By Tigist Zerhiun

The Ethiopian Women Lawyers Association has laid off 70 percent of its employee and has been forced to reduce its activities due to shortage of funds, it was learnt.

Zenaye Tadesse, Managing Director of the association, told The Reporter that the shortage of money came about after the association re-registered as a local Non-Profit Organization (NGO) as per the new Charities and Societies Proclamation, which mandates 90 percent of its funds to be raised from local donors.

According to Zenaye, aside from cutting jobs, the association has been forced to stop its various activities and has been limited to providing free legal consultations in Addis Ababa and six regional states through volunteers. Among the activities that have been cut back are undertaking researches, awareness creation and trainings, and publication and dissemination of informational materials.

The association is outlining various fund raising schemes and has conducted a couple of events so far. “Although the money raised during a previous bazzar was limited, the response and enthusiasm received was encouraging,” said Zenaye.

But the turnout during a fundraising event held last Thursday was well below expected. “The concept of fundraising is a new concept both for us and the public which makes the whole endeavor challenging. We were expecting at least 150 people to show up for Thursday’s event, but the turnout was not even half that number,” she said.

The association used to get as much as 11 million birr from various international rights groups, donors as well as contributions from its members. EWLA, which claims to have helped close to 80,000 women since its inception, needs as much as 8 million birr a year to implement its goals. Zenaye added that the association needs 1,200,000 birr a year just to provide free legal consultation service.

Source: Reporter