Politics and governance of the 'Reform Agenda' in Ethiopia, 2018 – 2023
This book explores policies and governance initiatives in Ethiopia introduced after the federal government launched its 'Reform Agenda' in April 2018. It features studies on key topics including women’s empowerment, agrarian governance, youth (un)employment, foreign direct investment, and citizens’ charter issues. These chapters were written by Ethiopian policymakers and academic researchers as part of their professional practice. The book begins with a general introduction to the five-year project (2018 – 2023) and includes a political overview of Ethiopia’s federal governance structures and federal -regional relations. The seven empirical studies provide valuable insights into the challenges, opportunities, and conditions for improved policymaking. While the chapters highlight promising developments, they also reflect on the setbacks since 2020. Political turmoil and internal conflicts have slowed the fine-tuning and implementation of the Reform Agenda in 2023-24, underscoring the urgent need for assessment and recalibration.
The book is part of the Exploratory Studies Series and can be purchased at the ASCL web shop.
About the author(s) / editor(s)
Jon Abbink is an anthropologist-historian and carries out research on the history and cultures of the Horn of Africa (Northeast Africa), particularly Ethiopia. He is Professor Emeritus of Politics and Governance in Africa at Leiden University.
He has done a number of research projects, the first one being a study of Ethiopian immigrants in Israel in the 1980s. His current projects are a socio-cultural history of South Ethiopia, an historical-cultural study of the relation between governance, political culture and religious discourse, and an ethnological study of southwest Ethiopian ethnic groups, livelihoods and conflict. He is also interested in theoretical and epistemological issues in social science.
Since 2001 Jan Abbink has been Professor (extraordinary) of African Ethnic Studies at the VU University in Amsterdam.
Posted on 28 March 2025, last modified on 28 March 2025