Professional Documents
Culture Documents
The Roles Contributions and Challenges o
The Roles Contributions and Challenges o
The Roles Contributions and Challenges o
READING
Applied Economics
Ethiopia
By
for MA
University of Reading,
United Kingdom
October, 2008
I
Acknowledgements
program director, for social development and sustainable livelihoods and my other two
Economics. Her intellectual guidance and keen insight immensely helped me to come up
I am grateful to all individuals who have taken part to make this study successful. My first
gratitude goes to Mr. Achame Shana Degebusho and his family who have supported me at
I am thankful to my wife and children who have tolerated my long absence due to my
study program. I am particularly grateful to Mr. John Clements, Managing Director for
Jade Security Service LTD Company for his kind and wholehearted support by providing
me with part time job, without which completion of my study was impossible.
At last but, my greatest appreciation to Mrs. Ingrid Hartman for her moral and financial
II
Table of Contents
Acknowledgements I
Table of Contents II
List of Tables IV
List of Figures V
Abbreviations (Acronyms) VI
Abstract VII
Chapter 1. INTRODUCTION 1
1.1. Background 1
2.1. Introduction 5
2.2. Definitions 5
2.2.3. Democratisation 8
2.2.4. Livelihoods 9
III
2.4.3.2. Internal challenges 31
Chapter 3. METHODOLOGY AND LIMITATIONS OF THE RESEARCH 33
3.1. Introduction 33
3.3. Method 36
4.1. Introduction 44
IV
5.2.3. Future direction 76
REFERENCES 78
Annexes 86
List of Tables
V
List of Figures
Figure 1. Non-Democratic States: Unbalanced Sectors where the state plays predominant roles
(http://flagspot.net/flags/et (.html) 37
VI
Abbreviations (Acronyms)
AI Amnesty International
CRDA Christian relief and development associations
CBO Community based organization
CSO Civil society organization
DFID Department for international development
DPPA Disaster prevention and preparedness agency
DPPC Disaster prevention and preparedness commission
EPRDF Ethiopian peoples’ revolutionary democratic front
FBOs Faith based organizations
GDP Gross Domestic Product
GTZ German technical cooperation
Ha Hectares
HIV/AIDS Human Immunodeficiency Virus/Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome
HRW Human Rights Watch
ICG International Crisis Group
IFPRI International food policy research institute
IRIN International Reality Investors Network
Km Kilometre
MOA Ministry of agriculture
MOCB Ministry of capacity building
MOE Ministry of education
VII
MOEDAC Ministry of economic development and cooperation
MOFED Ministry of finance and economic development
MOH Ministry of health
MOJ Ministry of justice
LNGOs Local non-governmental organisations
INGOs International non-governmental organisations
NGO Non–Governmental Organisation
ODS Overseas development study
ODI Overseas development institute
ODA Overseas development authority
Qa Quintal
SNNPR Southern nations, nationalities and peoples’ region
UK United Kingdom
UN United Nations
USD United state dollar
USAI United States Agency for International Development
Abstract
It is now eighteen years since the present government came into power by overthrowing
the communist regime. Much hope was placed that better democratic system of leadership
would prevail in Ethiopia. Except at the initial stages of power shift where by relative
organization has remained less recognized, struggle for definition, operating space, and
Civil society in general and the NGOs sector in particular, traditionally weak in Ethiopia
VIII
Many government officials see NGO as political opponents and NGOs are needed when
there is some kind of disaster, such as famine and war that challenge the capacity of the
governments. Such was the case during the famines of 1973/74/ and 1984/85 and during
In spite of excessive and repressive regulation and bureaucratic requirements that consume
much of valuable time, NGOs are providing credible services in the area of relief, food
IX
Chapter 1. INTRODUCTION
The need to address a wide range of problems adversely affecting vulnerable groups
as we experience them today (De Waal, 1997: 66–68). The famine of 1970s and 1980s has
largely contributed for the influx and emergence of NGOs in Ethiopia (CRDA, 2004). The
modern understanding of NGOs is new to Ethiopia with a history not extending more than
The first indigenous organizations, that were functioning apparently similar to the present
NGOs, were traditional self-help groups that existed for generations before they were
developed into organized entities. Those traditional self-help groups, which have been
(Van, J. 1998:1). In this thesis, NGOs refer to both indigenous and international
(World Bank, 2000). The early pioneers were missionaries or Faith-Based Organizations
The NGOs sector is the strongest part of the civil society in Ethiopia (Zewdie and
Pausewang, 2002: 105). NGOs can be classified either by the country of origin (local or
X
international) or by their engagement (relief, development and advocacy) (GTZ, 2001). In
Ethiopia, 90% NGOs are assumed to be local and the rest are accounted by international
NGOs (Van, J. 1998:1). However, these are not consistent with Zewdie and Pausewang
(2002) that states the proportion of indigenous and international NGOs as 34%:66%,
50%:50%, 59%:41% and 67%:33% in 1994, 1996, 1998, and 2000, respectively.
Iddir and Equb are the two common traditional institutions that existed for generations in
Ethiopia serving as funeral and saving associations, respectively. In this thesis, these
institutions are not treated as NGOs or as part of civil society as they are established with
the purpose mainly to protect only the interests of their members rather than serving
interests of wider citizens. Civil society is considered not only from associational life point
of view but also from their contribution to influence the government for the desired
changes. AusAID (2007) supports the above statement in that “civil society is expected to
play roles as a watchdog and countervailing agent to influence government for change”
AusAID (2007:18-19).
World Bank,2002)stated that, eight years of uneven, but continued move towards
democracy, the NGOS sectors struggle for definition, operating space in Ethiopia. Civil
new relatively political liberalization. The historical centralization of power in Ethiopia has
left long shadows and the impulses to extend strict and at times arbitrary authority over
various civil society entities remains embedded in the psychology of some officials and for
XI
many to consider civil society actors as political opponents” (World Bank 2002:2). The
roles of NGOs sector is not limited to relief and developmental work, they are also
involving in the area of democratisation process in the country. NGOs have played
significant roles in the Ethiopian election of May 2005, however; the crisis that followed
the election lefts shadows on the survival of civil society and the NGOs sector in particular
which about 500 indigenous and international NGOs that are operating in different parts of
There is relatively increasing research works on civil society since recent years. However,
evidence-based studies on NGOs are scarce. Moreover, the existing one consists of short
pieces and unsatisfactory quality that focus mainly on service provider NGOs and their
unhappy relation with government (Desalegn, 2008,). This research, therefore, will
contribute to the existing scarce literature on NGOs by assessing and evaluating the roles
The overall aim of the research is to indicate the place of NGOs and identify their major
contributions in food security and democratisation process in Ethiopia and the challenges
XII
The specific objectives of the research are:
1 To identify the key contribution of NGOs and review from a historical point of view.
The key research questions to be answered in this thesis are introduced to achieve the
What is the overall policy environment the NGOs are operating in?
To what level have the NGOs internalised democratic cultures and values?
Are there challenges for NGOs operations and what are they?
This thesis is divided into five chapters. Chapter one introduces the topic and the research
objectives. Chapter two provides a detailed review with background information about
current research on civil society and NGOs at global, regional and national levels. Chapter
three explains why qualitative techniques are preferred and how they are applied. The
analysis and discussion chapter explores the data and present findings in relevant themes
and discuss on them. Finally, the conclusive chapter provides an overview of the main
research findings.
XIII
Chapter 2.
XIV
LITERATURE REVIEW
Chapter two outlines general aspects of civil society and NGOs in particular at global,
regional and national levels. Some basic concepts, which are closely related to the
research, are defined. The problems related to operational environment for NGOs sectors
Different but essential concepts frequently mentioned in this thesis need to be defined in
1. Civil society
2. NGOs
3. Democratisations
4. Livelihoods
Civil society embraces different sections of social community. Civil society includes
independent media organizations, and think tanks which operate at different levels; global,
regional national and local etc (ODS, 2005:2). Civil society therefore refers to the arena;
XV
distinct from the market and the state; in which citizens come together to pursue common
interests through collective actions; neither for profit nor for the exercise of political
power. Thus, all organizations and associations that lie between the family and the state
(except firms and political Parties) are part of civil society (World Bank, 2003b: 2-3). This
research is based on World Bank’s categorization of civil society. In addition to the World
Bank requirements, one requirement is added to define civil society into Ethiopian
context. Any group or entity regarded as civil society is required to fulfil one or more of
Representations:
Organizations, which provides information and advice, and lobby on particular issues.
Capacity building:
funding.
Service delivery:
Social functions:
Legal status*:
XVI
If any associational entity is considered as a civil society organization, then it is required to
have legal status/registration (*this requirement is added taking the Ethiopian situation
into account).
Traditional institutions such as Iddir and Equb, associations for funeral and savings,
respectively, existed for generations in the country. This thesis, however, will not treat
these institutions as civil society organization for reasons that there are no sufficient
influencing the governments for change for the interests of citizens beyond the interest of
Political organizations and business firms are not also treated as civil society organizations
in this study. The exclusion of political parties and private business organizations is that
the former is struggling to change the government and take over the power while the
private business organizations aspire for profit making to protect the interest of limited
Like other civil society organizations, NGO has no commonly agreed upon definitions
globally. NGOs in their broader definitions are “associations formed within civil society
bringing together individuals who share common purpose” (Turner and Hulme,
XVII
(2001), the term is broadly used to denote an organization that meets the following
requirements:
4.2.3. Democratisation
discourse. It is derived from democracy that comes from two Greek words demo means
people and kratia means power or rule. Therefore, in Greek democracy means system of
governance that was characterized by direct exercise of political powers by citizens’ actual
participation in city-state gathering. The small size of the city- state made it possible for
citizens to gather freely and cast votes for or against something under discussion (Sisay
XVIII
Although democracy comes in many forms, nowadays, the concept generally implies
majority rule, minorities and individuals’ rights, equality of opportunities, equality under
the law and civil rights and liberties. A democratic government is a form of government in
which supreme power is held by the people and exercised directly or through elected
representatives (Sisay and G, 2002:3-4, citing Rohman, 1999). Therefore, “the democratic
process includes the recognition of the people as sovereign and as the ultimate source of
any political authority; freedom to form associations and organizations for all interest
groups and the unhampered advancement of their causes by all peaceful means; freedom of
the press; freedom of all political parities to operate in every part of the country; free and
fair elections through which the people elect their representatives and administrators; and
4.2.4. Livelihoods
The term livelihood is used in different ways. The following definition by department for
comprises the capacities, assets (including both material and social resources) and
activities required for a means of living. A livelihood is sustainable when it cope with and
recover from stresses and shocks and maintain or enhance its capabilities and assets both
now and in the future while not undermining the natural resource base”(DFID, 1999:1).
XIX
4.3. General overview of civil society
associations, trade unions and human rights advocators. The concept of civil society is not
new. It has been contested with political philosophy, sociology and social theory for
hundreds of years. What is new is the increasing emphasis on the concepts over the last
decade. Civil society has become a buzzword within international development (Anheier et
al. 2004, Edwards, 2004). The importance and place of civil society for Africa’s
development is well articulated by many writers. For example, Murunga and Shadrack
(2007:19) stated the importance of civil society by saying that “literature on African
politics indicates that civil society is the missing key to sustain political reform, legitimate
The International Crisis Groups (2001) and Kasfir (1998) indicated that, much hope has
developing countries and in Africa in particular. They considered, civil society as a major
more transparent and more accountable to their people. In Africa, because of the
prevailing, “social, economic, cultural, colonial and political history, civil society assumes
ethnic and kinship structure, the legacy of colonialism, the pattern of economic
XX
development, and authoritarian governance system gave rise to civil society that markedly
differ from the voluntary associational form that characterise the civil society in United
States or Western Europe”(Fatton, 1992; Kasfir 1998, cited in IDS 2005: 7).
African governance system and its civil society is perceived and looked at in accordance
with exactly the situation that is prevailing in Europe or United States. Perceiving African
politics and its civil society in this manner will lead to wrong recommendations and
solutions to Africans’ problems. Abbink (2006: 173) stated that, the African politics is
conceptualised from the point of view of western context without taking the historical and
cultural aspects into account. Abbink further states the need to revisit and reconceptualise
the analysis of politics in Africa in more cultural and historical terms. Although politics
and civil society are misconceived, there are many in which it has played vital roles in
improving, for example, good governance and exhibited unprecedented growth in social
sector. Civil society organization in Ghana, Zimbabwe and Kenya now provide 40% of all
health care and education services (ODI, 2005) and globally 15-20% of the world’s poor
has been reached by the NGO sector (Fowler, 2000) and development NGOs have an
The expectations of international institutions from civil society for Africa’s development
and democratization are increasing from time to time. The problem is that the African
political, historical and institutional environment under which African civil society is
working is not treated contextually, for which reason most of the expectation does not
XXI
match with achievements. The ambitious aspiration of international organizations and
donor community is well expressed by Zewdie and Pausewang (2002:103) who stated
that,” the hopes that are put on civil society in Africa, excitement with which the donor
community has embraced the concept make it appear as if some one had just discovered a
magic formula called “civil society” which would painlessly make African governments
more democratic, transparent and accountable”. Crugel (1999) states that the political
context under which the civil society operates at local, regional and global levels
conditions the extent to which the civil society can influence government policy. The
contribution of civil society like in other social issues mentioned above, have been
ODI (2005) suggests that civil society generate issues or actions, raises new ideas or
questions, and creates new ways of framing policy issues. Civil society represents the
views of others, shares expertise and experiences, put forward new approaches. They can
add, correct or change policy issues, hold policy makers accountable; evaluate and
improve own activities, particularly with regard to service delivery and learn from each
other (ODI, 2005:2-4). Despite tremendous potentials that the African civil society has,
the political environment for civil society involvement has not been encouraging and
improving. Civil society and governments in Africa see each other in hostility rather than
XXII
The following statements by Kukah (2003) explicitly reflect the present African civil
society government relation and the political environment. “The relationship between
states and civil society in Africa seems to have some of the basic characteristics of a
fortified city, communication between those inside and those outside is severely restricted
by the nature of the fort itself. So there are naturally outsiders and insiders. These
characteristics are supposed to inspire awe and causes intimidation in the minds of the
observers. When civil society feels completely locked out it begins to seek relevance by
Figure 1. Non-Democratic States: Unbalanced Sectors where the state plays predominant
roles and the roles of civil society and private sector is limited
Civil society
Society
Source: Rahamato, (2008)
State Sector
Figure 2. Balanced sector which is the
characteristic of Matured democratic
system
Private
Sector
XXIII
State Sector
Source:
Rahamato,
(2008)
Figure 3. Civil Society Position of
NGOs’ within Private Sector civil society
under unbalanced
sector
Society
NGOs
C i v i l
SOCIETY Society
State Sector
Source: Rahamata,
Private
sector (2008)
prevalence of varied
socio-economic problems that followed the war encouraged the emergence of NGOs as
we experience them today. Massive dislocation, destruction that followed the war
challenged the capacities of governments requiring resources and structure that could
address the problems outside of the state domain. The 1950’s and 1960s witnessed the
emergence and rapid proliferation of NGOs to support and assist the people that need
XXIV
support (Zewdie and Pausewang, 2002). For example, there was a dramatic increase in the
2001: 10).
Ethiopia was hit with two devastating famines in almost in a decade. The first famine
occurred in 1973/74 and the second more devastating occurred in 1984/85 causing
involuntary mass migration and huge loss of lives and properties. These two famines
resulted in dramatic increase in the number of NGOs operating in the country. During the
first famine 1973/74 various groups engaged in relief operations formed a network that
became known as Christian Relief and Development Association (CRDA) World Bank,
2000). CRDA is an umbrella organization for more than 150 both international and
The significance contribution of NGOs has increased since these devastating famines. The
role of NGOs during these famines was very essential in saving the lives of famine victims
when the government’s capacities were completely eroded. These famines compelled the
then governments to allow a large influx of western NGOs into the country. During the
first famine, the total number of NGOs mostly operating on relief in the country was not
more than twenty-five; of which the vast majority were church based and very few of local
XXV
origin. This number increased to 70 at the later part of 1980s (Zewdie and Pausewang
2002).
The increase in the number of NGOs is not a unique phenomenon to Ethiopia. An increase
of 525% was recoded from 1994 to 2000. The increase in indigenous NGOs was 1025%
while international NGOs increased by 265%. In a similar way tremendous increase has
also been observed in different parts of the world. For example globally, the number of
international NGOs increased by 345% in the last 20 years, from 13,232 in 1981 to 45,674
in 2000 (International Labour Organization, 2001: 11). In Bolivia in 1980 the total number
of NGOs operating in the county was only 100. This number increased to 1000 in 1999
(ODI, 2005). In a similar way in Bangladesh there were only 70 NGOs in 1970s, but in
2000 this number surged to 22,000 (Matin and Taher, 2000). A tremendous increase
(1025%) in the number of indigenous NGOs was observed from 1994 to 2000 in the
Ethiopia, however; the increase has not been matched with institutional and human
capacity.
XXVI
Civil society in Ethiopia remained the weakest by all measurements due to the governance
history, which was based on, centralized states ruled by autocratic governments, which
gave no or little space for associational structure (World Bank. 2000:2). This together
with the inflexible, controlling and bureaucratic nature of the government has made the
NGOs sector to remain very small when compared with other African countries, where we
have more than 54,000 operating NGOs in South Africa, Kenya and Zimbabwe each has
more than 700 NGOs and about 2,700 NGOs in Palestine (GTZ, 2001). NGOs forceful
Ethiopia in 1930’s. Norwegian Lutheran Federation was the first that started its program
in the then Gamo-Gofa- region now under SNNPR State in 1930s (CRDA, 2004; CRDA,
2006).
The second famine 1984/85, which was more devastating, highly, boosted the visibility of
NGOs and created opportunity to expand their areas of operation, relief, rehabilitation,
There is scarcity of studies done on NGOs in Ethiopia and most of the existing ones focus
on the activities of the organizations, especially in the areas of relief and rehabilitation and
their unhappy relations with government (Zewdie and Pausewang, 2002). The NGO being
XXVII
relatively the strongest part of civil society has pivotal roles in the political and economic
“Perhaps the greatest challenge that the country faces is that of ensuring food security.
This is so because of the low technological base of agriculture, limited rural infrastructure
and off-farm employment compounded by neglect and inappropriate policies over many
years. The food security strategy, whose implementation has begun, is meant to break the
complex problems to close the food gap and ensure food security.” Mekonnen
Ethiopia is known for its wealth of natural resources and biodiversity as a result of its
extreme altitudinal variations that range from 4620 metres above sea level to 116 metres
below sea level with more than 100 ethnic groups. Ethiopia is the second most populous
country in Africa and yet one of the least urbanized countries in the world (USAID,
2007). Most of its population of more than 65 million people lives in highlands, where
land degradation and drought threatens food security. The highland households are mainly
(international food policy research institute (IFPRI), 2005). Ethiopia has an estimated
XXVIII
The total population, which was 42 million in 1984 and 53 million in 1994, surged to more
than 78million in 2008, increasing at 2.9% per year. About 15% of the population is
accounted by nomadic people occupying 60% of estimated landmass of the country, which
is highly inaccessible, and food insecure (USAID, 2007). Agriculture is the source of
livelihood for 85% of the population where the bulk of the poor live (MOFED, 2002,
factors. Ethiopia has been structurally food deficit since at least 1980(Devereux, 2000:1).
The growing and serious food insecurity problems in the country affecting as much as
45% of the population has made more than 5 million people dependent on food aid each
year, even during years seemingly with normal weather and market conditions. Over
700,000 tons of food aid has been imported every year to meet the food needs in the
Meles Zenawi, Prime Minister of Ethiopia, April 2000 as cited in Devereux, 2000:2).
The following report by International Reality Investors Network (IRIN) on the current
food insecurity situation in the country matches with the speech of the Premier after eight
years. “The overall food security situation in the drought-affected areas has not improved.
Southern Nations, Nationalities, and People's Region and Somali region pastoral and
XXIX
agro-pastoral populations are extremely food insecure due to successive seasons of
infestation, conflict, inadequate humanitarian assistance and extremely high food prices.
More than 4.6 million people are in need of emergency relief” (International Reality
Investors Network (IRIN), August 18, 2008 citing in Minister of Ministry of Agriculture,
Abera Deresa).
Ethiopian economy is highly volatile and unsustainable due to structural rigidity, external
shocks, conflicts and is dominated by smallholder agriculture which employed 89% of the
labour force, 56% of GDP and 67% of export earnings in 1997(Devereux, 2000). On the
other hand Aredo et.al, (2007), indicates that approximately half of GDP (45%) is
estimated 85% of the total population in the country (Aredo et, al. 2007). It can be
noticed that some improvement was observed between the reporting period of Devereux
and Aredo in the total labour force employed in agriculture and in GDP.
Environmental degradation is one of the most serious problems in Ethiopia. IFPRI (2005)
indicates that Ethiopia is among the most soil nutrient depleted Sub-Saharan African
farmers’ vulnerability to drought and food insecurity. More than 1.1 billion tons of soil is
lost every year as a result of soil erosion due to water from highlands (Australian
XXX
The dominant farm system in Ethiopia is characterized by traditional methods of farming
with little surplus and heavily influenced by changes in the weather conditions. According
to an estimate, 30% of farm produce is supplied to local market while more than 60% of
the produce is used for own consumption. Moreover larger proportion of the rural
population (more than 40%) is a net purchaser and the poverty situation in Ethiopia is
among the worst by most social and human development indicators (Aredo, et al 20007).
Ethiopia ranks 169th from 177 countries in human development index having Gini index
Ministry of finance and economic development (MOFED) (2005) indicated that the head
count poverty index was 44% in 1999/2000 implying that about half of the population is
In short, Ethiopia is vulnerable to all sorts of food insecurity, chronic, cyclical and
transitory problems. The major causes of food insecurity problems are drought, war,
poverty land degradation, weak institutional capacity, such as market, land tenure system,
As can be understood from the speech of premier Zenawi quoted above, the Ethiopian
economy is entirely depended on agriculture. Focusing the economy on which more than
80% of the total labour force is engaged may sound rational, however; depending
dominantly on unsustainable natural resource base, on highly degraded land, on rain fed
XXXI
agriculture, which is the characteristics of Ethiopian agriculture, is debatable unless it is
inputs or land tenure reforms and gradually reducing the roles of agriculture and
It is impossible to list what NGOs have accomplished in the course of their involvements,
Following is the achievements recoded by the NGO sector from 1984 1996 as an
disaster prevention and preparedness commission (DPPC and CRDA, as cited in Zewdie
and Pausewang 2002) show that in twelve years (1984-1996) NGOs provided relief
assistance on the average to 6.5 million beneficiaries every year which was about 14% of
the then total rural population. In 1990 alone 13 million beneficiaries have received
assistance from NGOs. The volume of the food assistance distributed by them ranged from
1.5 million quintals in 1984 to 5.1 million quintals in 1992. The development project
undertaken by NGOs in 1990s was estimated to have cost 2.3 billion Birr and was
believed to have benefited 26 million people both rural and urban and created 14,000
XXXII
employment opportunities (DPPC and CRDA, cited in Zewdie and Pausewang 2002:
107-108).
Table 2 below demonstrates the extent of the NGOs contributions in the area of food
(CRDA, 2004).
In short, the NGOs sector in five regional states, in six program areas in five years
(1997-2001) have benefited 23.2 million people of which 20 million benefited from
development projects and the remaining 3.2 million from relief and rehabilitation
programs. A total of 360 projects were implemented by 271 NGOs (188 Local and 83
about USD 392, 222,200 of which 90% or USD 352,999,980 was spent on development
programs and the remaining 10% on relief and rehabilitation operations (CRDA, 2004)
XXXIII
Emergency 144.12 202.71 41 59
In December 2002, NGOs operating in the five regions had a total 9,803 employees of
whom 64% were males and 36% females. Nearly 98.5% of the NGOs employees were
Ethiopians. About 11% of NGOs staffs hold management positions with executive roles,
39% of the staffs provide technical support and the rest 50% were support-giving staffs.
About 77 %( 7,551) of the NGOs workforce is accounted by local NGOs of whom 36%
As can easily be seen from the Table 4, high NGOs staff concentration was observed in
Addis Ababa (41%), where relatively better facilities are available. On the other hand,
Somali regional state, which is one of the remotest and food insecure parts of the country,
% %
Male Female
1 Addis Ababa 41 62 48
2 Amahara 27 74 26
3 SNNPR 17 83 17
XXXIV
4 Tigray 12 88 12
5 Somali 3 82 18
It is therefore debatable that NGOs and their programs are concentrated in areas where
there are relatively better facilitates and also questionable whether there is an equitable
Ethiopia is one of the African countries, which have become politically unstable since the
overthrow of imperial regime in 1974. The communist regime that took over power from
the emperor ruled Ethiopia with absolute tyranny and shameful killings and imprisonment
of its citizens for 17 years. The feudal monarchy followed by a brutal dictator Marxist
regime made civil society in general and the NGOs sector in particular weak and invisible.
Zewdie and Pauswange, (2002), states that when the Mengistu’s regime collapsed in 1991
some NGOs were tolerated by the government for the fact that the government’s capacity
was completely eroded to address the problems of the then catastrophic famine (Zewdie
XXXV
The roles of NGOs in the democratisation process are insignificant for the fact that NGOs
have been operating under restrictive and controlled environment. Advocacy is a risk
business in Ethiopia. NGOs those who involved in advocacy work during the election of
May 2005, have suffered much because of their involvement. A good case in point is
of more than 200 NGOs in Ethiopia. CRDA is currently facing serious challenges because
of its position statement regarding the election crisis of May 2005. The following case is a
good example of the challenges advocacy NGOs currently facing and ahead of their future
involvements.
“During the year under review (2005), due to the political situation in the country, a few
conducted within the fourth Quarter had to be postponed to the next year (2006). All
programs of CRDA have felt the impact of this situation since it created misunderstanding
posed both opportunities and challenges. While CRDA was able to show its shift towards
and/or accommodating lobby and advocacy issues on top of its conventional service
every communication the role of CRDA in politics instead of continuing its development
partnership. This challenge has exacerbated since CRDA voiced its position regarding the
situation in the country following the May 15 National Elections. Cases in point are;
different offices in Oromia did not show interest in inviting CRDA on issues dealing with
NGO category, despite CRDA's recognition as a CSO partner in the region. CRDA has
XXXVI
also been unable to form partnership with existing authorities of Addis Ababa due to the
The governance system in the past regimes gave little space for the establishment of a
strong and a vibrant civil society in Ethiopia. The centralized and autocratic nature of the
governance highly contributed for the limited number and nascent civil society in general
and the weak disintegrated NGOs sector in particular in the country (World Bank, 2000).
The year 1991 was considered to be more promising for the emergence of a vibrant civil
society in Ethiopia (Milikia, 2006). It was not deniable that more civil society was
established since the indicated period due to relatively improved political environment.
The number of NGOs operating in the country in 1994 was only 70 of which 46 were
international and the remaining indigenous. This number dramatically increased to 368 in
2000 of which indigenous was 246 and the remaining international (Kassahun, 2002).
The year 1991 has never brought favourable situation for the emergence and re-emergence
of a strong and a vibrant civil society in the country, rather the promises and hopes
remained rhetoric. The ever-relapsing relation between the NGO and government seems
going from bad to worst these days. The following statements by World Bank in 2000
surprisingly after eight years are found to be so relevant to the current Ethiopian situation.
XXXVII
“Eight years into Ethiopia’s uneven, but continuing move towards representative
democracy, the country’s NGOs sector struggles for definition, operating space, and
(World Bank, 2000: 1). Amnesty international(AI) in its June 2008 report” states that
“Amnesty international is deeply concerned by the repressive Draft Charities and societies
proclamation, which clearly aims not only to undermine and frustrate the work of
independent civil society organizations in Ethiopia but also bar foreign non-governmental
organizations (NGOs) such as Amnesty international from operating in the country. The
human rights defenders and civil society organizations, and would seem to be a ploy by the
government to conceal human rights violation and prevent public protest and criticism of
The EPRDF led government soon after taking power, has become hostile to civil society
groups especially; international NGOs some of which provided support for the then
guerrilla fighter groups the present EPRDF (government) when it was still an insurgent
movement. The NGOs who supported EPRDF and hoped for policy environment more
favourable than that of communist regime were disappointed with unfriendly outlook of
XXXVIII
Why the then guerrilla fighters, the present leaders became unfriendly to their former
supporters? May be one of the other parties is suspicious that there is no reason why one
should not do what had been done during the guerrilla fighting times, for the fact cleaning
What one could easily understand from the above citation is how the political environment
for civil society and the NGO sector in particular is unfriendly and hostile. Zewdie and
Pausewang (2002) stressed that EPRDF after coming to power, was of the opinion that
NGOs, especially international ones were not really needed in the country and that they
could be replaced with local, party-controlled organizations which would be safe and
friendly.
The Ethiopian civil society, especially the NGOs sector has been engulfed with various
external and internal problems for a long time. The challenges may be categorized into two
broad parts; external and internal. This thesis will look at the challenges in relation to the
There are various external challenges that NGOs face in Ethiopia today.
Government attitude
Strong, vibrant and independent institutions have been considered by the present
government as a threat and categorized as part of opposition and working to undermine its
XXXIX
Marked improvement was observed in the relation between NGOs and the state
immediately after the war with Eritrea, for the fact that the government aspire to win the
support of the civil society following the war; nevertheless; the government has no interest
and appetite to consider the NGOs and other civil society sector as real partners for
Bureaucracy
Pro-government NGOs
The state is deliberately promoting its own party controlled parallel civil society groups,
such as local indigenous NGOs, women organizations, youth associations and trade
unions. This highly reinforces the suspicion that is held in the voluntary sector that the
state does not have confidence in independent civil society groups and may be planning to
replace them at some time in the future (Zewdie and Pausewang, 2002).
Participation
Major decisions that concern the civil society themselves are passed at regional and federal
levels without the participation of civil society representatives (GTZ, 2001). A good case
in point is that officials in the ministry of justice responsible for drafting new laws that
govern NGOs operations have been unwilling to involve the NGOs sector in the
preparatory efforts (CRDA, 2006). The study of Norwegian Agency for Development
Cooperation (Norad) on capacity building program in Ethiopia (2005) complained that the
XL
Ethiopian government is considerably more restrictive with respect to the space it allows
to international and national NGOs than the Sri Lankan state (Norad, 2005: 1).
It is the state that sets the rules, regulations that govern civil society engagements and that
the rules are vague, ambitious, and subject to arbitrary interpretation by the regulating
The deliberate provision of regulation contrary to provision of their parent law restricted
human right agreements ratified by Ethiopia (CRDA, 2006: 13). It is possible to mention
more similar challenges in addition to the aforementioned cases. However, what have been
mentioned so far can indicate as how hostile is the working environment for NGOs
mention here is that the external constraints are the major bottlenecks that remain the most
difficult to overcome at present, and have been responsible for restricting wider
Internal challenges refer to limitation in the resource and managerial capacity within the
NGOs themselves.
Capacity limitation
resource and budget constraints are the prominent features of local NGOs. GTZ (2001)
XLI
stressed that, lack of access to funds, physical assets and competent human capital is the
In Ethiopia the private sector is so weak and fragile as to become internal funding sources
for NGOs, as is the case in many other countries. The private sector is so weak due to
The overwhelming majority of both international and local NGOs depend on external
funding sources to run their programs. Government and donors play major roles in
supporting NGOs programs which usually has compromised the independence and
effectiveness of NGOs (Hellinger, 1987:137). The NGOs who based their funding source
on governments end up with negative bearing against the poor by failing to distance
themselves and compromising their impendence with the government (Weston, 1994).
Personal interest
Many of the NGOs are not home-grown, they are distant from many of the social and
cultural aspects of the society, and many NGOs have tendencies to preserve institutional
and personal interests rather than the wider beneficiary (Zewdie and Pausewang, 2002).
Many of the NGOs, especially indigenous ones have not internalised democratic cultures.
They lack the culture of tolerance and constructive debate and have no media to inform
the general public about their activities (Gebre-egzibiaher and Sisay, 2002).
XLII
Chapter 3. METHODOLOGY AND
LIMITATIONS OF THE RESEARCH
Chapter three presents the reasoning behind the selection of the topic, the underlying
livelihood framework, the methodology used and analysis of the research data and
associated limitations.
XLIII
Chapter 3.2. Framework Approach
The sustainable livelihood framework has been used as a structural tool to analyse main
inter-related factors that can identify the roles of NGOs in transforming livelihood. The
sustainable livelihoods framework presents the main factors that affect people’s livelihoods
and the typical relationships among them. It can also helps in assessing contributions of
mainly concerned with people and seeks to gain an accurate and realistic understanding of
people’s potentials (DFID, 1999:1). In this study, the sustainable livelihood framework is,
Ethiopia.
XLIV
In general, survival of human being depends on livelihood assets. The livelihood assets
include material, social, tangible and intangible assets that people can have in possession.
Livelihood assets are resources that can be seen as the capital base from which different
productive streams are derived to construct livelihoods (IDS, 1997:7). DFID (1999)
focuses on the use of different types of capitals for sustainable livelihood. The types of
XLV
capital are human, natural, physical, social and financial capitals. Human capital represents
the skills, knowledge, ability to labour and good health that all together enable people to
pursue different livelihood strategies to achieve their livelihood objectives. Social capital
refers to the social resources upon which people draw in pursuit of their livelihood
objectives. Natural capital is a term used for natural resource stocks from which resource
flows and services useful for livelihoods are derived. Physical capital comprises basic
infrastructures and producer goods needed to support livelihoods, and the financial capital
denotes the financial resources that people use to achieve their livelihood objectives
(DFID 1999:7-17).
Such studies that engage to identify the roles of NGOs in transforming livelihood,
recognizes the fundamental influence of people’s surrounding which includes the broad
political and economic structure and the immediate physical, social and cultural
environment (Hebinck, 2002). The broad political, economic, social, physical and cultural
livelihoods framework that can help to analyze the whole factors is, therefore, selected as
a more appropriate tool for this particular project. Within the sustainability framework, the
theme of the research mainly focuses on “the role of NGOs, in livelihood transformation
development are mainly determined by the nature of the governments and system of
XLVI
Despite the importance and diverse use of the sustainable livelihood framework, it has
various capitals requires enormous financial, time and personal resources, which are often
lacking. Secondly, its integrated approach considers many aspects that deliver a flood of
information challenging to be analysed. The decision about what aspect to consider with
priority is also another challenge. The difficulties to obtain clear indicators that can help to
measure and compare the analysis. For example, a person’s social capital and asset status
that are highly associated with the amount of resources he/she earns can vary according to
the local context. For instance, some actors might be able to satisfy their needs with low
level of financial capital, whereas others with more financial capital. In this study, to
Qualitative research techniques are used in this research. The advantage of using the
rigidity on definable variables, it enables examination of issues that otherwise may not be
Primary data as well as information from secondary sources are accessed. Literatures
covering the main publications on civil society in general and on NGOs sectors in
XLVII
particular at global, regional and national level were reviewed. Information was gathered
semi-structured interview was conducted in three federal regional states and two federal
below).
An independent interview was made at the last stage of this research with Desalegn
Rehamato who is one of the researchers who has long research experience with civil
society groups in Ethiopia. The interview was mainly focused on the recent situation of
the civil society in the country. In depth discussion was made in relation to charity and
XLVIII
KEY:
Sample Federal and regional capitals where interviews made with government
officials
selected officials.
XLIX
Chapter 3.3.1.2. Interview with government organizations
Two conditions were considered in selecting regions and organization for semi-structured
interview.
The number of NGOs and program diversifications were taken as conditions while
selecting sample regions and organizations. Regions with many NGOs and diversified
Government organizations within the selected regions were screened based on the variety
of programs/projects that are being carried out in partnership with NGOs. Government
organizations those, which have the coordinating roles both at federal and regional level,
In accordance with conditions mentioned above, three regional states, one ministry and
one agency were selected for semi-structured interview. From each region four bureaux
that have partnership projects and coordinating roles, two federal organizations with
coordinating roles were selected, which make the total number of interviewees from the
government side to be 15. In many circumstances, department heads and experts working
staffs were considered to have better understanding about the policies of the government
L
The government organizations included in the interview were bureau of agriculture,
bureau of health, bureau of disaster prevention and preparedness and bureau of labour and
social affairs. In the case of southern nations, nationalities and peoples’ regional state
(SNNPR), bureau of finance and economic development was included instead of bureau of
disaster prevention and preparedness as the former was responsible to coordinate the
From federal level government organizations, Ministry of Justice and the Agency of
disaster prevention and preparedness were selected for the interview. Ministry of Justice is
currently responsible to coordinate the over all operation of civil society organization in
the country and Disaster Prevention and Preparedness Agency, formerly responsible for
coordinating the over all operations of NGOs and currently responsible only to coordinate
The attempts made to have interview with Minster of ministry of justice and Directorate of
disaster prevention and preparedness agency could not become successful. However; it
was possible to manage to get valuable information from the interview made with
Desalegn Rahamato, who has done an extensive research work on land use and civil
society in Ethiopia.
LI
Interviewing with non-governmental organization was done at their head office level for
which 5 are international and the remaining 7 are indigenous NGOs. The screening of
NGOs for the interview was done taking into account their area of specialization such as
their knowledge in government policies, programs and in the concept of governance and
democratisation.
Rehabilitation centres for the victims of torture in Ethiopia purely working in the
community, and
LII
The interviewed international NGOs are:
building programs.
A total of 37 and 27 questions were prepared to the NGO sector and to government
organizations, respectively. The questions are prepared in different forms. Many of the
questions are yes or no, agree or disagree, multiple choice and short answer types (see
The semi-structured questions were sent to the interviewees before the interview date so
they can prepare themselves for the response to be simple and systematized. Many of the
interviews were undertaken through telephone directly from reading. Initially the plan was
LIII
to undertake the interview with executive directors and department heads, however, due
to the difficulty to get and make an interview with executive directors and department
survey reports, periodic monitoring and evaluation reports and; electronic sources.
Information on policies and legislation related to the operations of NGOs were mainly
gathered from the resource centre and the webpage of Christian Relief and Development
Contemporary literatures on NGOs and civil society in Ethiopia and African situation were
also consulted.
Lack of detailed and extensive research carried out on NGOs in Ethiopia has limited this
Lack of cooperation
The semi-structured interview was delayed beyond initially planned timeframe. Some of
the government staffs were busy on their routine; some of them were not cooperative in
providing the required information. The support and collaboration of international NGOs
LIV
was also very limited. In some cases, the lack of collaboration from some of international
Limited reliability
The reliability of data was very limited. Firstly, there was lack of coherency between the
feedbacks that was obtained from governmental and non-governmental organizations. For
example, for the question “whether the working environment for NGOs is conducive or
not?”, the responses were positive and negative from government and NGOs interviewees,
respectively. Such interest based inconsistent responses created challenges to decide what
Time constraints
Exceptionally too much time and resources were spent to arrange and undertake
interviews.
Chapter 4.
LV
FINDINGS AND DISCUSSIONS
Chapter four mainly deals with identifying the major findings and make discussions on
these major findings. The study has dealt with various issues in relation to roles and
operations of NGOs in Ethiopia. Some understandings have been created on civil society,
NGOs, democratisation and livelihoods situation in Ethiopia. The research has identified
the place and position of civil society and the NGOs sector in particular, the contributions
that NGOs face in their operations. Discussions have been made on the findings which
emanated from the literature review and the semi-structured interview. The discussion
section mainly focused on major areas such as, the role and operational environment for
NGOs, major contributions and challenges of NGOs and livelihoods situation in Ethiopia.
The following findings are inferred from the reviewed literatures and semi-structured
interview. The organizations that participated in the interview represent diverse areas of
operations, such as relief and rehabilitation, economic and social development, advocacy
on human rights issue, women, youth, handicapped and street children. Executive
officers were involved in the interview. In order to protect the anonymity of the names of
LVI
the persons interviewed they will remain unnamed, but the persons interviewed are coded
There is no universally agreeable definition for civil society, however; World Bank
(2003b) defines civil as an arena; distinct from the market and the state; in which citizens
come together to pursue common interests through collective actions; neither for profit
nor for the exercise of political power. Thus, all organizations and associations that lie
between the family and the state (except firms and political parties) are part of civil society
The idea that civil society has a key role to play for good governance in developing
countries has risen to prominence in recent years. The UN millennium project report
(2005) “Investing in development for example claims that strong civil society engagement
and participation are crucial to effective governance” while AusAID report (2006) on good
governance states that good governance requires a strong and pluralistic civil society
where there is freedom of expression and association. The contribution of civil society
organizations to democracy is not limited to their capacity to influence public policy; they
also foster voice and participation, which in turn are functions of internal governance
practices. Their capacity to offer citizens a say in decisions and to enhance pluralism may
be as important as their ability to influence policy and demand accountability from state
LVII
In Ethiopia working space and the contribution of civil society is limited. The state is sole
role player in the country. According to Desalegn (2008), the state has occupied dominant
positions that play important roles in the society; thus, the role of civil society and private
sector has remained invisible. Figure 1, p.17 clearly shows the unbalanced involvement of
private sector, civil society on the one hand and the state on the other in Ethiopia. The
government dominates the role of civil society and private sectors. Rahamato (2008),
states that, with the exception of very few civil society groups, civil society involvement in
democratization and advocacy and human rights issues has been limited. The Ethiopian
human rights council and The Ethiopian Women Layers association have played relatively
significant roles on human rights abuse since their establishment (Rahamato, 2008). For
example, all NGOs interviewees (100%) said that NGOs are ineffective in advocacy work
and advocacy work is a risky business in Ethiopia. This idea is supported by Zewdie and
Pausewang (2002) who have indicated that civil society is operating under restrictive and
highly controlled political environment (Zewdie and Pausewang, 2002). The recent draft
of charity and society law is a good indication of the restrictive and controlling nature of
the government. Concerning the genesis of NGO/CSO, article 1, sub article 2(2) of the
draft proclamation states that charities and societies established by Ethiopians under
Ethiopian law are deemed to be foreign institutions solely for receiving more than 10% of
LVIII
The first indigenous organizations, that were functioning apparently similar to the present
NGOs, were traditional self-help groups that existed for generations before they were
developed into organized entities. The fact in Ethiopia today is different. Independent and
visionary NGO sector, in the sense we understand them today, is new to the country with
In the broader definitions NGOs are “associations formed within civil society bringing
together individuals who share common purpose” (Turner and Hulme, 1997:200).
According to GTZ (2001), in the Ethiopian context, an NGO is an organization that meets
(GTZ, 2001:89).
LIX
The importance and visibility of NGOs is closely related to the Ethiopian famines. Ethiopia
was hit with two devastating famines in 1973/74 and in 1984/85 causing involuntary mass
migration and huge loss of lives and properties. These famines resulted in dramatic
increase in the number of NGOs operating in the country (CRDA, 2004). The role of
NGOs during these famines was very essential in saving the lives of famine victims when
the government’s capacities were completely eroded. These famines compelled the then
governments to allow a large influx of western NGOs into the country. During the first
famine, the total number of NGOs mostly operating on relief in the country was not more
than twenty-five; of which the vast majority were church based and very few of local
origin. This number increased to 70 at the later part of 1980s (Zewdie and Pausewang
2002).
In Ethiopia a dramatic increase in the number of NGOs has been observed between the
years 1994 to 2000 (Table 1). In 1994 the total number of NGOs was only 70 but this
number has surged to 368 in 2000. The increase in number of local NGOs leaped from 24
in 1994 to 246 in 2000. The growth in the number of NGOs resulted due to national and
environment under which NGOs were operating and globally, associational life of civil
society is considered as a key for development and democratisation in Africa. The increase
in number of NGOs was not unique to Ethiopia. In a similar way tremendous increase was
the last 20 years, from 13,232 in 1981 to 45,674 in 2000 (International Labour
LX
Organization, 2001: 11). In Bolivia in 1980 the total number of NGOs operating in the
county was only 100. This number increased to 1000 in 1999 (ODI, 2005).
Tremendous increment in the number of NGOs has been recoded in Ethiopia since their
first emergence during the first famine. However, NGOs in Ethiopia remained weak by all
measurements and their roles was limited due to the governance history, which was based
on, centralized states ruled by autocratic governments, which gave no or little space for
Food security has become the greatest challenges to Ethiopia. The magnitude and
national and international development actors. One of such most potential partners is both
local and international NGOs. According to DPPC and CRDA (2004), about 14% (6.5
million) of the total rural population was served by NGOs relief programs ever year with
volume of food assistance ranging from 1.5 million quintals in 1984 to 5.1 million quintals
in 1992. The development programs undertaken in 1990s was estimated to cost 2.3 billion
Birr reaching more than 26 million people and NGOs programs created employment
opportunity to 9,803 Ethiopians. About 77% (7,551) of the NGOs workforce is accounted
by local NGOs of whom 36 %( see table 3 below) is female (DPPC and CRDA, 2004).
LXI
LXII
Table 4. NGOs contributions by programs (1997-2001)
The NGOs and government partner have recorded credible achievement in the country
since the first famine of 1973/74 in different sectors like food security, health, education,
that NGOs have been involved have directly or indirectly contribute to food security. It is
LXIII
hardly possible to list all achievements recorded by NGOs, however; NGOs have recorded
appreciable achievements from 1997 to 2001 in the different sectors and programs.
Food Security
The major contributions made by NGOs with regard to food security programs include
provision of farm tools, draft animals, fertilizers and seeds for farmers and; financial and
technical assistance on physical and biological conservation measures (Table 4). Although
NGOs have been contributed significantly in food security programs, the percent
contribution made by NGOs in this sector has remained very small compared to its
relatively long existence in the country (Table 5). In addition, the majority (3/4) of the
beneficiaries in the food security programme provided by NGOs are men although women
are more vulnerable to food shortage. Results from the semi-structured interview confirm
that NGOs contribution with regard to food security programme has been significant
Health Service
The highest percent contribution of NGOs in the country has found in the provision of
health services and developing clean water sources. NGOs have provided health services
and clean water by constructing hospitals, clinics, health posts and by developing
accessible water sources (Table 4). Although the highest percent contribution of NGOS
has made in this sector, the coverage made by NGOs in the health sector in the country
still has remained relatively small (Table 5). The percent share of beneficiaries in the health
LXIV
and water sector services provided by NGOs was relatively better for women compared to
the food security programme. Both governmental and non-governmental respondents from
the semi-structured interview further confirm that NGOs contribution with regard to the
health service has been very high as NGOs reached less accessible areas in the country
(Annex 2).
Education Services
The contribution of NGOs in the education sector was significant although the percent
contribution made by NGOs in this sector remained very small compared to its relatively
long existence in the country (Table 5). NGOs have involved in the education sector by
constructing new formal schools and expansion of existing schools mainly in rural areas
(Table 4). The balance percent share between beneficiaries categorized according to
gender found similar to the percent share reported in the food security sector. Analyses
from the semi-structured interview also confirm that contribution of NGOs in the
education sector was good although there is a need to involve more in this sector as the
Capacity Building
NGOs have provided skill accusation trainings for rural farmers and have established
training centres in different parts of the country (Table 4). However, the contribution of
NGOs in this sector was very low relative to the importance of capacity building to
LXV
achieve goals set by the NGOs and government (Table 5). The percent share for
beneficiaries was also biased to men and less number of women had participated in the
capacity building trainings. Results from the semi-structured interview confirm that NGOs
contribution with regard to capacity building programme has been less significant (Annex
2).
Infrastructure Development
the health sector (Table 5). However, the percent contribution made by NGOs in this
sector remained very small relative to the importance of infrastructures for day to day
developments made by NGOs include construction of new roads, bridges and residential
houses and; also rehabilitation of existing roads that commonly used to access remote
areas (Table 4). The majority of the beneficiaries in the infrastructure development
programme are men as they get paid more during the construction of roads, bridges and
houses. Analyses from the semi-structured interview also confirm that contribution of
NGOs in this sector was significant and valuable in achieving the development goals.
Microfinance
LXVI
The contribution of NGOs in the microfinance programme was significant particularly in
the rural areas (Table 4). NGOs had contributed greatly in empowering of women through
providing finance for establishing small enterprises. The major activities of NGOs in the
microfinance programme are establishing and made operational the saving and credit
2 Food security 17 75 25
3 Infrastructure 15 66 34
4 Education 11 73 27
5 Capacity building 5 77 23
6 HIV/AIDS 1 58 42
In summary, more than half (51%) of the total budget was invested on health and water
sector, 17% to food security program, 15% for physical infrastructure development, 11%
for education 5% for capacity building and the rest 1% is invested on HIV/AIDS program
(Table 4). The focus on health and water sector and food security is encouraging, while
LXVII
development challenges to the country. With regard to NGOs contributions, both
responded that NGOs programs have contributed towards positive change among the
development, and training centres. The rural community has been able to easily access to
better health, education and transportation services. The government interviewees traced
and stated that the NGOs contribution in the times of disasters is remarkable, reminding
the credibility of NGOs contribution in relation to the famine of 1984/85 (see annex 2).
In the liberal democracy, civil society is expected to play two categories of roles. Diamond
(1994) states that in democratic transition, civil society and NGOs in particular, mobilize
groups to pressure the government for political changes. Organized social groups such as
unions, and religious groups are crucial sources of democratic changes. Secondly, in
LXVIII
In Ethiopia democracy is not a matter of luxury but it is a necessary condition to link
economic and social development with social justice and other basic human rights issues
(Sisay, 2002). Ethiopia has become politically unstable since the overthrown of imperial
regime in 1974. During the time of dictator communist regime democratic way of
governance was unthinkable. Milkias (2006) states that, much was expected from the
present government when it came to power in 1991, that the new system would encourage
democratic system of governance in the country. The attitudes and approaches of western
governments in general the state department in particular was encouraging and appeared
as if democracy was once and for all in Ethiopia. The state department took the first
power. EPRDF soon followed an innovative approach to catch the attention of the
western governments and state department in particular. The strategic approach that
EPRDF followed was declaring freedom of expression, associational life and respect of
human rights in its transitional charter (Milikias, 2006). The international situation
together with internal pressures encouraged the mushrooming of civil society groups;
especially NGOs. It is not deniable that relative improvement was observed following the
power shift in 1991 in the operational environment for civil society groups, however; the
start could not continue for unclear reasons (Zewdie and Pausewang, 2002).
relationship has been deteriorated since 10 years. Further, 100% of NGOs respondents
said that the relationships has progressed negatively since 2000 until it has turned hostile
LXIX
after the election crisis of may 2005 where by NGOs are categorized as opposition parties.
The following CRDA and European Union election observations mission reports can
clearly demonstrate the status of democracy and operational environment for NGOs in
Ethiopia. CRDA is the first biggest and oldest umbrella organization of more than 150
since the first famine of 1974. It has been acting on behalf of civil society groups for last
couple of decades in the country. The following report of CRDA is clear indication of how
the operating environment is becoming hostile for the civil society group in general and to
“During the year under review (2005), due to the political situation in the country, a few
conducted within the fourth quarter had to be postponed to the next year (2006). All
programs of CRDA have felt the impact of this situation since it created misunderstanding
between CRDA and the Government. CRDA’s involvement in election related activities
posed both opportunities and challenges. While CRDA was able to show its shift towards
and/or accommodating lobby and advocacy issues on top of its conventional service
every communication the role of CRDA in politics instead of continuing its development
partnership. This challenge has exacerbated since CRDA voiced its position regarding the
situation in the country following the May 15 National Elections. Cases in point are;
different offices in Oromia did not show interest in inviting CRDA on issues dealing with
LXX
NGO category, despite CRDA's recognition as a CSO partner in the region. CRDA has
also been unable to form partnership with existing authorities of Addis Ababa due to the
Fair and free election is one of the major indicators of democratic governments. The
election that was undertaken on May 2005 was ended up with a very tragic bloody shed.
The European Union Election Observations Mission expressed the situation in the
following way.
“The European Union Election Observation Mission regrets the way in which the counting
of the votes at the constituency level is being conducted as well as the way in which the
release of results is being handled by the electoral authorities, the government and the
Abbink, 2006:184).
Variety of cases can be mentioned to demonstrate the ever increasing repression and
controlling nature of the government in Ethiopia. A good case in point to mention is the
charity and society draft law. Many international human-right groups expressed their
concern on the draft law. Some of the human right-groups considered the draft
proclamation as a deliberate act of the government to undermine the roles of civil society
in Ethiopia. Amnesty international on its June 2008 report states “the repressive Draft
Charities and societies proclamation, which clearly aims not only to undermine and
frustrate the work of independent civil society organizations in Ethiopia but also bar
LXXI
foreign non-governmental organizations (NGOs) such as Amnesty international from
intolerance of the work of human rights defenders and civil society organizations, and
would seem to be a ploy by the government to conceal human rights violation and prevent
On the other hand interviews with NGOs staff illustrate that the relation between
government and NGOs is becoming too weak and the operating environment is
challenging. Overwhelming majority of the interviewees (80%) has indicated that the
present NGO-government relation is too weak and 87% of the respondents stated that the
environment under which NGOs are operating is challenging (see annex 2). An interview
made with Rahamato, pointed out that the draft laws severely frustrated the civil society
working in Ethiopia. He further expressed his fear in that there are many civil society
organizations that may cease to operate in the country if the draft law becomes
operational. According to Sub Article 2(2) of the new draft law, civil society groups those
who have been running their programs with funds from foreign sources, will have no
chance to continue their program with 10% of external support. There is no possibility to
solicit funds locally either. The only chance such organizations have is to cease operating.
Rahamato further indicated that, so far the civil society representatives were able to make
two around discussion with Prime Minister Zenawi, however; the opportunity for the law
to be amended is slim and there is expectation that the draft law will be endorsed by the
LXXII
It is the government’s responsibility to ratify laws that facilitate condition for national
development. The attempt to draft separate laws that govern the operation of civil society
in the country is encouraging. However, the most important point is not only ratifying
laws, but also ratifying and enacting laws, design policies and programs that enable to
address the problems of those 45% of the population who live under absolute poverty.
Ethiopia is one of the poorest countries in the world ranking 169th from 177 countries in
inferable that the path to be food secured without democratic system of governances is
challenging if not impossible. To overcome such complex problems and to become food
with civil society groups (Rahamato, 2008). Murunga and Shadrack (2007:19) state the
development roles of civil society as the missing key to sustain political reform, legitimate
The global recognition of the potentials and contributions of civil society for Africa’s
development does not seem the case in Ethiopia from the point of view of the increasing
hostility in policy environment and the government attitudes towards NGOs. The
opportunity for partnership and collaboration between government and NGOs is getting
slimmer through time. It is questionable whether the government is drafting laws, design
LXXIII
policies and programs with genuine and keen interest to partnership and collaborate with
The speculation that, the government’s aspiration and plan is to replace international
Zewdie and Pausewang (2002) supporting this idea stressed that EPRDF after coming to
power, was of the opinion that NGOs, especially international ones were not really needed
in the country and that they could be replaced with local, party-controlled organizations
There may be some aspiration in theory to replace international NGOs by local NGOs.
Ethiopia is food insecure for the last couple of decades and about half of its population is
living under absolute poverty and more than 5 million people require emergence relief
every year from foreign sources. Therefore, it is highly debatable issue, those countries
like Ethiopia that is engulfed with complex food security and political instability
LXXIV
Chapter 4.2.3.1. External challenges
The external challenges are related to the policy environment under which they are
operating in the country. The following major challenges are the most common among
Marked improvement was observed in the relation between NGOs and the state
immediately 1991 after EPRDF come to power. The fact was that the government aspire
to win the support of the civil society following; nevertheless; the government has no
interest and appetite to consider the NGOs and other civil society sector as real partners
for development (CRDA, 2006; Milkias, 2006). In Ethiopia, strong, vibrant and
categorized as part of opposition working to undermine its power bases (Zewdie and
Pausewang, 2002).
Bureaucracy
Pro-government NGOs
The state is deliberately promoting its own party controlled parallel civil society groups,
such as local indigenous NGOs, women organizations, youth associations and trade
LXXV
unions. This highly reinforces the suspicion that is held in the voluntary sector that the
state does not have confidence in independent civil society groups and may be planning to
replace them at some time in the future (Zewdie and Pausewang, 2002). About 70% of
NGOs interviewees indicated the existence of pro-government NGOs who work against
independent civil society in Ethiopia. On top of this, inter NGOs collaboration and
information sharing is extremely limited among NGOs themselves, which has made them
Participation
Major decisions that concern the civil society themselves are passed at regional and federal
levels without the participation of civil society representatives (GTZ, 2001). A good case
in point is that officials in the ministry of justice responsible for drafting new laws that
govern NGOs operations have been unwilling to involve the NGOs sector in the
preparatory efforts (CRDA, 2006). The study of Norwegian Agency for Development
Cooperation (Norad) on capacity building program in Ethiopia (2005) complained that the
Ethiopian government is considerably more restrictive with respect to the space it allows
It is the state that sets the rules, regulations that govern civil society engagements and that
the rules are vague, ambitious, and subject to arbitrary interpretation by the regulating
organizations (Zewdie and Pausewang, 2002, CRDA, 1997). The deliberate provision of
LXXVI
regulation contrary to provision of their parent law restricted freedom of association,
violated essential provision of the constitutions and international human right agreements
It very important to take some time and discuss on the charity and society draft law, which
recently has become the concern and frustration of stakeholders including human-right
Drafting separate law for civil society organization is a good start. The proclamation may
have long-term merit by encouraging local fund raising practice in the country. However,
it is questionable whether the draft law has considered the reality of Ethiopian civil
society. Concerning the genesis of NGO/CSO, article 1, sub article 2(2) of the draft
proclamation states that charities and societies established by Ethiopians under Ethiopian
law are deemed to be foreign institutions solely for receiving more than 10% of their
annual income from external sources (Ministry of Justice, 2008:1). The draft
proclamation is debatable at least from two angles. World Bank, (2000) states that, civil
society is young, emerging and with extremely limited capacity in Ethiopia (World Bank,
2000). On the other side, unlike other countries, fund raising for charity works, with
exception for burial ceremony, is not a developed practice in Ethiopia (Rahamato, 2008).
Therefore, this research argues that the draft law has not considered the capacity limitation
of civil society and the viability of fund raising in Ethiopian where majority of civil society
LXXVII
groups, including NGOs mainly depend on external fund sources. The charity and society
draft law, article 2 sub-article 4(J-N) prohibit the engagement of international NGOs on
International NGOs are not allowed to involve on advocacy of policy and good
governance. It is the belief of this research that these articles is harmful to the
In Ethiopia the current operational environment is not only scary but also frustrating. More
than 87% of NGOs respondents (see annex 2) indicated that the environment for NGOs
operation is challenging. The worries and concern of human right groups and international
community justifies this reality following the draft of charity and society proclamation in
the country. One of such organization that expressed its worry and concern is Amnesty
international. Amnesty in its June 2008 report expressed it deep concern as ” Draft
Charities and societies proclamation, which clearly aims undermine and frustrate the work
(NGOs) such as Amnesty international from operating in the country. The proclamation is
defenders and civil society organizations, and would seem to be a ploy by the government
to conceal human rights violation and prevent public protest and criticism of its actions”
(AI, 2008:1). Amnesty international and other human right activists have frequently
LXXVIII
It is not clear as why the then guerrilla fighters, the present leaders became unfriendly to
their former supporters and sympathizer. It is only the leaders who can answer this
question with certainty, however; the speculation is that EPRDF (government) has
suspicions on some international NGOs based on the previous experience it had with
during the time of guerrilla fighting and cleaning ones own house is better than suffering
NGOs are expected to initiate, design and implement projects that can be scaled up by
governments and donors. They are also considered as innovators and models of good
practice. However, in addition to external challenges, NGOs also have major internal
Capacity limitation
resource and budget constraints are the prominent features of local NGOs. GTZ (2001)
stated that, local NGOs lack access to funds, physical assets and competent human capital.
LXXIX
Unlike in other countries, in Ethiopia the private sector is too weak and fragile as to
become internal funding sources for NGOs. The weakness is due to unfriendly policy
environment and government control of major economic sectors (Zewdie and Pausewang,
2002).
Dependence
The overwhelming majority of both international and local NGOs depend on external
funding sources to run their programs. Government and donors play major roles in
supporting NGOs programs, which usually has compromised the independence and
effectiveness of NGOs (Hellinger, 1987:137). The NGOs who based their funding source
on governments end up with negative bearing against the poor by failing to distance
themselves and compromising their impendence with the government (Weston, 1994).
Interview with Rahamato has indicated that NGOs operating in Ethiopia are mainly based
on external funding sources. Thus, the problem with article 1 sub article 2(2) will mainly
affect those NGOs that secure funds externally. If overwhelming majority of NGOs are
depending on foreign funding source, it is clear that indigenous NGOs should either
should depend their program only on 10% of funding support from external sources,
which is also impossible to run a program after cut off 90% budget due to article 2 sub
article 2(2).
“It does not matter it does not rain in Ethiopia, if it does in Canada” (No 11)
LXXX
The above idea is taken from government interviewee No 11. There was some
form of wheat and edible oil was coming from Canada for the famine victims every year.
Through time the then beneficiaries developed much expectation for the wheat and oil that
was coming from Canada. To indicate higher expectation of the community (farmers), a
frequently used in Ethiopia. What worth mentioning this quote here is?; that NGOs should
Democratic culture and values are very important if NGOs need to involve in the
human rights with out proper knowledge and skill lead to conflict and hostility instead of
bringing constructive democratic norms and values. Many of the NGOs, especially
indigenous ones have not internalised democratic cultures. Gebre-egzibiaher and Sisay,
(2002), GTZ (2001) stated that NGOs lack the culture of tolerance and constructive
debate and have no media to inform the general public about their activities. The NGOs
interviewees support the need for democratic knowledge and skill. Majority of NGOs
respondents (75%) said that NGOs have no matured democratic culture, such as tolerance
LXXXI
Accountability
whom NGOs are accountable. This is very challenging question to answer, however; it is
rational that this question needs to be answered by the NGOs themselves. One of the
government interviewees (No 11) indicated that it is doubtable if NGOs know that they
are accountable to the beneficiary community. They assume that they are accountable only
to their donors. This notion is problematic. My understanding is such that NGOs are
accountable to three bodies, to the community, to the government and to donors (No 11).
Phase-out and sustainability are two most important terms, which frequently are
mentioned in development programs. NGOs should be where they are to bring change
among the needy people. Change will be possible if only NGOs are able to sustain their
programs. Sustainability becomes possible when NGOs start their programs with good
phase-out strategy. There are evidences that indicate that NGOs programs have the
problems of phase-out and sustainability. Interview made with both governmental and
and vast majority of government (93%) stated that NGOs programs/projects have
LXXXII
Networking and communication is a common tern frequently used by NGOs sector in
Ethiopia, but rarely practiced. In Ethiopia NGOs are seen competing for resources than
working towards common interest and integrity. This has given opportunity to the
government to undermine the sector by using its carrot-and stick policy. GTZ (2001)
stated that, inter NGOs collaboration, public relation, and participation in public issues is
rather limited. There is lack of clear understanding of democratic culture and government
There were windows of opportunities that NGOs had not exploited in democratisation
process in the country that might be due to integrity and networking problems or
negligence or both. Zewdie and Pausewang, (2002) state that as soon as the present
government came to power in 1991, conditions were fertile for associational life and
image building which could bring civil society into visibility, however; opportunities were
Chapter 5.
LXXXIII
CONCLUSION
This study has investigated variety of issues related to NGOs roles and operation in
Ethiopia. Basic terms applied in the research such as, civil society, NGOs, democratisation
and livelihood are defined for better understanding and clarity in the Ethiopian context by
taking into account both global and regional situations. The status and place of NGOs
sector at global, regional and national levels are demonstrated in the research. The
situation in the country is explored. The roles and contribution of NGOs in livelihood
During a democratic transition, civil society is expected to play major roles by mobilizing
pressure groups for political change. Organized social groups such as students, women,
farmer organizations; NGOs, grassroots organizations, trade unions, and religious groups
are crucial elements for democratic changes. Civil society also play countervailing and
watchdog roles to check and balance the abuse of state power, prevention of the
participation and public scrutiny of states. In Ethiopia, eexcept for few human-right
advocacy groups (such as Ethiopian human rights council and Ethiopian professional
LXXXIV
women layers’ associations), the contribution of civil society in the process of democratic
change is not found significant. This was due to the repressive nature of governments that
highly restricted the participation of civil society in democratic processes. The relative
improvements observed in the political environment during the power shift in 1991 had
increased the numbers of civil society groups in the country, especially local NGOs,
however; the observed improvements could not continue at the pace it started and
expected. After few years of EPRDF on power, the relations between government and
civil society have been reported deteriorating until it got collapsed after the crisis of May
2005 election. In Ethiopia, civil society in general and NGOs in particular, have limitations
in human, financial and material capacity to play countervailing and watchdog roles in the
democratic process.
Ethiopia was hit with two devastating famine in almost in a decade. The first famine
occurred in 1973/74 and the second most devastating one in 1984/85. These famines
contributed for the influx of international NGOs and for the emergence of indigenous ones
in the country. The second famine relatively magnified the NGOs significance and widened
the roles of NGOs in Ethiopia. After the famine situation subsided in the country NGOs
started involving in rehabilitation and development works. The first groups that started
LXXXV
Chapter 5.2.1. Identified Contributions of NGOs
Due to the restrictive nature of the government that limited the space for NGOs, the roles
and contributions made by NGOs are limited in Ethiopia. However, after the occurrences
of the two devastating famines in the country, the roles and contributions of NGOs
Food Security: credible roles in saving the life of famine victims in food insecure
involvements in the area of food security are increasing through times because of
education of the society through constructing and made operational health centers
and schools.
of the rural people through constructing training centers and intensive trainings on
enabled millions of people to have access to health, education and market services.
LXXXVI
Democratization: contribution of NGOs in the democratic process is also
NGOs.
NGOs, being the strongest part of civil society in Ethiopia, contributed much to the
poverty reduction efforts in different ways. However, in their involvements NGOs faced
various external and internal challenges. The major external challenges are associated to
the government policies and laws enforced with regard to civil society. The major external
opposition parties that restrict roles of NGOs in the country. The NGOs roles in
policies of the ruling party rather than mobilizing the society to development.
The New Charity and Society Draft law: this law is expected to be enacted in
the near future and may ban international NGOs from involving on advocacy
LXXXVII
operate on any advocacy work. Local civil society groups will be considered if
their annual financial supports exceed 10% from outside sources. There are many
articles in the draft law that can scare NGOs operation in Ethiopia. The challenges
mention here and elsewhere hint that rigorous tasks are ahead of NGOs in the
government towards NGOs and unfriendly relations that is being observed between
accept the significance and contribution of NGOs for the country’s development.
The objective of charity and society law is not clear whether to maintain public
involvements in Ethiopia.
The major internal challenges that encountered NGOs and limited their contribution
LXXXVIII
Poor Networking and communication: lack of structured networking and
communications among NGOs limited the available resources as they compete for
The challenges faced in the program implementation process can be made learning
experience by NGOs. The challenges faced demonstrates that NGOs should work harder
towards creation of autonomous home-grown civil society group actors that stand for the
interest of wider citizens by playing countervailing and watchdog roles in spite of the
challenges they are currently facing. NGOs are required to represent the interest of the
marginalized groups within wider public arena, campaign on their behalf and seek to
influence public policy and play countervailing and watchdog roles at both national and
local scale.
In Ethiopia, NGOs are required to work towards image and constituency building up by
promoting the role and programme of their organizations. Image and constituency build
up of NGOs can only be possible when NGOs have programs that are sustainable and
result oriented. NGOs should be accountable for their organization, government and the
LXXXIX
There are some programs that need precaution of involvements of NGOs. It is well-known
fact that NGOs do play pivotal roles in the democratisation process in any country. The
effort will bring the intended outcomes if only if NGOs involve having the required
knowledge and skill about democratic culture and practices. It is curial that NGOs should
be knowledgeable about the rules, regulation and polices and programs of the country they
working for.
NGOs are operating under highly resource competitive environment. The global situation
requires that NGOs should exhibit democratic leadership in their operation, design their
programs giving greater focus for sustainability and effectiveness. NGOs are always
expected to be legitimate in their involvements and base their program on design programs
Opportunity
The two around discussions held between civil society representatives and the Prime
Minister of Ethiopia concerning the current draft law is an encouraging for NGOs future
opportunity in the country. Discussions between government and civic society are
mentality.
Threats
XC
Ever declining resources-funding and the charity and society draft law expected to be
enacted in the near future are main threats for NGOs to operate in the country.
XCI
REFERENCES
Abbrink, J (2006) Discomfiture of democracy? The 2005 election crisis in Ethiopia and its
Anheier, H., M Glasius and Kaldor (eds) (2004) Global civil society 2004/5, Sage London.
Asmamaw, E, (2004), Understanding Poverty: The Ethiopian Context, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
AusAID (2007) Good governance: Guiding principles for implementations, Accessed at htt//
www.ausaid.gov.au/publications/pdf/ggod_governace.pdf,3
support of agricultural and rural development with emphasis on natural resource management,
2004-2206, Federal Ministry for Foreign Affairs, Austrian Development Cooperation, Minoritenlat
Bahru Z, Pausewang, S et al. (eds) (2002). Ethiopia: the challenge of democracy from below.
Bebbinton, A., S. Hickey et al. (eds) (2007) Can NGOs make a difference? The challenge of
Bebbington, A. 1997: New states, new NGOs? Crises and transitions among rural
Befekadu Degefe and Berhanu Nega (eds), (2000) Annual Report on the Ethiopian
XCII
CRDA (2006) Assessment of the operating Environment for Civil Society in Ethiopia, Addis
Ababa, Ethiopia.
CRDA (1998) 25 years of services to the people of Ethiopia. Silver Jubilee Anniversary Issues
edited by Agedew Redie and I. Hinrichsen, pp. 84-111. Addis Ababa: GTZ and OSHP.
Future Prospects, Addis Ababa Ethiopia, (Pending for publication cited with
XCIII
Dessalegn Rahmato (2002) Civil Society Organizations in Ethiopia. In Ethiopia: The
Challenge of Democracy from Below, edited by Bahru Zewde and Siegefried Pausewang, pp.
103-119. Uppsala: Nordiska Afrikainstiutet and Addis Ababa: Forum for Social Studies.
De Waal, Alex, (1997) Famine Crimes: Politics and the Disaster Relief Industry in Africa.
Democracy 5, 4–18.
data sources).
Food Security Bureau (2004) Food Security program, Addis Ababa Ethiopia.
XCIV
Fowler, A. (2000) ‘Civil Society, NGOs and Social Development: Changing the Rules of the
Gebre Egziabher, S (2002) the role of civil society organization in democratisation process
in Ethiopia, international society for the third research (ISTR), University of Cape Town, Cape
GTZ (2002) Self-help Initiative in Ethiopia: Prospective and Challenges, Addis Ababa Ethiopia,
Gyimah-Boadi, E (ed)(2004) Democratic reform in Africa: The quality of progress, Lynne Reinner
Publishers, London UK
Harbeson, J Donald, R et al. (eds)(1994) civil society and the states in Africa, Lynne Reinner
Hellinger, D., (1987) NGOs and the Large Aid Donors, in World Development, vol. 15, pp.
135– 143.
http://indexmundi.com/ethiopia/demographics_profile.html
Institute of development studies (IDS), (2005) civil society, democratization and foreign
XCV
Institute of development studies (1997) Sustainable rural livelihoods: A framework for
Accessed on 25/08/08
International crisis group (2001) Myanmar: the role of civil society, Asia report no 27 Brussels
International food policy research institute (IFPRI), 2005) Policy analysis for sustainable land
management and food security in Ethiopia: A bio-economic model with market imperfections,
International Labour Organization (2001) civil society, NGOs, and decent work policies:
International reality investors network (IRIN), 2008) Ethiopia: emergency needs "set to
18/08/08 at 14:22)
agent in Africa under globalization “ , translated to Arabi by : nihad Gohar , Afro – Egyptian
Studies Programme , Selective translations for the African Journal of political science , no.4.
Kassahun Berhanu (2002) The Role of NGOs in Promoting Democratic Values: The
Ethiopian Experience: The Challenge of Democracy from Below, edited by Bahru Zewde and
Siegefried Pausewang, pp. 120-129. Uppsala: Nordiska Afrikainstiutet and Addis Ababa: Forum
XCVI
Kasfir, Nelson, (ed) (1998) Civil society and democracy in Africa: Critical perspectives, London:
Frank Cass.
Korten, D.C. (1990) getting to the 21st century: Voluntary action and the Global agenda,
Martin, N., and M, Taher, (2000) Disaster Mitigation in Bangladesh: Country case study of NGO
activities.
Milkias, P (2006) The role of civil society in promoting democracy and human rights in Ethiopia,
Mercer, C, (2002) NGOs, civil society and democratisation: a critical review of the literature,
XCVII
Ministry of Capacity Building (2004) Civil Society Capacity Building Program, Zero Draft for
MOFED (Ministry of finance and economic development) (2005) Ethiopia: building on progress:
A plan for accelerated and sustained development to end poverty 2005/2006-2009/10, Addis
Ababa, Ethiopia.
Ministry of Justice, (2008) Charity and Society Proclamation, No--2008, Addis Ababa,
Ethiopia.
Ababa, Ethiopia.
Murunga, G and Shadrack, N (eds) (2007) Kenya: The struggle for democracy, Zed Book Ltd
London, CODERIA.
Norwegian Agency for Development Cooperation (Norad) (2005) The study of the impact of the
work for FORUT in SriLanka and Save the Children Norway in Ethiopia: Building civil society.
Overseas development Institute (ODI) (2005) how can civil society organizations use evidences
http://www.odi.org.uk/Rapid/Publications/Documents/WP249.pdf .
XCVIII
Tandon, R. (1991) Foreign NGOs, uses and abuses: an African perspective; IFDA dossier
81:67-78.
USAID ((2007) Integrating population, health and environment in Ethiopia, Washington DC,
USA.
Van, J. V (1998a) Ethiopia country profile, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, accessed on 29/07/08 at
15:20 at:
crdaethiopia.org/Country%20Profile/ethiopia.htm
http://www.okstate.edu/ag/agedcm4h/academic/aged5980a/5980/qualrsch/QUALRSCH/.
World Bank, (2003b) Making Services Work for Poor People, World Development Report
XCIX
Annexes
Annex 1
Semi-Structured Questions
3.3 General
1.2 ----------------------------------------------
1.2 ----------------------------------------------
1.3 -----------------------------------------------
2. Please indicated at least three program areas that you consider have been more
effective for NGOs involvement?
2.1 ----------------------------------------------
2.2 -----------------------------------------------
2.3 ----------------------------------------------
3. Indicate at least three program areas that you consider have been less effective for
NGOs involvement?
3.1 ----------------------------------------------
C
3.2 -----------------------------------------------
3.3 ----------------------------------------------
4. What are the program areas that your organization collaborates with NGO
sector? -------
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
------------------------------------------------
5. How strong your collaborations have been with the sector?
(a) strong (b) weak
7. What does the working environment look like for NGO operation in Ethiopia?
12. If no, Why? And how can better relationships be (re) established?
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
----------------------------------------------------------------------
13. The election irregularity that occurred during May 20005 has worsened the
working relationships between government and NGOs. Do you agree? yes (b) no
14. NGO involvement in the area of advocacy will rather weaken and hamper government
NGOs-Relationships in the future. Do you agree?
(a) yes I agree (b) no I disagree
CI
15. NGOs have critical role in the democratisation process in Ethiopia. Do you agree (a)
yes I do agree (b) no I disagree?
17. The contributions of NGO sector in May 2005 election were significant. (a)yes (b) no
18. NGOs have critical roles in the democratisation process in Ethiopia. Do you agree on
19. Please list three areas of involvements that you encourage for NGOs to focus on in
their future involvements?
1. ---------------------------------------------
2. ---------------------------------------------
3. ---------------------------------------------
20. List three program area(s), which you consider may be ineffective for NGOs
involvement taking the present Ethiopian situation in account
1. ---------------------------------------------
2. ---------------------------------------------
3. ---------------------------------------------
21. NGOs have made contributed for positive changes in the lives of beneficiary
communities in Ethiopia. Do you agree? (a) yes (b) not at all
22. If you consider NGOs have contributed for positive changes, please specify at
least three major indicators that justify NGOs contribution?
1. -----------------------------------------------------
2. -----------------------------------------------------
3. ----------------------------------------------------
23. Please indicate three major weaknesses of NGOs that need improvement for better
collaboration and partnership:
1. ----------------------------------------------------
----------------------------------------------------
CII
2. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
----
3. ----------------------------------------------------
---------------------------------------------------
24. NGO programs have sustainability problems. (a) Yes (b) No
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
-----------
26. NGO programs have no phase-out strategy. Do you agree (a) Yes (b) No
27. If yes, what measures you recommend for better phase-out strategy?
CIII
Annex 2
Semi-Structured Questions for NGOs
2.1. General
6. Do you consider the NGOs those involve on advocacy and human rights issues are
equipped with the required knowledge and skill to challenge the government for
change? (a) yes (b) not at all
7. There are some who fiercely complain that advocacy is not the priority area that
NGOs are expected to involve relating to the present Ethiopian situation. Do you
agree? (a) yes (b) partially yes (c) not at all
8. There are many, who speculate that the election crisis of May 2005 have worsened
the ever-volatile government NGOs relationships. Do you agree?(a) yes (b) No
9. What implication does the election crisis of May 2005 have on NGO operation in
E t h i o p i a ?
CIV
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2.3 Relationships:
11. How could you perceive the relationships ten years back?
(a) it was positive (b) it was negative
10. How could you perceive the relationships five years back? It was
(a) positive (b) negative
12. What are the program areas that your organization collaborates with
Government sector? -----------------------------------------------------------------
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
13. How strong your collaboration is with the sector?
(b) strong (b) weak
14. What do you think about the reasons for having strong/weak or no collaboration?
------------------------------------------------------
------------------------------------------------------
------------------------------------------------------
15. What does the working environment look like for NGO operation in
Ethiopia?
CV
20. If no, Why? And how can better relationships be (re) established?
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
---------------------------------------------------------------------
21. There are some who say that the election irregularity that occurred in May
20005 has worsened the working relationships between government and NGOs.
Do you agree?
(b) yes (b) no
22. There are some Ethiopians who complain that NGO involvement
in advocacy will rather weaken and farther worsen
Government-NGOs relationships in the future. Do you agree?
(a) yes I agree (b) no I disagree
27. The contributions of NGO sector in May 2005 election were very
tremendous. (a) yes (b) no
CVI
28. Many academia, professional and donor agencies are very keen to see vibrant civil
society in Ethiopia, with special emphasis to NGO sector with the belief that they will play
pivotal role in the democratisation process in the country. Do you agree on this?
29. Please list three program areas that you encourage for NGOs to focus on in their
future operation?
1. ---------------------------------------------
2. ----------------------------------------------3.
----------------------------------------------
30. List three program area(s), which you consider ineffective for NGOs
involvement taking the present Ethiopia’s situation in account
1. ---------------------------------------------
2. ---------------------------------------------
3. ---------------------------------------------
31. There is some understanding that NGOs have made some contributed for
positive changes in the lives of beneficiary communities in Ethiopia. Do you agree?
(a) yes (b) not at all
32. If you consider NGOs have contributed for positive changes among the
beneficiary community, please specify at least five major aspects/indicators that
justify NGOs contribution for the change in lives of the beneficiary.
(Establishments, such as hospitals, schools when and where).
1. ----------------------------------------------
2. --------------------------------------------
3. ---------------------------------------------
4. ---------------------------------------------
5. --------------------------------------------
33. Please indicate major policy bottlenecks that need improvement for better
collaboration and partnership:
1. ---------------------------------------------
2. ---------------------------------------------
3. --------------------------------------------
4. -------------------------------------------
5. --------------------------------------------
CVII
34. Indicate three major steps that you consider should be taken by the government
to make NGOs performance effective and efficient
1. --------------------------------------------
--------------------------------------------
2. --------------------------------------------
------------------------------------------
3. ------------------------------------------
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
------------
38. If yes, what measures you recommend for better phase-out strategy?
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
-----------------------------------------------------------------
CVIII
Annex 1
Summary of responses for Semi-structured interview (Government staff)
involvements?
phase-out strategy?
CX
Annex 2
Summary of responses for Semi-structured interview (NGOs Staff)
CXI
strong/weak or no collaboration?
17 What does the working environment look like for 0 12 0 100
NGO operation in Ethiopia?
18 Why conducive/less conducive or not conducive
19 What do you feel about Government-NGOs working 1 11 8 92
relationships
20 Why do you think, it is strong/weak?
21 Are you satisfied with the present working 0 12 0 100
relationships you have with the sector?
22 If no, why? and how can better relationships be (re)
established?
23 NGOs involvement on Advocacy will further weaken 3 9 25 75
and worsen Government-NGOs relationships in the
future. Do you agree?
24 NGOs have critical role in the democratisation 12 0 100 0
process in Ethiopia. Do you agree?
25 Please indicate at least three program areas that you
consider have been more effective for NGOs
involvement?
26 Which three program areas do you consider NGOs
have been less effective? Please list them in their order
of importance.
27 Many government officials consider that NGOs 10 2 83 17
programs are not sustainable. Do you agree to this?
28 The contributions of NGO sector in May 2005 5 7 41 59
election were very tremendous.
29 The NGOs will play pivotal role in the 12 0 100 0
democratisation process in the country. Do you agree
on this?
30 Please list three program areas that you encourage for
NGOs to focus on in their future operation?
31 NGOs have made contributed for positive changes in 12 0 100 0
the lives of beneficiary communities in Ethiopia. Do
you agree?
32 Please indicate major policy bottlenecks that need
improvement for better collaboration and partnership:
33 Indicate three major steps that you consider should be
taken by the government to make NGOs
performance effective and efficient
34 NGO programs have sustainability problems 10 2 83 17
35 If yes, what remedial measures are required
36 NGO programs have no phase-out strategy 8 4 67 33
37 If yes, what measures you recommend for better
CXII
phase-out strategy
CXIII