Ethiopiaâ€™s new charities and societies legislation has been affecting the growthrnand effectiveness of civil society organizations, particularly advocacy-basedrnorganizations, since its implementation. Though a lot has been said and writtenrnconcerning the effect of the law on civil society organizations, particularlyrnadvocacy-based organizations, yet there is no empirical evidence that canrnexplain the effect of the law. Since rhetoric alone is not sufficient to judge thernimpact of the law, this study seeks to assess on the impact of the law on thernoperation of CSOs.rnTo show the impact of the law the researcher has collected primary data fromrnnine individual civil society organizations and five consortium organizationsrnthrough two different types of questionnaires, and has interviewed thernimplementing Agency using semi-structured interview.rnThe analysis indicates the following results: the total number of civil societyrnorganizations has substantially dwindled as compared to pre-reform period; thernmajority of Ethiopian civil society organizations has changed their areas ofrnengagement that they were primarily established for; Ethiopian civil societyrnorganizations that opted not to change their former areas of involvement, are notrnas active as pre-reform period mainly due to lack of funding; and more thanrnninety percent of civil society organizations currently operating in the countryrnterminated governance component of their intervention-implying reduction inrneffectiveness in their development intervention.rnFrom the aforementioned findings one can infer that the law is affecting therngrowth, engagement and effectiveness of the civil society organizations,rnparticularly advocacy-based organizations. Hence, the new law for charities andrnsocieties is restrictive. This has far-reaching implication for democratization and development process of the country. Among many, one is less citizenrnparticipation and hence less pluralism, democracy and respect for human rightsrnin the country. To minimize the adverse effect of the law, those most restrictivernprovisions of the law, that is, article 2(3) and 14(5) must be repealed