A Review of FDRE Civil Societies

Proclamation No.621/2009

By: Markos Mulat

This power point present

1. History of CSO in Ethiopia2. Rationales for Development

of Civil Society Law 3. The Process of the Law

Development4. Objectives and Goals of CSP5. Components of the

Proclamation

Presentation objectives

6. Implementation Strategies for CSP

7. Achievements & Challenges 8. Gaps 9. Conclusions

Civil Society is the sphere of institutions, organizations, and individuals located among the family, the state and the market in which people associate voluntarily to advance common interests.

It includes but is not limited to legal entities such as the various forms of NGOs such as associations, societies, companies limited by guarantee, foundations, trusts, etc. as well as trade unions, cooperatives, and churches

In Ethiopia, civil societies have been major contributors to social, economic and political development.

Their contribution is evident in the social development sector such as education, health, water and sanitation, environmental management, infrastructure development and other important areas that impact the quality of life of the peoples.

In1960’s, there were a small number of professional associations registered with the Ministry of Interior, which were mainly concerned with the basic interests of their members and they did not play any significant role in the development of other public issues.

A law that meant to recognize and codify these groups was passed in 1960.

During the 1973-74 and 1984-1985 famines, various groups engaged in humanitarian services and relief operations prevented greater loss of life neither the emperor’s government nor the Derg was well prepared to respond to the tremors spreading across the country.

They have made vital contribution to emergency management efforts in different parts of the country and supplement the work of Government.

In the course of the crises, however, NGOs were driven into highly prominent roles and harshly resented by Dergauthorities as they visibly provided hundreds of thousands of people with the means of survival.

The Mengistu’s Government struggled to keep these groups under tight control because the regime thought NGOs reflect the western values and economic abundance.

After the overthrown of Derg regime in 1991, a relatively enabling atmosphere and significant contributions by CSOs to various programs that the country was desperately embarked on gave boost to the birth of hundreds of NOGs and CSOs.

They are increasingly being recognized by government as Powerful forces for social and economic development; Important partners in nation building and national

development; Valuable forces in promoting the qualitative and

quantitative development of democracy

As the result, their numbers have accelerated rapidly in the past 20 years from 24 Ethiopian NGOs officially registered in 1990 to 1,742 in 2007 and the number of active, Ethiopia-based NGOs grew exponentially, from 70 in 1994 to 368 in 2000, and to 2275 in 2009

As their number increased dramatically and in the absence of established set of supportive and up-to-date regulations, CSOs may be defenseless against arbitrary intrusions, political terrorists or other antagonists.

So, legal system, under which they operate, is heavily necessary for the development and effectiveness of the sector.

Therefore, the Government promulgated a Charities and Societies Proclamation No.621/2009 on February, 2009 to regulate and enhance the transparency and accountability of all domestic and international civil society organizations carrying out activities in the country

However, the proclamation has been met with strong opposition from some Ethiopian civil society actors and some international CSOs/NGOs on the ground that it would create a complex web of arbitrary restriction on the works of civil society groups, tedious bureaucratic hurdles, criminal penalties, and intrusive power of surveillance.

National policies are central to the development process of any nation or group of people.

Policies impact our life either directly or indirectly depending on who we are and where we are and they are powerful instruments for shaping the future of nations in ways that advance or retard social, economical and political progress.

In 2009, the Government adopted the Proclamation No. 621/2009 to provide for the Registration and Regulation of Charities and Societies, Ethiopia’s first comprehensive law governing the registration and regulation of NGOs.

Some of the main rationales for development of the law were The legislation of the Civil Code of 1960 and the

Associations Registration and Regulation of 1967s wereOutdated and unresponsive to the current

realities of the sector Failed to take into account the diversity of the

profiles among CSOs and reflect their level of development, and

Several problems have been come across in the registration, control and administration of CSOs/NGOs.

The reform to reengineer the service the government provides to its citizens including administration of CSO

Weak oversight over NGOs/CSOs activities carried out under ministries and other directives jumbled different programs by charities and societies in disordered file rooms structures which allowed NGOs and CSOs to work with their portfolios totally outside of a mandated federal oversight.

The necessity to legislate a law that enables to identify illegal activities within the civil society organizations and penalize the offenders.

However, some NGO and CSO agents said that the government enacted the law intentionally to weaken the CSOs as it learned a lot from the 2005 national election when CSOs were engaged in human rights, political advocacy and democracy issues.

They said the law was the result of deep suspicion and distrust between the government and CSOs and the aim of promulgation is to use the law as a defensive attack strategy to intimidate CSOs.

NGO/CSO community said that the law seems to be skewed towards control and sanctions rather than creating an enabling legal environment for Ethiopian CSOs.

The process of Law Development

A series of sessions and discussions with a wide range of stakeholders, various interest groups including CSOs and NGO umbrella bodies, CSO task force, the Private Sector and Donor representatives was held.

Discussion with Stakeholders on drafted Law

Despite differences in certain provisions both EPRDF and opposition MPs shared the fundamental need for the law. Finally, it was decided by EPRDF MPs that a legal framework should be established to administer NGOs so that the country can benefit, hence MP voted for the proclamation and the Law come into action later.

Law Approval

The Public Hearing Session of the House of Peoples’ Representatives on the CS Proclamation involved the participations of MPs, executives from MOJ, Legal Directorate of the Ministry of Foreign Affair (MOFA) and the Cabinet Affairs Minister in the PMO, COSs operating in Ethiopia,

donors, individual citizens as well as reporters from national and international media.

Parliamentary Session

Drafting the Law

The process of developing the law was initiated and coordinated

by the Minister of Justice (MoJ)

The approved Law is greeted with mixed feelings, incomprehension and indifference by the population and various actors in the process.

Documents, interviews and websites explored verify that except EPRDF, international organizations like Human Rights Watch, US government as well as CSOs in Ethiopia especially local NGO criticized the legislation as potential damage to Civil Society.

The process of law development

The process of law development

In addition, some stakeholder and CSOs complained that they had open face to face discussion only for a few days during the law making process and the communications were made only through writing.

Moreover, they criticized the law as it concentrates more on administrative and legal frameworks and the consultations, dialogues and debates that could have made during the development of the law was not adequate and fair.

The Objectives and Goals of Civil Society’s Proclamation

The Charities and Societies Proclamation No.621/2009 issued by federal government of Ethiopia in February, 2009 have the following objectives and goals

1. To regulate all domestic and international civil society organizations carrying out activities in the country and put in place a standardize procedures for charities and societies registration which are transparent and responsible that will smooth better coordination of NGOs while safeguarding the freedom of association.

2. To enable and encourage Charities and Societies to develop and achieve their purposes in accordance with the law;

3. To aid and facilitate the role of charities and societies in the overall development of Ethiopian people and make them a development partners of the government;

4. To provide a broad framework for legal and institutional arrangements that facilitate the operations of NGOs and to identify illegal activities within the civil society organizations and penalize the offenders.

Charities and Societies legal designations

Ethiopian Charities or Societies –Charities or Societies formed under the

laws of Ethiopia, whose members are all Ethiopians, generate income

from Ethiopia and are wholly controlled by Ethiopians. These

organizations may not receive more than 10% of their resources from

foreign sources (Article 55 of CSP).

Ethiopian Resident Charities or Societies – Ethiopian Charities or

Societies that receive more than 10% of their resources from foreign

sources (Article 2 of CSP).

Foreign Charities - Charities formed under the laws of foreign countries,

or whose membership includes foreigners, or foreigners control the

organization, or the organization receives funds from foreign sources

(Article 2 of CSP).

The Form of Civil Society…cont’d

Extent of overcoming the

Challenges come across

in the Implementation of

the Proclamation

Extent of Gov’t and CSO

commitment for effective

law implementation

CSP

Supervisory Organs

Ministry of Justice

Charities and Societies Agency

Charity and Society Board

Administrators

Framework for Supervisory Organs

Transparent and accountable registration and

regulations of Charities and Societies

Effective partnership b/n Gov’t & CSO for Dev’t

Efficient and better CSO administration

Legal framework that facilitate operation of CSO

The Agency have the following powers and functions

a. To license, register, and supervise Charities and Societies in

accordance with the Proclamation;

b. To encourage Charities and Societies to have better

administration;

c. Publish and distribute information about the registration of

Charities and Societies in the Gazette;

d. Organize consultative forum for governmental organs and

Charities and Societies;

e. Take decisions, in cooperation with the concerned Sector

Administrator, on the application of Charities and Societies for

registration and license

f. To collect fees for the services it renders in accordance with the

rate to be approved by the Government;

g. To own property, enter into contract, sue and be sued in its own

name; and other necessary function

The success of the law require active commitment and involvement of all the actors identified including the State and Non-State actors.

It is vital for all actors to familiarize themselves with the law to internalize the goal, objectives & strategies of the act and thus, they contribute effectively to its success for the benefit of the people.

So, to implement the law effectively, a number of directives have been designed and carried out to insure the timely realization of the proclamation goals. some of it are-

Audit Report and Activity Report Directives

Income Generating Activities Directive

Local Fund Raising Directive

Charitable Committee Directive

Consortium Guidelines Directive

Implementation Strategies

ACHIEVEMENTS AND CHALLENGESAchievements

3029 charities and societies have successfully been re-registered till May 21st, 2015. Local NGOs accounted for 75% (2091) of the total, while International NGOs were 354. There were also 337 professional associations.

The size of indigenous NGOs represented significant numerical strength compared to where it was five years back. (70 in December 31st 2009 and 110 in May 21st 2015)

The Agency has cancelled the license of 303 CSOs out of this 191 were Ethiopian Resident Charity, 24 Foreign Charity and 6 were NGO engaged in children adoption ( ??? X !!!).

Achievements…cont’d

The law facilitated the activities and roles of federal sector ministries and offices in coordinating the operation of charities and societies in their respective mandate areas and helped them to develop constructive relationship with CSOs.

The recognition of the establishment of consortium of charities or societies in the proclamation has been one of the gaps in the previous legal framework, impacting the development and effectiveness of CSOs/NGOs in the positive direction.

The recognition by the law of the right of CSOs to engage in income generating activities and the tax exemption greatly helped the CSOs to sustain themselves financially.

Lack of Financial

sustainability and

accountability

Limited scope of

CSOs engagement

Resistance from local CSO

because of they prefer the

former methods,

Resources Barriers

Inadequate awareness,

knowledge and training for

implementing the law

Challenges

Compulsory registration requirements

and harsh punishments

Gaps

Revision of the law

As the law seems to be skewed towards control and sanctions rather than creating an enabling legal environment for NGO/CSOs, It require careful revision and amendment and

The revision should take in to account the efforts made to achieve the goals of the law by overcoming the come across problems in the process of development and its implementation.

Technical capacity development

The capacity of implementing agency in executing, monitoring and evaluation should be enhanced through training.

Provision of resource

Since any law or policy require resource for implementation, it is necessary to provide adequate financial, human, and material inputs

Performance measurements

The agency should have in built M&E mechanism for measuring performance to ward achieving the stated goals and objectives

Any law or policy take some time and resource to provide output and services efficiently and effectively and requires autonomy, capacity and means based on a realistic assessment of needs and subject to strict regulation by authorities and demand direct engagements of the publics and citizens in the process.

In addition, excellence of the practice of law has a vital impact on the performance of the administration to achieve the mission and visions.

Since its implementation, the law has been assisted the government agency in improving the quality, access and equitable delivery of services quantitatively and qualitatively.

However, challenges such as insufficient financial support, Inadequate awareness, knowledge and training for implementing the law, excessive reporting requirements and red tape, harsh punishments, and Limited scope of CSOs engagement demoralized the achievement of the full potentials of the law.

In addition, the law create a complex web of arbitrary restriction, tedious bureaucratic hurdles, criminal penalties, and intrusive power of surveillance on the works of civil society.

Finally, it is concluded that the law is a tremendous tool for improving the administration function but there is still some bones to pick up and the actions that the proclamation has not engrossed, should need to work on it.