i. Terms of Reference
4.0 INSTITUTONAL OPTIONS
The prent intitutional make-up of the ecumenica Civic Educaional !nlttle has be shap by a long-dwn indecision as to what should beome of the progr. This is parly the reult of the miscage of its origial
miss ion in the face of the radically changed operaional conditions as ocasioned by Ethiopian governents
reluctace to grt pennission to the ETI to monitor the elections.
The progre reeived seing suppo frm Eurpe Churh aid orgisations in Denmar Gennany, Norwy and Sweden. A co-rdinatig grp of churh aid agencies operating in the Horn of Afrca saw the lnit kick
off; initially as a voter trining prome, th main purse of which wa to contrbute to the crtion of a "space
of confidence" among the vaious etnic and religious grups and to ensur that all the difft ethically based political movements in Ethiopia paricipat in the May Parliamenta elections under seur and equal conditions.
Under th Initial mandate, there wa no re to hàve the lnit reglstere under GO regitron Act. This
was, in par due to the eper charte .of the operaional ta asiated with its mandate and tied to a paricular electoral pro. With th subsent shift of fo, in favout of civic education, and in puruace of a
much more genlise mandate, th queson of institutional fonnality pr to th tap of the operational agenda For over a yea this issue has be kept in abeyace,peding some har decisions which would have to be made after the Initiaiv progre peonnance wil have ben ased and. found to give indications as to its potentials.
It is now over a yea since Dr. Yac Haile-Maram to chare of the progre. As to how the progre has
perfonned since th and the releva of its mada in repet to the ongoing political dispensation in Ethiopia is the subjec of a differet seon of this evauaon. It wil~ however, suffce to mention, but only in paing, th the mutually complenenta quesons alluded to abvè, have ben anwere in the affnnatve from the findings of the
evaluation. .
Extensive intervews with certain key player in th civic education and human rights scene in Etiopia have
revealed that the lnitiaJe enjoys an almost exclusive compartive advantae in repet to the speificity of its taget group and, uniquenes of its approch to civic education. _ On this basis alone, the progre deserves susining; leavig the quesion as to what intitutiona fonn it should asume to be answre as follows:
4.1 Ecumenical oriei.or the 1NITIATIV
There is no doubt that the ecumenical beginnings of this progrme was the bet thing that could have happened to
an Initiatie that neeed to cut its eye-tooth on a manda in repet of which the thre major churhes in Ethiopia
held conflcting attitudes.This has found unistaable expre ion in the dily daIlying and endles equivocation with which the Catolic church, the Ethiopian Orodox church, and to same extent, Mekae Yesus responded to the request for an ecumenical-institutional anchor.
From the interviews conducted with the sae churhes it sems fairly obvious that findig an appropriate ecumenical accommodaton within the institutional frework of the above churches wil be a tall order if not a
trcky underting. This however, doe not me that the lnltUle in its new fonn, should abandon altogether the
use of strctu which th abve churhes, either individually or collectively, can provide in the way of access to their numerous congrgations. My suggestion,-bas on the infonnation gaterd durg interviews with the varous churh organisations, is that with a new independent institutional identity, each one of them (churches) should be
approached (separte ly) with a view to securing their respetive commibnents to avait their grrots comrunities
and their extensive network ror civic education when and ir round necessa. It is fuer suggested that over and
above the Christian churches mentioned above, the Muslim church should as a matter or necessity be drwn into equally eloser working relationship. The new organisation's boar of direclors should inelude repreentatives from all the major churhes in Ethiopia in addition to other key players in Ethiopian civil society.
4.2 lnstitutional Identitv
I have observed elsewhere that the progre nee fuer support as a distinct Civic EducationallnitUltilie. I now stae that such lnituiiv ca only be viable ir its instilotional identity enjoys the support or offcial reognition by the relevant authorities as a NGO. Discusions withthe progre persnnl havedrawn my atention to the rollowing mutully exclusive options.
4.2.1 As a remandatedAd Hoc Peace Conue
'.
The Ecwnenica Train lnitiv shar a lot ofthings with the Àd Hoc Peace Comritt. For intace,
both share the vis ion ror Etiopia as had ben oudined ealier in this evaluaion. They also share personal
comribnent of certin individuals in die persons of Dr. S. Nonnar, who put in an iIustrous effort to see both lnitiatives see the light orday, and Dr. Jacob Haile-Mariam who has served bothorganisations in the
capacities of a director. My attention has also ben drawn to their overlapping and muloally
complementa mandates; which renders it an eay tak to accommodate one into the other and vice versa.
Giventhat the Ad hoc Committee's mandate has lost operational cacity, it makes a lot or sense to suggest that the Ecumicl Training lnit, tae over the intilotional infrtnctu which ar
presently under-utilse an which ar likely to ga to wate. All that such a change-over wil reuire is for AHC board members to met and sanction' the replacement or persnnei at the civic education progres
of the ecumenicallnit.
4.2.2 With a new Reeistration
In the event that the above option hits an insunountale snag in repet to pulling though the tae-over of
Ad Hoc Peace Comrittee then my recomrendation would be that the progre imediately seeks
fonnal registrtion with the appropriate government authority. This should be done under a name that befits its refocused mandate and.paricularly ane that catu the essnce orits compartive advantae in
the increasingly competitive maret of civic intervention InitUltives. Interviews with same of the
incumbent omcials of the Initiatiiie revealed that few obstaeles are envisaged should this option remain the
on ly feaible way ofkeeping the initiative alive.
4.3 On!anisational Structure
The Initiat/ve requires a lean but effective administrtive stnctue. Top in the administrtive organisational stnclore should be the Board of Directors consisting of 7 voting members; preferably drawn from the 4 main~
strea churches: Ortodox Church (I), Prtestat church (I), Catholic church (l), Muslim (I) civil society
sector(l) and business community (I) plus the Executive Dirtor in an ex-offcio cacity. The day-to-y ruing
of the organisation should be vested in the Executive Diretots Offce.For the firs two year it would be advisable
to constitute a tea of th expenenced Civi Educators, a Reprentative from the donor Churh organisaions and a renowned Lobbyist who should help shap up the mandate and prgres of the neworanison. They should be altemate members of the boar; but without voting powers. The exective dirtor will be the chief
accounting oRicer of the organisation. He wil overs progrme development and policy.implementing. He wil
be assisted by Progre Direcor who will design and supervis the implementaion of all the progratic
activities of the organisation. Progrme implementation wil be under the car of th Prgre Assistats respetively in charge of:
.
peacebuilding mandate.
civic educationaVadvoccy mandate. logistics and documentation mlldate.
On the sae level there wil be a finance offcer who will look after the fmancial matters of the organisation.
Lining the grsroots constituencies with the national operational mandat wil be 14 Regional Co-rdinators.
These wiJ be the people on the grund, seeing to it that the progres reaches the intended target groups across
the Ethiopian nation. .. They wil, continuously liaise with the Progre Assistats 50 as to ensure that the progrme is effectively and effciently caed out on the varous sile idèntified and organised for the respective
progre activities. .,
\
..
Prooo Ol1anoeram
3 consuliting friends of the
initiative
.
Finanace Officer
14 Regional Supervisors
7 Directors
Executive Director
Programme
Oirector
Programe Asst.
(Civic Ed/Advocacy)
Programme Asst.
( Peace
Buildlng)
~.
.r
Progame Asst.
Logidtics&Documen
-tation