Ethiopia: EHF Partner Diversification Update - 2021 to 2025 (27th November 2025)

Introduction -

The Humanitarian Reset is bringing immense changes in the humanitarian system, including in Ethiopia where the humanitarian landscape has evolved significantly in recent years driven in part by legal reforms that have created a more enabling environment for civil society organizations (CSOs) to receive international funding. As of 2024, more than 5,000 CSOs and NGOs were registered with ACSO, reflecting a growing civil society.

Executive summary

• 449 projects were funded through 90 partners with a total budget value of $330M.
• Top ten partners absorbed 50 % of the funding allocated over the last five years.
• The top five partners received 29 % of the total funding disbursed.

Localization

• Direct funding to NNGOs increased from 12 % in 2021 to 40 % in 2024 and 73 % in 2025, averaging 31 % of the total funding over five years.
• Number of funded NNGOs increased from 5 in 2021 to 32 in 2025, despite a reduction in overall funding.
• More than 40 eligible NNGOs have been onboarded since 2021, but 51 % were awarded two projects or less (average value US$1M). Many remain “one-project partners”.