The Role And Engagement Of Civil Society In Ethiopias First Cycle African Peer Review Mechanism (aprm) Process

African peer Review mechanism (APRM) is a voluntarily self assessment mechanism inrnwhich each participating country’s government is evaluated and monitored from the fourrndimensions of governance: Democracy and political governance, economic governancernand management, corporate governance and socio-economic development. Ethiopia isrnone of the member states in APRM and it has produced its Country Self AssessmentrnReport (CSAR) and National Program of Action (NPoA). The mechanism hasrnacknowledged the critical role of all stakeholders including civil society and privaternsector in the review process.rnThe major purpose of this study was to investigate the role and engagement of civilrnsociety in Ethiopia’s first cycle APRM process. The study employed a mixture ofrnqualitative and quantitative approaches by means of a triangulation technique inrnintegrating information gathered through questionnaire, interview and document review.rnSamples were drawn from Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) on the basis of purposivernsampling technique in order to gather data through questionnaire. In addition, otherrnorganizations from members of National Governing Council and informant individualsrnwere approached through interview. The literature review conducted for the purpose ofrnthis study has underlined the importance of meaningful participation of civil society inrnmajor activities and stages of APRM to make the review process credible and fruitful.rnThe finding of the study shows that the role and engagement of civil society in Ethiopia’srnfirst cycle APRM were at minimal level and unsatisfactory. Similarly, the definition andrnscope of civil society in APRM was narrow. Under conclusion part, the paper indicatesrnthat the insignificant engagement of CSOs in APRM would undermine their participationrnand commitment during actual implementation of NPoA. Thus government should creaternconducive environment for effective participation of all categories of civil society inrngovernance issues. This would again require engendering vibrant civil society and openrnpolitical space for civic engagement

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