CIVICUS discusses Ethiopia’s proposed new law to target civil society with Yared Hailemariam, lawyer and Executive Director of the Ethiopian Human Rights Defenders Centre (EHRDC), a civil society organisation (CSO) that works to support human rights activists at risk.
In July, Ethiopian authorities introduced draft amendments to the Civil Society Proclamation that would grant government bodies unchecked powers to restrict access to foreign and diaspora funding, suspend or dissolve organisations and eliminate appeal procedures. These measures risk silencing independent voices and further restricting Ethiopia’s already severely limited civic space, undermining civil society’s role in defending rights and promoting transparency and public participation.
