Ethiopia - The government of Ethiopia has indicated it will submit a new draft law on Charities and Societies to parliament before the end of October. Despite amendments to the previous draft, the current text remains highly restrictive and, if passed, would have the effect of heavily curtailing the work of independent civil society groups.

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Ethiopia: The government of Ethiopia has indicated that it will submit a new draft law on Charities and Societies to parliament before the end of October. Despite amendments to the text, the draft law remains highly restrictive and, if passed, would have the effect of heavily curtailing the work of independent civil society groups.

The draft law would prohibit non-Ethiopian organisations from carrying out human rights work and would establish tight forms of government control over Ethiopian organisations. Ethiopian organisations would also be forbidden to receive more than 10% of their funding from foreign sources. The law would grant to the government-appointed Charities and Societies Agency wide-ranging discretionary powers, including the power to refuse or withdraw registration with no judicial oversight. Any breach of the draft law would be punishable under criminal law.

Link here to Human Rights Watch's analysis of the draft law