Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed of Ethiopia this morning visited houses being constructed by the Addis Ababa City Administration for the homeless street children in the capital.
“Profoundly honored to visit today the street children housing project in Addis Ababa. The project, intended to accommodate up to 3,500 children, forms part of our countrywide initiative to enable them pursue a happy and dignified life,” he twitted with a photograph.
“We will ceaselessly endeavor to deliver to all our citizens the opportunity to lead a decent life. No social, economic or political predicament can withstand our resolve if we practice the ideals of MEDEMER through our unique collective identity – Ethiopianism!” he posted.
It is recalled that the Deputy Mayor of Addis Ababa City, Takele Umma has announced the city’s plan to address housing problem by launching the construction of thousands of houses including for the street children.
“This is a good job but I hope by doing so we don’t invite more children to the streets from all over the country. And I believe there should be a mechanism of checking the influx of people to the city,” a person with a twitter account –Ahmed Dedo – replied to Prime Minister Abiy’s twit.
In 2004 a report by a government agency estimated that some 150,000 children live on the streets in Ethiopia,out of which about 60,000 of them found in Addis Ababa.
Meanwhile because of the recent politically-incited internal displacements in many parts of Ethiopia, the number of children running to Addis Ababa for rescuing their lives is estimated to increase.