ADDIS ABABA (AFP)–Ethiopia should ease its regulations on non-governmental groups, said the World Bank Sunday, as it extended $540 million to develop basic services in the Horn of Africa nation.
“There is a need to ensure that CSOs (civil society organizations) have adequate space and voice to follow through with transparency and accountability initiatives,” it said.
Ethiopia adopted a controversial aid law early this year, under which any local group drawing more than 10% of its funding from abroad would be classified as foreign and subjected to tight government control.
The classification would effectively ban such associations from working on issues related to ethnicity, gender, children’s rights and conflict resolution.
The $540 million is meant for basic services covering education, health, agriculture, water and road projects under a three-year scheme, the bank said in a statement.
The World Bank replaced its former scheme of direct budgetary support to the east African nation soon after the disputed 2005 parliamentary elections there, which foreign observers said fell short of international standards.
