International Development Grant
Strengthening federal governance and pluralism in Ethiopia – program 2017 to 2023
Project Number: CA-3-D003994001
Status: Closed
Country/Region:
Maximum Contribution: $5,435,153.00
Start Date: July 25, 2017
End Date: June 30, 2023
Duration: 5.9 years
Project Description
The Forum of Federations program aims to strengthen a more gender-responsive federal system in Ethiopia enhancing democracy and governance political stability and dialogue between the state regions and citizens. The project seeks to improve government accountabilities by implementing a more formalized intergovernmental relation (IGR) system with clear roles and responsibilities more equitable distribution of federal revenues and increased government responsiveness to regional ethnic issues and citizens’ constitutional rights. Training on leadership networking opportunities and the extent of the constitution aim to increase women’s influence in government decision-making and promote awareness of their rights and avenues of recourse. The implementing partner the Forum of Federations enhances sustainability by building partners’ local capacity to address current governance issues and facilitating local ownership knowledge management and information-sharing among the government and its citizenry. By increasing understanding of women’s and men’s rights in Ethiopia’s constitution and improving consultation between government and civil society the project also improves the government’s accountability and transparency to its citizens.
Expected Results
The expected outcomes of this project include: (1) enhanced gender-sensitive management of inter-governmental relations; (2) improved inter-governmental fiscal relations supporting environmentally sustainable and equitable development for women and men; and (3) increased understanding of the constitution by state actors and Ethiopian women and men regarding their rights and avenues of recourse.
Progress & Results Achieved
Results achieved at the end of the project (September 2023) include: (1) supported the passing of the (IGR) proclamation setting the legal framework for a more formalized systematized and gender-sensitive IGR; (2) supported the passing of the intergovernmental fiscal relation (IGFR) law that brought two notable changes on the revenue sharing formula applied by the government. First regional governments now have a widely accepted or a fair share of the concurrent revenue bases. The implication is that the fiscal autonomy of regional states has significantly improved; they are now less dependent on General Purpose Federal Grants. Secondly the study made a significant contribution to the development of a transparent principles-based and relatively simple revenue-sharing mechanism in Ethiopia; and (3) conducted studies on three key issues affecting the constitutional rights of women and girls to pinpoint institutional judicial and administrative obstacles and developed options to tackle the challenges. Also trained relevant judicial and non-judicial actors based on the findings to make them aware of the challenges and possible remedies.
Key Information
Executing Agency:
Forum of Federations
Reporting Organization:
Global Affairs Canada
Program:
WGM Africa
Last Modified:
September 19, 2025
Development Classifications
DAC Sector:
Aid Type: Project-type interventions
Collaboration: Bilateral
Finance Type: Aid grant excluding debt reorganisation
Selection Mechanism:
Department-Initiated