Mass Based Organizations and Professional Associations

The objectives of the council include providing education to citizens, to help build a democratic Ethiopia where human rights are respected, to help strengthen civic society organizations, to foster cooperation and information exchange between different civil society organizations and to work on transparency and accountability (Shewareged 2007).

The private sector is organized under the Ethiopian Chamber of Commerce and the Ethiopian Employers association, whilst the trade union under the Confederations of Ethiopian Trade Union (CETU). Other civic organizations such as professional associations do not currently have an umbrella group. (Tafesse2005: 26)

Forums enable members to better influence public debate and policy for they provide greater voice, energy, knowledge and experience to solve social problems.

There are forums organized by CRDA on various issues including Urban Development, Gender, Rural Development, National HIV/AIDS, Good Governance and Children and Youth (CRDA 2004:6-8). The IGAD-Civil Society Forum Ethiopia Chapter, which is a member of the IGAD Civil Society Forum of the Region, is another forum established with the aim of identifying possible sources of trans-boundary conflicts between neighboring countries within the Region and forwarding appropriate recommendations to the IGAD Secretariat (APAP 2004: 23).

The other forum is WFDD/Ethiopia, established by faith-based organizations with the objective of fighting poverty in Ethiopia. The Ethiopian Orthodox Church (EOC), The Ethiopian Islamic Supreme Council (EISC), The Ethiopian Catholic Church (ECC), The Ethiopian Evangelical Churches (eg., Kale Heywet, MekaneYesus ) are among the faith-based organizations which form the working group of the WFDD/Ethiopia (EIFDA 2001:4).

Apex organizations are quite important especially for advocacy. The difference between an umbrella and apex organization is that umbrellas are groups of individual NGOs/CSOs, while apex organizations are groups of networks. At present, there are no apex organizations in Ethiopia (Spring & Groelsema 2004: 10).

members. It is the largest organization in the country with a membership of 120,000.

The ETA was harassed during the feudal regime and the current regime has been keeping a close eye on ETA’s activities. There are now two ETAs, one close to the government and one maintaining its independence (Milkias 2006:20).

The Orthodox Student Association was founded in 1958 by convention representing all the colleges and some of the secondary schools. This association stands out as the first nationwide voluntary association in Ethiopia. The Ethiopian College Students Association was established in 1960 with the objective to represent the interests and needs of students vis-à-vis the government and to handle relations with international student organizations. Following the lead of this association, a number of student clubs have appeared from time to time within the framework of the college. These include the Ethnological Society of the University College, Education Students Association and Economics Students Association (Levine 1970:279-280). Historically, the relationship between students and the government in Ethiopia has been strained, and the present government’s relationship with the student body is no exception. (Cedric 2006)

Since 1961, the Medical Association, Engineer’s Association, the College Teacher’s Association and the Ethiopian Writers’ Association have emerged. (Levine 1970:

280-281) The Ethiopian Library Association (ELA) was started as a library club in 1961 with the establishment of the University (Haile Selassie I University), now Addis Ababa University. It achieved its official status as a registered society in 1969. (Tsigemelak 2006:5) The Ethiopian Bar Association was first established as the Advocate’s Welfare Association in 1965. (EBA 2009) The only safe organization allowed to function after the 1974 revolution was the Ethiopian Medical Association which entertains only problems related to health issue. (Milkias 2006:18)

The workers self-help association appeared much earlier and the first workers' organization with the pattern of a modern trade union was the Franco-Ethiopian Railway Company Workers Association, founded in 1947. But it was not a registered union because trade union organization was forbidden until 1962.

However, in order to maintain manageable labour supply as the key attraction of foreign capital, the government designed labour relations decrees as a means of registering labour. In 1963, the first formal labour law was established under the Labour Relations Proclamation No. 210/1963. This proclamation recognized the

rights of associations of employers and workers, as well as a system of collective bargaining and it set up machinery for the settlement of trade disputes namely the Labour Relation Board (Sommer 2003). The Confederation of Ethiopian Labour Unions (CELU) was established in 1963 and now has more than 50,000 members (Markakis & Ayele 1978:46) and in 1964 the Ethiopian Employers Federation was founded.

After the 1974 revolution during the socialist military regime, the CELU was transformed to the All-Ethiopian Trade Union (AETU) and later the Ethiopian Trade Union (ETU), which carried out its activities under the direct supervision of the regime of the time. With the change of regime year 1993, ETU dissolved and was replaced by the Confederation of Ethiopian Trade Unions (CETU). (Gebre-Egziabher 2002:14-15).

The earliest business association, the Addis Ababa Chamber of Commerce was established in 1947. It provides technical and advocacy services to help business people start, run, and grow their businesses. With over 7,000 registered members, the AACCSA is the largest and oldest chamber of commerce in Ethiopia (Addis Chamber 2007).

By 1968 the Ethiopian Employers Federation had only eight Ethiopian management out of seventy-six members. (Gebregzihabir1969 cited in Markakis & Ayele 1978:45) It existed for about 14 years until it was dissolved in 1978 by the previous socialist oriented (Derg) government. The Ethiopian Employers Federation was re-established on May 26,1997 and consists of member organizations from a broad range of businesses including Abaye and Tana Employers' Association, Awash International Bank, Ethiopian Airlines, Ethiopian Garage Employers’ Association, Iacona Insurance, Ries Engineering, Shell Ethiopia and Sheraton Addis(EEF 2007).

By the end of the 1990’s, there were seventy-five professional associations but most of them were small in size with a routine function of looking after the narrow interest of their members They do not raise any issue of general public interest;

rather some of them meet once a year while others put out occasional publications.

An exception is the Ethiopian Economic Association which holds meetings with academics, professionals and even government personnel to discuss broad policy issues (Milkias 2006:18-19).

Old established institutions, which were dormant during the repressive rule of the military government, are more visible and more active in the post-1991 era. A good example is the Addis Ababa Chamber of Commerce. Women's groups consist of a variety of organizations that include organizations of women lawyers, women writers, women journalists, business women, women's cultural groups, and women's NGOs and advocacy groups (Rahmato 2004).

The Provisional Office of Mass Organisational Affairs (POMOA) of the Dergue created Mass Organisations, namely the Peasant Associations (or gebere mehabir) later known as Kebele, the Urban Dwellers Associations (or Kebele), the Revolutionary Ethiopia Women’s Association (REWA) and the Revolutionary Ethiopia Youth Association (REYA). Housing cooperatives in big urban centers, farmers' cooperatives, handicrafts producers' cooperatives in both urban and rural settings emerged. These government supported CBOs were not only encouraging but also forcing people to become members. Although these mass organisations were presented as independent, interest-based membership organisations, they were, in fact, part of the dictatorial state apparatus that was dismantled with the fall of the Mengistu regime in 1991. REWA and REYA are completely gone. The Kebeles, on the other hand, have been maintained, although they have been re-organised and given new functions.

Ethiopia has been experimenting with Agricultural Service Cooperatives since 1960 and Peasant Association (PAs) since 1975. Both associations have limited importance and have become missed opportunities. They lacked necessary conditions for an effective grassroots organization because they were created by government rather than based on the consent of the peasants. As a result, they lacked autonomy and remain dominated by the government rules and orders (Adal 2000: 135-137). Rural Organizations such as Agricultural Service Cooperatives (ASCs) and PAs were disbanded in 1991. (Adal 2000: 142) Recently peasant associations have been re-established as service cooperatives on a voluntary basis.

Their important function is to buy grain from the farmers at the time of harvest and sell them during periods when food becomes scarce. Some deliver veterinary services and sell necessary drugs to peasants in remote areas. (Milkias 2006:25).