Enforcement has not been the most practiced business in the field of human rights in Ethiopia. The absence of effective enforcement can be attributed to various factors, including the absence of a normative framework, insufficient political commitment, inadequate institutional capacity and resources, and limited awareness. Despite recent legal reform initiatives purportedly driven by human rights demands, it remains uncertain whether enforcement has undergone any significant changes. Effective enforcement of human rights necessitates the existence of robust multi-layered institutions at the national, sub-regional, regional, and international levels. However, in Ethiopia, concerns have been raised about the capability of numerous normative instruments and mechanisms of human rights. This volume comprises a collection of papers presented at a hybrid conference held at the Hilton Hotel Addis in April 2022. The conference, organized by the School of Law of Addis Ababa University in collaboration with Friedrich Ebert-Stiftung, Ethiopia, centered around the theme "Enforcement of Human Rights in Ethiopia: Old and New Challenges." Its primary objective was to identify and analyze both old and new challenges in human rights enforcement in Ethiopia and propose strategies to overcome them. The editors of this volume intend for it to address scholarly gaps in the implementation and enforcement of human rights in Ethiopia. Among the notable findings from the chapters included in this volume is a significant disparity between recently reformed laws passed by the parliament and their execution by the executive body. This disconnect demonstrates a failure to prioritize and enforce human rights in the country. As such, the volume suggests that the Ethiopian government must take the business of human rights enforcement seriously.

This edited volume on Implementation of International Human Rights Commitments and Implications on Ongoing Legal Reforms in Ethiopiaaddresses key themes of contemporary interest focused on identifying the gaps between Ethiopia's human rights commitments and the practical problems associated with the realisation of human rights goals. Political and legal challenges affecting implementation at the domestic levels continue in Ethiopian - the nature and complexity of which have been thoroughly expounded in this volume. This edition uncovers the key challenges involving civil and political rights, socio-economic rights and cultural and institutional dimensions of the implementation of human rights in Ethiopia - while the country is absorbed in legal and political reforms.

The papers by international and Ethiopian scholars included in Human Rights and Development: Legal Perspectives from and for Ethiopia focus on the interconnectedness between the protection of human rights and the achievement of development. The book adds to the international debate by providing a unique insight into the Ethiopian perspective on the nexus between rights and development and by discussing how this nexus manifests itself in the Ethiopian context. The comparative and international frameworks and examples constitute a valuable resource for the debate on human rights and development in Ethiopia, which is currently taking place in the context of the developmental state approach pursued by the Ethiopian government.

This volume reflects the findings of a conference organized in preparation of setting up a national human rights commission and ombudsman institution in the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia. The meeting assembled experts in the field of the protection and promotion of human rights, and of the problems of countries in transition from a non-democratic system, characterized by gross violations of human rights, towards a democratic system based on the rule of law and respect for human rights. The book analyses the functioning of national human rights commissions and ombudsman institutions in 23 different countries, by means of country report written in the main by members of these institutions themselves and containing an assessment of their experience. Many offer relevant constitutional and legislative provisions as well. This volume thus forms a unique collection of materials dealing with national human rights commissions and ombudsman offices.

The best country-by-country assessment of human rights. The human rights records of more than ninety countries and territories are put into perspective in Human Rights Watch's signature yearly report. Reflecting extensive investigative work undertaken by Human Rights Watch staff, in close partnership with domestic human rights activists, the annual World Report is an invaluable resource for journalists, diplomats, and citizens, and is a must-read for anyone interested in the fight to protect human rights in every corner of the globe.