Publication: The Road to Reforming Ethiopia’s Policies on Maternity and Paternity Leave
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Date
2025-04-17
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2025-04-17
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This 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. The brief highlights specific 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.
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“Alemayehu, Maereg Tewoldebirhan; Khaitina, Viktoria; Woldeyesus, Elshaday Kifle; Mykhalchenko, Olena; Schulz, Katrin. 2025. The Road to Reforming Ethiopia’s Policies on Maternity and Paternity Leave. Global Indicators Briefs; No. 17. © World Bank. http://hdl.handle.net/10986/43093 License: CC BY-NC 3.0 IGO.”
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