Ethiopia has legislated a new NGO law that prohibits operations aimed for the support of human rights, crisis management, and the rights of children and handicapped people. The new NGO law applies to all international NGO’s working in Ethiopia. Furthermore local NGO’s who receive more than 10% of their funding from a foreign source are now considered international NGO’s.

The law was set on January 6th 2009 but has not yet been put into force. There is much uncertainty still among NGO’s operating in Ethiopia about which organizations are in question and which operation are to bestopped. One of the reasons behind this new law could be the fear of politically influenced education in foreign funded local schools in Ethiopia.

There is much concern about the effects of this law among operators in Ethiopia, as coming to full force it would dramatically hinder human sustainable development in Ethiopia.

The process is ongoing and can be observed more deep at:
East Africa Forum
Human Rights Watch
Amnesty International
Christian Relief & Development Association
PovertyAction Network of civil society organizations in Ethiopia

By: Annukka van der Borch MKFC