The Role Of Civil Society Organization Law Amendmet On Project Monitoring And Evaluation Practices In Ethiopia Evidence From Somali Regional State

In March 2019, the Government of Ethiopia adopted Civil Society Organizations’ (CSO’s) Proclamation No. 1113/2019 replacing the old proclamation No. 621/2009. There were continues debates on the intention and adverse impacts of the previous proclamation on CSOs’ program and project contribution for socio-economic and political development of Ethiopia.rnThe law has been enacted to fully exercise freedom of association for any cause or purpose as stipulated in Article 31 of the Constitution of FDRE in addressing the shortcomings of the Charities and Societies Proclamation 621/2009, which was in force prior to the issuance of the Proclamation No. 1113/2019. The new CSO law is believed to contribute to better performance of CSOs in development endeavors due to the amendments and relaxations made. Thus, the role and effects of the new law on CSOs project management in general and monitoring and evaluation practices in particular have to be studied, documented and shared with relevant stakeholders for individual and organizational learning and better actions in the future.rnThe general objective of this study is to assess the role of the new Proclamation 1113/2019 on CSOs project monitoring and evaluation practices. The study has collected and analyzed both qualitative and quantitative data from 21 institutions/organizations. Exploratory research was employed to obtain the views, and perspectives of CSOs project stakeholders on the topic. All self-administered questionnaires (#34) and interviews (#16) were managed in face to face contact with the respondents from targeted institutions. The data collected through questionnaire and interview were organized and compiled, for quantitative data different software and formats (SPSS and Excel) were used for analysis. Data entry, coding and processing was carried out. Furthermore, data filtering and cleaning also made.rnThe findings of this study have shown that the major amendments made in the CSO law (proclamation No. 1113/2019) which are re-defined CSO’s role, reclassification of program versus administrative expenses, easy of restriction on accessing foreign funds, NGOs engagement in diversified income generating activities and allocate the income for organizational mission accomplishment have affected the current project monitoring and evaluation practices (planning activities and budgeting, M&E structure, staff capacity building, M&E activities, methodology, approaches, and attitudinal change) at varied level. The significant changes were observed on areas of establishing or strengthening M&E structures and M&E activities in the CSOs, recruitment and deployment of a dedicated M&E staff. The effect on staff capacity building and methodology was medium whereas the change on M&E approach and attitude towards the essence of M&E are not that much significant.rnThis project work has also provided certain recommendations related to strengthening the CSO legal framework by enacting regulation and directives soon, structural improvement, adequate resource allocation, institutional capacity building interventions, and ensuring engagement of relevant stakeholders in all processes of legal framework development and monitoring and evaluation exercises.

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