Migration and Rural-Urban Linkages in Ethiopia

this recommendation but its implementation process should be enhanced and backed upwith increased budgetary resources and better coordination with NGOs.Women need special support and this includes the enforcement of new legal instruments(revised family law, penal code, civil code and land policy) that protect them from abusesmanifested in the form of rape, abduction and early marriage and empowerment throughaffirmative programmes such as compulsory primary level education for girls, rural creditfacilities for women and access to political participation. The implementation of theseaffirmative actions and revised codes should be implemented in a consistent manner atwereda and community levels. This requires the strengthening of the institutionalcapacity of wereda administration and development structures with better-equippedhuman resources, improved physical infrastructure, efficient organisational systems andprocedures. The Government should also design formal employment policies andminimum benefit standards to minimise extreme exploitation of labour and abuseparticularly experienced by women and children migrants. It is observed that womenmigrants and children are often engaged in domestic, service and craftwork overextended hours with limited pay and non-decent working environments.The study found that migration is part and parcel of the livelihood strategies of both ruraland urban households. The migration experiences of poor, middle and rich individuals,and households in the studied communities proved to have served as a mechanism ofsafety net during crisis, a strategy for lessening the pressure on rural ‘starvation’ plots, ameans for maximising rural livelihood opportunities and augmenting income from smallfarms even in a normal agricultural year. Some urban migrants have also transferredgoods, cash and information to their families living in rural home areas. Rural migrantsserved the urban labour needs for construction of workers, social services and domesticwork Therefore, the poverty alleviation strategy of the country should take intoconsideration the multi-dimensional links that inherently exist between rural and urbanareas and promote development measures that capitalise on the positive aspects ofmigration such as incentive for urban migrants to invest in their rural areas, enhanceddecentralisation of resources at wereda and zonal levels, increased availability of socialservices and employment opportunities at wereda and zonal capitals, and facilitation andprotection for labour migrants in urban areas. The gender dimensions of exploitation ofsex workers and servants should also be given due attention.77