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Ethiopia

DanChurchAid goes to Parliament

Addis Ababa, Ethiopia , 23/03/2007: On Thursday, March 15, DanChurchAid and 20 of its local partners paid a notable visit to the Ethiopian Parliament. The group saw the parliament in session in the morning and in the afternoon the group met with chairpersons of three Standing Committees. This is the first time in a long while that the civil society and members of Parliament engage in a dialogue and the meeting was mentioned in the evening news on the national television channel, ETV.

After the elections in May 2005 it has been very difficult, if not impossible for the civil society to communicate and work with the government in Ethiopia. The civil society was categorized as pro-opposition and measures were taking against many individuals working with civil society organizations (CSOs).

Attempts of negotiations stopped

Attempts by the civil society’s umbrella organization, CRDA , to negotiate on behalf of both the national and international non governmental organizations (NGOs) were stopped.

The government’s hostility towards the NGOs was based on the contribution of the NGOs in creating public awareness in the election and their involvement in election monitoring followed by claims from various sides on election results with vivid unprecedented gains by the opposition against the ruling party.

Advocacy as a tool to influence decision makers

Despite the challenges of working with rights issues, community mobilization and securing a better political space, DCA Ethiopia has engaged in building the capacity of local partners in using advocacy as a tool to influence decision makers on issues such as the rights of poor and marginalized people in Ethiopia. As part of this initiative, DCA in cooperation with Pact Cambodia is organizing four modules of advocacy training for local CSOs. The second module of this training was this time on building relationships with the government and DCA therefore approached the Parliament to get permission to visit the Parliament as part of the training.

A visit to the Parliament

DCA succeeded and despite the long lack of a constructive dialogue between the government and the civil society, DCA was allowed to pay a visit to the Parliament on Thursday with some of its local Ethiopian partners. The group met with chairmen and members of three relevant standing committees, the Committee for Women’s Affairs, The Legislative and Administrative Committee and the Budget and Finance Committee.

In the two hour long meeting the two parties engaged in discussions on the legislative process, the role and status of civil society in the law making process, how the MP’s monitor and evaluate the executives, and how they meet the problems of the people who delegated them to the Parliament. The four MPs stressed the importance of collaborative working between the Parliament and civil society and was very positive of strengthening the relationship with CSOs in the future.

From promise to action

It seems that the way is now paved towards a better relationship between the civil society and the Ethiopian government and members of Parliament. Only the next couple of months will show whether it is possible to actually turn the promising words into action.

By Kamilla Ekholdt Christensen, Junior Programme Officer (JPO) in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, kec.ethiopia@dca.dk