individuals which has resulted in an influx of economic migrants and the displaced people to Addis Ababa and other major urban centres of the country. A large-scale movement of people is occurring throughout the country as people in resettlement sites and temporary shelters return to their places of origin. Similarly, people have been ex- pelled from their previous homes in the southern part of the country, including the Asseb as well as the Eriteria; this was due to the socio-political turmoil created imme- diately after the fall of Derg (Angela & Azeb 1993). Furthermore, a large number of ex-servicemen who were demobilised by the Transitional Government are back in the city and their families now constitute a substantial portion of the population. Some of the families of these ex-servicemen and displaced civilians have already reached the point of breakdown. As a result, children have been abandoned due to lack of the proper family atmosphere and means of survival. During this period of instability, family members were dispersed, parents and children were separated, and countless children were abandoned or missing.