Democratic Institutions Program

Results achieved as of the end of the project (March 2014) include: improved human and institutional capacity development of Ethiopia’s democratic institutions at the federal regional and sub-regional levels in the areas of planning monitoring and budgeting systems; as well as the procurement of much needed equipment and supplies. For example six branch offices of the Ethiopia Human Rights Commission (EHRC) have opened which support 112 legal aid centres across Ethiopia reaching over 4 865 poor people (majority women) to provide legal counselling statements of claim or defence court representation and mediation services. The EHRC has handled 590 cases at the Federal level and 260 at the regional branch level demonstrating increased demand for access to this institution. Accountability transparency and participatory systems are being institutionalized through various policy measures including the introduction and implementation of the Asset Registration and Disclosure Law for public officials and political leaders. The Ethiopian Institution of Ombudsman (EIO) has demonstrated increased capacity through the development of reporting and grievance handling guidelines Whistleblower Protection Regulations and Records Management Guidelines. The Office of the Federal Auditor General’s newly trained 550 auditors has now reached 87.19% audit coverage of 143 federal government institutions. The Federal Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (FEAC) are supporting 174 Ethics and Anti-Corruption Clubs and five institutional coalitions comprising of 18 associations through the provision of anti-corruption training.