European Union supports strengthening Civil Society in Ethiopia

European Union supports strengthening Civil Society in Ethiopia The 17 new grant projects of the second phase of the EU-Ethiopia Civil Society Fund (CSF) were launched on 24 August 2016. The lauch event took place in the presence of the Ministry of Finance and Economic Cooperation and the EU Delegation to Ethiopia. A total of 44 organisations, including Ethiopian CSOs, higher learning institutions and chambers of commerce, will be supported with a total EU grant of 3.755 million EUR. The grants will support work on natural resource management, key governance areas and sector-wide civil society capacity building. The Civil Society Fund, one of the flagship programmes of the Ethiopia-European Union cooperation, is celebrating its 10th year of existence in 2016. The programme officially commenced its operation in January 2006 and has contributed so far for a total of 14.9 million EUR to over 250 Civil society organisations and non-state actors. The CSF has supported rights based and governance focused CSOs, emergence and reinforcement of regional and specialised networks, setting-up of innovative approaches in order to address development challenges and enhanced interactions between the Government and CSOs. The CSF is supporting Ethiopian Charities and Societies and Ethiopian Resident organisations at regional and national level. It is mainly providing grant funding but also a number of capacity building initiatives and studies. As a testimony to the EU's engagement to civil society in Ethiopia, a new Civil Society Programme with 16 million EUR is currently being prepared. The European Union stays committed towards the civil society in Ethiopia and recognises the role the civil society sector plays as key partner in the development of the country and as a channel for dialogue between the Ethiopian citizens and the Government of Ethiopia