Chapter Five

Civil Society Organizations and Development

 5.1. Meaning of civil Society
 There is no generally accepted definition of civil society since
definitions vary when applied universally across social and
cultural divides. Some definitions can be:
 Civil society organizations are defined as the arena
outside of the family, the state, and the market where
people associate to advance their common interests.  

 A wide array of non-governmental and not for profit

organizations that have a presence in public life,
expressing the interests and values of their members or
others, based on ethnical, cultural, political, scientific,
religious or philanthropic considerations.
5.2. Characteristics of Civil Society Organizations
• Civil society has separation from the state and the market;

• Civil society organization is formed by people who have

common needs, interests and values like tolerance,
inclusion, cooperation and equality;

• Civil society organizations develop through a fundamentally

endogenous and autonomous process which cannot easily be
controlled from outside.

• Civil society should not be equated to non-government

organizations (NGOs) – NGOs are only the part of civil
society.
 Characteristics cont’d

• Civil society is encompassing all organizations and

associations that exist outside the state and the market
from large registered formal bodies to informal local
organizations.

• Most civil society organization are donor funded where

as some fund their activities from the members’
contribution.

o Informal civil society organizations get their financial

resource from the community to which they perform.
5.3. Classification of CSOs

 Based on their legal status, they can be categorized

as:
i. Formal Civil society organizations
ii. Informal civil society organizations

i. Formal Civil society organization:

 Formal organizations are those with the legal
personality and clear structures for decision making
and program implementation.
 The formal categories of CSOs include the following:

• Mass based democratic organizations: these include trade

unions, women’s organizations, peasants association, youth
association, etc.
• Welfare/relief organizations: these include NGO that provide
humanitarian assistance to victims of famine and other natural
disasters.
• Professional associations: These are mainly associations
created by the professional elite. Eg: Teachers association,
health professional association, economists associations,
research institutes, etc.
• Cooperatives: are business organizations owned and operated
by a group of individuals for their mutual benefit.
• Advocacy organizations: These groups form alliances with
other organizations to educate and lobby on specific policy
issues.
Example: Human Rights Networks.

• Media groups: independent mass media that communicates

information to society and government.

• Political parties: Political parties that claim the action of

government on behalf of the citizens and struggle for power to
represent those interests in law.

• Sports clubs: Sport clubs organized under different games.

 The legal categorization of Formal CSOs in
Ethiopia:
 On the basis of membership and sources of their income, the
Proclamation No 621/2009, Article 2 provides four
classification approaches for formal CSOs. These are:

i). Ethiopian Charities or Ethiopian Societies: These are those

charities or societies that are formed under the laws of
Ethiopia, all of whose members are Ethiopia, generate income
from Ethiopia and wholly controlled by Ethiopians.

• This category also includes those charities or societies

which receive not more than ten percent (10%) of their
income from foreign sources.
ii). Ethiopian Residents’ Charities or Ethiopian Residents’
Societies:
• This group entails those charities or societies that are formed
under the laws of Ethiopia and which consist of members
who reside in Ethiopia and receive at most 90% of their
funds from foreign sources.

iii). Foreign Charities: This category encompasses those

charities that are formed under the laws of foreign countries
or which consist of members of foreign nationals or are
controlled by foreign nationals.

• They receive their operational fund from foreign sources.

iv). Mass-based Societies: This category includes
professionals association, women’s associations, youth
associations and other similar Ethiopian societies.

 The proclamation also provides that the charities or societies

cannot spend more than 30% of their expenditure as
administrative expenses while 70% should be spent on
development programs.
 ii. Informal Civil Society Organizations
 These CSOs often referring to traditional associations that
are loosely structured and not registered with concerned
government authorities.

 These associations bring together individuals and families in

informal cooperation and interaction for social, economic
and religious pursuits.

 The informal CSOs category include:

 Traditional community based organizations: These organizations
include burial societies/iddir, saving groups/iqquib, and other
informal self-help organizations.

 Community Social movement/ Neighborhood Associations: Are

organizations formed as community voluntary associations to
address their communities’ problems.
5.4. Role of Civil Society Organizations 
 Civil society has been widely recognized as an essential ‘third’
sector which can have a positive influence on the state and the
market.
 Civil society is seen as an increasingly important agent for:
• Promoting good governance like transparency, effectiveness,
openness, responsiveness and accountability;
• Improve the local business investment climate;
• Encourage new enterprises and livelihood programs;

• Deliver social services,

• Provide training and capacity building programs; and
• Contribute to relief and rehabilitation.
 5.5. NGOs and Development
 Non-Governmental Organization (NGO) is a non-profit group
or association that acts outside of institutionalized political
structures and pursues matters of interest to its members by
lobbying, persuasion, or direct action.

 The term NGO is generally restricted to social, cultural, legal,

and environmental advocacy groups having goals that are
primarily non-commercial.

 NGOs usually gain at least a portion of their funding from

private sources/donors.
 5.5.1. Classifications of NGOs

 Evolutionary Classification: – four generation of NGOs:

• First generation: NGOs focus on relief and welfare, and
deliver relief services directly to beneficiaries. Eg.
UNICEF-United Nations Children’s Emergency Fund?
• Second generation: NGOs are oriented towards small-
scale, self-reliant local development. Eg. Oxfam Britain?
• Third generation: NGOs focus on sustainable
development systems. Eg. Digital Green?
• Fourth generation: NGOs aim to raise public awareness
and change policies through development education. Eg.
Human rights watch?
 Functional classification of NGOs:
• Specialized NGOs: organizations engaged in human and
physical development activities by focusing on technical
training, adult literacy, housing, agriculture, etc.

• Welfare NGOs: Organizations that focus on relief and welfare

actions.

• Developmental NGOs: organizations that focus on human

development( capacity building) and the development of
physical infrastructure facilities.

• Advocacy NGOs: provide communities and individuals with

specialized facilitation or consultation services.
 Geographical classification of NGOS:
 In terms of geographical location, NGOs can be classified as:
• International NGOs: the organizations that provide
development assistance through out the third world countries
through financial and personnel aid.

• Regional NGOs: The organization whose activities are

restricted to a particular region.

• National NGOs: NGO that restricted its development actions

to a particular nation or state.

• Local NGOs: NGOs function at community level.

 5.5.2. Roles of NGOs in Development
 NGOS involve in varieties of political, economical, and social
goals of society in general and of their members in particular.
 Some of these include:
• Improving the state of the natural environment,
• Encouraging the observance of human rights,
• Improving the welfare of the disadvantaged people,
• Representing a corporate agenda
• Actively involve in poverty alleviation
• Involve in capacity building,
• Gender empowerment work,
• Lobbying and advocacy work,
• Undertaking and disseminating research, and
• Influencing wider policy processes through innovation and policy
entrepreneurship.
5.5.3. The Relationship between NGOs and Government
 The NGOs relate to the government in one of the following
three ways:
• Complementing the state: NGO participates with the state
in providing the services which the state itself would not be
able to provide.
• Opposing the state: NGO can oppose the state directly or
through various pressure groups with regard to policies that
will adversely affect the NGO and community.
• Reforming the state: NGOs working at grass root level can
negotiate with government to improve its policies.
 The NGOs and state should complement and assist to each
other in the process of development.
• Because NGOs can not function like government and government can
not function like NGOs.
 5.5.4. Weakness and Strengths of NGOs:
 Weakness of NGOs:
• There are certain limitations that can inhibit the effective
functioning of NGOs:
o Inadequate planning, organization and management;
o Inadequate staff training ;
o Inability to replicate projects and ensure sustainability;
o Inability to effectively collaborate at appropriate levels
with government services;
o A lack of coordination of efforts of individual NGOs to
ensure an effective macro level spread of development.
o Focus to maximize self interest rather than focusing to
achieve the planned goals
 Strengths of NGOs:
• Effective identification of community needs because of
their closer to the community;
• They tend to enjoy more legitimacy in the community
which they serve;

• Creating high degree of community participation to

create conducive environment for local knowledge and
technology utilization.;
• Flexibility and adaptation to local conditions and changes
in environment when compared with the government.
 5.6. Cooperatives and Development

 Cooperative is a business organization owned and operated by

group of individuals for their mutual benefits.

 Cooperative may be defined as a business owned and controlled

equally by the people who use its services or by the people who
work there.

 Today, there are co-operatives that include the field of housing,

dairy, fisheries, industries, transport, consumer, etc.
 5.6.1. Objectives of Co-operatives  
 The essential objectives of co-operatives include:
• The provision of goods and services of high quality at low
prices;
• Elimination of the middleman (unnecessary profits in trade and
commerce );
• Prevention of exploitation of the weaker members of society
(e.g. by money lenders);
• Protection of the rights of the people, both as producers and
consumers;
• Promotion of education and mutual understanding among their
members, and
• Promotion of social and economic well-being of their
members, in the long run, among all people.
 5.6.2.Cooperative Principles 
 In 1995, the International Cooperative Alliance adopted the
following set of principles: 
1. Voluntary & Open Membership
• Cooperatives are voluntary organizations open to all persons
to use the co-op’s goods & services and willing to accept the
responsibilities of membership. 
2. Democratic Member Control
• Cooperatives are democratic organizations controlled by their
members. 
3. Member Economic Participation
• Members contribute to and democratically control the capital of their co-
op.
• Profits are allocated to reserves and /or are used to benefit members in
proportion to their transaction with the cooperative.
4. Autonomy & Independence
• Cooperatives are autonomous, and self-help organizations.  
5. Education, Training & Information
• Cooperatives provide education and training for their
members and staffs to help them fully participate in the
democratic control and development of the cooperative. 
6. Cooperation Among Cooperatives
• Cooperatives serve their members most effectively and
strengthen the cooperatives movement by working together
through local and national groups. 
7. Concern for Community
• Cooperatives work for the sustainable development of their
communities.
 5.6.3. Benefits of Cooperatives
1. Access to quality supplies and services at reasonable cost:
• People can gain access to volume discounts, better delivery
terms, credit terms, and other arrangements.
2. Increased influence in the marketplace: Marketing on a
cooperative basis, like purchasing supplies and services, permits
members to combine their strength.
3. Share in the earnings: Most cooperatives generate earning.
• They differ from non-cooperative firms in how they allocate and distribute
their earnings.
o A non- cooperative firm retains its earnings for its own account or
pays part of them out to shareholders as dividends based on the
amount of share each investor owns.
o In a cooperative, earnings are usually allocated among the members on
the basis of the amount of business each did with the cooperatives.
4. Political action: A cooperative gives people a means to organize
for effective political action.
• They can send representatives to meet with legislators and
regulators.

5. Local economy enhanced and protected:

• Cooperatives generate jobs and salaries for local residents.
• They pay taxes that help to finance schools, hospitals, and other
community services.
5.7. Community Development
 Community development is a process of organizing or
supporting community groups in identifying their priority
development issues, planning and acting upon their strategies
for social action and change by gaining increased self-reliance
and decision-making power on the basis of their experiences.
 “Community Development is about strengthening and
bringing about change in communities.
 It consists of a set of methods which can broaden vision and
capacity for social change in a way of working, informed by
certain principles which seeks to encourage communities –
people who live in the same areas or who have something else
in common – to tackle for themselves the problems which
they face.
 Community Development is a long-term value based process
which aims to address imbalance in power and bring about
change founded on social justice, equality and inclusion.
 The process enables people to work together to:
 Identify their own needs and aspirations
 Take action to exert influence on the decisions which affect
their lives
 Improve the quality of their own lives, the communities in
which they live, and the societies of which they are a part.
5.7.1. How Community Development works?
 Community is the web of personal relationships, groups,
networks, organizations, traditions and patterns of behavior
that exist amongst those who share physical neighborhoods,
socio-economic conditions or common understandings and
interests.
 Community development is a practice which assists the
process of people acting together to improve their shared
conditions, both through their own efforts and through
negotiation with public services.
5.7.1. How Community Development works?
 Public service agencies, in turn, seek dialogue and cooperation
with users in communities.
 This is generally called community engagement.
 Community development, working from the bottom up, links with
community engagement, from the top down.

 In practice community development workers often need to

advise agencies on community engagement as well as
facilitate development in communities themselves.

 Community development drives both the bottom-up and top

down efforts.
5.7.1. How Community Development works?

 What do we mean by ‘community engagement’?

 Community engagement cannot be narrowly defined. It
involves a range of activities:
informing people
 listening to people
 working with people
seeking input from people
 bringing people together
empowering people
5.7.2. Principles of Community Development
 The principles of community development are:
 Social justice, equality and human rights
 Empowerment of individuals, families and communities from the bottom
-up
 Maximizing the participation of service users and communities
 Partnership approaches between the community and the voluntary sector,
health and social care, and other agencies
 Bringing about a sense of local ownership and control, through groups
and communities taking action together
 Tackling the root causes of inequalities, poverty and exclusion and
strengthening prevention
 Strengthening the social fabric and support systems within
disadvantaged communities and groups.
5.7.3. Values of Community Development
 Effective community development is underpinned by values
and principles.
 These include the following:
a) Equality and Anti-discrimination: Practice which challenges the
oppression and exclusion of individuals and groups
b) Social Justice: – enabling people to claim their human
rights, meet their needs and have greater control over the
decision-making processes which affect their lives.
c) Collective Action: Practice which encourages communities
to come together with a view to organize, influence and take
action.
5.7.3. Values of Community Development

d) Community Empowerment: Practice which instills

confidence amongst individuals to define themselves, their
priorities and agendas for action.

e) Working and Learning Together: Practice which values

and promotes sharing of skills, knowledge, experience and
diversity within communities to collectively bring about change.
5.7.4. Stakeholders in Community Development
 Stakeholders in community development include:
i. National Government: Including socio-economic legislation, poverty
alleviation programs, welfare and development programs.
ii. Regional Government: Regions attend to the legislation and programs
delegated by National Government.
iii. Local Government: Municipalities that focus on the development of their
own demarcated area, within the framework of the regional Integrated
Development Plan.
iv. Community members: The community members should be allowed to
actively involve in development activities by contributing labor, materials
and finance.
v. Non-governmental Organizations: It includes community- and Faith-
Based services functioning in a specific area.
 They are independent and based on the specific needs of their target
communities.
 The ideal is that they should function in a complimentary position
to the government.
5.7.5. Process of Community Development
 So often when doing community work, we just react to the
demands or needs of people without really thinking about:
 what we are doing,

why it is important, and

how it could be done differently.
 Thus, we need to develop tools to make our work easier to
undertake community development .
5.7.5. Process of Community Development Cont’d
 The community development process shows the different stages that
we need to follow, if we want to effectively do community work.
 The following diagram clearly shows the stages to be considered: