Table of Contents

1.Youth and Gender Dimensions

2.Community Driven Approaches to Development in Ethiopia

3.Organizational Assessment of CSOs in Ethiopia

4.Overview of Decentralization and Status on Citizens’ Engagement in Decentralization Processes at the Regional and Sub-regional Levels

5.Enabling Environment for Civil Society/CSO Engagement in Ethiopia

6.Project Design Study

Ethiopia Civil Society Capacity Building Project

1.Youth and Gender Dimensions

Terms of Reference

Project Background

  1. With the objective of implementing its civil society capacity building mandate, the Government of Ethiopia (GOE) has requested financial support from the World Bank to finance a Civil Society Capacity Building Project (CSCBP). The project counterpart in the GOE is the Civil Society Capacity Building Program Office (CSCBPO) in the Ministry of Capacity Building. The project – which is currently being designed – is expected to start in early 2005.
  2. Ethiopia has committed itself to an ambitious structural state reform program involving fiscal decentralization, decentralized service delivery, and deepening democratization. This process of state transformation, which aims to enhance socio-economic development and reduce poverty at all levels, calls for civil society to play a constructive role in the country’s development. But Ethiopian civil society has not been able to keep pace with this change. From the level of communities up to organizations operating at national scale, civil society capacity is insufficient for it to discharge its role in the decentralization and democratization process and to broaden and speed up socio-economic development to the desired levels. The proposed World Bank-financed CSCBP will support the Government’s program to strengthen the capacity of civil society to play this important function in the country’s development.

Project Objectives and Scope

  1. While objectives and activities are evolving as the project is being designed and information gaps are being filled, the overall goal of the project is to empower citizens and their organizations for improved governance and service delivery, within the framework of the country’s ongoing decentralization and democratization reform agenda. Given the goal of empowerment, the project will have an explicit gender and youth focus – and in particular gender – due to Ethiopia’s low ratings on gender equality and inclusion. Specific project objectives include: (a) improving the enabling environment for civil society engagement; (b) strengthening the capacity of civil society organizations (CSOs) to make effective contributions to national and regional policy processes and legal advocacy; (c) enhancing the participation of community/user groups in decentralized public service delivery (e.g. education, health, infrastructure, social courts); (d) strengthening the capacity of CSOs, citizen groups and kebele level officials in participatory planning, as well as expenditure management and monitoring at the sub-regional levels; and (e) strengthening the capacity of CSOs to deliver services to their members and third parties.

Consultancy Background: Gender and Youth in Ethiopia

  1. This consultancy aims to inform the design of CSCBP in the areas of gender and youth inclusion. Ethiopia has some of the worst gender inequality indicators in the world. According to UNDP’s gender-related development index – which rates countries based on gender gaps in life expectancy, education and literacy, and earned income – Ethiopia ranks almost last in the world, that is 142 out of 146 countries. Gender inequality in Ethiopia is reflected in access to human capital assets, productive assets and decision-making in the political and household spheres. In terms of education, while there have been advances in reducing gender gaps, in 1999-2000 boys favored girls in secondary level enrolment in Ethiopia: the female to male ratio was 63 percent. As for gender-related health issues, Ethiopia continues to have among the highest total fertility rates and among the highest maternal mortality rates in the region. Lastly despite women’s contribution to the country's economy, mainly in the agricultural and the informal sectors, gender disparities in access to productive assets (e.g. land, credit) and decision-making remain firmly entrenched. The Government has enacted policy to address these inequities and inequalities, however, formal and informal institutions (e.g. cultural practices and norms) continue to reinforce these disparities.
  2. While a less researched topic, youth are another group confronting exclusion in Ethiopia. This is due in part to Ethiopia’s cultural context, which sets a cultural bias towards the views of elders and excludes the younger generations. But it is also due to the inherent nature of adolescence, which corresponds to the period of development between childhood and adulthood during which physical, social, and emotional processes of maturation take place. The elements of this developmental period include: pubertal maturation, cognitive development, ability to understand a future time perspective, ability to extrapolate, experimentation (including gender role experimentation), and moral development. The particular risks faced during adolescence that have implications for future outcomes during adulthood include early sexual experimentation and pregnancy, HIV/AIDS, school leaving, crime and violence and unemployment.

Consultancy Objectives, Scope and Tasks

  1. The consultancy has two main objectives: first, to identify the nature of gender inequalities and exclusion and youth issues and exclusion in Ethiopia as it pertains to the project objectives and activities; and second, to identify implications for the project, in terms of specific activities and interventions that should be financed by the project – particularly in terms of capacity building needs – and evaluation and monitoring indicators to be included in the project’s monitoring and learning framework. Specific tasks on include:

(a)On gender: (i) based on the existing literature and data, providing an overview of socioeconomic and decision making roles of men and women in Ethiopia, including gender differences in demographic and human development indicators (health, education etc.), their participation in both the market and household economies (including formal and informal labor markets); gender disparities in access to and control over assets and productive resources; and differences men’s and women’s participation in the public sphere and decision making from the federal to local levels; and (ii) identifying existing formal legal and institutional frameworks, norms, and other societal practices that lead (implicitly or explicitly) to gender differences, biases and inequality under different socio economic settings (urban, rural, pastoral etc,). To the extent possible, consultants should identify variations in gender issues, by region and ethnicity.

(b)On youth: (i) based on existing literature and data, defining and identifying the characteristics of youth – demographic, ethnicity, family, education, economic – in Ethiopia and specific risk factors affecting youth in the Ethiopian context (e.g. HIV/AIDS, early pregnancy, unemployment etc.), ensuring that the analysis is gender differentiated; and (ii) identifying existing formal legal and institutional frameworks, norms, and other societal practices that lead (implicitly or explicitly) to youth issues and exclusion under different socio economic settings (urban, rural, pastoral etc,). To the extent possible, consultants should identify differences in issues faced by youth, by region and ethnicity.

(c)For both gender and youth, identifying the implications of the above on project activities, interventions and monitoring indicators including:

(i)Changes to the enabling environment (legal, cultural norms) to ensure gender equality and youth inclusion in civic engagement activities.

(ii)Actions to ensure women’s and youth participation in national and regional policy processes and legal advocacy to be supported by the project.

(iii)Actions to ensure that youth, women and men participate and benefit from decentralized public service delivery (e.g. education, health, infrastructure, social courts).

(iv)Actions to ensure that youth, women and men participate and benefit from local kebele level participatory planning, as well as expenditure management and monitoring at the sub-regional levels.

(v)Specific capacity building measures required by women’s (and men’s) and youth groups to improve the capacity of their organizations to deliver services, including training and technical assistance required to improve the dynamics, management and effectiveness of their organizations and activities to ensure their access to information, partnerships, coordination and networking etc.

(vi)Capacity building activities required for CSOs and local officials to be gender and youth responsive.

(vii)Actions required to make civic education on democratic and legal literacy and constitutionalism effective in terms of reaching both women and men, as well as youth.

(d)On both gender and youth: based on the above, identifying specific activities to be funded by the project, and their costs, suggesting appropriate arrangements for implementing these activities, and identifying indicators for project monitoring and evaluation.

Approach/Methodology

  1. The work will be based on review of existing literature, interviews and consultations with key stakeholders and informants – including potential beneficiaries in urban and rural Ethiopia. Data collection should focus on the four major regions of the country (Oromia, Amhara, Tigray and Southern Regions). The level of effort will be 60 person days (30 days on each theme) plus any travel costs. The work will involve the following steps:

(a)Reviewing background studies conducted for CSCBP and other Bank financed capacity building projects.

(b)Carrying out a literature review and review of available data, including studies and information available at institutions responsible for women and youth affairs, as well as the laws, regulations, and other aspects of institutions related to gender and youth.

(c)Carrying out consultations with potential beneficiaries, key informants, CSOs and Government officials at different levels, and other stakeholders using inter alia methodologies such as SWOT (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, threats), to identify issues and actions the project could take.

(d)Analyzing results of data and information analysis and report writing.

(e)Participating in and providing input into relevant CSCBP project design and appraisal workshops, and revising the consultant report accordingly.

(f)Preparing presentations on results of the consultancy for Government counterparts, the Bank project team, etc. as needed.

Deliverables and Time Frame

  1. The consultant(s) will deliver the following products:

(a)Within two weeks of signing the contract, a proposal of the methodology and work plan for data and information collection.

(b)Within one month of the signing of the contract, an outline and preliminary findings for each theme (one on gender, the other on youth).

(c)A draft report, two months after signing the contract.

(d)A final report (maximum 60 pages, single spaced plus an executive summary and annexes) ten weeks from the signing of the contract. Annexes to the final report will include structured summaries of information gathered and feedback obtained, including a list of consultations carried out. The report should be available both in electronic and hard copy.

Consultant Requirements

  • Bachelor’s (and preferably master’s degree) in a related field
  • Extensive experience on gender and youth in Ethiopia
  • Solid record of analytical work in the areas of gender and youth.
  • Skills in qualitative (and preferably quantitative) methods.
  • A high level of written and oral communication skills in English language.

Ethiopia Civil Society Capacity Building Project

2.Community Driven Approaches to Development in Ethiopia

Terms of Reference

Project Background

  1. With the objective of implementing its civil society capacity building mandate, the Government of Ethiopia (GOE) has requested financial support from the World Bank to finance a Civil Society Capacity Building Project (CSCBP). The project counterpart in the GOE is the Civil Society Capacity Building Program Office (CSCBPO) in the Ministry of Capacity Building. The project – which is currently being designed – is expected to start in early 2005.
  1. Ethiopia has committed itself to an ambitious structural state reform program involving fiscal decentralization, decentralized service delivery, and deepening democratization. This process of state transformation, which aims to enhance socio-economic development and reduce poverty at all levels, calls for civil society to play a constructive role in the country’s development. But Ethiopian civil society has not been able to keep pace with this change. From the level of communities up to organizations operating at national scale, civil society capacity is insufficient for it to discharge its role in the decentralization and democratization process and to broaden and speed up socio-economic development to the desired levels. The proposed World Bank-financed CSCBP will support the Government’s program to strengthen the capacity of civil society to play this important function in the country’s development.

Project Objectives and Scope

  1. While objectives and activities are evolving as the project is being designed and information gaps are being filled, the overall goal of the project is to empower citizens and their organizations for improved governance and service delivery, within the framework of the country’s ongoing decentralization and democratization reform agenda. Given the goal of empowerment, the project will have an explicit gender and youth focus – and in particular gender – due to Ethiopia’s low ratings on gender equality and inclusion. Specific project objectives include: (a) improving the enabling environment for civil society engagement; (b) strengthening the capacity of civil society organizations (CSOs) to make effective contributions to national and regional policy processes and legal advocacy; (c) enhancing the participation of community/user groups in decentralized public service delivery (e.g. education, health, infrastructure, social courts); (d) strengthening the capacity of CSOs, citizen groups and kebele level officials in participatory planning, as well as expenditure management and monitoring at the sub-regional levels; and (e) strengthening the capacity of CSOs to deliver services to their members and third parties.
  2. Clearly, given the objectives of the project in terms of promoting community-based approaches to development, an understanding of the experiences in this area in the Ethiopian context is needed. This consultancy addresses this information gap.

Consultancy Objectives, Scope and Tasks

  1. As a key input into the design of the aforementioned project, this consultancy aims to carry out a stocktaking of community based development, and community driven development (CDD)[1] approaches in Ethiopia. Specific tasks include:

(a)Carrying out a stocktaking of major community development/CDD projects, programs and approaches being utilized in Ethiopia (direct donor-financed, NGO supported, World Bank-financed, Government supported).

(b)Identifying participatory mechanisms used in these projects and programs, and in what context (e.g. for land use planning, natural resources management, agricultural extension, infrastructure planning, etc.).

(c)Identifying how processes have been institutionalized, and their sustainability.

(d)Identifying implementation experience and performance, problems and constraints encountered, and lessons drawn from experience,

(e)Identifying how these projects and programs were implemented, e.g. how resources were channeled to the community level and managed, governance and accountability structures, how capacity constraints are addressed, intermediaries (NGOs, DAs, etc.) used in implementing the projects and programs the use of traditional structures such as edirs in implementing and managing project activities, the involvement of kebele and woreda officials in implementation, etc.

(f)Based on the above, identifying specific mechanisms for activities to be funded by the project, suggesting appropriate arrangements for implementing these activities, and identifying indicators for project monitoring and evaluation.

Approach/Methodology

  1. The work will be based on interviews and consultations with the major organizations engaged in community based development and CDD in Ethiopia. The level of effort will be 30 person days. The consultant will also be expected to:

(a)review background studies conducted for CSCBP and other Bank financed capacity building projects;

(b)carry out interviews and review relevant reports, data and information available;

(c)write a report, based on an analysis of results obtained;

(d)participate in and providing input into relevant CSCBP project design and appraisal workshops, and incorporating relevant inputs into the final report accordingly; and

(e)prepare presentations on results of the consultancy for Government counterparts, the Bank project team, etc. as needed.

Deliverables and Time Frame

  1. The consultant will deliver the following products:

(e)Within two weeks of the signing of the contract, an outline of the report and any preliminary observations.

(f)Within four weeks, a draft report for review.

(g)Within six weeks, a final written report (maximum 40 pages single spaced) with an executive summary and annexes (including structured summaries of information gathered and feedback obtained, list of consultations carried out, etc.). The report should be available both in electronic and hard copy.

Consultants Requirements

  1. A consultant will be selected based on:
  • Academic qualifications, preferably a master’s degree in a related field.
  • Extensive experience in community-based development – including a solid record of analytical work in this area.
  • Skills in qualitative (and preferably quantitative) methods.
  • A high level of written and oral communication skills in English language.

Ethiopia Civil Society Capacity Building Project

3.Organizational Assessment of CSOs in Ethiopia

Terms of Reference

Project Background

  1. With the objective of implementing its civil society capacity building mandate, the Government of Ethiopia (GOE) has requested financial support from the World Bank to finance a Civil Society Capacity Building Project (CSCBP). The project counterpart in the GOE is the Civil Society Capacity Building Program Office (CSCBPO) in the Ministry of Capacity Building. The project – which is currently being designed – is expected to start in early 2005.
  1. Ethiopia has committed itself to an ambitious structural state reform program involving fiscal decentralization, decentralized service delivery, and deepening democratization. This process of state transformation, which aims to enhance socio-economic development and reduce poverty at all levels, calls for civil society to play a constructive role in the country’s development. But Ethiopian civil society has not been able to keep pace with this change. From the level of communities up to organizations operating at national scale, civil society capacity is insufficient for it to discharge its role in the decentralization and democratization process and to broaden and speed up socio-economic development to the desired levels. The proposed World Bank-financed CSCBP will support the Government’s program to strengthen the capacity of civil society to play this important function in the country’s development.

Project Objectives and Scope

  1. While objectives and activities are evolving as the project is being designed and information gaps are being filled, the overall goal of the project is to empower citizens and their organizations for improved governance and service delivery, within the framework of the country’s ongoing decentralization and democratization reform agenda. Given the goal of empowerment, the project will have an explicit gender and youth focus – and in particular gender – due to Ethiopia’s low ratings on gender equality and inclusion. Specific project objectives include: (a) improving the enabling environment for civil society engagement; (b) strengthening the capacity of civil society organizations (CSOs) to make effective contributions to national and regional policy processes and legal advocacy;(c) enhancing the participation of community/user groups in decentralized public service delivery (e.g. education, health, infrastructure, social courts); (d) strengthening the capacity of CSOs, citizen groups and kebele level officials in participatory planning, as well as expenditure management and monitoring at the sub-regional levels; and (e) strengthening the capacity of CSOs to deliver services to their members and third parties.
  2. Given that the project aims to build civil society capacity, an assessment of CSOs to be targeted by the project is required in order to identify the capacity building needs of these groups. This consultancy addresses this information gap with regard to: mass organizations (women, youth, farmers), professional organizations (teachers, etc.), farmers cooperatives, NGOs/CSOs operating at the regional level, DA’s and other self help groups, and community-based traditional organizations.

Consultancy Objectives, Scope and Tasks

  1. As a key input into the design of CSCBP, this consultancy aims to carry out organizational assessments of mass organizations (women, youth, farmers), professional organizations (teachers, etc.), farmers cooperatives, NGOs/CSOs operating at the regional level, DA’s and other self help groups, and traditional organizations operating in the four main regions of Ethiopia: Tigray, Oromia, Southern Nations, Nationalities and Peoples Region and Amhara. The work will be organized by region. Specific tasks include:

(g)Mapping out by region, the mass organizations, professional organizations, farmers cooperatives, NGOs/CSOs, DA’s, and traditional organizations operating in each of the four regions – indicating those that operate at the woreda and kebele levels.