Abera Hailemariam, Executive Director of CECOE

Leadership

Abera Hailemariam

Executive Director

Abera Hailemariam has led CECOE’s Secretariat since September 2020, after joining the coalition as Project Coordinator in July 2019, as its founders were setting it up. A lawyer and peace and security scholar, he has spent more than three decades working on human rights, good governance, democracy and civil society in Ethiopia.

He is committed to transparency, accountability and inclusion, and to listening to citizens, member organizations and electoral stakeholders to understand their needs.

At CECOE

Leading the Secretariat since 2020

Under his leadership CECOE has grown from a newly registered coalition into Ethiopia’s largest election-focused civil society network.

Experience

Career and education

Career

More than three decades of public service

  1. 2020 – presentExecutive DirectorCECOE
  2. 2019 – 2020Project CoordinatorCECOE
  3. 2023International election observer, NigeriaNational Democratic Institute (NDI)
  4. 2021International election observer, ZambiaAfrican Union
  5. 2018 –Member, sub-group on a legislatively mandated barLaw and Justice Advisory Council
  6. 2014 – 2018Acting Director and CoordinatorEthiopian Lawyers Association
  7. 2014Guest LecturerUniversity of Hargeisa
  8. 2008 – 2012Deputy Convenor, Enabling Environment TaskforceCCRDA
  9. 2005 – 2012ManagerUnion of Ethiopian Resident Charities
  10. 1999 – 2004Programme Officer, then Co-DirectorAction Professionals’ Association for the People (APAP)
  11. 1987 – 1998InstructorMinistry of Education

Education

Law, peace and electoral policy

  1. Master in Electoral Policy and AdministrationSant’Anna School of Advanced Studies, Italy
  2. MA in Development Studies, first-class honoursKimmage Development Studies Centre, Holy Ghost College, Ireland
  3. MA in Peace and Security Studies, achiever of the yearInstitute for Peace and Security Studies, Addis Ababa University, with the University for Peace
  4. LLB with distinction, and Diploma in LawFaculty of Law, Addis Ababa University
  5. BA in PhilosophyAddis Ababa University

Short courses

  • Advanced programme on human rights, Raoul Wallenberg Institute of Human Rights and Humanitarian Law (Lund, Sweden)
  • International Human Rights Training Program, Canadian Human Rights Foundation (Montreal, Canada)
  • Improving good governance by strengthening local governance, International Development Law Organization
  • Monitoring and evaluation, Pact Ethiopia
Publications

Writing on rights, civil society and governance

Books, research reports and articles published over more than two decades.

Books and reports

Books, chapters and research reports

  • Chapters 9 (Labour Law) and 10 (Land Law), and editor, Meseretawi Hig Lehulum (Basic Laws for All), Amharic, 2018
  • Assessment of legal, institutional, knowledge and skill gaps of social courts in Adama, Assosa, Bahir Dar and Hawassa, 2018
  • Needs assessment on the state of legal aid services in Addis Ababa, Adama, Assosa, Bahir Dar, Hawassa, Jigjiga and Mekelle, 2015
  • Public Defender’s Service in Ethiopia: Assessment of Current Gaps and the Way Forward, 2015
  • The Effect of Government Relocation Policies on Poor Households: The Case of Basha Wolde Chilot, LAP Lambert, 2014
  • Freedom of Association: Trials and Tribulations of Advocacy Organizations in Ethiopia, VDM, 2011
  • Ethnic Identity and Ethnic Relations: A Case Study of an Ethiopian Higher Learning Institution, VDM, 2010
  • Ethnic identity and relations of Amhara, Oromo and Tigray students at Addis Ababa University, in an IPSS and Friedrich Ebert Stiftung anthology, 2010
  • Simintegnawshi (The Eighth Millennium and other short stories), Amharic, 2007
Journal articles

Journals and edited volumes

  • The impact of Basha Wolde Chilot’s relocation programme on assets associated with housing, Kimmage DSC Research and Perspectives on Development Practice, Paper No. 20, 2017
  • The aid and development debate: reflection on aid effectiveness, Promoting Democracy and Good Governance, Vol. 3, 2016
  • Foreign funding and its impact on NGOs’ strategic and operational decision making: the Ethiopian experience, Promoting Democracy and Good Governance, Vol. 2, 2015
  • The implication of Charities and Societies Proclamation No. 621/2009 for freedom of association, Journal of Ethiopian Civil Society, Vol. 1, 2011
Papers

Conference and research papers

  • APAP’s experience in capacity building of social courts in Amhara Regional State, Mekelle University workshop, 2002
  • An overview of the human rights situation in Ethiopia, Canadian Human Rights Foundation, 2003
  • Research papers on gender roles and masculinity, 2012–2013
  • Some thoughts on factors detrimental to countries’ development: geography, institutions or both?, 2013
Our people

Meet the team behind CECOE

The Executive Director works with a Secretariat of programme, finance and communication professionals, guided by an elected Board.

Meet our team
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