Fourth Congress of the Association of African Historians

FSS was legally registered in 1998. At the beginning, its supporters were small in number but thanks to its successful programs it has attracted a good number of supporters and wide interest among the public since then.

Over the past years it has held numerous public policy debates, produced a large body of publications, including the quarterly newsletter called Bulletin, and several specialized studies and monographs, and helped to enhance greater awareness among civil society groups about the need to participate in public policy issues.

FSS considers policy analysis as an important input to policy making and implementation, and hence it believes the building up of a policy-analysis infrastructure in the country is an important contribution. As part of the emerging body of civil society in the country, FSS hopes to contribute to the growth of a diversified civil society.

FSS is committed to mainstream gender issues in all of its activities. About 40 percent of the current members of the Board as well as the organization are women.  

 

 

 

-Who does FSS serve and who are its stakeholders?

- Major Programs 

•  Public Discussions 

• FM Radio Program 

• Research

• Publications

• Library

-Institutional Collaboration

 -Structure of Governance

-Members of the Board

-The Management Committee

-Financial Support 

Who does FSS serve and who are its stakeholders?    

The following are the main groups and institutions that FSS hopes to reach and bring together to engage in wide-ranging dialogue about the development challenges facing the country: government officials and policy planners; civil society organizations; the business community; concerned individuals or groups from the wider public; the media; and donors and international organizations.

FSS believes dialogue between policy planners on the one hand, and civil society and the public on the other will promote a better policy-making environment, and more sustainable development policies. The organization is keen to promote transparency and accountability in policy-making and implementation. Its major goal is to serve as a catalyst in the democratization of the policy-making process, and help expand the democratic space.  

Major Programs                                                               

The following is brief overview of FSS' major programs and a sample of recent activities undertaken as part of each program.

 Public Discussions                                                           

The public discussion forums are venues for debating a wide range of important policy issues. FSS has so far held numerous public discussions. To mention some:

- Intergenerational knowledge transfer

-Issues of Rural Development;
- Development and Public Access to Information;
- Education and the Development Process;
 -  Democratization, Governance and Development;-        
- Food Security and Sustainable Livelihood; and-        
-  Environment and Development
-   Poverty and Poverty Reduction

All FSS' public debates have been attended by invited guests from the institutions noted above. The debates have been on the whole quite lively with strong participation by policy planners and government officials. The forums have been covered, on the whole quite favorably, by both the government and independent media. FSS is keen to work closely with the media since it is through the media that its activities will be disseminated to the wider public.

FM Radio Program                                                           

Since March 2001, FSS, in collaboration with WAAG Communications, a local media firm, has been broadcasting a program of interviews and discussions on development and community issues on FM radio. FM Addis 97.1 is a new media venture launched by the government recently. It covers an area of 150 Km. radius from Addis Ababa and has a potential audience of over ten million. FSS' program, which is aimed at reaching and involving the wider public in policy debates, is aired three times a week and has attracted considerable public interest. 

Recently, FSS has launched development-oriented radio program via the South Nations and Nationalities Peoples FM station. The program is called 'Jember'. The program is on air beginning January 22, 2006.

Research                                                                         

FSS is engaged in a wide variety of interdisciplinary research on development problems, the findings of which are presented for discussion in public forums and made available to policy planners and decision makers. The organization believes that informed and knowledge-based policy measures have a greater chance of promoting development, and independent policy institutes such as FSS have an important role to play in extending the knowledge base available to policy makers. Research undertaken by FSS is also useful to civil society and advocacy organizations, the media and educational institutions.  

Publications                                                                          

  FSS' publications have been widely distributed to our stakeholders and have been favorably received. For a complete list of our publications, click here

Library                                                    

One of the mandates of FSS is to set up a research library to collect and preserve government documents, publications from the civil society groups and the donor community, and fugitive literature useful for development and policy research. The library will be open to researchers and graduate students. Such a library will be an important asset to many agencies which at present are constrained by lack of access to important documents and data sources. At present there is only one research library in the country, located at Addis Ababa University, but this is restricted to staff and students of the University.  

Institutional Collaboration                                                  

FSS actively participates in major public debates and advocacy programs organized by civil society organizations in the country. It is also keen to engage in other collaborative ventures with such organizations. It is, for example, a member of the NGO Task Force on the PRSP set up to review the government's Interim Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper, and to make recommendations to the improve the content of the final PRSP.

FSS welcomes collaborative work with the voluntary sector in the country, the donor community, and foreign academic, research and advocacy institutions. Some of the public debates held in the past have been joint undertakings with local civil society organizations. FSS has benefited by joint-venture schemes with the University of Sussex, the Chr, Michelsen Institute of Norway, and the Minority Rights Group International based in London. 

The organization is keen to attract the involvement of Ethiopians in the Diaspora. The brain-drain which has been going on since the 1970s has severely depleted the trained human resource of the country, and in view of this FSS considers involving Ethiopians in the Diaspora is one way to overcome the shortage of expertise and training in the country.  

FSS also welcomes foreign researchers who wish to establish collaborative links. It has an "affiliation arrangement" to enable such persons to work with FSS and its associates. The arrangement requires foreign researchers to be based in research, academic or civic institutions, and have access to sufficient funds for the work they wish to do, of which some of it will have to be earmarked as institutional cost payable to FSS. Collaborative arrangements will be made on a case-by-case basis.  

Structure of Governance                                                  

FSS is democratically governed, with decision-making shared by the General Assembly, the Board, and the Management Committee. The General Assembly meets once a year to review and approve the broad policies of the organization. The Board, which meets more frequently, is responsible for drawing up the policies and strategies of FSS, monitoring the work of the executive, and reviewing and approving the finances. Of the nine members in the Board four are women. The Management Committee is the executive body of FSS. It is responsible for implementing the decisions of the Board and managing the activities of the organization.

The Board            (Alphabetically listed)                       

Ms Adeye Befekadu

Mrs Aster Birke (Chairperson)

Dr. Meheret Ayenew

Prof. Redda Tekle Haimanot

Ato Sahlu Haile

Mrs Saba Kidane Mariam

Mrs Tsigie Haile

Dr. Yeraswork Admassie

Ato Zegeye Asfaw

The Mangement Committee                          

Prof. Bahru Zewde (Chairman)

Dr. Taye Assefa

Dr. Daniel Kassahun

Ms. Aynalem Ashebir

 

 

Contacts

Prof. Bahru Zewde, Executive Director

Dr. Taye Assefa, Publication and Publication Director

Ms. Aynalem Ashebir Program and Administration Director

Media and Communications   Mesai Mitiku

Financial Support                                                             

FSS has been supported by the following donor organizations (in alphabetical order): Department for International Development of the U.K. Government (DFID); Friedrich Ebert Stiftung (of Germany); the Irish Embassy; Japan Embassy; Japan Fund for Global Environment; the Royal Netherlands Embassy; the Royal Norwegian Embassy.