Bridge Research & Innovation

Ongoing Parliamentary–CSO Strategic Dialogue

BRIDGE's director, Dr. Kaleab Tadesse Sigatu, presented the organisation's work in research and publications, capacity-building initiatives for modern legislatures, development of training manuals, and efforts to enhance understanding of Ethiopia’s legislative structures and parliamentary processes.

The Ethiopian Civil Society Organizations Council (ECSOC), in partnership with the National Democratic Institute (NDI), is convening a Parliament–CSO Strategic Dialogue, bringing together members of the House of Peoples Representatives of FDRE (HoPR), the House Secretariat, and civil society organizations to reflect on current trends, challenges, and opportunities in parliamentary–CSO engagement.

The event was officially opened by Ato Teferi Degeti, Executive Director of ECSOC. The keynote address was delivered by Dr. Franklin Oduro, NDI Country Director, a prominent figure in the study and establishment of Parliamentary Monitoring Organizations (PMOs) across Africa.

The session also featured insights from Sammy Obeng, Excutive Director of the Ghana-based Parliamentary Network Africa, who shared valuable experiences and lessons learned in fostering productive partnerships between civil society organizations and parliaments across the continent.

The event was honoured by the presence of Ato Kereyu Baneta, Secretary General of the Office of the House Secretariat of the HoPR, and Wro Kusiquwam Mamo, Deputy Secretary General of the House Secretariat, and other staff memers, demonstrating the House leadership’s commitment to strengthening engagement and partnership with civil society organisations.

Our Director, Dr. Kaleab Tadesse Sigatu, is participating in the Regional Training of Trainers [ToT] on Gender-Responsive Legislative Induction to Strengthen Women’s Political Participation and Leadership in Eastern and Southern Africa, taking place in Nairobi, Kenya, from 7–12 June 2026 and organized by UN Women.

This important regional training will directly support BRIDGE’s research and training team on their ongoing work to prepare training manuals and deliver induction training for members of Women’s Caucuses and Women Elected Officials’ Forums at the federal, regional, and city council levels. These efforts are particularly timely as Ethiopia prepares for the 7th Parliamentary Term, which will commence in October 2026.

BRIDGE remains committed to advancing inclusive governance, strengthening democratic institutions, and promoting women’s meaningful participation and leadership in political and legislative processes.

ግንቦት 24 2018 ዓ.ም. በተደረገው ሰባተኛው ጠቅላላ ምርጫ፣ የፌደራሉን (547 መቀመጫዎች) ጨምሮ የ12 ክልሎች እና የኹለት ከተማ መሥተዳድሮች ምክር ቤቶች (2,916 መቀመጫዎች) በአጠቃላይ ለ14 የሕግ አውጪ ምክር ቤት መቀመጫዎች ላይ ምርጫ ተከናውኗል። በአኹኑ ወቅት ምርጫ ቦርድ ዕውቅና የሰጣቸው 24 አገር አቀፍ እና 45 የክልል ፓርቲዎች የሚገኙ ሲሆን፣ ከእነዚኽ ውስጥም 42ቱ ፓርቲዎች የመራጮችን ድምፅ ለማግኘት በምርጫው ላይ ፉክክር አድርገዋል። ያም ሆኖ በአማራ ክልል በ8 እና በትግራይ ክልል በ38 (በድምሩ በ46) የምርጫ ክልሎች ውድድሩ ባለመካሄዱ በቀጣዩ መስከረም መጨረሻ የሚመሰረተው የሕዝብ ተወካዮች ምክር ቤት በ501 መቀመጫዎች ሥራውን ይጀምራል። ይኽ ኹኔታ የምክር ቤቱን ምሉዕ የፌዴሬሽኑን ተዋጽዖ በጊዜያዊነት ገድቦት ቢቆይም፣ የሕግ አውጪነት ሕጋዊ ቅቡልነቱን ግን አያግደውም።

በሌላ በኩል፣ ሕግ የማውጣት ሳይሆን ሕገ-መንግሥትን የመተርጎም እና ብሔረሰቦችን የመወከል ሥልጣን ያላቸው የፌዴሬሽን ምክር ቤት እና የሦሥቱ አዳዲሶቹ ክልሎች የብሔረሰቦች ምክር ቤቶች ምርጫ በዚኽ ወቅት ባይካሄድም፣ ከቀድሞው የደቡብ ክልል ወጥተው ራሳቸውን የቻሉት ደቡብ ምዕራብ ኢትዮጵያ፣ ማዕከላዊ ኢትዮጵያ እና ደቡብ ኢትዮጵያ ክልሎች ለመጀመሪያ ጊዜ በዚኽ ጠቅላላ ምርጫ መሳተፋቸው የክልላዊ ፌዴራሊዝም ተቋማዊ ሽግግራቸውን የሚያጠናክር ትልቅ መሠረት ይሆኗል።

ካለው ሥርዓታዊ እና ፖለቲካዊ ነባራዊ ኹኔታ አኳያ የብሪጅ ምልከታ እንደሚያሳየው፣ ገዢው ብልጽግና ፓርቲ ለብቻው የተወዳደረባቸውን 65 መቀመጫዎች ጨምሮ በብዙዎቹ የክልል ምክር ቤቶች ከ50 በመቶ በላይ ወንበሮችን በቀላሉ ሊያሸንፍ እንደሚችል እና በቀጣዩ የሕዝብ ተወካዮች ምክር ቤትም መንግስት የመመሥረት አብላጫ ድምፅ እንደሚያገኝ ይገመታል። ከተቀመጡት 501 ወንበሮች መካከል ተፎካካሪ ፓርቲዎች ከ10 እስከ 15 በመቶ የሚሆነውን መቀመጫ ይይዛሉ የሚለው የተቋማችን የቢሆናል መላምት ቢሳካ፣ ይኽ ውክልና በፓርላማው ውስጥ የፖሊሲ ክርክሮችን ለማነቃቃት እና የመንግስትን የሥራ አሥፈጻሚ ተቋማትን የመቆጣጠር ሚናን ለማሳደግ ጠቃሚ አቅም ይፈጥራል።

In the seventh general election held on Monday, June 1, 2026 voting took place for a total of 14 legislative councils, encompassing the federal parliament (547 seats) as well as the councils of 12 regions and two city administrations (2,916 seats). Currently, there are 24 national and 45 regional parties recognized by the National Election Board of Ethiopia, out of which 42 parties contested the election to secure voters' ballots. Nevertheless, due to the suspension of the competition in 46 constituencies; specifically, 8 in the Amhara region and 38 in the Tigray region, the House of People's Representatives, which will be constituted at the early week of next October, will commence its operations with 501 seats. While this situation temporarily restricts the full federal representation of the House, it does not impede its legal legislative legitimacy thereof.

On the other hand, although elections were not held at this time for the House of Federation and the nationalities' councils of the three new regional states; which hold the mandate for constitutional interpretation and ethnic representation rather than lawmaking, the first-time participation of the South West Ethiopia, Central Ethiopia and South Ethiopia regions (which emerged as independent entities from the former Southern Nations, Nationalities and Peoples' Region) in this general election serves as a major cornerstone that strengthens their institutional transition into regional federalism.

In light of the prevailing institutional and political realities, BRIDGE’s assessment indicates that the ruling Prosperity Party is projected to easily win over 50 percent of the seats in most regional councils, including the 65 seats House of Peoples’ Representatives where it ran uncontested and will secure the majority vote required to form a government in the upcoming House of Peoples' Representatives. If our institution's probabilistic hypothesis, that opposition parties will secure between 10 and 15 percent of the 501 contested seats materializes, this representation will create a valuable capacity to stimulate policy debates within the parliament and enhance the oversight role over government executive bodies.

We are delighted to share our monthly digest for April. As part of our ongoing efforts under the Knowledge & Research Program, we are pleased to present one of our flagship publications, the Monthly Digest.

This edition covers key organizational activities carried out across during the month of April, highlighting major developments, engagements, and milestones achieved.

The April 2026 IGAD Monthly Digest highlights a robust regional agenda focused on peace and security, climate resilience, and socio-economic integration, notably marked by the successful observation of Djibouti’s peaceful presidential election and the participation of the IGAD delegation in the World Bank–IMF Spring Meetings to advance infrastructure development. Major initiatives included the advancement of the RECOVER-HORN regional climate resilience program, a high-level call for a coordinated response to the child wasting crisis affecting 4.8 million children, and technical workshops aimed at integrating refugees into national labor markets and education systems.

The digest’s Section 6 provides critical observational insights into the first , which called for reimagining mediation to counter the “privatization of peace” and fragmented authority in modern conflicts, alongside the on the ratification of the 2023 IGAD Treaty. This treaty signifies a transformative shift for the organization, moving from its original focus on drought and security toward a modernized, legally binding entity with an expanded mandate for comprehensive economic cooperation, common markets, and the free movement of persons across the Horn of Africa.

Read more: https://bridge-et.org/igad-monthly-digest-april-no-06/
IGAD Secretariat

We are pleased to share our monthly digest, our flagship publication of Enderasie [እንደራሴ], below the monthly digest for the month of Miyazia (April/May), covering the key activities of the House of Peoples’ Representatives of the Federal Republic of Ethiopia.
The House of Peoples' Representatives of Ethiopia has carried out its various constitutional responsibilities during the month of Miyazia. Among these primary responsibilities, the ratification of
laws, hearing reports from executive bodies, conducting parliamentary diplomacy and undertaking
institutional and field visits were the major activities of the House for the month. This fifteenth edition
of Enderasie has compiled these matters accordingly and includes a BRIDGE’s observational insight for the month.
Read more:https://bridge-et.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/Bridge_English_015.pdf

የኢትዮጵያ እንደራሴዎች ምክር ቤት፣ በወርኃ ሚያዚያ የተለያዩ ሕገ-መንግሥታዊ ኃላፊነቶቹን አከናውኗል። ከእነዚኽ ዋንኛ ኃላፊነቶቹ መካከልም፣ ሕግጋትን ማጽደቅ፣ የሥራ አሥፈፃሚ ተቋማት ሪፖርቶችን ማድመጥ፣ ፓርላመንታዊ ዲፕሎማሲዎችን መከወን እና የተቋማት እና የመስክ ጉብኝቶችን ማድረግ የወሩ የምክር ቤቱ አበይት ክንውኖች ነበሩ። ይኽች የእንደራሴ ዐሥራ አምስተኛ ዕትምም፣ እኒኽን ጉዳዮች በመልክ በመልካቸው አጠናቅራ እና ለወሩም እንዲሆን አንድ የብሪጅ ዳሰሳዊ ምልከታን አካታ እንዲኽ ተጠናቅራለች።
ሙሉዉን ያንብቡ፡https://bridge-et.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/Bridge_Amharic_015.pdf

House of Peoples Representatives of FDRE

𝐐𝐮𝐨 𝐕𝐚𝐝𝐢𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐏𝐚𝐧-𝐀𝐟𝐫𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐧 𝐏𝐚𝐫𝐥𝐢𝐚𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭?
We are pleased to share BRIDGE’s weekly Observational Insight on the election of the Honorable Dr. Ashebir Woldegiorgis, a member of the House of Peoples Representatives of FDRE, for the third time as Vice-President of the Pan African Parliament.
Read the full report: https://bridge-et.org/bridge-observational-insight-quo-vadis-the-pan-african-parliament/

የፓን አፍሪካው ፓርላማ፣ እንዴት-ወዴት?
እነሆ የኢፌዲሪ የሕዝብ ተወካዮች ምክር ቤት አባል የተከበሩ ዶ.ር. አሸብር ወልደጊዮርጊስ፣ የፓን አፍሪካ ፓርላማ፣ የምክትል ፕሬዝደንትነት ለሦሥተኛ ጊዜ መመረጣቸውን አስመልክቶ ብሪጅ ያዘጋጀችው ሳምንታዊ ዳሰሳ።

የዚኽን የሚያዚያ ወር ክንውን መሠረት በማድረግም፣ እንደራሴ መጽሔት የፓን አፍሪካ ፓርላማ፣ ርዕሰ ጉዳይን የዚህ ሳምንት ዳሰሳዊ ርዕሰ-ጉዳዯ ታደርገው ዘንድ መርጣለች።

ሙሉውን በአማርኛ ለማንበብ፤ https://bridge-et.org/bridge-observational-insight-quo-vadis-the-pan-african-parliament-am/

We are pleased to share BRIDGE’s weekly Observational Insight on the Ethiopian Artificial Intelligence Institute's nine-month performance reports to the House of Peoples' Representatives. Read full report: https://bridge-et.org/bridges-observational-insight-ai/

እነሆ የኢትዮጵያ አርቲፊሻል ኢንተለጀንስ ኢንስቲትዩት ለኢፌዲሪ የሕዝብ ተወካዮች ምክር ቤት ያቀረበውን ዘጠኝ ወራት የሥራ አፈጻጸም ሪፖርት አስመልክቶ ብሪጅ ያዘጋጀችው ሳምንታዊ ዳሰሳ። ሙሉውን ለማንበብ፡ https://bridge-et.org/bridges-observational-insight-ai-am/