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In Ethiopia, increasing migration to the cities, unrelenting poverty, and the devastating HIV and AIDS pandemic has left a whole generation of already vulnerable children alone, living in poverty without the care of their families and communities.
Extreme poverty means that millions of families and communities in Ethiopia are unable to meet even their most basic needs. Apart from parental loss as a result of AIDS, the struggle of parents to care for their children has led to an alarming rise in the number of children working, living on the streets and being trafficked.
In Ethiopia , EveryChild focuses on helping children who are at risk of losing parental care or have been separated as a result of family violence and breakdown, because of commercial or sexual exploitation or as a result of child labour. We also work with children who are living, or are at risk of being placed in residential care.
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What is EveryChild doing to help?
Protecting street children - Addis Ababa and Nazareth
In the cities of Addis and Nazareth, thousands of girls sleep rough on the streets and are forced to earn money from Ethiopia’s prolific sex trade just to survive. To help protect these children, EveryChild supports drop-in centres which provide a place for the girls to spend time in ensuring they are safe from the dangers of the street. From the centre the girls move on to live in a safe home, supported by EveryChild, where they are offered vocational training in jobs such as hairdressing and catering and a safe and secure home to live in. They are then reintegrated with their families or, where this is not possible, supported to live or their own.
Preventing families from separating - Addis Ababa and Nazareth
To prevent families from breaking up, our team of volunteers make home visits to raise awareness in the community on issues such as HIV and AIDS, child abuse, living on the streets, health issues and family planning.
We support families who have felt no choice but to send their children out to work to find other alternatives to ensure that children are not separated from their families and have the chance to go to school.
Our savings and credit scheme provides single mothers with the opportunity to start up small businesses. This gives them the financial security to look after their children who otherwise risk ending up on the streets as they cannot be cared for at home.
Safeguarding children through child protection units and child-friendly courts – Nazareth
To protect children in the community, EveryChild has set up a child protection unit in the local police station. This is a child-friendly area where children can report instances of abuse to the authorities.
EveryChild’s child-friendly bench, located within the court, deals with cases of child abuse and exploitation. It acts as a shield and ensures that children do not have to be put through the ordeal of a normal court case. Children are able to testify in a separate room, never coming face-to-face with their perpetrator. Video equipment is set up to show the court the child’s statement which is presented by a trained children’s counsellor.
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