Charities and Societies Agency Awards “A” Grade to Nuru Ethiopia

ADAMA—The Charities and Societies Agency (ChSA) within Ethiopia has awarded an “A” grade to Nuru Ethiopia. The grading system is based on how well NGOs comply with ChSA guidelines and how effectively NGOs are working within their communities.

For this new grading exercise, ChSA considered over 3,000 nongovernmental organizations (NGOs), including over 400 international NGOs. Nuru Ethiopia was in the top 5% of all NGOs operating in Ethiopia and in the top 15% of international NGOs operating in Ethiopia.

ChSA announced the award at their annual meeting in June, presenting this evidence from Nuru Ethiopia:

• Effectiveness of field work, as evidenced by a visit from ChSA officials
• Completeness of files submitted to ChSA, such as project agreements and audit reports
• Meeting the 70/30 budget requirement for spending on programs (70%) versus administrative costs (30%)
• Availability and proper use of HR and financial manuals and their compatibility with Ethiopian law
• Proper documentation of foreigners working at the organization

Nuru Ethiopia Country Director Teshome Worku and his team hosted ChSA officials in April 2016.

Teshome said, “We did everything possible to help them understand what we do. We took them out in the field, let them see our cooperatives, talk to cooperative leaders and visit sample Nuru households. They gave very encouraging positive feedback for our work in the field and also pointed out areas of improvement in our administration systems and compliance to the country’s laws.”

Not all NGOs fared as well as Nuru Ethiopia. During the annual conference, ChSA announced they had cancelled the business licenses of 108 NGOs during the last Ethiopian calendar year (September 2015 to May 2016) for failing to comply with the country’s laws. Among those were 14 were international NGOs.

A Nuru Ethiopia field manager conducts agriculture training for member farmers