Looking

Their Roles In Democratizing Society

Looking forward: The need for coordination of effort
by Ethiopian civic movements

Manifold difficulties face advocacy, the main tenet of any civic movement in Ethiopia. Mentioning two of the major difficulties pertinent to the Ethiopian political scene is critical in understanding the strategies and dynamisms of the ENC. These difficulties are

The fear of being compromised arises from the fact that some groups are affiliated with the state and, as recipients of favors, are too hesitant or even reluctant to critique dominant members of society that engage in anti-democratic ways. Others take patronizing attitudes and engage in activities that either have the purpose of showing token acknowledgement of the disadvantaged or directly prevent their self-representations. Over the last thirty years and in other contexts, such attitudes have been expressed as the top-down approach or the appropriation of the voices of the poor. They are exemplified in contemporary Ethiopia by the mushrooming of human rights and women’s rights organizations and “opposition” parties created and sponsored by the state.

The powerlessness that precludes the promotion of the right to advocacy arises from inappropriate legal processes that are put in place by the State. States accept the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) and its Covenants and then place barriers to their implementation, either by failing to provide local laws to translate those or by placing others that prevent their implementation. In Ethiopia, this problem has caused the state to imprison, kill or harass extra-judicially. It has allowed it to harass, intimidate and weaken civic bodies such as the ETA, EHRCO, EFJA and similar others at different times. This underlying problem caused by the state has become so pervasive that the Commissioner of Human Rights had to make a statement about it in April 2003.

In the face of such grave difficulties, an understanding of the value and rights of civic movements such as the ENC, ETA, EHRCO and the EFJA might prove their life-line. Without any doubt, essential in their attempt is the goal to democratize society. An appreciation of their efforts means understanding the wide implications of their individual actions for the well-being of society and the nation as a whole. Their actions and styles differ: EHRCO takes up advocacy on behalf of individuals form any sector of society; the ETA or the EFJA take up advocacy on behalf of their members or of their respective organizations; the ENC takes up the political rights of individuals and political parties. Forefront in their work is promoting the interests of the nation. Their purpose, however, is to ensure that individual and group rights are respected by the state, and despite state pressure against them, most have acquired renown for their valuable assertion of human rights.

The continuity of their existence is essential given the inclination of the state to deprive Ethiopians of their democratic rights. Democratic rights will be instilled if they continue to sustain their efforts. For effective assertion of rights and sustained continuity, the demand for democratizing society must be a wide-spread demand, and the activism of rights organizations and movements must reach a critical mass. This makes their unity critical.

There is another and more fundamental reason for the unity of civic organizations. Democratizing Ethiopia means changing the current difficult relationship between the power holders and the Ethiopian public. This relationship has been dominant for the past three or four decades, and there is a need for change. The type of change can come about when an effective dynamism is built-in in the duties, strategies and priorities of civic movements. This can be achieved basically through a consultative process that will create a dynamic in-built relationship among the civic movements.

Given that Ethiopia is at a critical time of crisis, a consultative meeting among civic organizations is required urgently. The meeting will be a process of learning from one another and strategizing for effective advocacy. Each civic body will benefit both from sharpening their knowledge on issues and strategies of advocacy. Joining hands with others enhances the capacity of each to be effective in the specific areas of their work. To give an example: A united group of civic bodies could consider a focused work on the pressing priorities of the day and engage in a division of labor among them. If they were to take up advocacy for political democracy, for instance, and decide to assert the right to have alternative policies or leadership in the country, they can each argue for this, during the consultation process, from the perspective of their specific issues. Supporting the UEDF can be the current issue. They can engage in such consultation as other crises emerge in the future. Alternatively, they can set up a permanent consultative arrangement and work together to enhance the culture of civic grouping, increase their wide-spread membership to advocate for the causes they would bring to the unity. Their voices would be strengthened. In the example of taking up alternative policies or leadership in the country, their united voice will translate into massive demonstrations, support, fund-raising or whatever action they propose. The goal of their unity would be to ensure that obstacles to democracy are contained.

A united action of civic groups will eventually force political parties that would compete for office to take up human rights as an issue. In another example, say in asserting the rights of the members of a specific group such as teachers, vote seekers would certainly be forced to address the specific issue such as education and the curriculum. If such a culture of the unity of civic groups were developed, parties would get used to the idea that human rights are their essential tickets to power. They will understand that they are much more than a paper and constitution script for attracting foreign aid. The public and its representatives would easily push for legislation appropriate for the national interest. They can even impeach offending parties in power.

Besides, a supportive cooperation among civic groups will help develop strategies for effective monitoring and advocacy of the rights of citizens from different angles. It will ensure the continuity of the work of individual civic groups across the wide spectrum of society. In the long term, it has the potential of forcefully demanding a share of the resources available for the well-being of the country, without the fear of compromising the cherished principles.

So far in Ethiopia, the stance of civic bodies on rejecting the imposition of conditions on their work has been shown by their continuing existence, particularly with financial independence. However, they must also share the resources of the land equally with those favored by power holders. Fighting for such a cause will buffer the future susceptibility of other groups to compromises and impositions by the state. We have in mid such groups as the physically or mentally challenged who must be entitled to their own advocacy and resources. The financial strength of such civic bodies in European and North American democracies comes from “governmental” sources, and though many contemporary African governments would not admit to it, they even share their sources for public domain work in African countries. While asserting independence helps avoid succumbing to possible demands by the state, the current independent stance of civic bodies in Ethiopia has also given the state a cause for pretending that they are either marginal or “politically motivated.” Of course they have seriously challenged the state’s abusive policies or practices, but they also need to go one more step in preventing its acrobatic attempts to set up similar bodies and provide them with public funds. The independent Ethiopian civic bodies must reclaim the right to use public resources. This includes the ten million Euro of financial assistance recently allocated by the EU towards civic education in Ethiopia, or even a larger sum allocated by the US.

In promoting democratic rights, it is important to recognize the need for the common cause of all civic groups in the land. Given the current trend of political practices of the government, it is necessary to acknowledge that a commonality gives civic groups the strength to advocate and assert human rights in all areas of their work. Setting up a united monitoring and evaluation systems will ensure that the efforts of civic groups are not wasted. It will be set up standards with which they achieve their goals. Working together effectively will make their work impact on policies, will be cost-effective and will ensure their continuity. Above all, their unity is essential for the purpose of developing a national structure of consultation over priorities during periods of emergency such as the current one. A possible area is taking the financial needs and causes of the new leadership emerging through the EUDF. Finally, if only to inculcate the notion that advocacy is a right, it is essential, in the long-term, for civic bodies to secure funding, especially in terms of the right to share national resources.