October 10, 2007

Andrew McPherson and Senayit Mesfin, both in the Africa Division, will work closely on the Ethiopia program in its initial phases.

USAID recently committed $2.7 million over three years to launch a new ABA ROLI project in Ethiopia.  The project will focus on judicial reform, legal education reform, and potentially election-related training.

Although Ethiopia has many highly trained judges, lawyers and law professors, there are many more who lack sufficient training, including on fundamental issues such as the separation of powers and the critical importance of judicial independence. In the judicial sector in particular, there is a need for a more intensive training program, since many judges assume their duties shortly after graduating from law school.  In the next three years, ABA ROLI will be working with five judicial training centers throughout the country to enhance the professionalism of both new and experienced judges.

ABA ROLI’s program in Ethiopia is part of the organization’s growing presence in sub-Saharan Africa. In addition to its office in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, new offices are also set to open in Cameroon and the Democratic Republic of the Congo, which will focus on anti-trafficking and gender based violence, respectively.  In Kenya, ABA ROLI will begin a 3-month anti-trafficking program, and in Nigeria, the successful anti-trafficking program has recently received additional funding to expand its work.  Finally, ROLI implements its largest program in Liberia, and it, too, is poised to expand in the coming months.

For more information, please contact Program Officer Andrew McPherson, mcphersa@staff.abanet.org.