The Social and Human
Rights Impact of EBA
Presented by: Mr. Tadele Derseh
Executive director of Vision Ethiopian Congress for Democracy (VECOD) and
Ambassador for World Peace and Good Ethics
March 7, 2017
Definition of human rights

Nature and Definition of Human Rights

Human rights are a special sort of inalienable moral entitlement. They attach
to all persons equally, by virtue of their humanity, irrespective of race,
nationality, or membership of any particular social group. Human rights
belong to an individual as a consequence of being human. The term came into
wide use after World War II.

The concept of human rights is based on the belief that every human being is
entitled to enjoy her/his rights without discrimination. Human rights differ
from other rights in two respects. Firstly, they are characterized by being:
• Inherent in all human beings by virtue of their humanity alone (they do
not have, e.g., to be purchased or to be granted);
• Inalienable (within qualified legal boundaries); and
• Equally applicable to all.
Classification of Human Rights
❖
CIVIL, POLITICAL, ECONOMIC, SOCIAL AND CULTURAL RIGHTS
 Civil rights:
set of physical integrity rights, which concern the right to life, liberty and security
of the person, and which offer protection from physical violence against the
person, torture and inhuman treatment, arbitrary arrest, detention, exile, slavery
and servitude, interference with one’s privacy and right of ownership, restriction of
one’s freedom of movement, and the freedom of thought, conscience and religion.
 Political rights:
They include freedom of expression, freedom of association and assembly, the right
to take part in the government of one’s country, and the right to vote and stand for
election at genuine periodic elections held by secret ballot etc.
Classification of Human Rights (cont’d)
 Economic and social rights
❖
These rights provide the conditions necessary for prosperity and wellbeing.
Economic rights refer, for example, to the right to property, the right to work,
which one freely chooses or accepts, the right to a fair wage, a reasonable
limitation of working hours, and trade union rights. Social rights are those
rights necessary for an adequate standard of living, including rights to health,
shelter, food, social care, and the right to education.
 Cultural rights:
❖
These include the right to participate freely in the cultural life of the
community, to share in scientific advancement, and the right to the
protection of the moral and material interests resulting from any scientific,
literary or artistic production of which one is the author.
Human rights in Ethiopia

The Constitution of the FDRE devotes more than one third of its content to
provisions on fundamental human and people's rights.

The Constitution imposes a responsibility and duty to the respect and
enforcement of fundamental rights and freedoms at all levels of the federal
and state legislative, executive and judicial bodies
Protected Rights in Ethiopia

The Ethiopian Constitution incorporates several human rights. The recognition
ranges from traditional civil and political rights to socio-economic and group
or solidarity rights. This is further reinforced by the National policy principles
and objectives. The rights are generally guaranteed for everyone with some
exceptions.
Promotion and Protection of Human
Rights: Role of Civil Society

We should not neglect the important role of non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and their
immense contributions towards the betterment of human rights situations.

These institutions help in fostering the human rights culture (through training, education, and
dissemination of information although universities and higher educational institutions also share
this responsibilities), in invigorating the state commitment to the human rights values (through
technical assistance and capacity building schemes),

In making interventions to facilitate the enjoyment of some rights by the public (such as through
counseling and legal aid services to victims, through conducting policy research and lobbying, etc.

It is of paramount importance to clarify the roles and limits of civil society in the protection of
human rights.

The protection of groups and individuals as well as their rights falls under the State functions. This
covers the establishment of standards, laws and institutions that derive their legitimacy from
popular sovereignty, and are capable of protecting the rights of individuals and groups. However,
we are witnessing a paradoxical process.

The expansion of freedom and the democratization process are accompanied by a civic
disengagement, political demobilization and a crisis of confidence in institutions and political
parties. Given the persistence of authoritarian reflexes, this only reinforces the belief that civil
society can replace the state and political parties,
Civil society has a role to play as:

a force of proposal of new social values that respect human dignity, physical security
of person, freedoms and responsibilities, as every right implies its corollary: a duty

a force of change by mobilizing people;

a force for generating ideas with the support of experts and researchers;

a catalyst for new practices on the ground that give its work a social pillar, strength
and legitimacy.
It goes without saying that this control approach is part of democracy-building, which is:
➢
A moral requirement, a practice and an instrument of justice, equality and rule of
law;
➢
A control of the community on the powers, a way of ensuring opportunity for people
to participate in the process of decision-making, implementation and monitoring of
projects.
➢
A possibility for people to freely choose their leaders, participate in the
management of power, control their representatives and put an end to their
mandates in the event of failure.
In this context, in order to fulfill its role of
promoting and protecting human rights, civil
society must rethink:

How to overcome mistrust and suspicions in such a way as to enable
defenders of human rights, through partnerships, to contribute to training and
raising the awareness of security officers in respecting the autonomy and
independence of associations?

How to affirm the independence of members of parliament and make them
allies and a counterweight to the executive branch?

How to control the way parliamentarians fulfill their responsibilities and
commitments vis-à-vis citizens?

How to promote clear provisions on the separation of powers, namely
constitutional, legal and institutional mechanisms that are likely to ensure a
better balance between the executive and the legislature?
Definition for Gender Based Violence
➢
Gender based violence (GBV) is the prevailing social problem affecting larger
proportion of women in every part of the world.
➢
GBV encompasses any act or treat by men or male dominated institutions that
inflict physical ,sexual or psychological harm on a woman or a girl because of their
gender ;it also includes violence inflicted on men and boys.
➢
GBV is manifestation of human right violation, a public health challenge ,and a
barrier to civic ,social ,political and economic participation that undermines the
safety ,dignity ,overall healthy status and human rights of the millions of
individuals who experience it ,and also the public health ,economic stability and
security of nations.
➢
Hence, the prevention and protection of gender based violence calls for
multisectoral coordination among policy makers ,legislative bodies ,organizations
and institutions as well as the society.
Here are the top 5 things the world must do to
reduce violence against women & girls
1.
Provide women with access to legal representation and opportunities to pursue
justice against perpetrators of violence through the formal legal system
2.
Promote gender equality in schools and widen access to education for girls. It has
been proven time and time again that girls enrolled in school are less likely to be
married early and become pregnant. If that weren’t reason enough, girls that obtain
higher levels of education are more likely to find employment and become
empowered as a result of their financial contributions to the family and community
3.
End forced early marriage and premature pregnancy, the leading cause of death
of girls between 15 to 19 years of age. With more than 142 million girls expected to
marry before they turn 18 over the next decade, programs like Apni Beti Apna Dhan
(ABAD), which offer conditional cash transfers to incentivize families to delay their
daughter’s marriages, will likely help reduce arranged marriages and allow girls to
develop both physically and mentally before marriage and child-birth
(cont’d)
4.
Bring greater attention to violence that is perpetrated by a partner or
spouse. Stella Mukasa, Director of Gender Violence and Rights at ICRW, told
the story of a woman who was forced by her husband to breast feed his dog’s
litter. When she sought help from the community, her claim was ignored
because abuse from a spouse was not considered to be a violation of a
woman’s rights
5.
Revise marriage laws that are institutionally biased against women,
particularly those that deny women custody over their children, inheritance,
and land rights in cases of death, separation or divorce. The revised national
constitution in Kenya is one example that has brought about unprecedented
rights for women, including the right to oversee property-related
transactions, manage family land and resources and retain a portion of land
to live on and cultivate if widowed or divorced
The Role of Civil Society in the Fight
Against Corruption
1.
2.
Watchdog
❖
Traditionally, Civil Society Organization has performed its main role as corruption
watchdog.
❖
It exposes corruption cases and criticizes corrupt officials and institutions, including
Judiciary.
❖
It identifies corruption prone areas within the legal and administrative system. This
identification is not less important than that of public authorities or private sector
organizations, because of its different sources and different perspectives.
Raising Public Awareness
❖
Civil society makes efforts to raise “public awareness regarding the existence,
causes and gravity of and the threat posed by corruption,” as UNCAC article 13 says.
❖
It publicizes some indices, reports, and study results for better awareness on the
issue.
(cont’d)
3.
4.
Proposing Alternatives
❖
Civil society does not only criticize the problems of corruption, but also
gives alternatives for controlling it better.
❖
It proposes new policies and legislations for better governance based on
integrity and accountability.
Accelerator of initiatives
❖
5.
Civil society can accelerate the preparation, participation, and
implementation of international, regional and local anti-corruption
initiatives.
Civil Participation
❖
Civil participation in decision-making processes can contribute to enhance
transparency and fairness.
Challenges facing Ethiopian civil societies
Despite the Ethiopian civil societies have been doing a lot regarding the
aforementioned major activities they are facing various challenges. To mention
some:
➢
Since the new civil society proclamation the amount of money civil societies
can raise from foreign funds is limited. Nowadays civil societies are facing
strong challenges in getting adequate financial sources even to operate their
day to day activities because the money raised from local source is very much
limited.
➢
Lack of donation culture to help charity organizations voluntarily from the
society at large.
Conclusions and recommendations
➢
Government’s willingness to engage more with CSOs either through the board
or through direct contact of CEOs of CSOs, continuous dialogue with all stake
holders is appeasing.
➢
There should be a greater degree of activities by the Government of Ethiopia
for collaboration and partnership between the Government, Business
communities and civil societies. Societal challenges are talked better when
each sector works in more integrated manner across the shared spaces,
instead of acting independently in their defined roles.
➢
The need for flexibility of some legal and policy frameworks including civic
society proclamations .
➢
The government should create a conducive environment in establishing and
strengthening vibrant civil society, independent media and strong opposition
party.
Conclusions and recommendations (cont’d)
➢
Policy evaluation must be carried out by the government of Ethiopia. Not all
policy is being implemented according to the intended purpose when the law
was formulated.
➢
The parliament should conduct its own research independent of the Agency
about CSP No. 621/ 2009 and other contentious policy.
➢
All policy actors (Government, interest groups, individual citizens, the
general public) should be involved in the policy-making process of any public
policy.
➢
Government should intentionally use government media to create a positive
image of CSOs so that the donation culture to charity work is promoted and
local resource mobilization is achieved.
A brief description of VECOD
❖
ESTABLISHMENT
Vision Ethiopian Congress for Democracy (VECOD) was founded at the Addis Ababa University on February 7, 2003
by five individuals with sound educational back ground and experience relevant to civic education. Generally,
VECOD is a non-partisan civic NGO legally registered under certificate No.1006 by Ministry of Justice, and re–
registered under new proclamation No.621/2009 under certificate No .1293 as Ethiopian charity by the Federal
Charity and Society Agency.
The main strategy of VECOD:
➢
60% creating and developing democrat citizens;
➢
30% creating and developing democrat leadership; and
➢
10% creating and developing democratic governance.
❖
GOALS AND OBJECTIVES
A. Foster democratic values and practice so as to enrich civic empowerment;
B. Sensitize the public at large of the aims, objectives and practices of human rights, constitutional law, and
self-government;
C. Monitor democratic processes including human rights abuses; and
D. Perform human resource development and humanitarian activities.
VECOD programs
❖
1.
PROGRAMS
Conduct workshops, sessions, trainings and humanitarian activities on :
✓
Principles and practices of democracy
✓
Policy formulation and implementation
✓
Conflict resolution and peace building
✓
Election administration and election monitoring
✓
Democratic leadership and management, labor
education ,home and family management, public
administration, policy development and management.
✓
The roles and functions of political parties
✓
Human rights and constitutional law
✓
Gender issues
✓
Women's and children rights
✓
Enterpreneurship
VECOD programs (cont’d)
2.
Perform humanitarian activities as necessary
3.
Monitor democratic processes such as freedom of speech and assembly
4.
Research human right problems and disseminate information.
5.
Provide consultancy service on leadership, local governance and on legal social ,political issues to political
parties ,interest groups ,individuals and the community at large.
6.
Research on government services and find ways to get them improved.
7.
Research on child development practices and find ways to improve quality.
8.
Research on gender issues and find ways of improvement.
9.
Find ways of combating the HIV/AIDS epidemic.
Highlights of Activities and Achievements
Area of democratization of VECOD

Vision Ethiopian Congress for Democracy (VECOD) accomplished different activities
primarily with the financial contributions and voluntary service provided by its founding
members and organization.

With six months financial assistance from Action Aid Ethiopia a Leadership and
Management Skills Development Training has been carried out at Gambella regional
state for 54 participants.

So far, 18,720 trainees have VECOD has been trained on Leadership and Management
Skills Development Training Program through 52 training rounds. Male participants
were 10594 and 8126 were females
Highlights of Activities and Achievements (cont’d)

With a financial assistance obtained from International Donor Basket Fund through
(UNDP) and Civic and Voters Education Association (CVEA), civic and voter’s education
program has been carried out for 5,109,250 participants at Amhara regional state and
Addis Ababa City Administration.

1 year and 6 months training on practical approach to stop violence against women
with a fund given from Norwegian People’s Aid (NPA) was undertaken in 8 rounds for
229 participants.

In addition, training was given for 8 months on Democracy and Human Rights at Amhara
regional state in 2 rounds for 200 participants with a fund given from SIDA thought
Initiative Africa (IA) and also the same training was given for 300 participants from
Amhara regional state and Addis Ababa City Administration in collaboration with
Embassy of Finland.
Highlights of Activities and Achievements (cont’d)

VECOD with EC-CSF I also implemented a 14 months project on human rights,
democracy and good governance at Gambella Regional State for 68,820 community
members, of which 44,976 were males and 21,844 were females.

With a fund obtained from NED, Awareness creation programs on human rights and
democracy were conducted in AA for five consecutive years and benefited 30,750
community members of which 1, 0010 are females and 2,1740 are males.

For the past thirty years, a total of 12,417,654 participants were covered through
various workshops and trainings in various regional states
of Ethiopia.

Through a 5 million birr donor trust fund from the
World Bank our social accountability project has
benefited 15,200 females and 39,800 males a total of
55,000 participants in Gambella regional government
also VECOD partners EU-CSF II and CSSP projects
we reached to 4,000,000 citizens 1,500,000 were
female and 2,500,000 were male.
Works done in collaboration with European
Union (EU) Civil Society Fund I, ll & CSSP
1.
Enabling people to understood the concepts and practices of human rights ,democracy
and good governance in relation to their daily life at Gambella regional state ,three
zonal administration and seven woredas from the year (2009-2010).
 TOTAL DIRECT BENEFICARIES OF THE PROJECT WHERE 68,220 PEOPLES IN THE
PROJECT YEAR
2.
Consolidating democracy through constructive discourse and civic engagement at four
regional states and 12 Woredas Namely, Amhara regional state Debremarkos, Fenote
Selam Town and Bahir Dar city administration.
3.
At Gambella regional state ,Gambella city administration, lare woreda administration
and Godere woreda administration.
4.
At Addis Ababa city administration Yeka sub-city, Arada sub-city and Kirkos sub-city.
 TOTAL DIRECT BENEFICARIES OF THE PROJECT WHERE 4 MILLION PEOPLES
IN THE PROJECT YEAR
Workshops, Sessions and Trainings
NO
Program and activities
Since 2003G.C
1
Civic and voters education
2003 GC
2
Exercising freedom of expression
2003GC
3
Democracy and human right
training
2003 GC
Training on violence against
women and children
Practical Approach to Stop
Violence Against Women
2006GC
4
5
6
2006GC
No. of
sessions
No .of
participants
Sex
Areas of activities
F
M
34,000
Activities
5,063,800
1,771,981
3,291,819
3
500
175
325
500
269420
96000
4
525
195
330
Hawassa, Addis Ababa &
Nazreth
8
229
157
72
Addis Ababa
52th round
18720
8126
10594
150 Polling
station
200
65
135
475
7,009,600
2,800,000
4,209,600
750
55,000
15, 200
39,800
173420
All over the Country
Hawassa, Addis Ababa &
Nazreth
Bahirdar , Debre
+markos,
Asosa, AA and Gambella
2016GC
Leadership & Management Skills
Development Training Program
2005GC
7
Election Observation May 15,
2005
8
Civic and Ethical Education
2003GC
9
Social Accountability Project
2013GC
Total
40442
12417994
4691899
7726095
51th in Addis Ababa and
1 in
Gambella
Hawassa, Addis Ababa,
Dessie
and Nazreth
All over the Country
Gambella
Organized Clubs
No
Types of Clubs formed
SINCE
2003 G.C
Sex
NO. of
Clubs
Number of
Participant
F
M
35
12,408
5152
7282
9
514
354
160
3
154
46
108
15
4,617
2143
2,474
Addis Ababa
2
835
377
485
Addis Ababa
5
1983
947
1036
Addis Ababa
7
2289
878
1146
Addis Ababa
2
842
355
487
Addis Ababa
1
500
200
300
Addis Ababa
8
3,334
1,112
2347
Addis Ababa
87
27476
11578
15898
2003
1
Human Right & Democracy
Ambassadors’ clubs
2
Gender Ambassadors’ Clubs
3
Anti- HiV/AIDS Ambassadors Clubs
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
Good Governance & Peace
Ambassadors Clubs
Ethics & Anti-Corruption
Ambassadors Clubs
Human Rights Ambassadors’ Clubs
Guards of the Constitution
Ambassadors Club
Volunteerism for Dev’t
Ambassadors Club
Ombudsman man Ambassadors
Club
Ambassadors of Good Ethics Club
Total
2003
2003
2005
1999
2005
2009
2003
2009
2009
Location of program
Implementation
Addis Ababa, Hawassa,
Bahirdar, Debreberhan,
Markos, Dessie, Nazreth, &
Gambella
Addis Ababa, Hawassa,
Nazreth
Addis Ababa, Hawassa,
Nazreth
VECOD’s director in donating blood for
26th times
Director of Charity and society awarding
certificate for the winner participant
Director of Ethiopian studies awarding
certificate
Intellectuals and member of parliaments
attending the graduation ceremony
Officials of Mozambique AND MOFED in
experience sharing with VECOD
EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR ADDRESSING LEADERSHIP
GRADUATES