Issue No. 46 December-May 2012 FSS Update ፎረም ፎር ሶሻል ስተዲስ An e-newsletter to facilitate networking and information exchange among CSOs and researchers In this issue: FSS held its second retreat at Butajira The 14th General Assembly (GA) of FSS held A New Strategic Plan for FSS (2012-2016) FSS organized a dissemination workshop on the role of Mass Based Societies (MBS) in Ethiopia Workshop on the Development of Digital Repository for FSS Digital Repository for FSS FSS signs a contract for a core grant with the CSSP Participation at the 13th CODESRIA General Assembly in Rabat, Morocco FSS held its second retreat at Butajira The Forum for Social Studies held its second retreat from 3-5 February 2012 at Rediet Hotel (Butajira). Members of the Board, the Management Committee and invited resource persons participated in the retreat. The retreat was organized in order to reflect on the challenges and opportunities that FSS is presently facing. The challenges include, among others, the changed regulatory framework and funding uncertainty. The opportunities for FSS include its track record and reputation in research and publication. Board Chairman Dr Akililu Kidanu and the Executive Director, Dr Meheret Ayenew presented the draft annual report of FSS to update the participants on the current status of the organization. Participants thoroughly deliberated on important steps that need to be taken in order to maintain the track record of FSS in research, publication and dialogue. These include diversifying sources of funding, better networking and partnership with research and academic organizations and working on income generating activities. In light of this, the participants gave inputs to the draft strategic plan that is going to cover the years 2012-2016. The retreat also discussed the research and dialogue agenda of FSS for the coming few years. Address: FSS, P.O. Box 25864 code 1000, A.A., Tel. (251-11) 629 78 88/ 91, Fax: (251-11) 629 78 89 Email: fss@ethionet.et Web: www.fssethiopia.org.et
2 FSS Update, Issue No. 46 (December-May 2012) The 14th General Assembly (GA) of FSS held The 14th General Assembly of FSS was held on March 24, 2012. Board Chairman of FSS, Dr Akililu Kidanu presented the 2011 annual activity and financial reports of the organization. The external auditing firm A.W. consulting. The General Assembly also discussed the draft Strategic Plan of FSS, proposals for the amendment of the articles of association, and the action and budget for 2012. The participants after providing useful inputs on the draft SP endorsed FSS second SP that covers the years 2012-2016. In addition to the SP, the GA also approved the 2012 activity and financial plans. The GA, moreover, considered the proposals that were forwarded by the MC and the Board on the amendment of the articles of association relating to the reduction of the members of the Board from nine to seven and the addition of a provision allowing associate membership to the organization. The first proposal was made in order to comply with new government directives on CSO governing structures. The second proposal was made to encourage young social researchers Tomas LP - also presented its audit report to the GA. In the 2011 annual report, it was reported that there were limited operational activities because of the long and overdue transition from consortium funding to the newly setup Civil Society Support Program (CSSP). In spite of the budgetary constraints, FSS has managed to complete research and publication projects and started several research projects under the title Trends of Ethiopian Civil Society (TECS). This was carried out in partnership with ATOS to participate in the activities of FSS. The GA accepted the proposals and gave the mandate to the Board to effect the necessary changes. The GA also unanimously elected Ato Mulugeta Guluma, who is Director of Research at the Africa Beza College, as Internal Auditor of the Organization. FSS Update Send your contributions to: fss@ethionet.et
FSS Update, Issue No. 46 (December-May 2012) 3 A New Strategic Plan for FSS (2012-2016) The General Assembly of the Forum for Social Studies in its annual meeting held on March 24, 2012 approved the second strategic plan that covers the years 2012-2016. The first strategic plan of FSS (2006-2011) helped the organization to achieve its present track record in research, publication and in the promotion of debates and dialogue among policy makers and the wider public. The second strategic plan not only aims at the consolidation of the already established good reputation of FSS as a policy research organization but also enhances its involvement in new and innovative ventures such as enhanced partnership with newly established universities in the country, engaging in income generating activities and diversifying its source of funding.. According to the SP, the six core areas of interventions that informed the new Strategic plan of FSS include: 1. Enhancing institutional capacity to adapt to the new policy environment on CSOs domain of activities and modalities of operations. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. Promoting a participatory and all inclusive tradition of informed public debate on development and policy issues. Promoting original research and publication addressing critical development challenges and policy issues. Strengthening networking and partnership with civil society, the research community, institutions of higher learning, donors and other independent actors within and outside Ethiopia to promote a participatory and all-inclusive policy making and implementation process. Building FSS institutional capacity to develop and deliver effective and sustainable programs and services. Strengthening the financial sustainability of FSS. FSS organized a dissemination workshop on the role of Mass Based Societies (MBS) in Ethiopia A half day workshop was held on Thursday, March 22, 2012 at the Ghion Hotel on Mass Based Societies in Ethiopia: Challenges and Prospects. FSS in collaboration with ATOS conducted this research in the framework of the The Tracking Trends in Ethiopia s Civil Society (TECS) project. Dr Ayalew Geber and Ato Ezana Amedework of the Addis Ababa University carried out the research. In their presentation to the workshop, the researchers stated that the research was conducted with the broad objective of assessing the prospects and challenges of mass based societies in Ethiopia, and making policy recommendations. It, accordingly, reviewed the nature, characteristics, and state of mass based societies in Ethiopia; and assessed the preparations and changes MBS are making in order to meet their roles in connection with democratization, voter education and election monitoring, governance and human rights, as well as the opportunities and challenges they faced in doing so. The study focused on youth, women and teachers associations in Tigray, Amhara, Addis Ababa and Benishangul Gumuz Regional States. The researchers after extensive fieldwork and analysis of the legal framework in which MBS operate in the country identified important insights about the challenges and opportunities that MBS face in the country and gave sets of recommendations for government, MBS and donors. Participants drawn from government, CSOs, MBS, and donors participated in the dissemination workshop. They also provided their feedback and inputs to the researchers.
4 FSS Update, Issue No. 46 (December-May 2012) Workshop on the Development of Digital Repository for FSS The Forum for Social Studies (FSS) in collaboration with the British Library for Development Studies (BLDS) and the Netherlands Royal Tropical Institute training workshop. The training workshop was organized with two main objectives promoting Digital Repository among Ethiopian and African institutions and also imparting skills about the development and maintenance of digital repositories. FSS organized the workshop with the belief that the establishment of DR by universities, libraries and research organizations will help them to make their content available on digital platforms for students and other users. The training was provided by Mr Africa Bwamkuu from KIT. (KIT) organized a two-day training workshop from May 3-4, 2012 on the development and maintenance of Digital Repository (DR) system. DR is an emerging platform for worldwide sharing of research outputs using the internet. Fifteen professionals working on digital mediums from national and international institutions participated in the Digital Repository for FSS Through the partnership project with the British Library for Development Studies (BLDS) and the Royal Netherlands Tropical Institute (KIT), FSS has started the process of setting up a digital repository system. Equipments necessary for the repository and digitization have been secured and staffs that will run the repository were trained. By installing a Digital Repository, FSS aims to digitize its publication and make them available to Ethiopian and international users in an open access basis. FSS signs a contract for a core grant with the CSSP FSS is pleased to announce that it has been one of the organizations that was selected by the Civil Society Support Program (CSSP) formed by the aid agencies of Ireland, Norway and the Netherlands to receive a core grant for 2012 budget year. FSS plans to use the funds from the CSSP to cover part of its administrative and operational costs. Participation at the 13th CODESRIA General Assembly in Rabat, Morocco Dr Meheret Ayenew, Executive Director of FSS participated in the 13th Annual General Assembly of the Council for the Development of Social Science Research in Africa (CODESRIA). FSS has close working relationship with CODESRIA. In the Rabat meeting, more than 500 scholars from across Africa participated and hundreds of papers were presented. FSS as a host of the English version of CODESRIA s journal, Africa Review of Books (ARB) presented its annual report about the activities of the journal. It was noted in the meeting that ARB has been one of the CODESRIA journals which has been coming out regularly since its launch and has now become a respected international journal.
FSS Update, Issue No. 46 (December-May 2012) 5 New Publications from FSS