Netherlands Strategy on Good Governance and Human Rights:

The promotion of Good Governance and respect for Human Rights is one of the main policy objectives for the Netherlands government. It has also been given high prominence in the  human rights strategy, “Human Dignity for All” which guides our foreign policy. It is an important aspect of the current policy note on development cooperation as a key element of the strategy to reach the MDGs. The rationale for promoting good governance and human rights is two-fold: Anchoring the values as mentioned in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights is one. The other is the conviction that respect for human rights guarantees stability and security. In their own right, stability and security pave the way to socio-and economic prosperity. 

In Ethiopia Good Governance and the protection of Human Rights still remain a  challenge. The country has been moving in the right direction since the fall of the Dergue. The governance situation in the country is better than it has ever been, but it still is a long way from complying with international standards.

For much of the 20th century Ethiopia was dominated by highly centralized and undemocratic governments.  Since the present government took power in 1991 it has taken significant steps to introduce elements of democratic accountability.  It has also embarked on a process of decentralization that seeks to address the cultural, ethnic and linguistic diversity of the peoples living within Ethiopia’s borders.

 

Three years have passed since national elections in 2005 which illustrated the fragility of Ethiopia’s democratic process.  During this time the ruling party (the Ethiopian People’s Revolutionary Democratic Front—EPRDF) has established a level of political stability that enables it to pursue its development goals.  The omnipresence  of the EPRDF continues to cause concern for international partners whose vision of democracy is not aligned with EPRDF’s ‘revolutionary democracy’.  EPRDF policy prioritizes economic rights over political and human rights, and has lived up to its promise by persistently pursuing improved standards of living for the Ethiopian people.

 

Netherlands’s Role in Governance

In the promotion of Good Governance and human rights the Netherlands considers political dialogue as its most important tool. The main issues to be resolved are matters of political choice and of policy changes. In this context dialogue at different levels is essential to achieve progress. For Ethiopia the main platform for dialogue on governance is the Neway group  discussions as part of the national development programme of PASDEP [ provide link]. The Netherlands is co-chair of this group in 2008. Another important forum for dialogue is the Ethiopia Partners Group (EPG), in which ambassadors take up dialogue with the government at the highest level on topical issues such as the local elections, new legislation, the Ogaden region, etc. This allows issues of wide concern to be discussed as  partners in development. The Netherlands ambassador is currently chairing the EPG. The EU ambassadors and donor agencies conduct their regular article 8 dialogue  with the government under the chairmanship of the Minister of Finance on general development issues, including  governance. Notwithstanding these formal, structured dialogues on governance, the embassy most frequently uses bilateral dialogue as an effective tool.

Supporting Governance Programmes

Dutch funding on governance and human rights is channelled through two  multidonor instruments:

The Democratic Institutions Program [provide link], aiming to improve the capacity of national oversight institutions and rule of law (House of People’s Representatives and House of Federal Affairs, Anti Corruption Commission; Ombudsman; Human Rights Commission; National Election Board;); police and prosecutors (on safeguards on arrest and detention). This program is managed by UNDP, and the Netherlands has the lead on anti-corruption. 2) The Civil Society Pooled Fund. This multidonor fund coordinated by IrishAid will be our main channel for support to NGOs starting 2009.

Over the years the Royal Netherlands Embassy has supported individual Civil Society Organisations over the whole spectrum from human rights advocacy (p.e. Ethiopian Human Rights Council , Justice for All-Prison Fellowship Ethiopia) to economic governance (p.e. Ethiopian Economic Association).

On governance activities (outside of Gender that is treated in an other paragraph) EURO 3 million was disbursed in 2007. In 2008 EURO 2 mln is expected to be disbursed.

Annually, the Netherlands Minister for Foreign Affairs will award the Human Rights Defenders Tulip in honour of defenders of human rights.