic from each of its four facilities and mobile services are available up to 100 kilometers from the home facility. MoLSA, with technical advice from the ICRC, continued to work on plans to implement the national physical rehabilitation strategy. These included establishing a training structure for prosthetic/orthotic technicians at an existing college and developing a national supply chain for orthotic and prosthetic materials.[29]

In 2015, three new prosthetic and orthopedic production centers came online in Oromia, Gambela, and Benshangul-Gumuz states. Plans are in place for facilities to open in Somalia and Affar. According to MoLSA, 80% of the planned services for 2015—including physical rehabilitation services, prosthetics, wheelchairs, and repairs—were provided, an increase from 2014 when MoLSA only met 40% of its targets.[30]

To improve the quality of rehabilitation services, MoLSA is training orthopedic technologists and physiotherapists and developing supply chains to ensure the availability of imported materials.[31] CSE reported a significant decrease in victim assistance services due to a reduction of funds that limited the range of the mobile outreach teams from a 350-kilometer radius of operations (700 kilometers for CSE’s main facility at Menagesha Rehabilitation Center) to a 100-kilometer radius from all facilities.[32]

HI continued its national rehabilitation project assisting nine hospitals. HI closed down operations in the Dollo Ado camps for Somali refugees in the Ethiopia Somali region and started new operations in three camps in the Gambella region, which serve refugees from Sudan and South Sudan.[33]

The ICRC’s priority areas for implementation of the National Physical Rehabilitation Strategy included the development of a national supply chain for importing orthopedic components and raw materials as well as establishing a permanent training structure for prosthetic and orthotic technicians. In 2015, negotiations and planning with Addis Ababa University progressed significantly towards the establishment of a degree program in prosthetics and orthotics that would meet the need.[34]

Economic and social inclusion

Some improvements in the quality of economic inclusion and psychological assistance for mine/ERW survivors were reported. However, the need for services remained far greater than the support and assistance available. There were few employment or training opportunities for persons with disabilities and few centers that offered physically-accessible facilities.[35]

The ECDD launched the Threshold Project with support from the Threshold Association of Finland to make higher education in Ethiopia inclusive. Working with Addis Ababa University, Hawasa University, and Mekele University, the project raises awareness about disability and provides peer support and assistance for students with disabilities.[36]

Economic opportunities for landmine survivors and persons with disabilities remained limited. ECDD’s Threshold Project provides job searching and entrepreneurship training for graduating university students with disabilities. ECDD also ran six projects focusing on skills training and improving access to formal and self-employment.[37] Some BoLSAs provide credit schemes and revolving funds to persons with disabilities to help income-generating activities.[38] In Dire Dawa, HI supported landmine survivors and persons with disabilities through a livelihoods program.[39]

Ethiopia has at least nine community-based rehabilitation programs.[40] However, the support that these programs offered to mine/ERW survivors continued to be limited due to funding constraints.[41] The ICRC hosted wheelchair basketball camps for players and coaches from five regions.[42]

MoLSA partnered with SRaRO to host an event on the International Day for Mine Action and Awareness in order to highlight the importance of partnerships between NGOs and the government to provide survivor assistance and reduce landmine casualties to zero.[43]

Psychological support

The Survivors Rehabilitation and Recovery Organization provides peer support counseling in hospitals and homes of clients who have been affected by all forms of trauma.[44] MoLSA reported 4,300 persons with disabilities received some form of counseling, including peer support.[45] As part of the package of services offered in the Gambella refugee camps, HI is planning to provide psychological support, but those activities have not yet begun.[46]

Laws and policies

The Charities and Societies Proclamation of February 2009 forbids international and Ethiopian Resident Charity NGOs operating on disabilities from engaging in advocacy on human rights issues, including promoting the rights of persons with disabilities, if they receive more than 10% of their funding from foreign sources. During the June 2014 meetings of the CRPD, the executive director of the Ethiopian Center for Disabilities and Development, Yetnebersh Nigussie, pointed out that because of the law, there is no mechanism for ensuring accountability for Ethiopia’s laws that mandate inclusion of persons with disabilities. Nigussie described the “checklist” devised by Ethiopia’s parliament to hold decision-makers accountable for inclusion of persons with disabilities, but noted that without a civil society to use that checklist, the government’s actions are ineffective for promoting inclusion.[47]

Ethiopian law mandates building-accessibility and accessible toilet facilities for persons with physical disabilities, although specific regulations that define the standards were not adopted. During the May 2015 national elections, election observers from the African Union noted that most polling stations were physically accessible and voters requiring assistance always received such assistance, either from a person of the voter’s choosing or a member of the polling center staff.[48]

[1] Email from Zebiba Radiwan, Social Welfare Policy and Planning Expert, Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs (MoLSA), 9 March 2015.

[2] Information provided to the Monitor in writing by the Ethiopian Mine Action Office (EMAO), Addis Ababa, 15 March 2011. In March 2011, EMAO was reported as saying that deminers had been injured during clearance, but that there were no known reports of civilian casualties. Henry Guyer, “The remnants of war: Ethiopia’s buried killers,” The Ethiopian Reporter, 26 March 2011.

[3] See previous editions of the Monitor available on the Monitor website.

[4] ICBL, Landmine Monitor Report 2005.

[5] Handicap International (HI), Circle of Impact: The Fatal Footprint of Cluster Munitions on People and Communities (Brussels: HI, May 2007), p. 52.

[6] This includes the number of survivors identified in the LIS and Monitor reporting for 2004–2011.

[7] Monitor field mission notes, Ethiopia, 11–18 May 2011; and statement of Ethiopia, Mine Ban Treaty Standing Committee on Victim Assistance and Socio-Economic Reintegration, Geneva, 22 May 2012.

[8] Email from Bekele Gonfa, Co-founder of SRaRO, 25 May 2015.

[9] Email from Retta Getachew, Ethiopian Center for Disability and Development (ECDD), 18 March 2016.

[10] Email from Bekele Gonfa, SRaRO, 5 August 2016.

[11] Ibid., 18 March 2016.

[12] Ibid., 5 August 2016; and from Zebiba Radiwan, MoLSA, 9 March 2015.

[13] Statement of Ethiopia, Mine Ban Treaty Twelfth Meeting of States Parties, Geneva, 4 December 2012.

[14] ICRC Physical Rehabilitatin Programme (PRP), “Annual Report 2012,” Geneva, September 2013, p. 34.

[15] Initial Report of Ethiopia to the Committee of the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, paras. 143–145.

[16] Statement of Ethiopia, Mine Ban Treaty Standing Committee on Victim Assistance and Socio-Economic Reintegration, Geneva, 22 May 2012.

[17] ICRC PRP, “Annual Report 2011,” Geneva, May 2012, p. 34; statement of Ethiopia, Mine Ban Treaty Standing Committee on Victim Assistance and Socio-Economic Reintegration, Geneva, 29 May 2013; statement of Ethiopia, Mine Ban Treaty Twelfth Meeting of States Parties, Geneva, 4 December 2012; and response to Monitor questionnaire by Fasil Ayele, Cheshire Services Ethiopia (CSE), Addis Ababa, 26 March 2013.

[18] Email from Assefa Baleher, MoLSA, 8 September 2016.

[19] Statement of Ethiopia, Mine Ban Treaty Thirteenth Meeting of States Parties, Geneva, 3 December 2013; and Mine Ban Treaty Article 7 Report (as of April 2009).

[20] Report provided by Damtew Alemu, MoLSA, 4 April 2014; response to Monitor questionnaire by Damtew Ayele, MoLSA, 24 April 2013; and statement of Ethiopia, Mine Ban Treaty Standing Committee on Victim Assistance and Socio-Economic Reintegration, Geneva, 22 May 2012; and email from Assefa Baleher, Prosthetic Orthotic Center (POC), 9 March 2015.

[21] Email from Yitawekilgn Yeakal Gudatagnoch Mehiber, 10 July 2016.

[22] Monitor notes from “National Stakeholders Symposium on Implementing the National Action Plan for Persons with Disabilities 13–14 November 2013,” Addis Ababa.

[23] Email from Meried Mnegesha, MOLSA, 16 April 2016.

[24] Telephone interview with Musie Tilahun, ECDD, 23 April 2013; response to Monitor questionnaire from Selamawit Gidey, TDVA, 2 May 2012; telephone interview with Berhane Daba, President, EWDNA, 8 May 2012; and interview with Mezgebu Abiyu, Chairperson, YYGM, Addis Ababa, 12 March 2012.

[25] Emails from Bekele Gonfa, SRaRO, 18 March 2016, and 5 August 2016; from Retta Getachew, ECDD, 18 March 2016; from Meried Mnegesha, MOLSA, 16 April 2016; from Fasil Ayele, CSE, 13 April 2016; and from Fabrice Vandeputte, HI, 15 April 2016.

[26] The African Child Policy Forum, “Access Denied: Voices of persons with disabilities from Africa,” Addis Ababa, 2014, p. 50.

[27] Emails from Assefa Baleher, POC, 9 March 2015; and from Chernet Tasissa, CSE, 3 March 2015; and ICRC PRP, “Annual Report 2014,” Geneva, 2015.

[28] ICRC PRP, “Annual Report 2013,” Geneva, September 2014.

[29] ICRC, “Annual Report 2015,” Geneva, 2016, pp. 144–146.

[30] Email from Meried Mnegesha, MoLSA, 16 April 2016.

[31] Email from Assefa Baleher, MoLSA, 8 September 2016.

[32] Email from Fasil Ayele, CSE, 13 April 2016.

[33] Email from Fabrice Vandeputte, HI, 15 April 2016.

[34] ICRC, “Annual Report 2015,” Geneva 2016, pp. 144-146.

[35] Response to Monitor questionnaire by Bekele Gonfa, Technical Advisor, and MezgebuAbiyu, Manager, YYGM, Addis Ababa, 9 April 2013.

[36] Email from Retta Getachew, ECDD, 5 March 2015.

[37] Email from Retta Getachew, ECDD, 18 March 2016.

[38] Email from Zebiba Radiwan, MoLSA, 9 March 2015.

[39] Email from Fabrice Vandeputte, HI, 15 April 2016.

[40] Statement of Ethiopia, Mine Ban Treaty Standing Committee on Victim Assistance and Socio-Economic Reintegration, Geneva, 23 June 2011. These were in and around Addis Ababa and in Dire Dawa, Hawassa, and Harar.

[41] Interview with Amaha Berhe Fisseha, MoSLA, in Geneva, 27 May 2013.

[42] ICRC, “Annual Report 2015,” Geneva, 2015.

[43] CMC, “Campaigners Mark International Day of Mine Awareness,” 6 May 2015.

[44] Email from Bekele Gonfa, SRaRO, 18 March 2016.

[45] Email from Meried Mnegesha, MoLSA, 16 April 2016.

[46] Email from Fabrice Vandeputte, HI, 15 April 2016.

[47] Voice of America, “Ethiopian Advocates for Inclusion for People with Disabilities,” 16 June 2014.

[48] United States Department of State, “2015 Country Reports on Human Rights Practices: Ethiopia,” Washington, DC, 13 April 2016.