A 15 member delegation of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) Parliamentary Assembly met and held talks with representatives of the Ethiopian Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) here at the Secretariat on 28th October, 2010.

Speaking on the occasion, Lord John Sewel, head of the delegation said the major purpose of the delegation’s visit to Ethiopia is to get first hand information on the country’s endeavors towards alleviating poverty and ensuring food security.

To this end, Lord Sewel said, the delegation made a visit to various development projects in different parts of Ethiopia and held discussions with government officials as well as representatives of the donor community and funding financial institutions here in the country.

The delegation was interested to learn the role of the civil society in the nation’s development efforts and gather information on the challenges and opportunities in the NGOs operating space, he noted.

Accordingly, Dr. Meshesha Shewarega, Executive Director of CCRDA, made briefings on the occasion on the commitment of CCRDA and its 334 member organizations towards national development endeavor. He also explained the major challenges affecting the civil society sector of Ethiopia.

Dr. Meshesha said dwindling resources from donor partners especially after the global financial crisis has been severely affecting the operations of CSOs/NGOs here in Ethiopia.

The survival of some NGOs is at risk due to the financial meltdown, he said, adding that the civil society at large needs an urgent support and assistance to overcome this deficit.

Capacity limitation of CSOs/NGOs is another critical problem facing the civil society sector, as most of them are new born established after the change of government in Ethiopia in 1991.

Up to 1990 there were about 70 NGOs in Ethiopia, he said, adding that due to a conducive environment created in the country following the introduction of free market economy the number of NGOs stands at over 5,000 now.

The fact that most of the CSOs/NGOs in the country are newly established has created some capacity and experience gaps, according to Dr. Meshesha. CCRDA has been doing its level best to address these gaps through its capacity building interventions.

He said the donor community particularly the World Bank should continue building the capacity of the Ethiopian civil society organizations in order to enable them extend meaningful contributions in the nation building process.

Despite the aforementioned challenges, he noted, the civil society sector has continued to work towards the attainment of economic development and social progress in the country in tune with the various development policy frameworks designed by the government.

Exchange of views was made on the interaction of CSOs/NGOs with the government and donor organizations as well as on the development policies of the Ethiopian government such as the PASDEP and the newly designed Growth and Transformation Plan (GTP).

The opportunities and challenges of the newly formulated Charities and Societies Proclamation were also high on the agenda during the discussion session.

CCRDA management as well as several members of the Consortium have attended the discussion program.

Back to Home.