WUNRN
AWID - Association for Women's
Rights in Development
ETHIOPIA - WOMEN'S RIGHTS & NGO'S MAY BE ADVERSELY
AFFECTED BY LAW
In February 2009, the government of Ethiopia enacted a piece of legislation that will greatly curtail the work of NGOs in Ethiopia.
By Kathambi Kinoti - AWID
Non-governmental organisations (NGOs) in Ethiopia perform an important social, economic and political role. But a law passed by the country’s parliament in February 2009 is certain to stop much of the vital work that many of them do. Since the 1990s there has been a proliferation of NGOs in Ethiopia. They perform multiple roles delivering treatment and medicine to poor people, and humanitarian supplies to the hungry in this country which is often affected by drought. NGOs are critical deliverers of civic education to people in all regions of the country. They train government workers on human rights, gender equality and other aspects of good governance.
Women’s organisations in Ethiopia have made great awareness raising and advocacy contributions to policy, legislation and governance. A prominent association of women lawyers supports test cases that challenge discrimination. NGO support has built the capacity of government agencies to promote gender responsive programmes and policies. NGOs have contributed to building the political consciousness of communities. They help keep the government accountable.
A report on the impact of civil society organisations in Ethiopia affirms that NGOs are crucial to the country’s economic, democratic and social development. It says that the resources mobilized by the organisations are immense and have benefitted the country tremendously economically. Between 2004 and 2008 the annual amount of money that NGOs brought into Ethiopia exceeded earnings for the exportation of coffee which is the country’s major cash crop.
The new legislation classifies civil society organisations into Ethiopian, Ethiopian resident and foreign. Ethiopian organisations are those that get no more than ten per cent of their funding from outside the country – whether from the diaspora or from other donors outside the Ethiopia. Ethiopian resident organisations have Ethiopian members resident in the country and get more than ten per cent of their funding from outside the country. The majority of NGOs fall into this category. Foreign organisations are registered in other countries, are controlled from foreign countries, have foreign members or raise funds from foreign sources. Most international NGOs (INGOs) would fall into this classification.
An organisation’s classification under the law affects what kinds of activities it can engage in. This is one reason why the law is problematic. Only Ethiopian organisations can engage in work that has to do with promoting equality – including gender equality-, education, human rights, democracy, health, disaster management and conflict resolution among other things. An estimated ninety five per cent of NGOs derive their income from outside Ethiopia. The country is poor and many people cannot afford their basic needs so they cannot be expected to have the money to spare to contribute to charitable organisations. Moreover, there is no culture of social giving for charitable purposes. The situation is not different from other African countries. Capacities and opportunities to raise money are far greater outside Ethiopia than inside it.
International NGOs like Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International which research on the human rights situation in countries around the world will be blocked under the current law from investigating and researching into human rights violations within the country.
Another reason why the law is problematic is that it creates an oversight agency that has powers to seriously curtail the freedoms of association and expression. The government picks all the members of the board of the Charities and Societies Agency, including the mandatory civil society representatives. The agency must be informed of upcoming meetings of every NGO and has the right to have an agency officer attend the meetings. Since the agency has the power to deregister organisations, this endangers free expression.
Ethiopia has had a long history of government repression. Since the 1990s the space for expression of ideas and experiences has grown, but indications are that there is now a backtracking of commitments to freedoms of expression and association. The new legislation that curbs the activities of INGOs and NGOs is evidence of this trend.
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