News: Civil Societies Council says scaling up role to play in planned National Dialogue

By Fraol Bersissa @FiraolBer

Addis Abeba: The Ethiopian Civil Society Organizations Council (ECSOC) is scaling up the pace to help civil societies play a constructive role in the upcoming national dialogue. In a statement sent to Addis Standard, the council stated that necessary arrangements are being made in this regard. The presser enumerated that various measures had been taken for a successful national dialogue to take place in a manner it said to be ‘all-inclusive, convenient and knowledge-based.’

Amongst these actions, was the establishment of a National Reference Group, consisting of pundits and numerous civil society organizations engaging on matters pertinent to the national dialogue process. Henock Melese, Executive Director of ECSOC,  corroborated this, yesterday, 04 August at the Civil Society Organizations Third Consultation Meeting on the National Dialogue held at the InterLuxury Hotel, Addis Abeba. He expressed that, ‘’ a lot is expected from the council. Civil societies have a huge role to play in the national dialogue. In order for the national dialogue to be successful, the council has many responsibilities. Ethics is very important in carrying out such a delicate process. ‘’

Furthermore, parallel to the discussions held at the consultation meeting, the press release also briefed that an Engagement Framework Policy along with a Code of Ethics was being designed to regulate the terms and conduct of the interactions between the civil society and the national dialogue process. The council is developing this framework in respect of its umbrella role of representation of civil society organizations, mandated by the Civil Society Organizations Proclamation No. 1113/2019. 

The council has iterated that work would progress towards enacting a continuous engagement and coordination, aided by [engagement] strategies. Different stakeholders from the local, regional, and international arenas have been identified, as per the statements of higher council leadership during the forenamed meeting. Cooperation, consultation, collaboration, and communication are the modus operandi moving forward, added Moges Demissie, advisor to ECSOC. 

The Ethiopian Civil Society Organizations Council was formed in 2020, as a virtue of Article 85 of Proclamation No. 1113/2019 and accordingly is authorized by the FDRE Civil Society Organizations Authority to represent the civil society sector as per sub-Article 5(c) of Article 85.  The council thus represents more than 3,700 civil society organizations operating in Ethiopia. AS