community-based organizations and self-reliant development: a study of iddirs in jimma, ethiopia

Jérémie Schaeli

COMMUNITY-BASED ORGANIZATIONS AND SELF-RELIANTDEVELOPMENT

A study of iddirs in Jimma, Ethiopia

Travail présenté à l’école d’études sociales et pédagogiques (EESP)Pour l’obtention du diplôme de travailleur socialFilière animation socioculturelle

Lausanne, décembre 2008photo © JSchaeli 2007

Under the supervision of

Jean-Jacques Bolanz

and

Elaine Petitat – Côté

Acknowledgments

First of all, I would like to thank Jean-Jacques Bolanz for giving me the idea and opportunity

to conduct this research and for everything that allowed me to grasp the concept of self-

reliancy in social action during the short period we spent together before his demise. I would

also like to thank Obo Bekele, Ato Gelaye, Ato Aniley, Adane, Yohannes, Johnny, Tedla and

all others working at FCE’s head office in Addis Ababa. As well as Ato Mulat in Addis Ababa,

Ato Alamu in Jimma, Obo Abdulkerim, Berhanu, Fantahun, Feleke, Mulugeta, Tagay,

Addisalem, Sara, Jafer, Senait, Kidist and all other colleagues and friends at FCE’s Jimma

office. And of course Gohnesh, Aklilu, Saabit, Abdul Karim, and their friends in Addis and in

Jimma for the many laughs we shared; Elaine Petitat-Côté for her many efforts; Elisabeth

Hirsch Durett (and Elaine again) for keeping me going and not letting me abandon the

project; and all those I do not name here but whose presence has accompanied me

throughout this endeavor.

Above all, my dearest thoughts go to Kitessa, Kalaali and Biniam, who welcomed me into

their homes and their hearts in Jimma and Addis Ababa. Finally, my most heartfelt thanks I

reserve for my family and Giada, whose unconditional love and support have kept me going

all along – and continue doing so today.

***

The ideas expressed in this paper are the sole responsibility

of the author.

***

Community-Based Organizations and Self-Reliant Development

Jérémie Schaeli – 2008

Résumé français

Ce mémoire analyse les relations actuelles entre société civile et gouvernement dans le cadre du développement autonome, à travers l’étude d’organisations communautaires éthiopiennes, les iddirs, dans la ville de Jimma en Ethiopie.

En 2008, l’Ethiopie compte plus de 78 millions d’habitants, pour plus de 80 ethnies dont certaines ne dépassent pas dix mille représentants. Le pays est largement dépendant des aides financières internationales pour ses affaires courantes, et la majorité des fonds investis dans le développement social l’est par les nombreuses organisations non-gouvernementales (ONG) présentes en Ethiopie.

L’iddir est un exemple d‘organisation communautaire citoyenne. Il oeuvre pour la communauté de laquelle il est issu, au sein de la société éthiopienne. Il existe de nombreuses catégories d’iddirs, mais dans leur forme commune ils agissent comme mutuelles d’assurance en cas de décès de l’un de leurs membres. Les iddirs sont apparus au début du 20è siècle et se sont rapidement répandus, de communauté en communauté, à travers toute l’Ethiopie. Des nombreuses organisations communautaires éthiopiennes, les iddirs sont les plus nombreux et les plus influents dans la vie quotidienne de leurs membres. Dans certaines régions, dont Jimma où j’ai habité quatre mois et où j’ai conduit cette recherche, les iddirs englobent plus de 90% de la population. En 2004, pour une population totale d’environ 70 millions d’habitants, on estimait à 39 millions le nombre d’Ethiopiens membres d’un iddir.

Dans leur forme de mutuelle d’assurance, les iddirs remplissent quatre rôles principaux dans la communauté :

1. Les iddirs stabilisent la communauté face à un environnement instable: ils sont de taille humaine et proches de leurs membres; leurs registres sont fiables; ils font office d’autorité locale avec leurs règlements internes stricts et bien définis;

2. Les iddirs expriment la solidarité entre les membres d’une communauté: un exemple en est la création d’iddirs, à l’étranger comme en Ethiopie, par les populations migrantes; de plus, on y retrouve tous les membres de la communauté, même les plus pauvres;

3. Les iddirs perpétuent les coutumes dites “traditionnelles”: ils entretiennent le savoir et les habitudes de la communauté et rendent possible leur mise en œuvre;

4. Les iddirs offrent une assurance matérielle: la plupart des membres ne possède pas les moyens matériels d’organiser une cérémonie funéraire telle que le veut la coutume;

De plus, plusieurs iddirs, à Jimma et ailleurs en Ethiopie, ont récemment commencé à anticiper et à substituer les fonctions de l’Etat, notamment dans le domaine des services sociaux. Par exemple, ces iddirs s’occupent des orphelins de la communauté et les réintègrent dans la vie courante, gèrent des jardins d’enfants, informent et sensibilisent la population à des problèmes sociaux tels que le HIV et certaines « pratiques traditionnelles ». Ce faisant, les iddirs changent de rôle au niveau local et, en devenant eux-mêmes des ONG, modifient leur place dans le schéma de l’aide au développement.

L’Etat éthiopien est extrêmement centralisé, ce qui, renforcé par des réseaux de communications nationaux et locaux peu développés et en mauvais état, rend ses services lourds et difficiles à gérer. Les iddirs présentent une structure inverse : à l'échelle du pays, d'une région ou même d'une ville, ils sont par nature des services décentralisés. Ils sont donc particulièrement efficaces pour traiter avec les plus nécessiteux, ce qui est le but de tout


service social, notamment en raison de leur structure et leur enracinement dans la population. Par conséquent, les iddirs pourraient permettre de faire le lien entre la population et le gouvernement pour développer des solutions réellement efficaces par rapport aux besoins spécifiques des nombreuses communautés éthiopiennes.

Le gouvernement éthiopien a pris des engagements envers sa population en signant la plupart des traités internationaux en matière de droits humains. Cependant, l’Etat ne fournit pas à ses citoyens les services de base qui en découlent, en tous cas pas de manière uniforme sur le territoire. Dans la mesure où il ne les fournit pas lui-même mais qu'il existe d'autres structures civiles cherchant à le faire, on pourrait attendre du gouvernement qu'il soutienne ces structures. Cependant le pouvoir étatique éthiopien, comme de nombreux autres gouvernements, se méfie de « sa » société civile et par conséquent de telles structures hors de son contrôle. Toutes les organisations de la société civile sont donc étroitement surveillées, et les « dissidentes » sont fréquemment opprimées.

Le rôle du gouvernement éthiopien se limite pour l’instant à des aspects concrets et matériels, tels que l’octroi de permis d’établissement et de construction divers ; il devrait être plus étendu, sous la forme de confiance, de respect et de tolérance pour des formes diverses de structures et de manières de faire. Ce sont des conditions nécessaires à la prise en main, par les iddirs, des problèmes sociaux de leurs communautés.

Le manque de moyens financiers et de marge de manœuvre au niveau politique local freine l’action des iddirs. Les iddirs ont donc besoin de soutiens extérieurs, qu’ils vont chercher auprès d’ONG et du gouvernement éthiopien. Les ONG représentent des sources de financement et de soutien technique, mais elles œuvrent également comme expertes, facilitatrices ou médiatrices dans les relations des iddirs avec le gouvernement.

Cettre recherche postule que les iddirs sont parmi les acteurs les plus efficaces œuvrant au développement social de l'Ethiopie dans le sens où ils combinent en eux-mêmes déjà des aspects politiques, sociaux et économiques. Leur assise au niveau local et leur marge de manœuvre, bien que celle-ci soit pour l'instant encore d’avantage hypothétique que concrète, en font des structures principales pour assurer que les citoyens éthiopiens eux-mêmes soient les moteurs des changements qu'ils attendent. Ceci représente la base du concept de « développement autonome » (en anglais, self-reliant development). Ils est donc primordial de les soutenir dans leurs actions et, surtout, de s'assurer que les interventions extérieures soient entreprises de manière à ce que les iddirs restent ancrés dans la population et entretiennent des liens entre eux et avec les autres acteurs de la vie éthiopienne, qu'il s'agisse du gouvernement ou de l'économie privée.

Le texte est divisé en quatre chapitres. Le premier pose les bases historiques, politiques et socio-économiques qui permettent d'appréhender la situation éthiopienne et de définir le contexte dans lequel se développe la société civile éthiopienne, et plus particulièrement les iddirs. Le second chapitre présente les iddirs dans leur structure de mutuelle d’assurance, décrit leur fonctionnement interne et les relations entre membres simples et dirigeants, ainsi que les implications sociales de ces structures pour leurs membres et la communauté. La troisième partie du travail présente les iddirs en tant qu'acteurs locaux du développement autonome. Elle définit et situe le terme « développement autonome » dans les théories et pratiques du développement. Cette partie traite des changements de rôle, de mission et de vision pour les iddirs qui s’engagent dans cette voie. Enfin, le quatrième et dernier chapitre traite des relations extérieures des iddirs, en particulier avec le gouvernement éthiopien. Les différents rôles des ONG y sont traités, notamment celui de médiateur, à travers l’exemple d’une ONG éthiopienne, Facilitators for Change – Ethiopia (FCE).


Executive summary

This paper analyzes the role of community-based organizations in a community’s self-reliant development, through the study of iddirs in Jimma, Ethiopia, and their relationship with the Ethiopian government.

The underlying arguments of this research are that over 40 years of international development have not brought about the expected results in terms of poverty and mortality rate reduction, and of improvement in health and education; that Ethiopia is highly dependent on foreign aid; that its communication networks are deficient. In the absence of specific government services, community-based organizations are often the only response to the problems communities are facing. At the local scale, the coping mechanisms developed by the people in the area of social services are usually innovative and efficient, while centralized state services are heavy and difficult to manage.

In this paper, I argue that understanding the over-used term “participation” as a means of achieving set objectives perpetuates the conventional “top-down” approach; and that this vision is at the core of the failure of international aid and development efforts. Instead, I argue that participation, as derived from the “conscientisation” concept developed by Paulo Freire, must be an end in itself. The concept of self-reliant development fully encompasses this idea of conscientisation. Iddirs appear in the Ethiopian environment as strong and organized civil society actors that can effectively take on development activities within the concept of self-reliant development, but that they cannot act alone; and finally that the other two main actors in the field – NGOs and the Ethiopian government – must support iddirs and facilitate their way in the process of self-reliant development.

This paper focuses on iddirs because of their importance in the everyday community life of the people in Jimma, and because their “original” associative structure is a base for diversifying their practices. Originally, Iddirs are insurance-like funeral associations. They are respected community-based organizations found throughout Ethiopia, covering over 90% of the population in many locations.

To the contrary of the highly centralized Ethiopian state services, iddirs are decentralized; they are community-based; iddirs belong to their members, and members need their iddirs to be efficient; their grassroots legitimacy is extremely high, much greater than any government service or private company could ever dream of being. In their “original” shape, as funeral insurances, iddirs provide stability to the community in an unstable environment; they express solidarity among members of a given community; they perpetuate so-called “traditional” customs; and they provide material and psychological assistance to their members.

I have concentrated on the shift in function of some iddirs over time, from “insurance”-type structures to service-providing entities working in parallel to the state. Thus I focus on the new role, quite similar to that of local NGOs, that iddirs involving in “development activities” are taking on. Therefore, I discuss the implications of the change happening within the scope of the international “aid system”, in which iddirs become NGOs themselves. I also discuss the change in the relationship between iddirs and the Ethiopian government, that tends to consider iddirs as competitors for funds and power at the local level; as well as NGOs, who act as facilitators and mediators between iddirs and the government.


Index

Acronyms .......................................................................................................... ii!Introduction ..................................................................................................... iii!

Methodology ..................................................................................................................................... v!Outline ............................................................................................................................................. vi!

Chapter 1 – State and civil society in Ethiopia .....................................................1!Ethnic tensions ................................................................................................................................. 1!The Oromo ........................................................................................................................................ 2!Jimma ............................................................................................................................................... 3!

History ......................................................................................................................................... 3!The Jimma economy today ......................................................................................................... 3!Chatt ............................................................................................................................................4!Coffee ........................................................................................................................................... 5!Wood............................................................................................................................................6!

Organization of the State .................................................................................................................. 7!Civil society in Ethiopia ....................................................................................................................9!

Defining “civil society” ................................................................................................................9!Non-governmental organizations ..............................................................................................11!Defining “community-based organizations”............................................................................. 12!Grassroots organizations in Ethiopia........................................................................................ 12!Iddirs ......................................................................................................................................... 13!Iqqubs ........................................................................................................................................ 14!Mahbers..................................................................................................................................... 14!Self-Help Groups ....................................................................................................................... 14!

Chapter 2 – Iddirs in Jimma ............................................................................. 17!Categories........................................................................................................................................ 18!Dealing with life shocks .................................................................................................................. 19!Finances ..........................................................................................................................................20!Membership ....................................................................................................................................20!Structure ......................................................................................................................................... 21!

Rules and regulations ................................................................................................................22!Leadership .................................................................................................................................23!

The contribution of iddirs to community life ................................................................................24!Chapter 3 – Change in the role, function and vision of iddirs............................27!

Defining and applying “development” ........................................................................................... 27!Defining “development” ............................................................................................................28!Applying “development”............................................................................................................29!“Participation” in development theory .....................................................................................32!Self-reliant development ...........................................................................................................33!

Iddirs as actors of self-reliant development ..................................................................................34!Diversification of activities........................................................................................................34!Financial Shift............................................................................................................................ 35!Accountability............................................................................................................................ 37!Joining forces ............................................................................................................................39!Is “modernity” a threat to iddirs? .............................................................................................39!

Iddirs change role ...........................................................................................................................40!Chapter 4 – Handling new alliances..................................................................41!

Iddirs and the Ethiopian government............................................................................................ 41!The iddir-government pair........................................................................................................42!

Facilitators for Change – Ethiopia: an example of NGO mediation in Jimma .............................46!Conclusion........................................................................................................ 51!References ....................................................................................................... 54!Annex 1: A typology of Ethiopian CBOs.................................................................................................... 59!Annex 2: Three phases for FCE’s involvement ......................................................................................... 61!Annex 3: Establishment of CLSCs in Québec ...........................................................................................63!



ii

Acronyms

AI Amnesty International

CARE Cooperative for Assistance and Relief Everywhere CBO Community-based organization

CLSC Centre local de services communautaires (Local community-oriented service center)

CRDA Christian Relief Development Organization CSA (Ethiopian) Central Statistical Agency CSO Civil society organization

CSO-CBP Ethiopian federal government’s Civil Society Organization Capacity-Building Program

DERG The Coordinating Committee of the Armed Forces, Police, and Territorial Army

DFID UK Department for International Development EPRDF Ethiopian People's Revolutionary Democratic Front

FCE Facilitators for Change – Ethiopia GG Good Governance

HRW Human Rights Watch IBRD International Bank for Reconstruction and Development

ICO International Coffee Organization IFI International Finance Institution

IGA Income-Generating Activity IMF International Monetary Fund

MCB Ethiopian Federal Ministry of Capacity Building MDG Millenium Development Goal

NDPPC National Disaster Prevention and Preparedness Committee NGO Non-governmental organization OLF Oromo Liberation Front

PMLSAB Public Mobilization, Labour and Social Affairs Bureau PRSP Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper RBM Results-Based Management SAP Structural Adjustment Program

SDPRP Sustainable Development and Poverty Reduction Program SHG Self-Help Group

SWAp Sector-Wide Approach TPLF Tigray People's Liberation Front

WB World Bank

A Study of the “Iddir-Government” Pair in Jimma, Ethiopia

iii

Introduction

This paper is written on the basis of a six-month observation study in Ethiopia. I went there

with the aim of discovering more about social action in communities and about self-

organization. Observations and experiences I had gathered in Switzerland and Québec had

raised questions, which, as it appeared during a lecture focusing on “Community-based

development in Ethiopia”, I could take further by going there. According to the lecturer,

Jean-Jacques Bolanz, who had been working in Ethiopia for nearly 20 years, Ethiopians had

developed their own social structures to a very high degree of complexity. I presumed they

must therefore have innovative ideas about self-organization and the “civil society–

government” pair.

The goal of this research is therefore to analyze the role of community-based organizations in

a community’s self-reliant development, through the study of iddirs in Ethiopia, and their

relationship with the Ethiopian government.

From February to August 2007, I spent nearly four months in Jimma, the largest town in

Southwestern Ethiopia, working with “Facilitators for Change Ethiopia” (FCE), an Ethiopian

NGO. The rest of my time I spent in the capital, Addis Ababa, where I followed a one-month

course at the School of Social Work of Addis Ababa University. I also spent three weeks

visiting other areas and cities, which helped put into perspective the situation in Jimma.

During this period of six months, I lived continuously with Ethiopians who generously

welcomed me in their homes and their lives.

My ideas about community dynamics had been initiated during earlier travel: whether in

Guatemala, in India or Pakistan, countries where the state authorities did not provide their

citizens with appropriate social services, I was impressed by the ability of the people to rely

upon each other. At first I understood this as a lack of the state system and that the situation

would change over time: following the Western model, these countries too would sooner or

later reach their own form of “welfare state”. I then came to realize that in my country,

Switzerland, the state too was struggling with the question of how to “reach” all of its citizens.

I first heard about community-led projects during my social work studies in 2006. This

brought me, during the winter of 2006-2007, to Québec, Switzerland's social action mentor,

where the term “communautaire” (French for community-led, or community-based) has

been put in practice for nearly forty years. In the 1970s, specific historical and social

conditions in the province of Québec resulted in important developments in



iv

“communautaire” action and theory, together with very active civil society organizations. In

terms of government-led provision of social services, the situation resembled very much that

of Switzerland: state services and civil society actors worked together sometimes as much as

they opposed each other. Upon returning to Switzerland, it appeared to me that both the

Canadian and the Swiss government relied on civil society to a much greater extent than I

had previously thought.

In recent years, though they generally ensure their obligations to their people, welfare states

in the North have been turning to civil society, including for the provision of local social and

health care services. However, they are often not prepared to support people's organizations

fully by giving them enough leeway and resources for their activities or acknowledging them

as responsible experts in their sphere of activity. This lack of governmental recognition and

support, as we will see in this paper, is at the core of the concerns of Ethiopian civil society

today.

My hope, in going to Ethiopia, was to examine the involvement of state and civil society in a

completely different setting. Before going there, I understood that the Ethiopian state did not

provide large-scale, extensive social and health services to its people. I later began to realize

that Ethiopians had always dealt with this sort of problems themselves, and did not even start

to imagine that their government could be involved in the process – let alone, that it be under

the obligation to do so. In other words, at the local scale, the coping mechanisms developed

by the people in the area of social services were usually innovative and efficient, and in the

absence of specific government services, they were often the only response to the problems

communities were facing.

In this paper, we will be examining self-reliant development – or social development – which

has two main implications. The first is that it includes the notion of self-determination, or

self-rule, which means being in control of one’s decisions and activities. The second is that

social development is sustained by a combination of personal development, economic

development and political development.

I have focused on iddirs because of their importance in the everyday community life of the

people in Jimma, and because their associative structure is a base for diversifying their

practices. Iddirs are, originally, insurance-like funeral associations. They are respected

community-based organizations that are found throughout Ethiopia, often covering over 90%

of the population. In my understanding, iddirs represent, in the Ethiopian society, typical

agents of self-reliant development.

Introduction


v

I have concentrated on the shift in function of some iddirs over time, from “insurance”-type

structures to service-providing entities working in parallel to the state – in other words, on

the new role, similar to that of local NGOs, that iddirs involved in “development activities”

are taking on. Therefore, I discuss the implications of the change happening within the scope

of the international “aid system”, and the change in the relationship that is taking place

between the Ethiopian government, NGOs and iddirs.

Methodology

My approach has been qualitative. In all discussions, I constantly let people speak and asked

only open questions. I conducted 12 prepared interviews with iddir leaders, iddir members,

NGO staff and government officials. Additional information, concerning the general

understanding of the Ethiopian context, or people’s feelings and habits for example, was

gathered during innumerable informal discussions. Some of the most important pieces of

information I collected may have come during a discussion over a cup of coffee, or a bus trip,

at any time of day or night. I did not record everything, but in order to keep track of the

whole process, I kept a daily diary, in which I wrote quotes, thoughts, ideas and suggestions

for further enquiries.

It is important to note that I do not speak either Amhariña or Oromiffa (Amharic and

Oromic), the languages spoken in the areas I lived in. During the six months I was there, I

learned enough Amharic to hold a basic conversation with someone who knew some English

words, and enough Oromic to be polite. I did try however and, given the smiling and laughing

I provoked, my trying probably facilitated some conversations, by breaking the ice and

putting people at ease. Because I did not speak the local languages, I had to use translators.

In all cases I spoke to people for whom English was also their second, third or fourth

language. As often as possible, I have tried to balance inaccuracies by cross-checking

translations or ideas with the original speaker and others.

In this paper, Amharic and Oromic words are written in italics. Since there is not one official

spelling in Latin script for Amharic sounds – Oromic is written using latin script – the

spelling I use here may differ from other sources.

In order to preserve privacy, I have changed all names.

All dates correspond to the Gregorian calendar, commonly used outside of Ethiopia. Ethiopia

uses the Julian calendar (also called Ethiopian or Ge'ez calendar) which has 12 months of 30

days and a 13th month to complete the year. The new year begins on September 12 and there

is a seven-year difference with the Gregorian calendar.



vi

Finally, though this paper draws on various sources and testimonies, the ideas and

conclusions expressed are my own and any error of any kind is of my own responsibility.

Outline

This paper is divided into four parts. Chapter one sets the historical, political and socio-

economic basis for better understanding iddir development in Ethiopia. It situates iddirs in

the context of Ethiopian civil society, among other community-based organizations. Chapter

two looks into iddirs and their internal operation in their original shape, their structure and

their roles in the community. Chapter three examines different trends and theories in the

development field and defines self-reliant development. It discusses the change happening

both within and around iddirs diversifying their activities and collaborating with NGOs for

social development, and the shift in accountability that is taking place, from members to

donors. Chapter four deals with the relationships between the three main actors in Ethiopia’s

social development: iddirs, the Ethiopian state and NGOs. It describes the role of one local

NGO, Facilitators for Change – Ethiopia (FCE) as a mediator between iddirs and the

government, as well as new legislation that threatens iddirs as service providers.

Introduction


vii

Fig. 1 – Map of Ethiopia (OECD, 2007)



viii

Fig. 2 – Map of administrative Weredas of N-W Oromia


1

Chapter 1 – State and civil society in Ethiopia

Ethiopia hosts over 70 ethnic groups, some counting several million people and others only a

few hundred persons. In total, they amount to a population of over 75 million inhabitants.

They include the Afar, the Amhara, the Dorze, the Gurage, the Mursi – whose women are

famous for wearing a disc in their lower lip – the Oromo, the Tigray and the Walayta, to

name only a few.

Ethnic tensions

Bound by geography and [...] history, the various people of Ethiopia have been in almost continuous association for at least a thousand years, but have not yet fully merged into a single national society.

(Tareke, 1991: 41)

The Oromo and the Amhara are the two main peoples in Ethiopia and, together, they account

for nearly 80% of the population. Since the creation of the Ethiopian Empire in the late 19th

century by Emperor Menelik, all governments have tried to unify the country and to impose

Amharic as the national language. After Emperor Menelik came Emperor Haile Selassie, who

was overthrown in 1974 by a military junta – the DERG – in which Colonel Mengistu gained

power. He became the first President of the People's Democratic Republic of Ethiopia one

year later.

At the time, the Oromo, who always resented having foreign power imposed upon them,

joined the liberation movements. These, together with similar movements in Eritrea and

Tigray, brought down Colonel Mengistu in 1991. Eritrea won its independence that same year

and the Tigray's People Liberation Front (TPLF), under the name of the “Ethiopian Peoples'

Revolutionary Democratic Front” (EPRDF), has been in power since. However, the Oromo

national movement – mainly the Oromo Liberation Front (OLF) – did not achieve the

military victories of the TPLF, and today many Oromo feel that they are being denied access

to economic and political opportunities for ethnic reasons (Jalata, 1993)1.

1 The author refers to the “colonial empire of Ethiopia”, supported by Western and Eastern powers.



2

The Oromo

Owing to the difficult mountainous terrain and the river valleys, the loosely knit [Oromo] tribes split into even smaller units lacking any cohesion. Each unit was governed by duly elected officers whose authority depended completely on the good will of each individual in the tribe [...].

(Abir, 1965: 205)

The Oromo are one of the Cushitic-speaking groups living in Eastern and North-Eastern

Africa. Their language, Oromo, is the most prominent of all Cushitic languages with more

than 25 million speakers. Oromo social and political history dates back to at least the 10th

century A.D. Many older Oromo people told me how their customs had lost vigor over time,

due in part to federal pressure and more recently, to the growing and “modernization” of

Jimma.

However, something remains of the ancestral Oromo social order, described by

anthropologist Herbert S. Lewis as based on the respect of communal rules and good will

rather than on family or clan authority:

During my fieldwork among the Muslim and monarchical Galla of Jimma Abba Jifar, I found the following […]: The individual extended family with its male leader is largely independent, recognizing no higher kin-derived authority, and tied to no particular locality by blood relationship. A man and his sons either own their own land or rent from a landowner. When they cooperate with others it is on the basis of neighborliness and community relations, not kinship affiliation. The organization of activity on the local level is largely through the appointment of functionally specific officials.

(Lewis, 1974: 146)

Lewis also lists the principles that guide how individuals relate to each other. He notes how

the person, rather than the family, is given importance through:

1) the right of an individual to associate with others on the basis of friendship and free choice and to enter into contractual agreements with friends, neighbors, and partners; 2) the expectation that neighbors will aid and co-operate with each other, although friendship and free choice may cross-cut and weaken contiguity per se; 3) obedience to the formal rules of the voluntary associations to which individuals belong and loyalty to fellow members; 4) the application of universalistic achievement criteria in the choice of fellows and leaders; 5) the use of elections, casting lots and taking turns to ensure fairness.

(Lewis, 1974: 146)

Many of the characteristics noted here by Herbert Lewis are still visible today, and constitute

elements of the power of grassroots organizations – such as iddirs – in Oromo country.



3

Jimma

History

Jimma is the main urban center of Oromia in the South-West of Ethiopia. It is also the name

of an administrative subdivision of Oromia: the Jimma Zone. Today, approximately 200,000

inhabitants live in the city, and approximately 2,800,000 in the Jimma Zone. Its main

activities relate to chatt – a bush whose soft leaves are consumed for their mildly exhilarating

effect – coffee and manufactured wood products. I lived in the city of Jimma for about four

months in 2007.

In the 19th century, Jimma was a powerful kingdom and one of the important trading centers

in Eastern Africa for musk, ivory, skins and slaves. It was known throughout the Horn of

Africa and attracted Arab merchants whose caravans came all the way from the coasts of

Somalia. Today, people in Jimma still remember King Abba Jifar II, the last of their kings,

who reigned from 1878 to 1932, and whose palace stands on a hilltop overlooking the city and

its surroundings. But it was his ancestor Abba Jifar I who, in 1833 embarked upon a plan to

unite the Jimma tribes and succeeded in establishing his kingdom: “To strengthen his

position and to further the unity among his people, Abba Jifar adopted Islam and took the

title of Moti-king.” (Abir, 1965: 215).

Jimma's influence on the surrounding area grew rapidly. It peaked in the middle of the 20th

century and slowly decreased afterwards. Abba Jifar II was overthrown by Haile Selassie in

1932 but before that date he had established successful cooperation with the Italians who had

brought wealth to the area. In 1959, anthropologist Herbert S. Lewis explained that

“Although I did not press the subject very far with the people of Jimma, I never got the sense

that they disapproved of this alliance with the Italians at the expense of the Amhara

regime” (Lewis, 1996: 39). Some 40 years later, my general impression was that they were

indeed rather proud of it.

The Jimma economy today During the coffee-picking season, for three months everyone is rich. Restaurants are always full, people go out, eat and drink, these are amazing times. Then the money is gone and everyone sleeps for nine months until the next year.

Yohannes Zewde, 27 year-old male, Jimma, April 2007

The 1999-2000 World Bank report stated that 23% of the Ethiopian population was living

with less than US$ 1 a day, and 80% with less than US$2 a day. Jimma too is in a very

difficult economic situation. Though it is the largest city in South-Western Ethiopia, it does



4

not have any industries and it relies on the surrounding countryside for most of its

commerce2.

The Jimma Zone has an estimated total population of 2,773,730, of which 12.3% are urban

dwellers. According to federal Central Statistical Agency (CSA) data, in 1994, there were 1,185

doctors in Ethiopia and 208 of them working for the 24,500,000 inhabitants of Oromia. That

is, one doctor for nearly 120,000 people,. For the sake of comparison, in Switzerland there

were 3.8 doctors per 1,000 inhabitants in 2005, nearly 130 times more than in Ethiopia.

In the city of Jimma, female-headed families account for 37% of all households and an

estimated 3,000 street children try to survive on their own in the city streets. With frequent

electricity cuts, continual breakdowns of the water distribution system and the mobile

telephone network, constant maintenance of the 7.9 km of paved roads, not to mention the

hundreds of seemingly idle people in the streets, Jimma is no longer “the strongest state

among the Gibe-Galla country” (Abir, 1965: 215) that it used to be in the 19th century:

According to a May 24, 2004 World Bank memorandum, 9% of the inhabitants of Jimma have access to electricity, this zone has a road density of 77.0 kilometres per 1000 square kilometres (compared to the national average of 30 kilometres), the average rural household has 0.9 hectare of land (compared to the national average of 1.01 hectare of land and an average of 1.14 for the Oromia Region) and the equivalent of 0.5 heads of livestock. 15.1% of the population is in non-farm related jobs, compared to the national average of 25% and a Regional average of 24%. 57% of all eligible children are enrolled in primary school, and 12% in secondary schools. 29% of the zone is exposed to malaria, and 63% to Tsetse fly.

(Wikipedia, 2008)3

Today, the whole area depends primarily on the trade of natural resources, coffee, wood

products and chatt being the three main ones.

Chatt

Chatt is a bush whose soft leaves are chewed for their mildly exhilarating effect. Known as qât

or khat in Arabic, it is chewed by an increasing number of people in Ethiopia and exported

throughout the Arab world and as far as Australia, England, the Netherlands and the USA,

though it is illegal in most of these countries. It is Ethiopia's largest export trade income –

before cut flowers and coffee. There are no statistics available, but chatt chewers represent

approximately 80% of the adult population. In areas where chatt grows, the proportion rises

to nearly 100% of the whole population: people do not undertake any activity without

chewing and even 2 year-olds already suck chatt branches.

2 At least until the new road to Addis Ababa is completed. The 350 km trip will take five hours rather than eight, putting Jimma at a reasonable distance from the country’s capital city. 3 Data crossed-checked by myself with cited sources on 6 November, 2008.



5

It is a high-value crop for farmers and traders. Some people have been expressing growing

concern about the rapid increase in chatt consumption throughout the country, both because

of the individual expense involved and the time people spend chewing rather than working:

This morning I went to the office for these papers I have to get signed. If you go in the morning they are out for tea break; so you come back later but in the afternoon everyone is out of the office chewing chatt... it is impossible for anyone to start a business around here! One way or another they will have to be more efficient, because investors will never come if it takes them three months to get a paper signed.

Bisrat Kebede, 29 year-old male, Jimma, May 2007

A small amount of chatt has an energizing effect, stimulating the body and the mind. Chronic

abuse of chatt can however lead to behavioral changes and mental problems. A common

saying is that people build beautiful houses when they chew; but this is a dream that remains

a dream as long as they continue to chew… On the other hand it has an essential social

function too, as people meet around it to visit and to talk.

Coffee

Coffee is the world's second most traded commodity after petroleum. Internationally, 7.2

million tons of coffee are produced for an average of 500 billion cups of coffee consumed

every year throughout the world. The trade is worth nearly 10 billion dollars per year. Yet,

profits are concentrated at the top of the chain and leave small producers dependent on

prices negotiated at international level:

“Ethiopia, like many coffee reliant economies in Latin America and Africa, is on the brink of collapse. In Ethiopia earnings from coffee have dropped from 70% ($330m) to 35% ($165m) in the space of just five years. Meanwhile, official earnings from chat [...] have doubled to almost 13% ($58m)”.

(Oxfam, 2003)

The Kaffa region, where Jimma is situated, is the birthplace of coffee. Local inhabitants have

been consuming coffee beans since at least the 10th century. Beans were first considered a

food and eaten unroasted, with butter. Only several centuries later were beans roasted and

consumed as a beverage. Thanks to trade and economic connections between Muslim

followers, coffee spread throughout the Arab world, from Yemen to Saudi Arabia and Egypt

as early as the 15th century. All over Ethiopia, even the poorest families consume coffee on a

daily basis4. Brewing coffee is much more than a mere preparation: it is a ceremony and an

excellent occasion to invite neighbors or guests. Coffee is in fact so important in Ethiopian

4 In order to save money and be able to contribute the 0.5 to 1 birr (! 0.05 – 0.11 USD) weekly fee to their self-help group (see p. 15), women in Jimma decided to brew coffee only twice a day instead of three times.



6

social life that about half of the country's 343,000-ton annual production (ICO, 2007) is

consumed locally.

Coffee is clearly the largest business in and around Jimma. A vast majority of the people I

met depended at least partially on it for their living, either as farmers, truckers, wholesale

dealers or occasional pickers. However, it is a seasonal crop and most of the activities related

to it take place during three to four months only, from September to December. Moreover,

local farmers and their families compete with transnational companies, local companies and

the government. The power of local farmers – alone or in small groups – is very limited,

despite the high demand for quality coffee such as that growing in the Jimma area. Recently,

because of lowering prices at international level, many farmers have been forced to replace

coffee with chatt in order to survive:

Three years ago you could get twice as much for a kilo of coffee as you do today. I still grow some coffee on my land but if the price doesn’t improve this whole hillside will soon be covered in chat. We have no factories or any other means to live here. We dream of a better price for coffee, but only the government or God can assist us.

Hayder Hassan, a 53-year-old farmer, quoted in Oxfam (2003)

Wood

The other main local resource in the Jimma area is wood, from which different products are

made. The carved coffee tables, stools and chandeliers manufactured in Jimma are

increasingly in demand, though they are sold exclusively in Ethiopia. This positive aspect has

its setback: higher production means increasing the negative effects on the forests in the area,

for which no conservation measures have yet been set up.

This said, most people in Jimma suffer from lack of and irregular work and low salaries. The

economic difficulties, made worse from the sensitive political situation still prevailing today

in Ethiopia, and more specifically in Jimma, have forced people to develop their own coping

mechanisms. As we will see, the many community-based organizations found throughout the

country address the economic issue whilst serving as a form of social cement for

communities.



7

Organization of the State

§ 1. Every nation, nationality or people in Ethiopia shall have the unrestricted right to self-determination up to secession. § 2. Every nation, nationality and people shall have the right to speak, write and develop its language and to promote its culture, help it grow and flourish, and preserve its historical heritage. § 3. Every nation, nationality or people in Ethiopia shall have the unrestricted right to administer itself; and this shall include the right to establish government institutions within the territory it inhabits and the right to fair representation in the federal and state governments.

Constitution of the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, art. 39

In 1991, the federal government engaged in a regionalization process, which began by

dividing the country into nine regional states and two chartered cities5. The aim was to

devolve governmental power from the center to the regions, bearing on the importance of

recognizing ethnic specificities and the need for self-development. In practice, regional

governments are responsible for delivery of primary and secondary services – education,

health, agriculture, and the construction of some roads (World Bank, 2004).

At regional level, the structure of government is divided into three levels:

Each region has a number of zonal, wereda and kebele tiers of administration, to which it must transfer responsibilities and resources to promote decentralized government at all levels of government. The main objectives of Ethiopia’s regionalization policy are to enable the different ethnic groups to develop their culture and language, manage socio-economic development in their respective areas, exercise self-rule and bring about an equitable share of national resources among the regions.

(Ayenew, 2002: 130)

There are 12 zones in the state of Oromia; its capital is Adama, better known as Nazret,

located 100km southeast of Addis Ababa. The Jimma zone counts 13 woreda; the woreda are

further divided into kebele, each one containing several villages or city districts, which cover,

on average, 1,000 households (5,000 people). Jimma is divided into 27 kebele.

Regarding social affairs, the competent federal ministry is the Federal Ministry of Labour

and Social Affairs. It is represented in each regional government: in Oromia, the “Public

Mobilization, Labour & Social Affairs Bureau” (PMLSAB) – itself separated in two branches,

“Public Mobilization and Labour” and “Social Affairs” – is responsible for all social matters,

from policy to decision-making, budgetary allocations and hiring personnel. In addition,

organizations working on social issues are in close contact with the National Disaster

5 The nine regional states are Afar, Amhara, Benishangul-Gumuz, Gambela, Harari, Oromia, Somali, Southern Nations, Nationalities and People's Region (SNNP) and Tigray. In addition, there are two chartered cities: Addis Ababa and Dire Dawa.



8

Prevention and Preparedness Committee (NDPPC). It is chaired by the Deputy Prime

Minister and composed of the ministers of Finance and Economic Development, and Health.

Throughout Ethiopia, there has been a degree of tension in the decentralization process, due

at least in part to lack of qualified personnel. Professor Meheret Ayenew best describes this

tension:

Lately, it has become increasingly evident that the shortage of trained personnel and inadequate institutional and administrative capacity that many regions are experiencing has hampered efforts to institutionalize decentralized governance and promote balanced development in the country.

(Ayenew, 2002: 130)

This is explained by the lack of available funds. The table below illustrates the composition of

expenditures by level of government:

[in million Birr6 and as % of national total], 1998

Federal

government Regional governments National Total 598.7 461.1 1059.8 Roads

56.50% 43.50% 100.00% 429.9 1272.8 1702.7 Education

25.20% 74.80% 100.00% 104.5 533.8 638.4 Health

16.40% 83.60% 100.00% Source: (Tewodaj, Gezahegn, & Zelakawork, 2007)

A document published on the Oromo Federalist Democratic Movement’s website (Abebe,

2005) and referring to World Bank 2003 data reveals however that between 1996 and 2003,

the funds transferred to the regions never exceeded one third of the total federal budget; at

29.8%, the 2009 federal budget shows no sign of improvement of that ratio.7 In contrast, the

defense budget has been raised from 3 to 3.5 billion Br in 2008, and again from 3.5 to 4

billion Br for 2009.

Civil servants employed at both the regional (Oromia) and the local (Jimma) level explained

moreover to me that most of the available funds were allocated to the mobilization of citizens

rather than to the sector of social affairs. I was told that in this way the government could

better keep an eye on the population and influence the people. As a result, at the time of my

visit, there were only 14 social workers in the whole Jimma zone.

6 The Birr (Br) is linked to the US Dollar. Thus the exchange rate is quite stable at 9 Birr ! 1 USD. 7 “The Federal Government has approved a record high 54.9 billion Br budget for the next budget year, of which 16.4 goes to regions in the form of subsidies.” (Zenebe, 2008).



9

Civil society in Ethiopia

The enormity of the problems clearly indicates that the [Ethiopian] state alone cannot tackle the problem on its own and it needs to be supported in addressing the same.

(Satishkumar, Weldesemaet, & Asfaw, 2008)

“Civil society is currently weak, fragmented and disparate.” (Ministry of Capacity Building, 2004)

Defining “civil society”

Given the dire situation and with such limited government support, who takes care of the

Ethiopian people? Beside the state agencies, most other actors in the field of social work are

the so-called “civil society organizations” (CSOs), which include non-governmental

organizations (NGOs), community-based organizations (CBOs) and churches:

Civil society refers to the arena of uncoerced collective action around shared interests, purposes and values. In theory, its institutional forms are distinct from those of the state, family and market, though in practice, the boundaries between state, civil society, family and market are often complex, blurred and negotiated. Civil society commonly embraces a diversity of spaces, actors and institutional forms, varying in their degree of formality, autonomy and power. Civil societies are often populated by organisations such as registered charities, development non-governmental organisations, community groups, women's organisations, faith-based organisations, professional associations, trade unions, self-help groups, social movements, business associations, coalitions and advocacy groups.

The London School of Economics, 2004

According to Ethiopian law, all civil society organizations come under the same association

legislation: Article 404 of the Civil Code (CRDA, 2006: 13). This includes NGOs as well as

CBOs.

Ethiopia has adopted or ratified the principal international human rights treaties, such as the

Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the International Covenant on Civil and Political

Rights and the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights. All affirm

the right of citizens to organize themselves as non-state actors around their own interests.

Furthermore, when Emperor Haile Selassie promulgated the “Consitution of the Empire” in

1955, Ethiopia chose the direct application of international law over its internal judicial order

(CRDA, 2006).8 The government is therefore responsible for the translation as well as the

application and promotion of international legislation, including the recognition and

promotion of the right of its citizens to associate according to their interests.

8 Article 9 (4) of the Ethiopian Constitution (adopted in 1994) states that : “All international agreements ratified by Ethiopia are an integral part of the law of the land” (Dijena Wembou & Fall, 2000).



10

This said however, the Christian Relief Development Association (CRDA), one of the main

umbrella organizations in Ethiopia with over 250 member NGOs, claims that despite some

progress at federal level – recent establishment of the Office of Ombudsman and the two

Ethics and Human Rights Commissions – political overlook has been reinforced since the

2005 elections: individual freedom which had improved since the EPRDF took power in 1991

has thus been limited in recent years (CRDA, 2006).

Indeed, registration of all associations is compulsory – though it does not yet include most

iddirs, iqqubs, mahabers and other Ethiopian CBOs – and all civil society organizations are

accountable to the government, which grants re-registrations on the basis of detailed

accounts of their activities. Each separate CSO project activity requires a specific agreement

with the corresponding regional government office.

Therefore, if social work is in large part carried out by associations and other such CBOs and

NGOs, the federal government maintains control over them. Unfortunately, regional

governments often lack technical knowledge and capacity to deal with these issues efficiently

(Satishkumar, Weldesemaet, & Asfaw, 2008); much time and efforts are often wasted in

bureaucratic matters, not to mention the actual halt in some activities.

Box 1 – Working with government support

One local NGO that worked with iddirs on human rights issues,

providing legal aid, was requested by local authorities to present a

separate agreement for this and to stop collaboration with iddirs in

three localities. The NGO was told that "this was not its mandate".

Work stopped for three months in one of the localities. In order to

establish legal and human rights resource centres, the NGO

considered it necessary to train iddir leaders, but the local

government was adamant that it, rather than the NGO, select the

trainees who would run these centres.

(CRDA, 2006: 23)

Today, most CBOs in Ethiopia – to the difference of NGOs – are still not registered. However,

CBOs diversifying their activities and providing services would probably be required to

register, in particular if they obtain foreign funds and engage in human rights-related work

(see Chapter 4: Iddirs and the Ethiopian government). Yet, forcing CBOs to register would

greatly impair their independence and versatility. CRDA (2006) criticizes the very idea of



11

registration of CBOs and NGOs: “Article 31of the FDRE Constitution provides the right of

every person to freedom of association for any cause or purpose [...]. Registration in one

way or other affects the exercise and full realization of freedom of association.”

In conclusion, I would like to emphasize Richard Fries’ words (in CRDA, 2006), who notes

that “there is fundamental tension between civil society and legal systems”. He adds that a

legal framework constrains the freedom and flexibility needed by CBOs, given that “an

enabling legal environment enhances civil society while a hostile legal environment (or lack

of it) endangers it”. There is therefore a need to improve the civil society-government

relationship in general, and specifically for CBOs.

Non-governmental organizations According to the current registration numbers of the Ministry of Justice, there are more than 1,200 registered NGOs [in Ethiopia] and thousands and thousands of CSOs (predominantly CBOs as well as membership associations)

(CRDA, 2006)

There are numerous classifications of non-governmental organizations (NGOs) by type, size

and orientation. In Ethiopia, we find both local and international NGOs. The former are more

rooted in the reality of Ethiopia than the latter; they are more directly linked to the condition

of the people they work with. Moreover, local NGOs are less likely than international NGOs

to cease their activities abruptly in a given area because of policy or financial decisions made

at foreign-based headquarters. Local NGOs are not, however, totally independent. Beside

government control, it is important to keep in mind the influence donor agencies (often

foreign-based) have on local NGOs through the allocation of funds for specific programmes,

projects or sectors of activity.9

Since the 1930s, missionaries have been working as non-government bodies in Ethiopia.

Other NGOs, such as the Ethiopian Red Cross, the Boy Scouts Association, the Women’s

Welfare Association and others were created during the 1950s and 1960s.

From the beginning of the second half of the twentieth century, with the 1973 famine as a

culminating point, the focus of NGOs, such as Save the Children, Oxfam and World Vision,

was predominantly in relief and humanitarian work. The change towards a rights-based

approach has been gradual, but it is only after the fall of the DERG military junta in 1991 that

NGOs were allowed to take over new roles such as advocacy, lobbying, policy issues or human

rights, at least in a formal and organized manner:

9 For more information on the influence of donors funding local NGOs, see Rahman (1993), Burkey (1993), Fowler (1999), Slim (2000) and Chambers (2005).



12

Shifting the mandate of registration to the Ministry of Justice in 1997 can be taken as a milestone for the realization of NGOs’ role beyond disaster response and relief work.

(CRDA, 2006: 7)

Defining “community-based organizations” Community-based organizations (CBOs) – or grassroots organizations – are generally

created locally and run by their members. Amongst all CSOs, CBOs are the most important

organizations involved in social work in Ethiopia – in numbers, activities and diversity. Most

CBOs are autonomous and self-sufficient. They usually work for the community from which

they emerge. There is no fixed definition of “community-based organization”; below I list a

few:

A nonprofit organization which works to serve the disadvantaged in the community in which it is located.

(Wisconsin Affordable Assisted Living, 2007)

One of the greatest strengths of many community organizations is the sense of caring, compassion and support they demonstrate in their communities.

(US Department of Labor, 2006)

[To the difference of NGOs,] CBOs are made up of members who should themselves gain from their organization's activities.

(Fowler, 2000)

Being community-based is not simply about where you are located and what your organization's legal status is. Being community-based means being: community-focused; community-motivated; community-rooted; community-identified.

(The AIDS Committee of Toronto, 2007)

I would add to this that CBOs are fundamentally about human dignity, about people joining

forces and building upon their own resources to face their problems. The following testimony

underlines this:

We know that there is no easy and quick solution to our problem of food and clothing. But we as women did not even have the right to speak. In our organization we can now meet and speak, and share and discuss our problems. We feel that we are now human beings. We look forward to our weekly meetings where we stand up and speak – we can thereby release ourselves as we have never been able to do before, and we now have the courage to speak the truth.

A landless women’s group in India (quoted in Rahman, 1993)

Grassroots organizations in Ethiopia [...] there are 39 million members of iddrs in the country with 7,000 [iddirs] just in Addis Ababa, while [iqqub] [...] have 21 millions members, and 9 million members are in other self-help groups.

(Ministry of Capacity Building, 2004)



13

Autonomous CBOs have been part of the development of Ethiopia from time immemorial

and to this day they remain extremely active. Among the contractual agreements that

anthropologist Lewis mentions (see Chapter 1: The Oromo, p. 2) are the structures and

organizations that the Oromo and other Ethiopians have developed to cope with their specific

ecological and social settings. The general setting in which these CBOs emerged and

developed was shaped in the 20th century by Ethiopia's three previous governments, which

exerted considerable pressure on the people without providing essential services. As a

consequence, iddirs and other social constructions developed and became an integral part of

the life of many Ethiopians, allowing them to perpetuate their habits in their environment.

A study of citizens' associations in Ethiopia carried out for the World Bank (2004) lists many

such groups: the ezen, iqqub, mahaber, jemma, iddir, sembete, gerator/mozoya, qib-

yidemuji, dafo and wonfel for example, as well as several other types of associations, groups

and cooperatives (Muir, 2004). They serve multiple purposes and include, for example,

agricultural work groups, herding groups, water users' groups, religious feast groups,

producers' cooperatives, seed and grain groups…10 Some of these grassroots organizations –

such as iqqubs, iddirs and mahabers – are found nation-wide, in both rural and urban

settings. Others are specific to rural areas or to certain ethnic groups. Still others are based

on gender or age. Similar organizations can be found under different names in different parts

of the country.

Iddirs are the most widely spread of all grassroots organizations in Ethiopia and form the

topic of Chapter 2; below I list a few of the prominent Ethiopian grassroots types of

organizations.

Iddirs

Iddirs are, originally, a form of insurance scheme covering funeral expenses. Members

contribute a fixed sum of money every month. The iddir deals with both the social and the

economic aspects of a member's funeral ceremony, which, if carried out according to

tradition, is so costly that it could ruin a whole family.

While some iddirs restrict their role to funeral insurance, others offer a wider range of

services to their members, such as microcredit or health insurance schemes, but always in

addition to their funeral insurance base. In recent years in Jimma, some iddirs have started

collaborating with service-providing NGOs. They have, for example, been managing

kindergartens, giving information and support about HIV/AIDS, and taking care of orphans

10 See Annex 1 for a typology of Ethiopian CBOs.



14

within the community. They have thus moved from their original role as a community

insurance to that of provider of social services. However, it is important to note that they

remain in the hands of the population and therefore that they specifically fit local conditions.

Iddirs exist in all parts of the country, regardless of ethnic differences. This may be seen as a

sign of their simplicity and flexibility, as communities adapt them to their specific needs. In

Chapter 2, we will consider iddirs in the urban context of Jimma.

Iqqubs

Iqqubs are the second most frequent form of Ethiopian CBOs. An iqqub is an autonomous

lottery. Members contribute a fixed sum of money on a regular basis. At each meeting one

member wins the whole sum; he will not win again until all members have had their turn.

The winner is usually cast by lottery, though it seems that “chance” can be twisted as the sum

is often allotted to a specially needy individual. To enter the iqqub, new members require a

guarantor within the group.

Iqqubs have been formed in Switzerland among the Ethiopian diaspora, and have allowed

several members to start businesses despite their difficult condition as migrants.

Mahbers

A mahber is a religion-based group in which members meet once a month on the day of a

specific saint to share meals and contribute fees. The money thus collected is used to support

members and their family during both happy and sad events such as the wedding or the

death of a family member. In this, they are similar to iddirs but they remain informally

structured and do not play a role in community life.

Self-Help Groups In the beginning our husbands were suspicious of our activities. Why did we need to leave our house and children? Even neighbors would look at us as if we were bad wives and mothers. So we made the meetings very short and we explained again and again to everyone what we were doing. It is after my husband saw the results, after I brought money home, that he changed his mind. He is very happy now, we do woodwork together with the loan money.

A 30-year old member of “Misratch” CLA, March 2007

In response to women’s specific condition in Ethiopia – low social status, poverty, lack of

education, poor health – some years ago, foreign NGOs brought the concept of self-help



15

groups (SHGs) from India to Ethiopia11. In such organizations in Jimma, seven to 15 women

form a self-help group; they establish their own principles and rules, which generally include

a form of rotational leadership, and start saving small amounts of money; added together, the

sums are loaned to members in turn. Members of the SHG own the structure and the money,

establish their bylaws, learn how to manage the group, how to keep accounts and how to deal

with relatively large sums of money. They experiment with democracy, decide on activities

and learn to act and to speak in public. Implementing bodies such as NGOs or government

offices are expected to follow and support these groups until they reach a state of

independence.

In order to strengthen the movement, SHGs are expected to aggregate into larger clusters,

forming so-called “Cluster Level Associations” (CLAs) consisting each of around ten SHGs.

CLAs apply directly to micro-finance institutions for larger loans. The positive effects of self-

help groups are therefore economic, but also social, and to some extent political, as their

increased activity outside the household affects the gender balance prevailing at home and in

society. Indeed, women are usually expected to be very discrete, to serve others and not to

speak up. During my several visits to SHGs and CLAs, I was able to see that these activities

made women very proud to learn and to practice speaking in public. Other SHG members

clearly expressed their admiration for those of them who were good at oral presentations.

11 The concept of SHG was first initiated in India by the NGO MYRADA in the mid-1980s and spread rapidly to a number of other countries. In India alone, around 3 million women were involved in SHGs in 2005 (Harper, 2005). In Jimma, there were already over 100 SHGs in 2007.


17

Chapter 2 – Iddirs in Jimma

There is sufficient evidence to suggest that iddirs emerged in the context of the development of Addis Ababa and probably do not go back beyond the beginning of the twentieth century. There is mounting evidence that a few iddirs were established before the Italian occupation, probably by migrants and mainly from Gurage, though the degree of formalization still requires investigation. There is also sufficient evidence to suggest that iddirs increased in number during the Italian occupation with increasing use of currency, formalization, diffusion, and transformation from mono- to polyethnic voluntary organizations.

(Pankhurst & Haile Mariam, 2000)

Iddirs focus, to begin with, on supporting their members financially and emotionally at the

time of death. In Ethiopia, death is indeed a central matter in all categories of society because

of its importance as a social event for the community1. In such stressful moments iddirs

provide emotional, social and psychological support as well as material support to those

directly concerned, while managing the community’s involvement in the ceremony. Over the

years, iddirs spread to all parts of the country and today they form an integral part of many

communities throughout Ethiopia, especially in urban areas. We also find them abroad

amongst emigrant populations.

Iddirs are formal yet dynamic structures, which have evolved according to their members'

needs, as well as they have been shaped by the political climate of the moment. Membership

is open and choice is vast as to types of iddirs. There is no limit to the number of iddirs a

family or an individual can join. Social pressure is high for individuals to comply with the

implicit rule that everyone must belong to at least one iddir. Depending on the type and the

situation, iddirs count between a dozen and a thousand members.

Iddirs are respected because of their activities, the services they offer, and their

organizational structure. They raise membership fees from the community and allow poorer

people, who cannot pay, to participate by providing their time and labor. Iddir leaders –

respectable elders whose advice is much sought for – are in all cases volunteers. Iddirs have

rules and bylaws, which they enforce strictly; most of them keep written records of their

activities. Hence, iddirs provide a structure to the community, based on its own means and

needs.

1 Linkage between death of a community member as a social happening and iddirs’ rootedness in their community requires further investigation. I think this would lead to a better understanding of what anchors iddirs in their communities.



18

In this chapter I will describe the diverse shapes and functions of iddirs, as they were

originally formed.

Categories

I am a member of the “Shoa Iddir”. Our iddir is open to everyone, but all of us come from Shoa. There are around 130 members now.

Biniam Fekade, 40 year-old male, Jimma, July 2007

There are numerous categories of iddirs. The most common are community iddirs, based on

the members’ location – a neighborhood, a village; but several other types exist. Researchers

(in Pankhurst & Haile Mariam, 2000: 43) listed 15 categories depending on membership and

interest:

! community, tribal and institutional iddirs (first mentioned by Pankhurst and Eshete, 1958);

! friend and family iddirs (Aredo, 1993);

! women, youth, displaced people, squatter or settler, and religious iddirs (Tadele, 1997);

! coffee, cereal and fuelwood, evening company, roasted grain and local beer, and transport iddirs (Tesfaye, 2002), which the authors qualified as “specialized functions” of existing iddirs and therefore not as fully functional iddirs in themselves.

In Jimma, where there are at least 150 iddirs, the most numerous ones are community iddirs

(100-120), followed by women’s iddirs (20-30), religious iddirs (10-15) and migrants’ iddirs

(10-15); there is one youth iddir.

Women’s and youth iddirs are particular in that they are both closely related to community

iddirs, but they usually play different roles.2 Most women’s iddirs do not provide money in

case of death, but they offer support during funeral ceremonies; women belonging to these

iddirs work in parallel to the community iddirs, they visit the sick and the bereaved and

organize cooking during funerals.

As for the youth iddir, it was created in one neighborhood in Jimma by the oldest community

iddir in town. It was still new at the time of our meeting and very dependent on its “father”

community iddir. It was organized like an iddir with regular contributing members and

voluntary leaders from within the group of teenagers, but it did not focus at all on death: it

offered activities and training for young people between 12–18 years of age, basically

“teaching them not to be idle”, as one of the “father” iddir leaders explained. Its qualification

as an iddir is therefore questionable, as it resembles more a “self-help group”. The main

2 The boundary is blurred between women’s groups, which range from small-scale neighborhood groups to full-scale iddirs with bylaws and their own office.



19

reason why I do not think the youth iddir in Jimma should be called an iddir is because it

does not deal with major life shocks.

Dealing with life shocks

Iddirs all share one common denominator: they assist members confronted by death in their

family. In addition to death, many iddirs are also active in other extreme situations such as

the destruction of one's house or the loss of one's cattle. Some also assist in other important

moments in the life of their members, such as in time of illness or of a wedding3. As they keep

records of their members and activities, community iddirs also act as local registry offices

whose data is often more reliable than that of the government...

In the case of death, the iddir plays a double role. The first is material: the iddir provides a

tent, chairs and benches that will be set up in the family's backyard, or on the roadside

nearby, in order to welcome visitors. For a full week4, the bereaved family will be visited by

dozens of people, as community members, friends and family are expected to pay their

respects regularly – and more than once – during the whole ceremony. The iddir also

allocates a sum of money to the family members, according to their financial needs.5

In parallel to this, the iddir organizes community support, often through allied women’s

iddirs: a member goes from door to door to spread the news and to explain how the

ceremony will be handled, as well as the role of each individual; the women organize the

meals and cook for everyone.

Thus, in the basic functioning of an iddir, the psychological and social aspects it offers its

members are just as important as the material support it gives:

– When my wife suddenly died a few days ago, it was terrible. I did not know what to do. Now it soothes my pain to spend all my time surrounded by everyone in the community; by my family, my friends and neighbors. – Everything is taken care of by women who relay to prepare the meals and make sure there is enough for everyone. Look at all these people who come and share a meal, chew [some chatt] and spend some time with us: some stay for five minutes,

3 One study (Dercon, Bold, De Weerdt, & Pankhurst, 2004a: 14) noted the following items iddirs covered in Sirbana Godeti village (Oromia region): destruction of house (40%), illness (30%), fire (26%), death of cattle (24%), harvest (14%), wedding (14%). 4 I was told that the visits used to last for two weeks and up to a month, but that in recent years, “even in Jimma”, people no longer had enough time and that it was not uncommon to reduce the time of visit to a few days only. 5 The amount varies greatly, depending on the iddir and the situation of the recipient. Surveys showed it ranged at least from 200 to 2,000 Birr (Dercon, Bold, De Weerdt, & Pankhurst, 2004) (Tafere, Tadele, & Lavers, 2006). Typical Ethiopian salaries include: 7-12 Birr/day (170-280 Birr/month) for unqualified manual work; less than 500 Birr/month for teachers; 2,500 Birr/month for a civil engineer.



20

others for hours; and if they can, they come back every day. This is how it is here; we need to share these moments. It is bad to stay alone when people die.

Roba Leenjisoo, 40 year-old male, Jimma, May 2007

Finances

Iddirs that started with monthly contributions of around 10 santim (cents) 50 years ago, saw

these fees increase slowly over the years; today they reach three to four birr per month in

Jimma. I was never told this was too high.6

Membership fees are usually collected every month, though this differs between iddirs.

Members go to the iddir’s office in person and pay in cash, as bank accounts are still quite

rare, where available. Larger urban iddirs may own bank accounts so as to prevent theft.

Thanks to rigorous management, many iddirs have accumulated large sums of money,

enough, for example, to build a large hall or rebuild a road or create a new electric line in the

neighborhood.7 The size of an iddir roughly determines the amount it will have available: an

iddir with 1,000 members is likely to be “richer” than one with 25 members. But bylaws are

essential, as they define membership fees and how much money is spent and how.

In 2000, Pankhurst and Haile Mariam had not heard of any iddir going bankrupt. During my

stay, there were rumors that financial difficulties had been forcing – or had already forced –

iddirs to close down in Addis Ababa. Indeed, one of the main problems recently faced by

iddirs is the dramatic increase in deaths due to HIV/AIDS8 and thus the increase in

disbursement as there are more funerals, as well as loss of income because there are less

members.

Membership

Size of iddirs ranges from a few individuals to a whole village or neighborhood – from a

dozen to 1,000 members. In order to allow every community member to join an iddir,

membership fees are kept very low and only the family or head of household, whether male

or female, contributes for all other members of the family. In areas where iddirs are present,

no one is left out, and pressure is high for everyone to join. Indeed, given the number of iddir

categories, everyone can join at least one iddir.

6 There are alternatives for those who cannot pay: they give their time and work for the iddir. 7 Between 2004 and 2007, Arbegnotch iddir in Jimma did all three. 8 With a prevalence rate of 10 to 14%, Ethiopia ranks third in the world, behind only South Africa and Nigeria.



21

Non-members are therefore either too young to have their own household – none of my

friends, for example, were members as such, though all of them were members through their

family; or regarded as mad, as if they were seeking to escape social rules and in need of help

to reintegrate the community; or migrants, people who had not yet settled down properly in

the community.

In Jimma, when I asked about whether or not they were members of an iddir, most of my

interlocutors found my question odd. As if for them being part of an iddir went automatically

with living there:

There is no way I would leave the iddir... Even if I suddenly became very rich, rich enough to pay for a burial ceremony alone I would remain in my iddir... [Then she thinks for a while] No, not around here. People are too close to one another. If I left, my neighbors and everyone else would start looking bad at me, saying “Is this woman better than us? Who does she think she is...” Maybe if I left Jimma...

Mehret Meskerem, 28 year old female, August 2007

Furthermore, most people are members of more than one iddir (in addition to other CBOs

such as iqqubs or mahabers)9. For example, a woman who works in an office and whose

husband left home or died is likely to be a member of her neighborhood “community iddir”,

of a women’s iddir, and also possibly of an “institutional iddir” at her workplace.

Structure

Jérémie – What makes your iddir strong? The group – Good rules, good regulations, good leaders.

Group discussion with iddir members, June 2007

The leadership manages the day to day functioning of all current issues and takes most

decisions, according to the iddir rules and regulations. It is accountable to the iddir members

informally through daily contact, and formally during general meetings. All iddirs hold at

least one “General Assembly” yearly. This is when the leadership communicates the past

year’s results to members, when officers are (re)elected10 and amendments are made to the

bylaws.

The degree of formality of these meetings varies from one iddir to another. As Ato Mulatu, an

iddir leader in Jimma, told me in May 2007: “Some of us still meet under the tree, like a

hundred years ago”. If things go well, iddirs usually do not need more than two “formal”

9 For a detailed survey on multiple belonging to different CBOs, see Muir (2004); and Dercon, Bold, De Weerdt, & Pankhurst (2004b). 10 Voting systems differ from one iddir to the other, but each member usually has one vote, and elections are made by simple majority.



22

meetings yearly, because members meet regularly, on an informal basis, at least when they

come to pay the monthly membership fee. However, extraordinary meetings can always be

called, whether by the leaders or by the members.

Box 2 – The power of members

The case of Medhanealem iddir in Jimma is exemplary in this

regard. Based on the observation of other iddirs' dynamism and their

own leaders' obvious inefficiency, members decided they had to

change leadership. They called an extraordinary General Assembly

during which all iddir officers were dismissed. Seven people out of

the eight concerned were changed; only one remained in position.

Jimma, 2006

Rules and regulations – We have a written document we give our new members. This is to help them understand the rules. We explain the main ones to them orally but it would be too much to remember by heart. Therefore they receive this document and can read it at home quietly. – And in any case we re-explain what is needed from them when the time comes.

Hailu Tadesse, 40 year-old male iddir secretary, Jimma, July 2007

According to social researcher Sally Roever (2005), informal governance practices would

reduce an organization's credibility and accountability, both inside – in the eyes of members

– and outside, in those of local authorities and policy makers. The Ethiopian government

classifies iddirs, as well as iqqubs and other CBOs, as informal/non-registered entities

(Ministry of Capacity Building, 2004: 5). This may be a valid classification for the

administration11 – most iddirs are indeed unregistered – but linking “informal” with “non-

registered” is misleading, as it tends to make iddirs appear disorganized, which we see they

are not. It is thus important to stress that though most iddirs are not officially registered,

they do function within the framework of clear regulations.

A consultation attended by 30 iddir members was held in Jimma in May 2007 on the topic of

iddir members’ expectations. They underlined the need for a high level of formality within an

iddir in order to obtain results. In their view, informal exchanges did not lead to practical

11 Which may also reveal why the Ministry of Capacity Building (2005: 5) writes: “Civil society is currently weak, fragmented and disparate.”



23

results: it took a strong, committed and efficient leadership as well as good rules and

regulations within the iddir for progress to take place.

Indeed, iddirs and other CBOs establish strict rules and bylaws, which define membership

procedures, payout schedules, contributions and also a set of fines and other measures for

non-payment of contributions,12 or for matters such as not showing up at funerals or not

contributing enough in terms of labor on these occasions.

On the other hand, everyday life in the community is made of constant informal discussions,

which act as a filter for new ideas and criticism – before they reach the formal iddir level and

are discussed in assemblies. As an iddir leader explained, frequent informal contacts between

members and the leadership are a guarantee for transparency because “whatever happens

will shortly be known by all”. One may thus speak of a balance between formality and

informality, which ensures that all feelings and ideas are expressed at some point, and only

the most important ones processed at a higher decision level.

Thus, iddirs play a coordinating role in the whole community in difficult times; in organizing

social life and through their bylaws and regulations, iddirs formalize informal rules and

codes. Their action is therefore both formal and informal, but their structure certainly is

formal.

Leadership Jérémie – How does the leadership manage the funds? Biniam – We don't hear much from them. We don't meet very often you know, usually twice a year, and when we contribute money. Every month, that is. But I have no idea what happens with the money.


Most iddirs – especially in urban contexts – have their own office, which often is the largest

house or hall and the only communal place in the area, and their appointed officers. The

executive power – or leaders – is at minimum constituted of a treasurer, a secretary and a

chairman. These officers are always volunteers, and are generally older than the average age

in the community.

Officers are usually elected, though Pankhurst and Haile Mariam (2000) noted that “in the

early days, leaders were often self-appointed or suggested by some members and then

appointed by consensus, with no fixed term of office”. Today, an increasing number of iddirs

12 For example, in Misratch SHG in Jimma, missing a meeting was fined 1 Birr, the equivalent of one week’s savings. Yet, they do not need use this solution often: at the end of 2006, the group had collected a total amount of 3,800 Birr, out of which 2,300 Birr from savings, and only 23 Birr from fines.



24

elect their leaders in a more democratic fashion. In Arbegnotch iddir, the chairman himself

suggested that members should run for a maximum of two consecutive mandates. The

members accepted the proposal by vote and the bylaws were changed in accordance. He

called this “modernizing” the structure. Furthermore, if specific committees are set up to deal

with issues such as community health, youth problems or HIV/AIDS, representatives are also

appointed to each of the committees, again on a voluntary basis.

In most cases though, the process of “modernization” seems to be triggered from the outside:

iddirs are requested to show guarantees in order to secure funds for example. To collaborate

with NGOs, iddirs are required to adapt their bylaws, and sometimes their structure (see

Chapter 3 – Diversification, p. 38).

Amongst members, the position of leader is one of honor. In Jimma, iddir leaders are very

highly regarded and are among the highest ranking individuals in town. Iddir leaders often

hold well-considered professional positions, such as teachers or civil servants, for example.

As iddir leaders they discuss matters regarding the whole community and their influence

often exceeds that of local government officials. I was told by several social workers involved

in community work that as it was often difficult for government officials to attract community

members to meetings, they frequently turned to the iddir leaders to convey the message.

The contribution of iddirs to community life

In summary, we can state that iddirs, in their function as “insurances” focusing on death,

contribute to community life by playing four main roles in their “original” shape:

5. Iddirs provide stability to the community in an unstable environment:

they are human-sized and close to their members; their records are accurate; they act

as a local authority with their own rules and regulations.

6. Iddirs express solidarity among members of a given community: an

example of this is the creation of iddirs abroad or in Ethiopia, among migrant

populations; moreover, their members include even the poorest people.

7. Iddirs perpetuate so-called “traditional” customs: they maintain and ensure a

community’s knowledge and implement customs socially and financially.

8. Iddirs provide material insurance: most members cannot afford the cost of a

burial ceremony for example.



25

Moreover, in recent years, several iddirs have begun to substitute and anticipate State

functions in the area of social services: iddirs have started to provide basic social and

health services that would normally fall under State obligations.

By diversifying their activities, innovating and providing services, they appear not solely as

“traditional” insurance mechanisms, but as providers of social services – thus adopting a new

and distinct role. This will be the focus of the next chapter.

Previous pages:A day out with Jimma street children, 2007the girls / the boys

This page:Street view in Jimma, 2007

Celebrating “Africa’s Children’s Day” in an iddir-run kindergarten in Jimma, 2007

Street view in Jimma, 2007

shop in Geneva, Switzerland, 2007


27

Chapter 3 – Change in the role, function and vision of iddirs

We used to take care of people when they were dead. So we thought... why not do it while they are still alive?

Ato Mulatu, iddir leader, Jimma, March 2007

As we have seen, some iddirs have been evolving recently from a strictly limited role as a

form of insurance in the case of death, to service providers in a number of areas. Their

existing structure allows iddirs to extend and diversify their activities with minimal change.

The necessary adjustments relate mostly to the bylaws, to the competence and transparency

of the iddir’s leadership, as well as to community involvement. This is due to their need to

associate with other entities – namely the Ethiopian government and NGOs – and calls for a

reflection on the concept of accountability.

In their new role iddirs cannot act alone for both financial and organizational reasons. At the

same time, iddirs that evolve into service-providing organizations change status in the aid

system, thus modifying their relations with NGOs and the State. We will examine here how

iddirs are actors within the broader concept of “development”; their “external” relationships

will be considered in the next chapter.

Defining and applying “development” Because we are a group now and we stick to each other, we have suddenly become more powerful. The moneylenders are afraid to exploit us now. The government officials speak to us; they even speak nicely. We are also no more afraid to enter the bank or the office of the co-operative society.

Peasant group in Nepal (in Burkey, 1993)

Not everyone agrees on a single definition for the word “development”, let alone on the way

development should be put into practice “on the field”. Yet, amongst the innumerable

approaches, whether applied by NGOs in the aid system or by government agencies,

“participation” is the most favored way to conceive development work today. Let us begin by

examining what is at stake here, and more specifically what we mean by self-reliant

development.

Today, development action theories are classified according to the participation and

involvement of the intended “beneficiaries” in all phases of the development process. The

scale ranges from top-down (least participative) to bottom-up (full community participation)



28

initiatives. Community participation became a determining factor over time, as it became

clear that for development initiatives to be successful in the long term, so-called

“beneficiaries”, or local people, had to be involved in their own development process.

A brief historical overview of development schemes within the international aid system

illustrates how practices and policies evolved, from the end of the Second World War to the

present day, and how they relate to Western experience and practices.

Defining “development” It is important here to note the fundamental difference between humanitarian work – usually

short-term relief work carried out following natural or man-made disasters – and the

development process and activities, which intend to build up, in the long term, the necessary

conditions for communities to take on from there and improve their everyday social,

economic and political situation. As for a definition of development, there are many. Whether

they emphasize improving people’s skills, economic growth or political advocacy, all of them

imply some sort of change intended for the better. Yet, while “change” may not be value-

loaded, the changes that take place in a “development” process are valued subjectively by

each individual or each community (Hammar, Brochmann, Tamas, & Faist, 1997).

If individuals and communities experience development differently, how can there be a fixed

definition for the word development? In fact, organizations explain development as it suits

them, which explains the variety of definitions. Md Anisur Rahman (1993: 134), a famous

development researcher and writer, goes further by suggesting that “the choice of the

meaning of development is a philosophical choice, a value judgment”. If words mean

different things to different people, in different times and environments, and if this

phenomenon is natural, then a definition of development can be as simple as “good change”

(Chambers, 2005). This is the meaning I have chosen in this paper.

Hence, the application of the idea becomes more important than the mere definition. The

words attached to “development” direct and shape field action. From the end of World War II

until today, the dominant development ideas and practices have been those attributed by

economists (Chambers, 2005); as such, they reflect Western (economic) history. The same

ideas and influences also shaped the aid system we know today, in which most development

work is undertaken. The diagram below identifies all actors in the field.



29

Fig. 1 – The Aid System, initial view – adapted from Fowler (2000)

I believe economic development to be part of “good change” for a community, but only if it is

accompanied by other improvements, that are more difficult to measure: freedom of speech

and of association; political freedom; cultural development; personal development; well-

being and happiness. As we will see later, this is achieved in the process of self-reliant

development.

Applying “development” If the UN's global agenda is to be properly addressed, a partnership with civil society at large is not an option; it is a necessity.

Kofi Annan, 2001

Following the Second World War and the impulse of liberation movements and

decolonization, “development” activities multiplied throughout South America, Africa and

South-East Asia. A cornerstone in the definition of development theories and practices rests

in the foundation of the international financial institutions (IFI): in 1944, the 44 US-allied

countries gather in Bretton Woods, USA to design a global financial system whose aim was to

rebuild the devastated postwar economy and regulate monetary and trade flows. Led by the

overwhelming economic and military power of the USA at the end of WWII, the 44 countries

instituted liberal economy and the free market; they created the International Monetary

Fund (IMF) and the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD) – now

two of five institutions in the World Bank (WB) Group – as central regulating agencies.

MULTILATERAL AID(United Nations

System)

BILATERAL AID(Donor Countries)

NATIONALGOVERNMENTS

THE GENERALPUBLIC

FOUNDATIONS AND CHARITIES

MINISTRIES ANDPUBLIC AGENCIES

LOCALGOVERNMENTS

INTERNATIONALNGOs

DOMESTIC NGOs

COMMUNITY-BASED

ORGANI-ZATIONS

INDIVIDUALS

HOUSEHOLDS

COMMUNITIES

SPECIALGROUPS

Civic organizations and associations (civil society)

Government agencies

The Aid System



30

Reflecting the views of the US negotiators, the IMF was born with an economic approach and

political ideology that stressed controlling inflation and introducing austerity plans rather

than aiming to eradicate poverty. This policy would greatly influence the fate of many cash-

poor countries in Africa and elsewhere, including Ethiopia.

Since the early 1950s, the IMF and the WB designed the so-called “Structural Adjustment

Programs” (SAPs), which are conditions attached to their loans: SAPs focus on reducing

national budgets by 1) cutting education, health and other public services; 2) increasing

income by privatizing these same services; and 3) and increasing export crops, such as cocoa

and coffee for example. However, these commodities have notoriously erratic prices, that are

subject to the whims of global markets; prices can tumble, pulling down whole national

economies that have invested in these so-called 'cash crops' (Whirled Bank, 2005). In most

countries, SAPs actually made resources ever scarcer during the 1970s and 1980s, when

payment of debts began: while administrations were highly staffed, often with capable

people, the most basic resources, such as pens, paper, gas, vehicles went missing (Chambers,

2005).1

At the time of decolonization, the State was given the major role in economic and social

development. During the 1970s and 1980s, non-governmental organizations such as World

Vision, CARE, and Save the Children, grew in size and power, and began to fund local

projects directly.

The so-called “rights-based approach” (RBA) emerged in the late 1990s, in response to the

recognition of social and economic rights.2 With this approach, “development” and “rights”

begin to converge.

In a search for the “root causes” of poverty, leading international NGOs like those cited

above, or Oxfam America, begin using a variety of methods “including policy analysis,

advocacy and capacity building of both rights-holders and duty-bearers to help facilitate a

process of empowerment for poor and marginalized peoples and communities” (Rand &

Watson in Bradley, 2007: 33). Hence, over the 1990s and early 2000s patterns changed

again, with lenders and donors reducing support to projects and shifting to sectoral

1 “The term "Structural Adjustment Program" has gained such a negative connotation that the World Bank and IMF launched a new initiative, the Poverty Reduction Strategy Initiative, and asks countries to develop Poverty Reduction Strategy Papers (PRSP). While the name has changed, with PRSPs, the World Bank is still forcing countries to adopt the same types of policies as SAPs.” (Whirled Bank, 2005) 2 In 1966, the “Covenant on Economic, Social, and Cultural Rights” was met with resistance in the West. It was later followed by the “Declaration on the Right to Development” in 1986. They were two milestones that led to the recognition of RBA (Bradley, 2007).



31

programs. Another reason argued for this change was that in small and poor countries aid

projects distorted national budgets.

Since the beginning of the 21st century, it has also been argued that aid based on direct

sectoral donation creates dependency and corruption, and has an adverse effect on local

production (Chambers, 2005). This explains that still another shift is taking place towards

aid based on the development of local assets – including the people – and stimulation

measures such as microcredit for example. Much of the discussion backing this new approach

focuses on involving the local people, through their participation in the process of their own

development.

Today, the set of mainstream ideas, commitments and processes that shape the overall

context for NGO work worldwide takes the names of “Good Governance”; “Social

Responsibility”; “Accountability”; “Millennium Development Goals” (MDGs); “Poverty

Reduction Strategies Papers” (PRSPs); “Sector Wide Approaches” (SWAps); “Results-Based

Management” (RBM). These are the practical translations of the global “sustainable

development” conference3 resolutions, agreements and commitments that create an

overarching resource and policy framework for international development and aid. They

define the policies development that NGOs adapt to, work with and refer to.

Yet, concerning these international conferences, Fowler (2003) notes that “The processes

involved typically suffer from power differences between governments. By and large, the

developed world dominates and [actively tries] to weaken the position of developing

countries.” Numerous critics oppose these dominant approaches that remain rhetoric in their

view because most development actors lack effective commitment to true popular

participation. As a result, this perpetuates Western domination and “the poor’s” dependence

on outsiders, and eventually prevents “development” to meet its objectives.

Indeed, despite innumerable efforts, the signing of treaties, the development of policies and

programs, capacity building, investments, and reduction of debts, more than 40 years of

international cooperation have not been able to alleviate poverty, reduce hunger, extend life

expectancy, reduce child mortality, or improve the status of women worldwide:

The UN’s 1996 Human Development Report emphasizes that the poorest 1.6 billion people, one-third of the world’s population, are getting poorer in conventional economic terms. Their average dollar incomes are now down to what they were in 1980.

Aid Watch 1996 Annual Report

3 Recent ones took place in Doha in 2001, Monterrey and Johannesburg in 2002, Cancun in 2003, Hong Kong in 2005. For more information on the international framework and policies and their implications, see Fowler (2000; 2003).



32

The figures are appalling. 89 out of 174 countries are worse off than they were 10 years ago. 19 countries[...] have seen real per capita income sink to below the levels of 1960.

(Trainer, 2000)

“Participation” in development theory

No one can develop others; one can only stretch or diminish others by trying to “develop” them.

(Rahman, 1993: 135)

Throughout the world of development actors, there has been growing recognition of the fact

that already decided projects rarely meet popular support – and involvement. As a way to

increase the overall effectiveness of aid and development programs, the current development

discourse focuses on the people’s direct involvement in the projects and programs concerning

them, to the point that most development projects refer to the beneficiaries’ participation in

the process.4 Chambers (2005: 100) best describes this recent trend:

Participation in various forms has always been widespread. But it was only in the 1990s that it entered almost every field development activity and became a preoccupation on a global scale, preached about and promoted by lenders, donors, INGOs and governments alike. [...] In the early years of the 21st century, participation, in name if not in reality, is now part of almost every development activity.

Ideas and practices on participation owe much to Paulo Freire and the Latin American

popular education movement of the 1970s. Freire developed his theory on education – the

“pedagogy of the oppressed” – with the liberation of the poor in mind. His work is based on

the concept of “conscientisation”, which means self-reflected learning as opposed to teaching;

self-reflected critical awareness in people of their social reality and of their ability to

transform that reality by their conscious collective action. Conscientisation is about power,

but it does not mean suppressing the powerful; in the conscientisation process, both the

“teacher” and the “student” simultaneously learn from and teach each other.

Applying the concept of conscientisation is far from being easy because it implies a very deep

change in many relationships, “between husband and wife, men and women, teachers and

pupils, government and their citizens, and between development agencies and the poor”

(Burkey, 1993). Fundamentally, conscientisation means something that occurs within a

person – and by extension within a community. It cannot be imposed from the outside.

4 “Participation becomes a symbolic act required for bolstering (competitive) proposals, not a core feature of a process of engagement.” (Fowler 2000: 24).



33

Burkey explains that the debate on the meaning of “people’s participation” often opposes

participation as a means to achieve development, or an end in itself, from which development

will naturally occur. NGOs with fixed, already decided development projects certainly use

“participation” as a means to improve effectiveness, but remain focused on the achievement

of set goals and objectives. In this case, “participation” relates to a means to obtain “Good

Governance” or “Social Responsibility”.

On the other hand, participation as an end in itself relates to other, more powerful terms,

such as “self-determination”, “self-rule” and “self-reliant development”. To the difference of

mere “participation”, these are broader ideas that encompass the most fundamental aspects

of conscientisation, namely through the personal process that occurs when people experience

reflecting on their situation and making decisions.

Self-reliant development

“Self-reliant development” means that the people in the process of self-reliant development

become aware of their own capacities and resources, through self-reflected learning and

decision-making; this makes them stronger and better able to deal with others. “Self-reliant

development” is not another expression for self-sufficiency, and it does not imply being cut

off from external contact. Stan Burkey (1993) quotes rural development workers in Uganda

who describe what social development means for them in terms of community involvement:

Social development is a process of gradual change in which people increase their awareness of their own capabilities and common interests, and use this knowledge to analyze their needs; decide on solutions; organize themselves for cooperative efforts; and mobilize their own human, financial and natural resources to improve, establish and maintain their own social services and institutions within the context of their own culture and their own political system.

Self-reliant development is about people’s lives in the long term. For NGOs, it means going

about their work without taking over and deciding for or manipulating local people.

Practically speaking, Rahman (1993) believes the process of “authentic development” can

start from “traditional culture[s] and form[s] of mutual cooperation”, where they still exist,

and thus “[give] those cultures a sense of aspiration, possibilities and assertion”.

In the Ethiopian context, iddirs stand out as CBOs that are strong enough to carry out

activities that are needed and decided by the members, and respected enough by the people

to last; thus in my mind, they appear to make a solid base for the success of self-reliant

development.



34

Iddirs as actors of self-reliant development

Iddirs seem to present a number of the characteristics of self-reliant development: they are

well rooted in the community, they are well structured, they represent a local political power,

and to a certain extent, they are financially independent. Hence, Iddirs rest at the center of

the social, economic, political and cultural fields in their area.

While iddirs can sustain “development” activities on their own – some of them provide loans,

or extend the insurance scheme to health for example – in general, such activities cost more

than what can be covered by regular membership fees. In addition to money, iddirs also need

to improve their management skills and knowledge of the (international) development world.

Thus, iddirs usually work with others – the government, NGOs, aid agencies and micro-

credit institutions.

Diversification of activities With adequate support from NGOs and government we expect a bright future for our activities.

Ato Mulatu, iddir leader, Jimma, June 2007 (Ato Mulato then told me that “adequate” here meant for the government to ease paperwork and give them access to land for their activities, and for more training

and financial support from NGOs.)

Some iddirs in Jimma now care for orphans within the community; they run kindergartens

and awareness raising campaigns on children’s rights and on HIV/AIDS; they organize

support for the sick and the handicapped; they reflect on their situation and seek solutions to

burning issues, such as so-called “traditional practices”: early marriage, female genital

mutilation, milk teeth removal and “traditional” tattoos, for example that are considered

harmful by many and expected to decrease through increased sensitization. In a welfare state,

most of these activities would be classified as belonging to the responsibility of the State

within its ministries of health, education, social services or others.

Today, most iddirs in Jimma who engage in development activities are “community” iddirs.

Community iddirs are amongst the oldest and those with the largest numbers of members in

town, thus the strongest and best-established iddirs in Jimma. In 2007, 15 iddirs were

working with FCE in Jimma, and another 10-20 were getting ready to do so.

Engaging in diversification of their activities seems to be a turning point for most iddirs who

take this direction. In general they do not undertake these new activities alone and make

alliances with other development actors – mainly NGOs. To work in collaboration with

NGOs, they are requested a number of changes: to revise their bylaws, and sometimes their



35

structure; to improve transparency in the leadership and in finances, which may require

electing a secretary and a cashier, instead of only the president some iddirs had had until

then. They are also often expected to improve gender balance in the representation positions,

such as the iddir committees for example. Interestingly, in many instances, similar demands

emanate from the NGOs and the members too.

Indeed, opening to more activities means holding more responsibilities for the leaders, who

gain in visibility. Members ask more of them too. A young woman, head of family, whose

iddir engaged in various development activities, explained her view of a good leader:

Meheret – Our leaders and the elected members in committees are elders only... they work hard and I admire them, but others would be better. We need more skilled people in order to work with these NGOs. Younger people would be better. Jérémie – Just like you, then? Meheret – Me?! [she laughs] Oh no! Not me but there are others who can talk freely and better than me. I wouldn't want to take such responsibilities. Jérémie – What are ideal characteristics for iddir leaders? Meheret – They should be skilled, sociable... young: 30 to 40 years old, responsible and strong, but not dictatorial... They must be able to work in a team, and... [she thinks for a while] should use their leisure time properly.

Meheret Meskerem, 28 year old shop owner, Jimma, July 2007

Financial Shift

As activities diversify, iddirs need larger functioning funds. A broader range of activities also

means increasing demands from members, who foresee potential changes for their

community:

Jérémie - You know about iddirs working with FCE. Would you be interested in your iddir diversifying its activities? Biniam - [His face brightens] Oh yes, certainly, that would be good for us. Like a kind of heath care system for example... I think that could work. But for this to happen they would need to get the money running, instead of keeping it in a box like we do now.


The new activities iddirs engage in cost more money than traditional funeral services:

membership fees are no longer sufficient and iddirs need external support if they are to

engage in other work. In Jimma in 2006, as a sign of good will rather than a real increase in

income, Arbegnotch iddir raised its monthly fees by 25 cents “for the poor”, and another

iddir by half a birr for “social activities”.

More characteristically, iddirs have begun to engage in income-generating activities (IGAs),

some of which have been implemented with success. Amongst them an unfortunately ironic

example:



36

Mulatu - Here is our bakery, it is currently undergoing some maintenance and enhancements, demand is very high for affordable bread. We also built public showers with a large reservoir and warm water. People can come here and take a shower for 1 birr. We used to make fuel-saving stoves too, but with the increase in the price of cement we had to stop momentarily, our margins are too low and raising the price is not an option, people couldn't afford more expensive ones. [Then, opening a door to a room filled with coffins] ... this is where we make our coffins... Friedrich – Wow!... [suddenly a bit uneasy]...there are a lot of them... Mulatu – Yes, coffin production is our best business today.

Ato Mulatu, iddir leader and and Friedrich Von Bergd, 45 year-old donor agency program offficer, Jimma, May 2007

(A hot shower normally costs 3 birr in Jimma and 5 birr in Addis Ababa)

However, direct profits through IGAs remain limited. Indeed, due to their structure, iddirs

must first center on the interests of their members. Thus, as for the fuel-saving stoves

mentioned above, an iddir running a bakery cannot sell expensive bread to its members in

order to fund its other activities, it must find other sources of income specifically for these. As

for finding other “clients” to sell their bread, most iddirs engaging in such activities are,

today, community iddirs, based on location. Therefore, if their neighbor iddir also has a

bakery, selling bread can be no real source of income. However, social services are not meant

to be profitable. Thus there is no reason to expect iddirs to finance all their activities

themselves.

One internal source of money is one-time calls for members' generosity; this is a common

practice to address large expenses, such as the building of the iddir hall for example. Another

means includes requesting funds from donors – NGOs, the government, aid agencies. Up to

now, the best option seems to be a combination of both. For example in Jimma in 2007, in

order to build a two-floor house that would host a kindergarten, showers, a pharmacy, four

individual rooms to rent out and the iddir’s office, Zona Ammest iddir provided one third of

the total amount in cash, plus labor, and the NGO Facilitators for Change – Ethiopia (FCE)

provided the remaining two thirds. In this case, the iddir voted an extraordinary expenditure

from its own reserves and asked members to each add 200 birr, plus whatever else they could

afford. They easily managed to collect the necessary funds.

Iddirs in Jimma are well aware that the local economic situation and underlying

unemployment are at the root of their community’s problems. In order to address them

properly, iddirs are thinking of ways to engage in larger-scale income-generating activities,

such as renting rooms and offices, running a kindergarten, or lending money to their

members for example. Unfortunately, today no NGO or donor agency will fund larger

economic activities such as the construction of a manufacture for example: they are



37

considered outside the scope of development work – and of the role of civil society. Fowler

(2000: 3) provides us with an interesting view on this:

“There is an ongoing debate about whether or not market actors are “civic”. Although not resolved, the implicit notion in donor approaches is of “ modular” or free citizens in a modernized economy. This perspective is of little relevance for the world’s poor. They know little distinction between their economic and non-economic selves as landless labourers, petty traders, hawkers and beggars. They do not “detach” themselves from citizenship when they work for subsistence and re-enter civil society when they stop.”

In the absence of federal funds, iddirs can more easily fund social activities with NGO grants

or loans. Yet, in order to achieve social development in their community and overcome the

“relief-” and “basic needs-“5 level at which most NGOs work, and help their members start

businesses for example, iddirs must also be able to borrow money from other sources, such

as banks and microfinance institutions.

Accountability

In the world of development, accountability generally goes upwards – from the beneficiaries

to the NGOs and donors. Yet, over time the direction of accountability has become an issue:

alongside the evolution of the rights-based approach (RBA) and other participatory

development theories, NGOs and donors have come to realize that downward accountability

is essential in improving the effects and durability of their actions (Burkey, 1993). But as in

the case of participation, taking measures to improve downward accountability is no easy

task and, in practice, the way most donors manage their investments does not support it

(Keystone, 2006).

5 Adequate food, safe drinking water, suitable shelter and clothing, basic household equipment are the basic requirements; sanitation, public transport and health and educational facilities are the basic services (Burkey, 1993); they can be measured and provide for a convenient way to quantify poverty. They do not account for non-measurable factors such as happiness, freedom or family and social bonds for example.



38

Fig. 2 – Funds and accountability within the aid system– adapted from Fowler (2000)

In their “original” shape, iddirs need only to be accountable to themselves – that is, leaders

are accountable to members, and members are accountable to each other and to leaders – all

part of the iddir itself. The situation changes when interacting with a bank, an NGO, or the

government: in these situations, iddirs become accountable to “outsiders”.

Today, with the changes that lay ahead of us, it is everyday more important for us to be transparent in our management. Our members would never tolerate it if the money were kept for private interests instead of used for the community’s benefit. And now that we work with NGOs they too must know what the iddir does with the money; they must have faith in us.

Ato Mulatu, iddir leader, Jimma, June 2007

Accountability requires transparency as well as building trust and confidence. But

accountability is also a matter of power. By holding communities accountable to donors and

not the other way around, the aid system gives donors most of the power. Iddirs can make an

inner commitment to transparency and developing good relationships with outsiders, but

they need to be powerful enough to obtain support that respects their diversity and allows

them to keep developing innovative solutions, adapted to the local context rather than to

donors’ programs.


System)


NATIONALGOVERNMENTS

THE GENERALPUBLIC



LOCALGOVERNMENTS

INTERNATIONALNGOs

DOMESTIC NGOs

COMMUNITY-BASED

ORGANI-ZATIONS

INDIVIDUALS

HOUSEHOLDS

COMMUNITIES

SPECIALGROUPS


Government agencies

General direction of funds

General direction of accountability

Funds and accountability within the aid system



39

Joining forces

In 2006 in Jimma, well aware that “united we stand, divided we fall”, iddirs and Facilitators

for Change – Ethiopia (FCE) created the “Iddir Forum” in an attempt to federate the social

movement and to give it more weight in the eyes of outsiders.

Jimma's Iddir Forum was founded in 2006 on the impulse of FCE, together with the five

leading iddirs of Jimma: Arbegnotch, Zona Ammest, Selaam, Andennet and Meriam Sefer.

Since the it offers a platform for iddirs to exchange ideas, gives them better visibility,

improves dialogue with government offices and draws more iddirs into the process of self-

reliant development in Jimma. The Iddir Forum has provided iddirs a platform to share

experiences, to debate and defend their ideas. At the time of my stay, some 70 iddirs out of

the 120 iddirs in Jimma were represented in the Iddir Forum at various degrees of

involvement.

The Iddir Forum is an officially recognized autonomous entity. Though supported by FCE, it

is independent from both the government and FCE. It has boosted exchange and

collaboration between iddirs as well as between themselves and FCE: Iddirs are coming up

with new ideas and spontaneously developing new activities without FCE's support. Thus, the

Iddir Forum has helped to strengthen iddirs as individual organizations and as well as as a

network.

Is “modernity” a threat to iddirs?

We have seen that iddirs are progressively strengthening their position, both within them

and outside. We have also noted that iddirs themselves consider that HIV/AIDS is impairing

their main source of income and how they expect to address it. Three other elements strike

me as potential threats to iddirs in general, but more specifically in Jimma:

1. an increase in income will lead to people not needing the material insurance

iddirs provide to their members;6

2. an increase in work time and activity diminishes the time people dedicate to

funeral ceremonies and might threaten iddirs’ importance (see note 4, p. 21);

3. an increase in mobility of iddir members would drastically increase the load on

iddirs administrations, in order to keep track of all movements.

6 Rich people in urban settings (mainly Addis Ababa) tend to leave iddirs and pay burial ceremony companies who “take care of everything for you” as advertised on television.



40

These three threats relate to the process of “modernization” – or “modernity” – and as such

might well be linked to the very evolution iddirs are engaging in, and that I describe in this

paper. Following this idea, one could argue that in “modernizing” the community, iddirs also

prepare their own destabilization… This question extends beyond the scope of this paper and

requires further study, but I believe it is a central question that iddirs need to reflect upon.

Iddirs change role

Fig. 3 – Iddirs’ new role as service providers – adapted from Fowler (2000)

As a conclusion to this chapter, we have seen that from insurance-like structures some iddirs

are turning into service-providing organizations. This means a change in their role: by

opening to other organizations and institutions, asking for expertise, for financial support or

for new links, they are crossing borders and are starting to resemble other local NGOs. This

said, differently from NGOs, iddirs are still owned by their “beneficiaries”; they are their own

members. Yet, in their new role they need to seek larger functioning funds as well as new

alliances to strengthen their presence. Thus, in November 2007, an FCE program officer

announced me that Jimma’s Iddir Forum had applied for one million Birr (110,000 USD at

the time of application) to UNICEF “for women training and empowerment”.


System)


ETHIOPIANGOVERNMENT

THE GENERALPUBLIC


DOMESTIC NGOs


INTERNATIONALNGOs

COMMUNITY-BASED

ORGANIZATIONS

INDIVIDUALS

HOUSEHOLDS

COMMUNITIES

SPECIALGROUPS


Government agencies Current links and collaborations

Future links and collaborations

Iddirs in their new role as service providers

IDDIRS

IDDIRFORUM

LOCALGOVERNMENTS


41

Chapter 4 – Handling new alliances

Both our government and NGOs are afraid of us! They want us because we are the access to the people!

Ato Mulatu, iddir leader, Jimma, May 2007

Iddirs are becoming preeminent actors in addressing the important socio-economic needs in

Jimma, but they cannot succeed alone. They need financial support and practical skills –

namely in management – as well as support for official paperwork and legal matters. The two

other key players they have to make terms with are the Ethiopian government and NGOs. Are

they allies? Are they competitors?

The Ethiopian government is not in favor of nonconforming groups. As we have seen and will

be examining in more detail in the following pages, iddirs that engage in so-called

“development” matters often anticipate – or replace – the government's obligations towards

its people. This in itself may be a sensitive issue. Despite the relative independence that

iddirs enjoy in their activities, local governments, mostly at the kebele and woreda level,

easily react if they consider an iddir has gone beyond its prerogatives. Yet, we have seen that

an “enabling legal environment” enhances civil society (Chapter 1, p.12).

The other important entity iddirs have to consider in their developmental activities are the

NGOs based in Ethiopia. We will see that, amongst their numerous roles, some NGOs, such

as Facilitators for Change – Ethiopia (FCE), can act as mediators between iddirs and local

government. Not only does FCE support the efforts of local iddirs to cope with community

issues, but it also organizes meetings with government officials and other relevant bodies to

reduce mistrust and misunderstanding and improve cooperation between all parties.

The issue of iddir-NGO relations goes far beyond the scope of this paper. It would be an

interesting subject for future study. In this chapter we will concentrate on the role of NGOs –

in particular FCE – as mediators between iddirs and the government.

Iddirs and the Ethiopian government

Since iddirs appeared at the turn of the 20th century, all Ethiopian governments have

understood the advantage of supporting and working with them:

Despite the limited developmental activity and the tendency for the government [of Haile Selassie] to use iddirs for political purposes, however, there was a sense that a partnership was necessary and that the potential iddirs represented needed to be mobilized on a larger scale.

(Pankhurst & Haile Mariam, 2000: 46)



42

In 1957, Haile Selassie established the Ministry of National Community Development, which

sought to create model centers for community development in collaboration with iddirs

(Bulcha, 1973; Daka, 1981 in Pankhurst & Haile Mariam, 2000). This opening was suddenly

interrupted in 1966, following a political crisis which involved a migrants' association and

which led to restricting legislation of such associations. The opening was resumed in the early

1970s, and the larger city governments – Addis Ababa, Akaki, Nazareth – included iddirs in

community affairs; in 1972 in Addis Ababa a proposal was put forward to confederate 395

iddirs with the aim to give them more responsibilities in local social affairs. In the end, this

alliance did not take place because Haile Selassie was overthrown only two years later.

The situation changed slightly under DERG rule (1974-1991). According to Pankhurst and

Haile Mariam (2000: 46) iddirs then were either “bypassed and ignored [...] or they were

co-opted and exploited for government purposes”1. Yet it appears that during this same

period, iddir leadership may have benefited from a renewal of membership – younger, more

literate generations who were capable and willing to take over – thanks in part to the literacy

campaigns set up by the DERG.

Since the 1990s the local and federal governments have been paying more attention to iddirs,

which they have considered more positively, as important civil society actors:

The renewed interest in iddirs as partners for development in the past decade can be attributed to changes in developmental paradigms in which civil society has its own role to play alongside state and market forces. In addition, the current emphasis on ethnicity offers opportunities for the development of ethnic-based iddirs, which had been viewed with suspicion under the past two regimes.

(Pankhurst and Haile Mariam, 2000: 52)

The iddir-government pair

In May 2004 – before the 2005 elections – the Federal Ministry of Capacity Building (MCB)

issued a zero draft for the design of the “Civil Society Organizations’ Capacity Building

Program” (CSO-CBP), with the stated objective to “build the capacity of civil society

organizations to contribute to the achievement of SDPRP2 objectives in a closer partnership

with government.” (MCB, 2004: 1). The Ethiopian government envisaged enhanced roles for

civil society in achieving its own objectives in terms of strengthening democracy, service

delivery and decentralization:

1 The recollection of imposed Peasants Associations in the times of the DERG is still very strong. In the countryside near Jimma, a social worker told me how reluctant farmers were to establish groups. As they would say: “If you are alone it's easy to hide; groups can be targeted by the government; groups are risky”. 2 Sustainable Development and Poverty Reduction Program, developed according to Word Bank’s PRSPs (see note 1, p. 32).

Chapter 4 – Handling alliances


43

The fundamental rationale for the program is the recognition by government that it cannot achieve the objectives of promoting development, reducing poverty, and strengthening democracy set out in the SDPRP simply through its own institutions, agencies and programs but must work in close collaboration with other development actors. This represents a shift in thinking from previous eras, and a change in the ‘rules of the game’ from one where government monopolizes the development process to a situation where promoting development involves a partnership between government, the private sector and civil society.

(MCB, 2004: 3) My emphasis

However, following the 2005 elections, progressive tightening of the government’s attitude

towards civil society became clear, and this first positive attempt to improve collaboration

between the state and civil society organizations was aborted.3

In June 2008 the government issued a new draft law: the “Charities and Societies

Proclamation” (CSO Law), officially a “benign attempt to improve transparency and

accountability among NGOs” (HRW & AI, 2008), which aims at fundamentally reshaping

the administrative and operational landscape of all civil society organizations in Ethiopia.

If adopted,4 this new law would add a burden of bureaucracy on all CSOs already registered,

and force many others – such as iddirs involved in development activities – to register

officially. More importantly yet, advocacy NGO Human Rights Watch states it would

criminalize human rights activities:

Most notably, the law would criminalize human rights-related work carried out by non-Ethiopian organizations while at the same time making it impossible for domestic human rights organizations to operate with any real degree of effectiveness or independence.

(HRW, 2008b)

The initial draft was very strongly criticized by Ethiopian civil society, through the voice of

one of its leaders, CRDA, as well as by Human Rights Watch (HRW) and Amnesty

International (AI), who immediately issued a joint statement opposing the law, stating that it

should not even be amended, but altogether scrapped (HRW & AI, 2008a). Furthermore,

CRDA underlined that CSOs were not allowed adequate and democratic participation in the

elaboration of the SDPRP in the first place, and added:

3 In the course of my investigations I found a draft paper written in January 2006 by a DFID (UK) worker which stated that the MCB had approved the CSO-CBP draft in early 2005; that it was not approved by the Council of Ministers; and that “latest news [in early 2006 was] that CSO-CBP unit in MCB [had] been disbanded” (Fumo, 2006). 4 The bill was expected to be introduced to Parliament in late October 2008.



44

[…] while we agree to the change process needed both in government and CSOs, we do not subscribe to the view – indeed we strongly oppose it – that a change process in CSOs can be designed, directed and implemented by any government. Such a government-led strategy to build the capacity of CSOs is not only unprecedented but also it creates a dangerous possibility of CSOs being co-opted by the government and disconnected from their constituencies.

(CRDA, 2008: 3)

Exposition to government control is likely to discourage some iddirs from engaging in so-

called “development” activities, thus limiting themselves to their more limited “death-focused

insurance role”. For the others, the law would drastically reduce their leeway, and thus their

diversity, their ability to adapt to local conditions and to evolve and quickly respond to

specific social needs. In fact, the law would institutionalize direct and tight control of CSO

activities by the government. The example of the government recovering local community

health care centers (CLSC) in Québec, Canada, may be an interesting example to take into

account in this regard (see Annex 3).

Indeed, government support is fundamental for any organization working with people:

acknowledgement and approval from local authorities is necessary to access land, to submit

paperwork, to obtain funds, permits, etc. Local government officials, mostly at Kebele level,

are tightly controlled by their superiors; at the same time they have extended powers at

community level in terms of control over the population, and other advantages – in cash or

kind. Although personnel is in general poorly paid and for the most part poorly educated,

local officials are key to community development: if they are not informed and supportive of

CBO activities, they are likely to oppose them.



45

Box 5 – A Self-Help Goup and the government in Jimma

An SHG supported by FCE held regular meetings in one of their

members’ house. After a few months of existence, they were

approached by a Kebele official who asked about the meetings. “If

you need to meet somewhere why hide? Come to our hall, you will be

much better there.” The women, for fear of government suspicion,

ceased their regular meetings and went to the designated place the

following Saturday, as ordered. They were lectured by government

officials on how it is bad to hide. When they explained the purpose of

their self-help group, they were told to stop the group and not to

worry because the government would provide them with everything

they needed. This, of course, did not happen. But the women, who

had already started to experience the advantages of being part of

such a group, totally lost their fragile confidence and did not dare

resume their meetings. In the end, it took FCE several months to

convince the government SHGs were no threat to them, and to

convince the women to rebuild their confidence and start meeting

again.

Jimma, 2006

The concept of self-reliance in development implies that “conscientisation” happens within

the people themselves, and is inherent to the process of self-reliant development (see Chapter

3: Participation, p. 35). Self-reliancy can, and sometimes must be supported from the

outside, but it cannot be imposed from the outside. By imposing its control on CSOs, the

Ethiopian government seems to consider them as competitors, rather than as allies.5 Such

control has a negative effect on the creativity and responsiveness of small-scale actors, like

iddirs and other CBOs, who might fear to engage in vital community work. Iddirs need the

trust and support of both federal and local governments, whose role it should be to facilitate

the diversification of iddir activities, and ensure their independence.

Furthermore, the new CSO law would ban international NGOs from any human rights-

related work, and sets the limit for local NGOs to be considered “international” at 10% of

foreign funds. Given the limited amount of money available within Ethiopia for social work,

5 Paradoxically, the two major drawbacks for CBO development that CRDA lists at the end of its observations – the lack of enabling environment and functional capacity – are the core concerns raised by the CSO draft law, which the government explains the new CSO law will address…



46

iddirs would basically be prohibited from engaging in gender- or child-related community

work, for example. For these reasons, iddirs should not be included in the scope of the new

CSO law.

Moreover, given the lack of financial means at government level,6 NGOs are the only entities

able to distribute funds for social work at local level, and able to pay salaries of much-needed

social workers. Iddirs thus appear once again to compete with local government offices for

their means of action; and iddir leaders too, for local fame and power.

In order to ease iddirs’ efforts towards self-reliant development, some NGOs, such as FCE,

have been acting as mediators between them and the government.

Facilitators for Change – Ethiopia: an example of NGO mediation in Jimma

Vision: To see disadvantaged communities overcome the problems of their poverty and build a sustainable self-development system in Ethiopia. Goal: To enable disadvantaged communities to work towards their better living through the utilization of their own resources, skills, experiences, and minimum external support.

Facilitators for Change - Ethiopia

The Ethiopian NGO “Facilitators for Change – Ethiopia” (FCE) is based in the capital city,

Addis Ababa. FCE employs only Ethiopians, and in 2007 it was funded by ten different

European donor agencies, amongst which Kinder Not Hilfe (DE), Kinder Unserer Welt (DE),

Save the Children Denmark, SOS Faim (BE) and Oxfam UK. In order to achieve its goals,

FCE works directly with the communities through local CBOs, and the federal government of

Ethiopia.

Since its foundation in 1997, FCE has grown from a sole urban project in one location to a

variety of projects in six different locations in the Oromia and Amhara regions of Ethiopia. It

has four thematic focus areas: Household food security, Mothers’ empowerment for child

development, Child and youth development, and Education and capacity building for

community-based structures. FCE began working with iddirs when seeking an alternative to

orphanage in Jimma. It has today three child-related programs: “Women for children”,

“Street children and unemployed youth”, and “Sexually abused and vulnerable children”.

FCE’s community-based approach developed over the years in collaboration with the rural

Oromo. Its main thrust, self-reliant development, rests on the belief that the best and most

6 At the time of my stay, most Kebele and some Woreda government offices around Jimma had no available funds for the slightest intervention. Some of them reportedly lacked pens and paper.



47

sustainable solutions are those the community can effectively manage on its own, by using

locally available resources; thus external input is limited to a minimum. FCE carefully

balances its support: as the community progressively develops its capacity to manage, FCE

withdraws slowly from the project, leaving it when the community is able to pursue it

autonomously (see Annex 2).

For example, FCE’s “Dimtu Community-Based Development Project” began as an emergency

relief response to the devastating 1984/85 drought. It later became a long-term development

project which focused on understanding and tackling the root causes of the drought – an

inevitable natural event: why it had taken so many lives and had such a huge impact on local

communities; and how existing community social structures could improve the situation.

Over time, the project moved to the surrounding areas and now the inhabitants of Dimtu

receive visitors from across Ethiopia from other iddirs, womens’ groups and communities

interested in this approach. FCE is no longer involved in the everyday life of the community

otherwise than as an ally.

In order to support groups, FCE puts great efforts into organizing meetings with community

leaders and CBO representatives, local government representatives, the police, and for

instance, university professors.

Between February and August 2007, three such meetings were held in Jimma. Their main

purpose was to inform concerned actors on awareness-raising and community health issues,

both related to FCE’s development activities and the involvement of iddirs and self-help

groups (SHGs) in Jimma. These meetings were positive in reducing misconceptions; they

allowed for improved collaboration between government, FCE and iddirs. As a result FCE

was able to pursue its work in the area since all parties realized they all gained from the

development of community activities. Smaller meetings with iddir and SHG representatives

for example, were also held regularly at the FCE office, with the purpose of sharing ideas and

experiences, as well as of defining and coordinating local plans of action. Such meetings

would be nearly impossible to hold if the new CSO law were adopted: they would have to be

announced at least 10 days in advance to the authorities, who could either send a government

official to attend, or more drastically, forbid the meeting.



48

Box 4 – Mediation meetings

In one “mediation” meeting, FCE discussed options for the year 2007

with local social workers and other “low-ranking” actors.

In another meeting, FCE had invited an audience of some 50 iddir

leaders, Kebele and police representatives, the Zonal Social Affairs

Bureau and other government officials. Iddir representatives spoke

of their experiences in community development and how things

worked out – generally quite well – for their communities.

Discussions ran around money issues and support. At some point,

two women accused Kebeles of not helping communities enough on

the burning issue of street children in Jimma. A (male) Kebele

representative took this as an offence and shouted that they had no

idea what his Kebele had been doing with the very little means

available to them, and invited everyone to go and see for themselves

what had been achieved since FCE had abandoned them.

The third meeting of this kind in 2007 in Jimma was held a few

months later. FCE wanted government workers to understand some

basic facts about street children and community health issues.

University professors gave lectures on these subjects. Most of what

was said that day was totally new to the audience.

It was important for all to gain technical information on these topics in order to make the

right choices. But equally important was the fact that local officials understand that activities

developed by iddirs and other community actors were not directed against the government.

Through its specific approach, FCE has allowed the people of Jimma to reflect on their

condition, diagnose their burning issues, and determine how these can be addressed through

their own existing mechanisms and with their own resources. Furthermore, FCE has

provided iddirs with key elements to a better understanding of their situation within the aid

system. This knowledge has allowed the Iddir Forum to apply for one million Birr to

UNICEF, and plays a great role in the independence of thought and action of iddirs.

Furthermore, what FCE has understood is that iddirs, SHGs, and civil society as a whole,

cannot be efficient actors of Ethiopia’s self-reliant development without government support.



49

In Switzerland and Québec, state services turn to civil society organizations in order to

deliver social services more efficiently. These governments also try to improve life quality in

urban environments through participatory methods, such as recommended by practitioners

of all kinds, by Agenda 21, and by general consensus now that participation has become such

an important concept throughout the world. Yet, unlike in Ethiopia, both Swiss and Canadian

societies lack community-based organizations such as iddirs that would be able to take on

and sustain these initiatives. Therefore, it is crucial that the Ethiopian government recognize

the value of its CBOs in general, and of iddirs in particular, as efficient actors in the country’s

progress towards self-reliant development.


51

Conclusion

Given Ethiopia’s specific social, economic and political conditions, iddirs present an

interesting case for the study of “civil society-government” relationship in terms of the

country’s social development.

Originally, iddirs are community-based insurance-like funeral associations that have been

functioning as such for more than 100 years in Ethiopia. They have been one of the many

actors of the Ethiopian civil society since the turn of 20th century, and as community-based

organizations are part of Ethiopia’s civil society. They support their members financially and

socially in times of shock.

In recent years in Jimma, with the support of the NGO Facilitators for Change – Ethiopia

(FCE), some iddirs have started to provide social services to their communities. In doing so

they have become service providers, in lieu of the government. Because they are the

community, iddirs offer a combination of political, social, cultural and economic aspects of

local life. Their rootedness in local community makes them key assets for Ethiopians to be

actors of and in their own development.

Today, an active civil society is considered to be the sign of a healthy state because of its

potential critical power. In Ethiopia and other countries, civil society is popular with aid

donors because it is believed to make governments “behave” in a more accountable manner.

On the other hand, out of fear of these powers within them, governments generally keep a

close eye on “their” civil society; some of them – like the Ethiopian government – tend to

repress it.

Ethiopia is one of the poorest states in the world. It is heavily dependant on foreign subsidies

and food aid. For this reason, the federal government – trickling down to lower levels of

government – is unable to provide a number of basic services to the population. NGOs from

abroad, local NGOs, and more and more iddirs at community level are stepping in and

offering services to replace the government where it cannot or chooses not to cope.

Ethiopia is highly centralized. Centralized social services are heavy, costly and difficult to

manage, especially in a vast country with limited and deficient communication networks as is

the case in Ethiopia. Moreover, human and financial resources are lacking to provide social

services, especially at local and regional level.



52

All to the contrary, iddirs are decentralized and found in all parts of Ethiopia; they are

community-based and thus belong to their members; they are efficient and their grassroots

legitimacy is extremely high. In their “original” shape, as funeral insurances, iddirs provide

stability to the community in emergency situations such as death because they provide

material and psychological assistance to their members.

In their more recent “development” activities they remain essential actors as they are

embedded in the community and are direct actors at the local socio-economic and cultural

level: iddirs are “ideal” institutions to take on long-term development activities as needed

and requested by the local population.

Iddirs that engage in “development” programs invariably come across the two other main

actors in the field: the Ethiopian government and NGOs. Since the government does not

support them, iddirs turn to NGOs as a source for finances and expertise. Some NGOs also

act as experts and facilitators. Given the difficult relationship between iddirs and

government, in Jimma FCE has acted as a mediator for them. Indeed, if civil society is to play

a role in anticipating and supplying services normally fulfilled by the government, it needs

material support, confidence, respect and tolerance on behalf of the government – and

certainly not excessively strict laws.

Over 40 years of international development aid and cooperation have not been able to

alleviate poverty, reduce hunger or substantially decrease mortality rates. Should we not seize

the opportunity to recognize the failure of “development from above”? And seriously consider

a fundamental shift in views and practices? Participation in development means nothing if it

remains rhetoric: there must be true commitment by all development actors, and first of all

by the government itself, to open a window of opportunity and allow the people, the direct

beneficiaries of progress, to take their lives into their own hands.

As we have seen, in Ethiopia iddirs are legitimate actors of communities’ self-reliant

development. All communities face different problems, and the diversity of iddirs can

succeed in responding to each community’s specific needs. It is now time to provide them the

necessary space to build upon their own resources and find appropriate solutions to their

problems.

Joined in federations, iddirs would present a substantial force. But as yet, there is only one

example of Iddir Forum; most iddirs are not formally organized amongst themselves; they do

not constitute a movement; nor do they have the necessary resources and leeway to operate

efficiently as social service providers. It is therefore necessary to facilitate their endeavor.

Conclusion


53

I believe that iddirs offer the basic ingredients for communities to engage in self-sufficient

development and that indeed some of them have already taken important steps in this new

direction. However, it is a difficult way, in which new alliances will need to be continually

negotiated. Redefining one’s aims and evaluating one’s actions will have to take place

systematically, and considering new approaches to the difficult relationships with Ethiopia’s

government will have to be carefully assessed in order to improve over the next few years.

As outlined in different parts of this paper, some questions remain open. They exceed the

scope of this particular work but represent interesting directions to explore for future studies.

They include the following:

1. Examining the link between the death of a community member as a social

happening and iddirs’ rootedness in the community. This would lead to a better

understanding of what anchors iddirs in their communities.

2. How does “modernization” affect iddirs: increase in work time that diminishes

people’s availability, increase in income, increase in migrations.

3. Financial issues: when iddirs’ beneficiaries are not their own members;

competition for funds and influence.

4. Iddir-NGO relations: facilitation, and involvement of “outsiders” in the process of

self-reliant development; adequate training of facilitators.


54

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59

Annex 1: A typology of Ethiopian CBOs

Source : (Muir, 2004)


61

Annex 2: Three phases for FCE’s involvement

1. Community Empowerment Phase: This is a phase of

discovery where the organization builds its rapport with the

community and other development agents. In this phase more

emphasis is given to addressing the pressing economic and social

problems of the community. FCE’s role at this period will be that of

both acting and facilitating.

2. Community Ownership Exercise Phase: This is a phase of

integration between FCE and the local people for whom the program

has been initiated. It would entertain the transformation of the

community structures into a development vector focusing on

organizational and leadership capacity improvement for community

self-development. It is a critical phase of a vision where the doctrine

of the phase informs, stimulates, and guides the partners of the

system as well as its structure, leadership, program, resource and

linkage. This phase is supposed to be a period of creativity, including

the creation and increasing awareness and transformation that

should lead to a next phase which constitutes shift of role from FCE

to the community.

3. Consolidation Phase: This is the final phase of maturity,

consolidation and greater self-reliance. During this last phase, the

role of FCE will be that of observer and consultation when there is

such need. It is presumed to be the work and achievement of the

people themselves. The community structure, reinforced with

government sectors is expected to assume full responsibility to run,

manage and sustain the ongoing and future programs.


63

Annex 3: Establishment of CLSCs in Québec

In the 1960s in Québec, “People’s clinics” experimented various

solutions based on community health services and social

development. They were very diverse, with as many solutions as

there were clinics. Facing increasing pressure because of the rapid

increase in hospital services costs, as well as other accountability

demands, the CLSC network was created by the provincial

government as free local healthcare centers for all citizens, first by

recuperating these People’s clinics and soon after by implementing

new CLSCs. Their rootedness in local communities and the links that

were therefore developed and the experimentation of alternative

solutions were encouraged in the first years of the movement.

The CLSCs were in their vast majority led by local citizens’ and

employees’ commitees. However, their autonomy and their diversity

made it very difficult for the ministry to evaluate and synthesize the

whole experience. New CLSCs were gradually founded by the

government itself based solely on so-called universal basic needs,

which saved time and money by avoiding to set up the community

linkages and investigations for specific local needs and resources.

Hence, there was a progressive shift towards more institutional

control and governmental interference in the diversity of the initial

network. In this shift, the movement may have gained in scale but it

has lost in reactivity and diversity and, therefore, in the quality of the

services it is able to provide the community. It is now a community-

located basic health multidisciplinary service.

community-based organizations and self-reliant development: a study of iddirs in jimma, ethiopia

Documents

iddirs in jimma

ato alamu in jimma

their hearts in jimma

the author

their friends in addis

to grasp the concept

population to

the sole responsibility