Ethiopia Aid effectiveness in the health sector - Action for Global ...

Ethiopia – Aid Effectiveness in the health sector
organisation and its constituency or beneficiaries is not always clear. These
problems do not help build trust among DPs, the Government, and the
Ethiopian people. This increases scepticism about the role of CSOs.
Finally, political factors also hinder the creation of an enabling environment for
CSOs. The Plan for Accelerated and Sustained Development to End Poverty
(PASDEP) in Ethiopia recognises that: “the role of civil society is critical, and a
comprehensive programme of reforms is planned under PASDEP with respect to
the role of membership-based CSOs.” In general terms, the Government
welcomes CSOs and NGOs working in line with government policies and
socially sensitive issues such as childcare and HIV/AIDS.
However, it adopts a completely different position when it comes to human
rights and democratisation issues. At the end of July 2009, for instance, the
Government suspended 42 NGOs for “acting out of their mandate”. It accused
them of “reporting on human rights abuses [as] seeking to interrupt peace and
development of the region.” 43 Recent regulations passed by the Government
have also limited freedom of the press and the work of CSOs conducting rights-
based advocacy. 44
There are almost no domestic sources of funding available to CSOs and DPs
remain the main recourse. Major funders include the Swedish CSO Cooperation
Programme, the EC Civil Society Forum, PEFPAR, the Productive Safety Net
Programme (PSNP) and the Global Fund. Nonetheless, among Ethiopian CSOs
there are those who argue that donors are “placing more emphasis on
government programmes rather than on CSOs. In some cases, like in the case
of USAID, they prefer to work with or through American-based INGOs.” 45
Addressing the social problems faced by CSOs can take some time but
coordination and organisational factors could be improved in a much shorter
time. DPs could actively help in this regard by boosting support and capacity-
building activities among CSOs. Nonetheless, these measures require a
favourable political environment in order to deliver real progress. Unfortunately,
current conditions are not heartening. Among other things, the new law means
that organisations working on human rights, for instance, could see their sources
of funding severed.
CSOs regulation
Until very recently, CSOs, NGOs and other Non-State Actors (NSAs) were
regulated by the 1960 Civil Code. This regulation dates from the time of Imperial
Ethiopia and the rule of Haile Selassie. The nature and role of NSAs and CSOs
has been completely transformed in the last few decades and the old code is
clearly inadequate to regulate this area. As a consequence, there existed
many gaps when decisions were adopted.
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