Civil Society Fund
Objectives
Its overall objective is to increase the contribution of citizens and CSOs in the development and democratization process of the country. In pursuit of this goal, CSF III plans to achieve three outcomes, namely:
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Increased voice of CSOs (representing constituencies and citizens) in policy dialogue;
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Enhanced role of CSOs (representing constituencies and citizens) in the monitoring of policies;
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Strengthened overall capacity of CSOs.
Expected results
The programme aims to help civil society gain a stronger foothold in policymaking, monitoring, and implementation. It attempts to strengthen the engagement of CSOs in Ethiopia by going beyond service provision and seeks to enhance their intermediary role between state bodies and citizens.
Source of Funding
Following the launch of a Call for Proposals in April 2019, the EU committed a total grant amount of € 10.9M from the EDF 11. This was awarded to 23 lead CSOs and their networks (along with 36 partner to support interventions in democratic governance and rule of law (12); service delivery and community engagement (7); and gender equality, women’s and girls’ empowerment and protection (4).
In addition, the programme provided a further €850,000 as four Direct Grants to CSOs responding to the social and economic impacts of COVID-19. The grant component therefore now totals € 11.75M and is benefiting 27 lead and 39 co-applicant CSOs and their networks. These 27 Actions are spread across every region in the country, with the exception of Harari, and involve around 60 different implementation sites, while four may be described as national in scope.
Various non-grant support mechanisms (in particular those that focus on policy dialogue, capacity building and the creation of an enabling environment for the actions of CSOs) are also in place to reach the wider civil society sector.
