Africa-Press – Ethiopia. The Ethiopian Civil Society Organizations Council has pledged to step up its engagement to help ensure the success of Ethiopia’s National Dialogue, saying the consultation process has entered a critical and decisive phase.
The Council said it is working closely with the Ethiopian National Dialogue Commission to support consultations aimed at building national consensus by narrowing differences on key political and social issues.
The Ethiopian National Dialogue Commission was established by the House of People’s Representatives under Proclamation No. 1265/2022 as an independent body mandated to facilitate an inclusive, nationwide dialogue. The Commission has so far conducted agenda gathering and participant identification in eleven regions and two city administrations.
Speaking to the Ethiopian News Agency, President of the Civil Society Organizations Council, Ahmed Hussein, said the Council has been mobilizing civil society organizations to play a meaningful and structured role in the process.
“We have been working to ensure that civil society organizations contribute significantly to the national consultation,” Ahmed said.
He explained that civil society groups are actively engaged in public awareness creation, agenda setting and the recruitment of participants in coordination with the National Dialogue Commission.
Ahmed noted that cooperation between the two institutions has been formalized through a memorandum of understanding, which has enabled joint activities to be implemented.
“Based on the agreement, many joint activities are being implemented,” he said.
According to Ahmed, the inclusiveness of the consultation is being demonstrated in practice. He said women, youth, persons with disabilities, elders and scholars are participating alongside broader public involvement across regions.
He added that as the consultation moves into a more sensitive phase, the Council plans to further strengthen its contribution to help guarantee a successful outcome.
“The national consultation is a major opportunity to move away from resolving differences through force and towards a political culture guided by dialogue and the power of ideas,” Ahmed said.
He also underscored the wider importance of the process, noting that the consultation lays a foundation for state building by enabling citizens to freely deliberate on national issues.
Ethiopia’s National Dialogue is part of a broader effort to address long standing political and social divisions through inclusive discussion rather than confrontation.
Launched amid ongoing reforms and post conflict recovery efforts, the process seeks to build a shared national understanding on core political, social and governance questions by engaging citizens across regions and social groups.
Civil society organizations have been identified as key actors in this effort due to their grassroots presence and experience in community mobilization.
The renewed commitment by the Civil Society Organizations Council comes as agenda consolidation and participant engagement advance toward substantive deliberations, making coordination, inclusiveness and public trust central to the credibility and eventual outcomes of the national consultation.
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