Issue

Vol. 21 No. 1 (2017): African Sociological Review

3 - Reality Checks: The state of civil society organizations in Ethiopia

https://doi.org/10.57054/asr.v21i1.3854
Yntiso Gebre

Corresponding Author(s) : Yntiso Gebre

gebred@gmail.com

African Sociological Review, Vol. 21 No. 1 (2017): African Sociological Review

Abstract

The general literature on the state of civil society organisations (CSOs) in Ethiopia gives the
impression that CSOs have been rendered dysfunctional by the restrictive law passed in 2009.
While considerable attention has been given to the devastating effects of the CSO law on human
rights groups, the successful stories of the overwhelming majority of organisations engaged in
development and service delivery have been overlooked. The law does limit the space for CSOs
working on human rights and governance and it is legitimate and ethical to challenge the
restrictive provisions on constitutional, legal, moral and/or practical grounds. However, it is
equally important to recognize the continued operations of numerous CSOs, their contributions
to national development priorities, their innovativeness in dealing with sensitive rights issues,
the role of donors in supporting CSOs and the responses of the government to the request for a
more enabling environment. This paper contains contextualized arguments based on empirical
data as reality check on the current state of CSOs in Ethiopia

Keywords

civil society organizations regulatory frameworks service delivery and development human rights and advocacy Ethiopia
Yntiso Gebre. (2017). 3 - Reality Checks: The state of civil society organizations in Ethiopia. African Sociological Review, 21(1), 20–42. https://doi.org/10.57054/asr.v21i1.3854
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Author Biography

Yntiso Gebre

Department of Social Anthropology Addis Ababa University

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