Children in Somalia are engaged in child labor, including in street work.(1-5) Children are also engaged in the worst forms of child labor, including in armed conflict.(6-9) Table 1 provides key indicators on children’s work and education in Somalia. Data on some of these indicators are not available from the sources used in this report.

Table 1. Statistics on Children’s Work and Education

Primary completion rate was unavailable from UNESCO Institute for Statistics, 2015.(10)
Source for all other data: Understanding Children’s Work Project’s analysis of statistics from Multiple Indicator Cluster Survey 3, 2006.(11)

Based on a review of available information, Table 2 provides an overview of children’s work by sector and activity.

Table 2. Overview of Children’s Work by Sector and Activity

* Evidence of this activity is limited and/or the extent of the problem is unknown.
‡ Child labor understood as the worst forms of child labor per se under Article 3(a)–(c) of ILO C. 182.

Due to poverty and the inability to provide for all family members, some Somalis willingly turn over custody of their children to extended family members. Some of these children may be used in commercial sexual exploitation and for forced labor.(7) Research also found that many of these children are trafficked to Europe and North America.(17) Internally displaced persons, including children, are vulnerable to human trafficking for sex and labor exploitation. Trucks transporting goods to Somalia return to Kenya with girls who are trafficked for commercial sexual exploitation in brothels in Nairobi, Mombasa, and destinations outside of Kenya.(7) Children are trafficked to Saudi Arabia through Djibouti, where their traffickers force them to beg on the streets. Research found that children seeking refuge in Kenya to avoid recruitment by the terrorist organization al-Shabaab were subsequently trafficked for labor and commercial sexual exploitation.(7)

In 2015, al-Shabaab engaged in the widespread and systematic conscription and recruitment of children for use in armed conflict.(4, 6, 7, 9) Al-Shabaab forcibly recruited children at mosques, Koranic schools, and facilities for neglected children.(7) Children plant explosive devices, act as human shields, conduct assassinations and suicide attacks, carry loads, and gather intelligence; girls were forced into sexual servitude.(4, 7) Research found that the Ahlu Sunnah Wal Jama’a militia, which to date has not yet integrated into the Somali National Army (SNA), recruited children; Somalia’s numerous clan militias also use child soldiers.(9) The Federal Government of Somalia (FGS) condemns the use of child soldiers; however, there were reports of children associated with the SNA and its allied militia during the reporting period.(9) Limited evidence found that the National Intelligence and Security Agency used children formerly associated with al-Shabaab for intelligence purposes.(13)

As of February 2015, there were 1.1 million people internally displaced, mainly in the south and central regions of Somalia.(18) In addition, the protracted violence has contributed to the shortage of all basic services, including public education.(19, 20) Attacks on schools have resulted in the forced recruitment of children, military occupancy of schools, and damaged facilities.(9, 20, 21) The lack of educational infrastructure further hinders children’s access to education.(12, 20)