Supporting strong, diverse, impactful civil society in Ethiopia: learning from the Civil Society Innovation Fund Phase I (2022 – 2025)

The Civil Society Innovation Fund is a multi-year initiative to support civil society in Ethiopia funded by the French Development Agency. The first round of the programme, referred to as CSIF I, was launched in July 2022 and ended in June 2025. After three successful years of programme implementation, CSIF will continue with a second three-year funding cycle. As partners are transitioning into CSIF II, there is an opportunity to meaningfully reflect on the first phase.

This learning digest is a celebration of CSIF achievements and the progress made towards a stronger role for civil society in support of a democratic, peaceful, and stable Ethiopia. It looks back at the challenges and draws lessons from programme implementation that can support partners involved with CSIF II and others that aim to support new and emerging civil society actors around the world.