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EU releases 10 mln euros to Ethiopian civil society

Feb 25, 2006 (ADDIS ABABA) — A new European Commission (EC)-Civil Society Fund was launched in Addis last month. The ten-million-euro civil society fund is a five-year programme of the EC set up with the government of Ethiopia, the Ethiopian The Reporter said.

The fund is financed by the EU through the European Development Fund (EDF) and will be implemented in two phases, roughly 2006-2008 (phase one) and 2008-2000 (phase two), it was learnt.

The civil society programme is developed within the framework of and as a complement to the objectives of the Cotonou Agreement. The civil society programme was established with the realization that the underdevelopment of non-state actors, particularly civil society organizations and lack of capacity of existing organizations are major barriers to sustainable development and democratization in Ethiopia.

It is to be recalled that an analysis of political institutions in Ethiopia indicates the weaknesses of popular participation in state-society interactions. The overwhelming majority of the people have no role in governance and are unfamiliar with their rights and obligations as citizens. There are only a few independent by functioning non-state actors with the necessary skills and means to interact and interface with the state authorities.

The EU disclosed that the overall aim of the civil society programme is to promote a stable and democratic political environment through the integration of all sections of society into the mainstream of political, economic and social life.

The purpose of the programme is to increase and improve non-state dialogue with their constituencies, with the government, other stakeholders and amongst themselves, and also to increase their capacity to actively participate in the national development process.

(The Reporter/ST)

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