Ethiopian non profits feel crippling effects as USAID funding freezes
ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia (MNTV)- Over 85 percent of civil society organizations (CSOs) in Ethiopia have paused operations following the Trump administration’s clampdown on the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), sources told The Reporter.
CSOs working on human rights, peace, health, and development issues have especially been affected by the cutoff of funding from the US agency, while others are also facing serious disruptions, according to the sources.
“Large CSOs in Ethiopia used to access up to 70 percent of their funding from USAID. Now they’re in crisis,” a representative of a prominent CSO told The Reporter, speaking anonymously. “We’ve suspended five of our projects due to the aid suspension.”
Other sources informed The Reporter that a leading CSO that had been supplying clean water to more than 100,000 IDPs in Tigray has also suspended operations following the USAID freeze.
The Authority for Civil Society Organizations has responded to the situation by instructing CSOs to desist from transferring property or conducting transactions.
These financial troubles come at a time when CSOs are already grappling with the federal government’s decision to suspend the issuance of work permits for employees of international non-governmental organizations (NGOs).
“We could not bring in our foreign staff. We are trying to operate with local manpower but it’s become very difficult for us,” said a CSO representative, who also works at the Ethiopian PSO Council.
Fasikaw Molla, head of the Authority, refused to comment on the issue.
Nonetheless, CSO representatives say the work permit suspension is a less pressing issue than the USAID funding freeze.
“We heard the government has suspended providing permits for international workers. We heard the government is preparing a regulation. There is a crisis in the CSO sector in Ethiopia. The USAID funding suspension has crippled all CSO activities and the Ethiopian Civil Society Organizations Council,” said a source representing the Council. “The operational environment was already in danger before the USAID issue.”
The Council counts more than 4,000 CSOs as members, but the total number of CSOs active in Ethiopia is higher.
“The nature of the USAID suspension is unclear. They said it is a temporary suspension for 90 days. The only option is to wait,” said the source.
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