Biblio

The major purpose of this study was to investigate the challenges and prospects of civil society’s engagement in Ethiopia’s first cycle African Peer Review Mechanism (APRM). The study employed a mixture of qualitative and quantitative approaches by means of a triangulation technique in which data were gathered through questionnaire, interview and document review.
Samples were drawn from Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) on the basis of purposive sampling technique in order to gather data through questionnaire. In addition, otherorganizations from members of National Governing Council and informant individuals were approached through interview. The literature review conducted for the purpose of this study has underlined the importance of meaningful participation of civil society in major activities andstages of APRM to make the review process credible and fruitful. The finding of the study shows that undue attention was given for the participation of third party serving civil society in the APRM process. This was particularly attributed to narrow definition and scope of civil society in the review process. Under the conclusion part, the paper indicates that the insignificant engagement of CSOs in APRM would undermine their participation and commitment during actual implementation of National Program of Action (NPoA). Thus, government should create conducive environment for effective participation of all categories of civil society in governance issues. This would again require engendering vibrant civil society for its substantial engagement.