ADDIS ABABA– Ministry of Finance reaffirmed its commitment to strengthen the Civil Society engagement with the public development endeavors in bid to improve the livelihood of citizens.
Speaking at the event, State Minister Admasu Nebebe said that collected feedbacks showed the effectiveness of Civil Societies’ effort in multifaceted national strides. “I would like to express my government’s profound satisfaction on the positive outcome registered by each Civil Society Fund (CSF) I, II,” he reiterated. He also called on the respective civil societies consortium to operate transparently and accountably on value adding projects to the grassroots.
Erik Habers, Head of Cooperation in the Delegation of the European Union (EU) to Ethiopia, for his part noted that the European Union has a strong commitment to support and work with the civil society sector. “As an overall strategy, we try our best to mainstream and ensure the participation of civil society organizations (CSOs) in all our cooperation areas with government.”
According to him, the fund has directly benefited over 250 local CSFs through grant budgeting, training, research initiatives, collaborations among different non state actors and networking so far. He further noted that the fund had contributed to the establishment and successful operation of strategic institutions and partnerships.
Innovative ideas benefited disadvantaged and vulnerable segments of society, and will hopefully continue to be scaled-up and taken on board by government institutions. The European Union Delegation vowed to closely observe the development and ongoing reform so as to take part in initiatives and consultations to ensure that civil society plays its role.
It was learnt that the Civil Society Fund (CSF) III program is a joint initiative of the European Union and the Ethiopian Government, with the overall aim of increasing the role of CSOs in the development and democratization process of Ethiopia. The European Union Fund III has so far allocated 16 million Euros
The Ethiopian Herald, December 19/2018
BY MENGISTEAB TESHOME
