CSO s in Sustainable Development in Ethiopia: Past Practices and New Trajectories

Abstract

We researched how CSO s working in the area of sustainable development responded to regulatory restrictions on advocacy work using Ethiopia as a case study. We found that the restrictive laws had a severe impact: many CSO s had to shut down or limit their operational capacity to service delivery only. Those that survived continued to do advocacy work, disguised as service delivery. This shows that northern stakeholders should not adhere to a strict division between advocacy and service delivery in their funding policy. They also should focus on long-term CSO engagement and long-term CSO funding. In 2019, regulatory reform reopened political space to some extent. The new law envisions a greater role for self-regulation in the civil society sector while still maintaining some degree of State oversight through registration, reporting and funding allocation requirements. Despite these improvements, the sector is still in need of international support and consistent and reliable funding.

Collaboration, Co-Optation or Navigation? The Role of Civil Society in Disaster Governance in India

“…While some of these studies discuss the strategies and justifications used by states to restrict civil society, others have focused on the effects of restrictions, charting how these delimit and reshape the nature of civil society and its operations. Common effects are the stopping of operations, shifting from advocacy to service delivery (Broeckhoven et al, 2020), shifting topic (Van der Borgh & Terwindt, 2014) and depoliticization of the advocacy (Tadesse & Steen, 2019). A final, smaller topic of attention is the way CSOs may seek to respond strategically to navigate restrictions to protect their operational space.…”