May 31, 2023 Global Indicators Briefs No. 17 The Road to Reforming Ethiopia’s Policies on Maternity and Paternity Leave Maereg Tewoldebirhan Alemayehu, Viktoria Khaitina, Elshaday Kifle Woldeyesus, Olena Mykhalchenko, and Katrin Schulz T his Brief provides insight into how Ethiopia increased the duration of paid maternity leave from 90 to 120 days and introduced three days of paid paternity leave in 2019. While ensuring job-protected leave of adequate length and pay for both parents is critical for a variety of health, economic, and social development outcomes, just slightly more than half of economies in the Sub-Saharan Africa region provide paid maternity and paternity leave. e Brief highlights speci c characteristics of Ethiopia’s socioeconomic environment that incentivized the reform. It explores the critical role of political momentum and tripartite negotiations among the Confederation of Ethiopian Trade Unions, Ethiopian Employers’ Federation, and the government, coupled with persistence by the country’s trade unions, that led to the adoption of the reform. It outlines key lessons learned that could be useful to other countries seeking to enhance their own leave policies for parents. It also describes remaining challenges to the implementation and presents recommendations on how to address these challenges to improve gender equality in Ethiopia. The need for better paid maternity and paternity e average economy WBL score is 55.6 out of 100 possible leave points (see gure 2). e data show that 159 economies still have room to improve their laws in the areas measured by this indicator, which Despite a growing body of evidence that adequate maternity and covers: (1) paid leave for mothers; (2) paid leave for fathers; (3) paid paternity leave can enhance a number of health, social, and economic leave for parents; (4) whether the government administers 100 percent outcomes (Burtle, Bezruchka 2016; Del Rey, Kyriacou, and Silva of maternity bene ts; and (5) whether employers are prohibited from 2021; Kim 2020; Lavy and Danzer 2018), improving leave policies dismissing pregnant workers. remains a challenge in much of the world. In 2018, the Nigerian Nearly every economy in the world has paid maternity leave, but Parliament rejected a bill that would have guaranteed fathers the right only 62 percent guarantee at least 14 weeks, in line with the minimum to paternity leave. In Kenya, a bill to increase maternity leave from standard set by the International Labour Organization’s (ILO’s) three to six months has been stalled since 2017. e Jamaican Convention on Maternity Protection No. 183. In Sub-Saharan Africa, government similarly started consultations on the introduction of a the percentage of countries that have such policies on the books is even Paternity Leave Act to encourage shared parenting in 2018 but has not smaller: 56 percent. While 60 percent of economies globally have paid moved on it since. Even the United States—one of the richest paternity leave upon the birth of a child, the share in Sub-Saharan countries in the world—has been unable to enact a paid family leave Africa is 58 percent. e median duration globally is short—only one week—and is even shorter in Sub-Saharan Africa: fewer than four days policy at the federal level despite strong advocacy e orts. total in most economies in the region. Currently, no country in Women, Business and the Law (WBL) is a World Bank Group Sub-Saharan Africa establishes the right to some form of full-time paid project that measures the laws and regulations that a ect women’s parental leave, either shared between mother and father or available as economic opportunities in 190 economies. It features eight an individual entitlement that each parent can take regardless of the indicators— Mobility, Workplace, Pay, Marriage, Parenthood, other. is type of leave provides parents equal opportunity to care for a child after childbirth and in most cases can only be taken after the Entrepreneurship, Assets, and Pension—structured around women’s end of maternity leave. In this context, Ethiopia’s path to reform on interactions with the law as they move through their working lives. increasing maternity leave to ILO’s standard of at least 14 weeks and According to the Women, Business and the Law 2022 report, the most the introduction of paternity leave for private sector workers presents persistent gender gaps worldwide are in the Parenthood indicator, an interesting case. Ethiopia’s experience can provide practical which examines laws a ecting women’s work during pregnancy and guidance for other countries seeking to improve their own paid leave after having children (see gure 1). policies for parents. Affiliations: World Bank, Development Economics, Women, Business and the Law. For correspondence: omykhalchenko@worldbank.org; vkhaitina@worldbank.org. Acknowledgements: This Brief is a part of a series focusing on reforms in seven economies, as documented by the Women, Business and the Law (WBL) team. Previous Briefs include case studies in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Kenya, São Tomé and Príncipe, South Africa, and Togo. Support for this research is provided by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation. The authors would like to thank Ms. Abebe Hana Maru, Ms. Hanna Hailemelekot, Mr. Henok Teshome, Mr. Kassahun Follo, and Mr. Dawit Moges for sharing their insights during the interviews. The authors would also like to thank World Bank colleagues Adiam Hagos Hailemicheal, Girum Abebe Tefera, Yehenew Tsegaye Walilegne. The team would also like to thank Norman V. Loayza, Tea Trumbic, Varun Eknath, and David Francis for comments and guiding the publication process. Nancy Morrison provided excellent editorial assistance. Objective and disclaimer: This series of Global Indicators Briefs synthesizes existing research and data to shed light on a useful and interesting question for policy debate. Data for this Brief are extracted from the WBL database and supplemented by interviews conducted over the spring and summer of 2021 with the government representatives, trade unions, employers’ organization, women’s rights experts from local civil society organizations, and international organizations in Ethiopia. These Briefs carry the names of the authors and should be cited accordingly. This Brief contains captions and is designed to be accessible, including for the visually impaired. The findings, interpretations, and conclusions are entirely those of the authors. They do not necessarily represent the views of the World Bank Group, its https://www.worldbank.org/en/research/brief/global-indicators-briefs-series. Executive Directors, or the governments they represent. All Briefs in the series can be accessed via: https://www.worldbank.org/en/research/brief/global-indicators- t ps:/ w w.worldbank.org/en/research/brief/global-indicators-briefs-series. hbriefs-series. DECIG – Global Indicators Briefs No. 17 The most persistent gender gaps around the world are in the laws affecting women’s work during Figure 1 pregnancy and after having children Average Women, Business and the Law indicator scores 100 88.6 90 84.3 81.2 80.5 80.1 80 73.4 Global average 76.5 68.7 70 WBL score (0-100) 60 55.6 50 40 30 20 10 0 y ts e ge n y ip d Pa ilit lac io o se rsh ria ho ns ob As kp eu ar nt Pe M or M re en W Pa pr tre En Source: Women, Business and the Law database. Note: Data are for 190 economies. WBL = Women, Business and the Law While all regions have made progress on the WBL Parenthood indicator since 1970, the global Figure 2 average is low Parenthood indicator score,1970 - 2022, by region 100 Regional average score, Parenthood indicator OECD, 93.5 90 80 ECA, 80.9 70 60 GLOBAL, 55.6 (0-100) 50 LAC, 48.1 SSA, 45.0 40 EAP, 36.0 MENA, 34.0 30 SAR, 30.0 20 10 0 71 74 77 80 83 86 89 92 95 98 01 04 07 10 13 16 19 22 19 19 19 19 19 19 19 19 19 19 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 BL BL BL BL BL BL BL BL BL BL BL BL BL BL BL BL BL BL W W W W W W W W W W W W W W W W W W East Asia & Pacific Europe & Central Asia High income: OECD Latin American & Caribbean Middle East & North Africa South Asia Source: Women, Business and the Law (WBL) database. Ethiopia’s progress toward gender equality is an prohibited gender discrimination in employment and the dismissal of example for the region pregnant workers. In the 1995 Constitution, Ethiopia reinforced the prohibition of discrimination based on gender, recognized that women Over the course of nearly three decades, Ethiopia has made several shall have equal rights with men, and provided a speci c set of rights transformative reforms. To track progress over time, WBL analyzed for women such as the right to maternity.1 Article 35 of the laws for the period from 1971 to 2022 (available at Constitution stipulates that women have the right to maternity leave https://wbl.worldbank.org/en/wbl-data According to the WBL https://wbl.worldbank.org/en/wbl-data). with full pay and duration determined by law. Further, the new Family database, Ethiopia adopted ten reforms increasing women’s economic Law adopted in 2002 signi cantly strengthened women’s economic opportunities and inclusion. Over the past 50 years, Ethiopia’s score rights by allowing women to be head of household and to choose on the Women, Business and the Law index has almost doubled, where to live in the same way as men, and by granting spouses equal increasing from 44.4 in 1971 to 76.9 in 2021 (see table 1), and now property rights. In 2004, Ethiopia passed a law protecting women exceeds the Sub-Saharan Africa region’s average score of 71.5. With from domestic violence and criminalized spousal and intimate partner the adoption in 1993 of Labor Proclamation No. 42/1993, Ethiopia violence. A reform in 2011 introduced an old-age pension system that 2 DECIG – Global Indicators Briefs No. 17 Nearly three decades of reform in Ethiopia, as measured by Women, Business and the Law, Table 1 1994–2022 WBL Score Law Indicator Reform description and year of passage year 1994 50.0 Labor Proclamation Parenthood Ethiopia prohibited the dismissal of pregnant workers (1993). No. 42/1993 Workplace Ethiopia prohibited gender discrimination in employment (1993). 2002 63.1 Revised Family Assets Ethiopia revised Family Code granted spouses equal rights to immovable Code, Proclamation property and equal administrative authority over assets during marriage No. 213/2000 (2000). Marriage Ethiopia’s revised Family Code allowed women to be head of household. Ethiopia no longer requires a married woman to obey her husband (2000). Mobility Ethiopia’s revised Family Code allowed a woman to choose where to live in the same way as a man (2000). 2006 65.6 Criminal Code, Marriage Ethiopia enacted legislation protecting women from domestic Proclamation violence (2004). No. 414/2004 2013 71.9 Private Organization Pension Ethiopia introduced an old-age pension system that sets equal ages at Employees Pension which women and men can retire with full pension bene ts. It does not Proclamation establish an age at which women and men can retire with partial pension No. 715/2011 bene ts (2011). 2021 76.9 Labor Proclamation Parenthood Ethiopia increased paid maternity leave from 90 to 120 days and No. 1156/2019 introduced 3 days of paid paternity leave (2019). Source: Women, Business and the Law. Note: There is a lag between the year a reform is passed and progress is recorded in the WBL scores. sets equal ages at which women and men can retire with full pension Bank 2017). Consequently, the Ethiopian labor force has dramatically bene ts. is step increased Ethiopia’s score to 71.9 in the WBL index. changed since the enactment of the previous labor law in 2004. As the Most recently, in 2019, Ethiopia passed the new Labor Proclamation private sector grew, many stakeholders, including employers, No. 1156/2019, which included the increase of maternity leave from employees, and the government, started demanding labor law reform 90 to 120 days and the introduction of paid paternity leave for private to keep up with the changing economic environment. According to the sector workers. Speci cally, Article 81 (2) of the new law provides that Central Statistical Agency of Ethiopia, nearly one-sixth of Ethiopia’s male employees shall be entitled to three consecutive days of paternity urban employment remains in the informal sector as of 2020. leave with full pay. Article 88 (3) stipulates that a pregnant worker shall be granted a period of 30 consecutive days of leave with pay of First, the demands from trade unions played an important role in pre-natal leave and a period of 90 consecutive days of post-natal leave. reformulating the existing labor law. Low wages, poor working is Brief explores the political and socioeconomic factors around the conditions, and violations of the rights of workers, including lack of adoption of this 2019 reform. employment security, contributed substantially to the e ort from the trade unions’ side. e unions’ push for reforms across several of these How growing demand for labor reform has led to areas, in turn, naturally strengthened their ability to voice support for the extension of maternity leave and the introduction of paternity leave change for private sector workers. While unions represent only a small share of A number of socioeconomic and political factors led to the labor labor force in Ethiopia, the Confederation of Ethiopian Trade Unions reform that, among other things, ushered in three days of paternity (CETU)—Ethiopia’s largest civil society organization, representing leave for employees and expanded maternity leave from 90 to 120 days. more than one million members organized into nine a liated Among them were a changing labor force coupled with Ethiopia’s industrial federations and more than 2,200 basic trade unions—has rapid economic growth, demands for change from employees and left its ngerprints on the labor law in many of the clauses favorable to employers, the government’s drive to reduce poverty and encourage employees.2 investment, and lastly, the political transition that created a conducive environment for comprehensive legal reform in Ethiopia. Second, as economic investment increased and industrial parks expanded, employers also demanded a change in the labor law. With a population of more than 117 million and a population Employers considered the previous law an impediment to investment, growth rate of nearly 3 percent, Ethiopia is the second largest country and thus sought to limit some of its bene ts to employees. For on the African continent. It is also one of the fastest growing instance, the Ethiopian Employers’ Federation—a national employers' economies in the region. Ethiopia’s annual growth rate was 6.3 percent organization that includes sister federations, branches, and sectoral in 2020/2021. Over the past 15 years, Ethiopia’s economy has grown associations all over the country—argued that the previous law cost an average of 9.5 percent per year. is ourishing growth comes in no them dearly because it did not provide employers with the right to small part from public investment, which increased from a mere 5 apply disciplinary measures when employees consistently and percent of gross domestic product (GDP) in the early 1990s to 19 systematically arrived late for work. e president of the Ethiopian percent in 2011, strengthening everything from power production, Employer’s Federation, Dawit Moges, shared this insight during an roads, railways, and industrial parks to education, health, and water interview: “If our employees bene t from maternity leave, we as employers provision (World Bank 2019). Furthermore, the increase of nonfarm would also bene t. A woman who worked in one company for 20 years employment and productivity were among the factors that brought a might take maternity leave twice or maximum three times. e number of structural transformation in Ethiopia. For example, since 2005, the days this employee take for maternity leave is not that much. However, if service sector has accounted for about half of GDP growth (World she arrives to work 30 minutes late every day for 20 years, it is nancially 3 DECIG – Global Indicators Briefs No. 17 more costly to the company.”3 e Federation was willing to support a In sum, Ethiopia had a wide variety of actors interested in certain increase of days in maternity leave if it could address the promoting labor reform coupled with favorable political momentum. problem in the old law of not being able to discipline tardy workers. All these factors combined to create an environment for new labor reform, culminating in 2019 with the adoption of Labor Proclamation ird, the government supported the revision of the law as a way No. 1156/2019, which, among other things, introduced three days of to boost economic growth, guarantee the sustainability of poverty paternity leave for male employees and expanded maternity leave from reduction strategies, and strengthen the industrial sector in the 90 to 120 days for female employees. Table 2 summarizes progress on country. To this end, it developed a plan with the goal to increase paid leave for parents over time. foreign investment and transitioning the economy from agriculture to industry (Growth and Transformation Plan II).4 us, the government The critical role of social dialogue and tripartite wanted to develop a legal framework that balances policies and strategies that simultaneously encourage investment and create more negotiations jobs and conducive working environments for workers. Similarly, gaps e development of the new Labor Proclamation was a tripartite in the previous law were among other reasons that motivated labor law e ort that involved the three main stakeholders: employers (Ethiopia reform. Labor inspectors identi ed several implementation gaps, while Employers’ Federation); employees (CETU); and the government (the the representatives of employers and employees communicated their Ministry of Labor and Skills, the Investment Commission, the issues concerning the former law to the Ministry of Labor and Skills Ministry of Industry, the Federal Attorney General, and public (previously, the Ministry of Labor and Social A airs). Also, the enterprises). e discussions and negotiations to revise the previous Ministry received comments from the ILO regarding Ethiopia’s labor law took about seven years (see gure 3). compliance with the rati ed Conventions; this international benchmark increased the government’s motivation to revise the former CETU played a strong role in developing the new leave policies law. Lastly, to address the gender gaps in economic outcomes and for parents. e labor organization initially provided the rst draft of achieve Ethiopia’s inclusive growth targets, the government required a the new labor law to the Council of Ministers in 2016. e draft fundamental rethinking of policies and programming aimed at included provisions on the extension of the duration of maternity leave reducing gender inequality. to six months and the introduction of ve days of paternity leave. However, the proposal was rejected because the draft law was Finally, one crucial factor that led to the adoption of the labor considered overly ambitious and seen as heavily favoring employees. As reform was Ethiopia’s political transition. A popular uprising from CETU’s president Mr. Kassahun Follo recalled: “[S]ome of the parties 2015 to 2018, which protested dispossession, exclusion, even mocked the Confederation, saying why not instead suggest for women unemployment, and discrimination, brought a new administration to to stop working.” e Employers’ Federation disagreed with the power. e commitments announced by the new government, which proposal to extend the duration of maternity leave, arguing “When you came to power in 2018, partly coincided with labor demands. have employees out for six months, you must hire another person to ll the Correspondingly, this transition created the momentum for legal position.” Regarding paternity leave, the Employers’ Federation reform that resulted in revisions and/or amendments to a dozen other supported the introduction of no more than three days of leave and major laws— something that had not occurred since 1993—as the new envisioned it as a legal recognition of the good practice of “male government pledged to reform Ethiopia’s authoritarian state. employees taking days o for parenthood-related health emergencies.” Moreover, the politicization of legal and justice institutions, as well as a lack of trust in the justice system, served as contributing factors to In late 2016, the government rejected the rst legislative draft and fueling the uprising, which resulted in a political transition. erefore, tasked the Deputy Director of the Ethiopian Investment Commission reforming the legal and justice system, and more speci cally, to draft the law in a way that re ected the government’s perspective. In legislation, was among the rst major steps taken by the new 2017, the Commission prepared a second draft; however, more than a leadership. Consequently, the Civil Society Proclamation (adopted in dozen provisions from CETU’s draft were not included, among them 2009), which severely restricted the engagement of civil society in the the provisions on leave for parents. CETU argued that employees must advocacy and promotion of human rights, including labor rights, was have a better standing in industrial society and threatened to go on revised in 2019, along with many other restrictive laws. Similarly, the strike as an ultimatum to resume negotiations and try to nd a shared new administration positively viewed the initiative and the progress resolution to di erences. By 2018, to bridge the government-trade made to revise the labor law. unions divide, representatives of the International Trade Union Table 2 Increasing maternity and paternity leave days over time Type of Year Maternity Paternity Law employees leave leave Private sector 1960 30 days None Civil Code Proclamation No. 165/1960 workers (half pay) 1975 45 days None Labor Proclamation, No. 64/1975 1993 90 days None Labor Proclamation No. 42/1993 2003 90 days None Labor Proclamation No. 377/2003 2019 120 days 3 days Labor Proclamation No. 1156/2019 Civil servants 2007 90 days 5 days (working) Federal Civil Servants Proclamation No. 515/2007 2017 120 days 10 days (working) Federal Civil Servants Proclamation No. 1064/2017 4 DECIG – Global Indicators Briefs No. 17 Figure 3 The legislative process in Ethiopia Initiation of Laws Deliberation of Adoption of Laws Enactment of Law Laws • Memebrs of the • First reading • Voting article • President signs House of (general debate) by article • Publication on People’ • Second reading • Voting on the the official Representatives (discussion in draft entirely Gazette • Committes of detail) the House of • Third reading Peoples’ (approving or Representatives rejecting the • Parliamentary bill) Groups • Government Confederation, which represents 200 million workers in 168 countries $15 billion in 2016 and $22.25 billion in 2018. China is the primary and territories, addressed the Prime Minister, highlighting the strong source of investments in Ethiopia, followed by Saudi Arabia and need to continue negotiations and avoid the strike. Turkey, according to 2015 data from the Ethiopian Investment Commission. Other signi cant source countries include India, the e government responded by establishing a task force composed Netherlands, and the United Kingdom (Geda et al. 2022). To respond of the representatives of three Ministers who would participate in to the concern, CETU found that foreign investors working in consultations with CETU and Ethiopian Employers’ Federation. Ethiopia are mostly from countries that recognize more than four About three dozen clauses were identi ed as key points of months of maternity leave. e president of CETU, Mr. Kassahun disagreement: roughly half of these provisions were in the Follo, recalled arguing: “[T]hey (investors) can’t expect a di erent kind of government’s draft and the rest were proposed by CETU. maternity leave when they come here.” Halfway into negotiations, political reforms began to take shape, After long discussions around each provision, the draft submitted and a new government came into power. Once the new government set to the Council of Ministers included a provision for 120 days of up its o ces, the tripartite negotiations between CETU, the maternity leave. However, the Council revised the draft, shortening Employers’ Federation, and the government resumed. e draft was the maternity leave to 90 days. is triggered another round of debates further developed by the Ministry of Labor and Skills, with the goal of in the Ethiopian Parliament. CETU insisted on the inclusion of the creating an enabling environment for investments, poverty reduction provisions from the original version it prepared. e government was and industry growth. neutral because the provisions were not associated with budgetary e draft went through various stages of discussion before it was commitments. A consensus was subsequently reached when the presented to Parliament in 2019. CETU again proposed the provisions Ethiopian Employers’ Federation agreed to extend maternity leave to on extending maternity leave to six months and introducing ve days 120 days. e president of the Ethiopian Employers’ Federation, of paternity leave. CETU, as discussed, mostly relied for its arguments Dawit Moges, noted in an interview: “As employers we want women on best practices within the region and the Civil Servants Proclamation workers’ full presence at work: physically, emotionally, psychologically, and (No. 1064/2017), which provided better paid leave policies for parents spiritually. We believe the remedy for this is to give mothers enough time to working in the public sector. bond with their babies and take care of their newborn.” e concern from the government was that the provisions would Advocating for paid maternity and paternity leave a ect “women’s employability,” meaning that the private sector would In advocating for the increase of maternity leave and the be scared to hire women employees for fear of longer maternity leave, introduction of paternity leave for private sector workers, two which the employers themselves must pay as opposed to in the civil arguments by trade unions stand out: equal treatment of workers and service, for which the Ethiopian government pays. is concern was the experiences of other countries. raised due to reported cases where women were denied the three months of maternity leave mandated by law and where they were One crucial factor that motivated advocacy for the extension of terminated from their jobs upon disclosing pregnancy. Other maternity leave, as well as the introduction of paternity leave, has been arguments by government representatives included concerns about the the relatively generous paid leave for mothers and fathers working in adequacy of legal protections already a orded to pregnant women the public sector, which was introduced in 2017 with the new Civil employees (ranging from the right to medical leave and job transfer if Service Proclamation (see table 2). CETU, representing trade unions, the job is hazardous to health during pregnancy) and the need to capitalized on the provision of leave policies for public sector protect the emerging formal private sector, which might not be able to employees (four months of maternity leave and 10 working days of a ord extended maternity leave. As Ms. Hana Maru, Industry relations paternity leave) and insisted on the inclusion of the same paid leave Director of the Ministry of Labor and Skills recalled: “We argued to be bene ts for private sector employees. us, CETU argued that all careful not to enact a law that would destroy the formal sector. e more employees in a country should have the same kinds of rights and that standards we have, the more we harm the formal private sector” and there shall not be discrimination based on who is the employer. In emphasized that an increased duration of maternity leave “harms the CETU’s president Mr. Kassahun Follo’s words: “[A]ll women should be private sector…, the government’s industrialization plan, and women’s treated equally as they face the same problems during pregnancy and birth, chance of employment.” and there shouldn’t be a discrimination based on whom they work for.” While the nal proposal included 120 days of maternity leave, the e existing legal framework that guarantees and promotes the parties debated until the government accepted CETU’s right to equal treatment and nondiscrimination played an important recommendations and a consensus was reached. ere was also a role in creating a legal landscape for the adoption of the Labor concern that private sector foreign investor employers potentially Proclamation. A whole range of general principles of labor rights are would not want to hire women. e government was committed to rmly anchored among the fundamental rights proclaimed in the improve the investment climate to encourage foreign investment, Constitution. Additionally, governmental strategies aimed to which had increased consistently from only about $1 billion in 2000 to mainstream gender equality and highlight the importance of equal 5 DECIG – Global Indicators Briefs No. 17 Figure 4 Ethiopia’s duration of maternity and paternity leave compares well to other low-income countries Leave for mothers Leave for fathers Afghanistan Afghanistan Burkina Faso Burkina Faso Burundi Burundi Central African Republic Central African Republic Chad Chad Congo, Dem. Rep. Congo, Dem. Rep. Eritrea Eritrea Ethiopia 120 Ethiopia 3 90 0 Gambia, The Gambia, The Guinea Guinea Guinea-Bissau Guinea-Bissau Liberia Liberia Madagascar Madagascar Malawi Malawi Mali Mali Mozambique Mozambique Niger Niger Rwanda Rwanda Sierra Leone Sierra Leone Somalia Somalia South Sudan South Sudan Sudan Sudan Syrian Arab Republic Syrian Arab Republic Togo Togo Uganda Uganda Yemen, Rep. Yemen, Rep. 0 50 100 150 200 0 10 20 Calendar days WBL2022 WBL2020 WBL2022 WBL2020 Source: Women, Business and the Law (WBL) database. participation of parents in unpaid work. Speci cally, statements in countries, which have generous family leave bene ts covered by various policy instruments supported the introduction of paternity governments. Hence, in order to substantiate the proposal to increase leave, such as the National Strategy for Infant and Young Child maternity leave, CETU relied on countries within a similar income Feeding (2004), which emphasized that breastfeeding is enhanced by group. A challenge arose when amid the negotiation process, Rwanda fathers’ support in their roles as family providers and caregivers. amended its labor laws and granted 84 days of maternity leave. e Similarly, the 2006 National Action Plan on Gender Equality opponents of the draft used this argument against the increase. (2006–2010) outlined transformative measures to achieve shared work However, the previous labor law of Rwanda provided only 42 days of and parental responsibilities between men and women. maternity leave, while the 2003 labor law in Ethiopia already provided 90 days (see gure 4). Ultimately, CETU addressed this challenge by Ethiopia’s rati cation of the ILO Convention No. 156 on circulating the most updated information to the opponents and Workers with Family Responsibilities (1981) in 1991 also contributed. demonstrated that well-structured and well-implemented maternity In 2018, for instance, the ILO Committee of Experts on the and paternity leave reforms based on the experience of other countries Application of Conventions and Recommendations (CEACR) enhance social welfare and contribute to better economic performance. requested information as to the status of Ethiopia’s plan to reform the labor law to introduce paternity leave. With the share of jobs created by the private sector growing, state strategies were focused on tting Remaining challenges for implementation and the demand from the labor market, the active labor force, and the recommendations for how to address them changing structure of the economy to make jobs in the private sector more attractive to reduce unemployment. By investigating the road to reforming Ethiopia’s maternity and paternity leave policies, this Brief has outlined Ethiopia’s experience In addition to this focus, a comparison of laws and policies in with leave reform in order to share lessons learned with other countries other countries played a critical role in the reform e ort. During the seeking to enhance their own leave policies for parents. ese lessons tripartite negotiations, as stakeholders navigated the reform process, are summarized in box 1. trade unions, employers' organizations, and the government searched for examples of maternity and paternity leave policies that apply in With the adoption of extended maternity leave and newly other countries. is analysis helped to de ne criteria for comparison introduced paternity leave, several challenges need to be addressed. with the context of Ethiopia. e arguments, substantiated by the ese are summarized in box 2. First, the dissemination of the new comparative analysis of leave policies, provided the grounds for Labor Proclamation has not been su cient. Awareness campaigns of maternity leave to be increased and helped to resolve disagreements changes to the law are critical to successful implementation. After the between negotiating parties. Similarly, visits to the Republic of Korea passage of the new Labor Proclamation, the government and several and Vietnam by government delegation provided insights into what organizations across the country started preparing campaigns. e time directions Ethiopia should be headed to drive economic growth. of the campaigns, however, sadly coincided with the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, which disrupted e orts to e ectively To call for a speci c number of days to be increased, CETU, communicate the new reform to both workers and employers. Some which initiated the reform, undertook wide-ranging research across groups switched to alternative modalities and raised awareness through di erent countries, including more than a dozen within Africa. CETU social media and virtual learning sessions. e disruption made CETU also compared policies among developed and developing countries. seek alternative ways of communication to connect with its members. Indeed, there was fear that the proposal could be rejected if the e most immediate plan is to create a platform—the rst of its kind benchmarks were more closely aligned with economically advanced in an African trade union association—that would allow the 6 DECIG – Global Indicators Briefs No. 17 Box 1 Key lessons that facilitate the reform process Five key lessons emerge from Ethiopia’s experience: 1. Alignment of interests from a variety of stakeholders, such as employers, employees, trade unions, and business associations, can overcome obstacles and achieve signi cant gains. 2. Political transition opens opportunities for demand for social dialogue and economic change from the bottom up. 3. Use of evidence enhances the business case to employers for paid family leave. 4. Reference to international standards, such as International Labour Organization (ILO) Conventions, and speci c examples from other countries with similar socioeconomic backgrounds can motivate governments to improve laws. 5. Improving the understanding that adequate paid leave policies for parents are not an impediment to foreign investment can mobilize support. Confederation to o er training virtually and enable its members to ird, while the introduction of paternity leave for fathers is an submit complaints online. Concurrently, CETU is providing trainings important step toward gender equality in Ethiopia, entrenched gender to trade union leaders through its branches and identifying gaps in norms designate men as the primary breadwinner and women as the implementation. e lack of online infrastructure and connectivity, primary caregiver. For example, while the rate of labor participation for however, has hindered e orts. Consequently, three years since the women in urban employment has been steadily increasing (from about reform, there is still a need to improve familiarity with the new Labor 37 percent in 2003 to about 42 percent in 2016), it has been Proclamation, especially among workers who are not members of trade consistently below male participation. In 2020, women’s participation unions. in urban employment was about 39,9 percent, while it was about 60,6 Second, there are no readily available data on the compliance of percent for men. In Ethiopia, as in other parts of Sub-Saharan Africa, employers with the reformed leave policy. Similarly, data on the gender norms delegate to women and girls the majority of domestic maternity and paternity leave uptake by employees have not been work, including child rearing, cleaning, food preparation, wood and collected. In Ethiopia, employees whose rights are violated in the form water collection, and food production. ese domestic responsibilities of reduction of wages, denial of leave, or termination can seek impede women’s opportunity to study, develop professional appropriate remedies in court. Yet, CETU reported that they had not experience and skills, run a business, or engage in paid work. e received any complaints regarding the denial of the provision of signi cant di erence in the duration of maternity leave and paternity maternity and paternity leave. However, these data may be subject to a leave may have an unintended consequence of further deepening lag. In court cases observed by the Ethiopian Women Lawyers gender stereotypes. At national level between 2014/2015, the female Association and Ethiopian Labor Rights Watch, there is almost always and male school dropout rate for grades 1–8 is almost the same –10.23 a delay in adjudication of judgment, which can take two to three years percent and 10.01 percent, respectively (National Planning in total. For pregnant women and new mothers, this could result in the Commission and Central Statistical Agency of Ethiopia, 2017). loss of income for an extended period of time and could create an However, sixteen percent of girls drop out of school to look after additional burden to appear in front of the court at any time during a siblings and 12 percent of girls drop out of school due to family issues, pending case. Another important fact is that, according to the while the most frequent reason for boys to leave school is to engage in Ethiopian Labor Rights Watch, most employees do not have a trade domestic and agricultural work (Frost and Rolleston 2013). According union and less than 10 percent of employees are organized. ey to the World Bank Group Ethiopia Gender Diagnostics report (2019), emphasize that “in organizations that have a trade union, the employees' a simple average indicates that women are 17 percent less likely than bargaining power is strong, and they can help the employees in so many men to participate in the labor force. is disparity widens to 29 ways.” In addition, the lack of complaints may also indicate that percent when considering other factors such as age, education, and workers do not know about their rights or do not assert their rights for household wealth. Among individuals active in the workforce, a gender fear of retaliation or losing a job. On top of that, while labor gap of 4.4 hours exists: while men work 31 hours per week, on average, inspections are mandated to monitor, follow up, and provide women work only 27. ese numbers reiterate the need to further instructions for employers that might violate, among others, minimum tackle inequalities between working men and women and to labor conditions (including maternity leave), labor inspections lack redistribute unpaid work, including caregiving responsibilities. It is gender analysis and reporting (Ethiopia Government, 2019). Gender crucial to introduce additional measures to address the entrenched responsiveness can be improved by implementing systemic education stereotypes against taking paternity leave and encourage men who take programs or trainings that would allow inspectors to identify and paternity leave to use the time for activities actually related to address workplace discrimination. Also, it is important to facilitate the childcare. Media campaigns to feature fatherhood champions could be gender responsiveness of the labor inspection system by recruiting an important incentive for male workers to utilize new policy. more female labor inspectors and detecting workplace gender-based inequalities through data and analysis. Indeed, the implementation of Lastly, in the private sector in Ethiopia, leave bene ts are the law as well as the impacts of the law’s reform on employability, processed and administered solely by employers while the ILO’s potential for promotion, job security, and other matters for women recommendation is to provide bene ts through compulsory social and men employees who enjoy maternity and paternity leave might insurance schemes or public funds, which is important to mitigate need further investigation. Additionally, there is a lack of data on the discrimination in the workplace. Speci cally, the law in Ethiopia actual uptake and usage of maternity and paternity leave. is authorizes employers to grant paid leave to pregnant workers. When information is critical to assess the e ectiveness of leave policies for employers bear the full cost of maternity leave bene ts, unlike when parents and to analyze the existing barriers. For example, a number of maternity leave is funded by public funds, this can have negative e ects reasons may a ect the actual uptake of leave by fathers, such as the level on women’s employment. While increasing paid family leave bene ts of compensation, gender norms, and exibility of leave allocations. could serve as an incentive for working parents to transition to formal While the change in social norms is crucial for fathers’ uptake of leave, employment, when the cost is borne by the rms only, it could be a it can be facilitated by government policy. ere is growing evidence disincentive to hire women of childbearing age. e share of women in that fathers are more likely to take leave when it is well-compensated, informal sector in Ethiopia is still relatively high – 36 per cent generous in duration, nontransferable, and exible to schedule compared to 20 per cent amongst men (IMF 2018). erefore, the (Gilchrist et al. 2014). Further revision of the allocation of paternity impact of the reform is limited to those women that are formally leave considering these factors could serve as an instrument of social employed. Other examples include negative e ects on women’s change in this regard. Adequate leave allocation for fathers as well as promotion and retention, hindering women’s careers. ese can be the increase in father’s uptake of leave are important because they can especially tangible in small and medium-sized enterprises. An interview promote gender equality at home and have a positive e ect on with the head of Legal Aid of the Ethiopian Women Lawyers women’s employment. Association revealed that “Usually private organizations lose interest to 7 DECIG – Global Indicators Briefs No. 17 Box 2 Remaining impediments to further reform of leave for parents in Ethiopia Four main gaps exist: 1. Inadequate awareness of reform. Since dissemination campaigns were disrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic, there is a need to further communicate the changes introduced by the law—especially among workers who are not members of trade unions—through government-wide information campaigns to increase the knowledge of labor law reform. 2. Lack of data on implementation and gaps in compliance by employers and uptake by employees. While implementation mechanisms are set, labor inspections and courts need training on gender responsiveness. Conducting analysis using data disaggregated by gender to detect workplace gender-based inequalities as well as recruitment of more women inspectors are among other recommendations to improve gender responsiveness in labor inspection. Also, more and better data are critical to assess the e ectiveness of leave policies for parents and to analyze the existing barriers. 3. Entrenched gender norms. e introduction of paternity leave for fathers is an important step toward gender equality. e work should be continued to further tackle inequalities between working men and women and to redistribute unpaid work, including caregiving responsibilities, through policy interventions and media campaigns, among others. 4. Costs are borne by employers only. When employers bear the full costs of maternity leave bene ts, it disincentivizes them to hire and retain women. To reduce employer’s liability, Ethiopia could consider nancing maternity leave bene ts through the government or a social insurance scheme. hire pregnant women because they don’t want to pay salary to the women countries considering introducing or increasing leave policies for when they are on maternity leave. Even when the employers are closing the parents. positions, they tend to terminate women who are at childbearing age.” ese concerns were also raised by the Ministry of Labor and Skills. Leave policies for parents not only have a number of economic e representative of the Ministry, Ms. Abebe Hana Maru, and social bene ts, but they are also directly linked to women’s mentioned: “In countries that provide long maternity leave after certain empowerment. Coupled with e ective implementation, these policies period(s) it is the government responsibility to pay salary. Since we don’t are critical in addressing gender inequalities in economic have that system, we will be imposing the responsibility to pay salary on the opportunities. employer until our social security system is developed.” Indeed, increase of maternity leave might result in limited improvements of women’s Notes economic outcomes, until social security system is developed or unless there are signi cant gains in productivity and private sector 1 Constitution of the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia development. Proclamation No. 1/1995. 2 Confederation of Ethiopian Trade Unions Although challenges remain, the law can serve as an important https://cetu.et/about-us/. https://cetu.et/about-us/. catalyst for change and for further development of policies to 3 Quotations in Italics throughout the Brief were gathered during adequately meet the needs of working parents. Lessons learned from interviews by WBL sta . Ethiopia’s reform experience can serve as a practical guide for other 4 Growth and Transformation Plan II (GTP II) (2015/16–2019/20). References Burtle, Adam, and Stephen Bezruchka. 2016. “Population Health and Geda, Alemayehu, Guta Legesse, Yohannes Ayele, and Martha Belete. Paid Parental Leave: What the United States Can Learn from Two 2022. “Policy Brief: Ethiopia and Investment Provisions in the Decades of Research.” Healthcare (Basel, Switzerland) 4 (2): 30. 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