The Ethiopian Nile Basin Discourse Forum (Eth-NDF) is a network of civil society organizations (CSOs) and Non-governmental Organizations committed to promoting civil society and basin community participation and active engagement in the development and sustainable utilization of the Nile water resources. Eth-NDF, launched in December 2005, is the result of series of consultative meetings and lively debates among like minded Ethiopian civil society groups who could no more bear witnessing the paradox of socioeconomic deprivation, grinding poverty and hunger that has befallen the Nile basin communities , while one of the World's biggest rivers is flowing by their very door steps, untapped.

Eth-NDF is convinced that the time has come for redressing this injustice through a collaborative effort between government, civil society and the international development community. In this regard, it recognizes the enormous opportunities created by the new vision of the Nile basin countries towards a shared and sustainable utilization of the Nile water resources, through the Nile Basin Initiative (NBI). Eth-NDF believes that the effective participation of the Ethiopian civil society and the grass root basin communities in the policy making and development process of this huge water resource is of crucial importance to the realization of the NBI vision and programmes.

The idea of involving civil society organization in the NBI related issues was conceived earlier, especially in 2002, when the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA) showed interest to support civil society's engagement in the NBI both at the regional ( Basin Wide) and national levels. Since then, various efforts have been made to enhance civil society engagement in the NBI in most of the Nile Basin Countries.

Considering the critical importance of establishing the Ethiopian Nile Basin Discourse Forum, an Ad Hoc Committee consisting of Christian Relief and Development Association (CRDA), Inter-Africa Group (IAG), Sustainable Land Use Forum (SLUF) and Civil Society Campaign Against Famine in Ethiopia (CS-CAFE), was established during a consultative workshop on the NBI organized by Inter-Africa Group held on March 11, 2005. That Ad hoc committee organized a national conference, held in Ghion Hotel from 22nd - 23rd December 2005 which initiated the formation of Eth-NDF.

The main objectives of the Forum are to:

Promote public awareness and informed dialogue on Nile water issues and contribute to national consensus building for a sustainable and shared development /use of the Nile water resources. The strategies employed for this objective are: (1) Provide Ethiopian civil society and basin communities with up to date information on Nile water development and utilization opportunities, challenges, technologies and emerging policy initiatives, the NBI in particular; (2) Organize and run public debates on Nile water issues at National, Regional and Local levels; and (3) Adopt a participatory and interactive public dialogue approach to develop consensus and shared vision on Nile water development issues.

Enhance basin community participation in the development and utilization of Nile water resources. This can be done by using the following strategies: (1) Establish and develop effective working relationships and partnership with local institutions (CSOs, CBOs, self- help groups, Schools, Clubs and local administration structures such as Woredas and Kebeles) running various development programs in the basin; (2) Build local institution capacities for effective participation in decisions affecting Nile basin development and management; (3) Provide resource mobilization and program support to local community development activities in the basin; and (4) Adopt a participatory monitoring and evaluation system that would allow the identification and tracking of the costs and benefits of Nile basin development projects to the local population.

Foster networking, cooperation, and strategic alliance with Nile basin stakeholders at National, Regional, & International levels. This objective would be realized by using the following strategies: (1) Develop and strengthen networking, information exchange with the Regional Nile Basin discourse Forum (NBD) and National Discourse Forums (NDFs) in each of the riparian countries with particular focus on ENSAP countries; (2) Establish and strengthen collaboration and partnership with NBI structures in the region and their various projects (CBSI, SDO, NTEAP, ENTRO in particular, and others); (3) Establish and develop partnership and collaboration with National, Regional and International development partners and donors supporting development activities in the basin; and (4) Establish, maintain and develop information exchange and collaborative links with government and private sector, educational establishments, research institutions, and individual citizens working on Nile water development issues.

Areas of operation

The forum has been engaged in the following areas. These include:1) Public awareness raising on IWRM, impacts of climate change on water, and on the benefits of Nile cooperation to Ethiopia;2) Research and dissemination for policy informing on the benefits of Nile cooperation;3) Information exchange and sharing on the management of shared water resources in general and the Nile water resources in particular4) Partnership and networking with local, national and international actors in the Nile.

In relation to the NBD three year programme, the Forum operates in the following areas:

Improving communication, knowledge and information management among civil society organizations in the Nile basin to strengthen civil society perspectives in development processes. Here, it wants to ensure increased understanding and participation in Nile basin development processes among stakeholders.

Supporting initiatives for sustainable integrated river basin management at all levels for livelihood improvement & development in the Nile basin. Its intention to see increased understanding and application of integrated river basin resource management approaches among NBD members and enhanced ecosystem approach & IWRM concepts for the use, development & conservation of water resources in the basin.

Ensuring the integration and adoption into the Nile basin development processes of Climate change adaptation & mitigation measures & approaches interwoven with measures to reduce trans-boundary conflict between communities in NBI member countries.

Influencing policy development for equitable utilization and sustainable management of the Nile basin resources by working to increase civil society contribution to policy-making processes in the Nile basin. The Forum is keen to promote the idea of mainstreaming access and equity issues in policies and guidelines at national, sub-regional and regional level in the Nile basin. It works towards increasing regional cooperation among civil society organizations on trans-boundary resource management.

Past activities conducted by the Eth-NDFEth-NDF has been working hard in the areas of:

Institutional capacity development where it has already opened a national secretariat office with well equipped office furniture and appointed a minimum basic staff-National Programme Coordinator and National Administrative Assistant. Besides, it has also established five regional chapters with focal institutions in National Regional States located within the Ethiopian portion of the Nile basin.

Knowledge and Communications implemented through the establishment of the National Resource Centre, and various awareness raising activities such as public debate/talk show, public lecture, panel discussion, conferences and workshop. Besides, the Forum, in an attempt to promote knowledge and communication, has produced various publications such as brochures, newsletter, book (proceeding), roll up stands, and policy briefing papers on water and civil societies.

Research and Dissemination where the Forum has conducted commissioned study on NBI Projects (SVP & SAP), micro-study on Watershed Management Project of the NBI, Action-oriented research on Benefit Sharing project of the NBI, and commissioned study on Stakeholder Mapping/Analysis.

A Civil Society Capacity Building where, the Forum has conducted series of capacity building training workshops to its members and clients on: (1) Advocacy, Lobbying and Policy Dialogue, (2) Applied/Action research, (3) Resources Mobilization and Management, and (4) Project Cycle Management with due focus on Socio- Economic and Environmental Impact Assessment of development projects of the NBI; and (5) Information Sharing and public awareness creation activities implemented through national information sharing workshop and local consultative meetings, held on March 30, 2009 at the Saba Hall of the Ghion Hotel, Addis Ababa, and on April 25, 2009 at ORDA (Organization for Relief and Development in Amhara) Conference Hall at Bahir Dar City, respectively. The Forum has also actively participated in developing a strategic development plan for NBD; developing systems and procedures that would facilitate NBD take full responsibility of its functions; and undertaking fundraising project for NBD.

Recently, the Forum has organized a National Workshop under the title Nile Basin Initiative over the past 10 years: retrospect and prospect at Queen of Sheba Hotel on December 22, 2009. The general objective of this workshop was to identify the strengths and limitations of the NBI over the past 10 years along with mapping the outcomes of the SVPs in a bid to enhance public awareness on the benefits of Nile cooperation and inputting into NBI policy development, planning, design and implementation of programmes in the future so as to facilitate reaching regionally agreed civil society position statements across the basin. This would enable the NBD to contribute towards building up on the strengths and rectifying limitations of the NBI in a bid to promoting regional cooperation and poverty reduction in the Nile basin.

Further, the Ethiopian Nile Basin Discourse Forum has conducted a mulch-stakeholder's forum on the theme: Benefits and costs of Nile Cooperation to Ethiopia. It was a one day forum held on the 24th September 2010 at Harmony Hotel, Addis Ababa. More than 90 participants drawn from Government offices, Universities, Research institutions, MPs, Prominent Citizens/opinion-makers, Local CSOs/NGOs, International NGOs (members of Eth-NDF), Professional Associations, Nile Media Network, Nile Women Forum, Youth Forums, Trade Unions, Community members, UN Agencies, Donors, and Media Houses attended the forum.

As part of its mandate, Eth-NDF has also been promoting engagement with the NBI and Ministry of Water Resources (MoWR), and other sister NDFs to build trust and confidence between peoples of the Nile basin and thereby foster regional cooperation.

There has been significant progress on all aspects mentioned above. We believe that all these have to be scaled-up and deepened. Thus the Forum has developed a base that should be used as a spring board to develop its potential to effectively engage NBI. Â Today, the Eth-NDF boasts of being the only institution with potential to build a collective voice with regard to Nile in Ethiopia, ensure conceptualization and engagement of NBI programmes.

As a result of this and other underlying factors that have contributed to the need for the NBD/NDFs to continue its operations, NBD/NDFs has moved to new chapter of autonomous operation independent of IUCN host. As part of this move, Eth-NDF has re-advertised staff positions and recruited the National Programme Coordinator and the National Administrative Assistant who assumed their respective positions as of July 1, 2010.

Following the staff induction and planning meeting in July 2010 in Entebbe, Uganda, the Ethiopian Nile Discourse Forum has opened its own separate bank account for both local and foreign currencies. Opening a separate bank account will promote accountability and transparency for the DFID money and will add credibility to NBD. It will also ensure the value for money.

Eth-NDF has prepared list of Media houses in Ethiopia that will work with NBD in disseminating NBD/NDF activities. Eth-NDF is thus working closely with the media houses in Ethiopia. Media houses collected were also sent to the NBD communication officer at the NBD secretariat.

Membership

Recently, the Ethiopian Nile Discourse Forum has widely dispatched an E-mail message requesting various national and international NGOs operating in Ethiopia to express their interest to become members of the Forum. Accordingly, to date, about sixteen new NGOs have expressed their keen interest to become members of the Forum. The new members were invited to attend the national multi-stakeholder forum and expressed their commitment to work for the promotion of Nile cooperation. It is believed that the inclusion of new members would broaden the constituency of the Forum and strengthen the voice and the influence of NBD at National, Regional, and International fora. Membership database has been shared with the NBD secretariat level. Currently, Eth-NDF has 88 members.

Reporting to the NBD Secretariat

Eth-NDF is accountable to the NBD secretariat and sends monthly and quarterly narrative and financial reports to the NBD head office. Besides, the Forum has been contributing to the NBDs monthly News letter so as to promote NBDs communication and visibility at all levels.

Supporting member activities

Eth-NDF has been supporting member activities through providing written materials to help promote the vision and mission of the NBD in Ethiopia.

Recent and Past Reports of the EthNDF linked to proceedings of the Eth-NDF and  compiled out of the recent national conferences that the Forum has conducted.

Ethiopia NDF Contact

Nazareth Road, Kaliu, CRDA Building,
P.O.Box 34055, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
Tel: +251 11 4394802
Mob: +251 911 4 78076
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