Ethiopia: AFD and Ministry of Finance to Support the Authority for the Civil Society Organizations

the Ministry of Finance, represented by H.E Ms Semereta Sewasew, State Minister in charge of Economic Cooperation, signed a grant agreement of 54 million Birr (1 million Euro) with Agence Française de Développement (AFD), represented by Ms Valerie Tehio, Country director.

The signing was attended by the Ambassador of France in Ethiopia and for the African Union, Remi Marechaux. The grant will support the Authority for the Civil Society Organizations (ACSO) to strengthen its institutional capacity by digitizing ACSO, training staff and strengthening ACSO's internal procedures. The grant aims to contribute to an enabling environment for the development of civil society.

The new civil society organizations proclamation N° 1113/2019 has been a major change to create an enabling environment for civil society to flourish and participate actively in Ethiopia's political and democratic reform process. The ACSO is established to implement this proclamation through registering, monitoring and supporting civil society organizations, as enabled CSOs are expected to contribute to inclusive growth, development and democracy building in Ethiopia. ACSO's transformation and capacity would help achieving its objective effectively, in better supporting the 2,971 registered local and foreign civil society organizations, and ensuring transparency, accountability to ensure civic participation. Besides, the AFD is directly supporting 15 CSOs organized in 3 consortium through a 3 million Euro grant.

France is committed to strengthening citizens' participation, civil society's contribution, pluralism and rule of law to achieve a peaceful and inclusive development of Ethiopia.

Active in Ethiopia since 1993, AFD has been operating in Ethiopia with sovereign and non-sovereign loans, grants and bank guarantees to finance projects run by the State and local authorities, public or private companies, and civil society organizations. Its on-going commitment amounts to more than 450 million euros

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