A ward (; ; ) is the smallest administrative unit of

Ethiopia Ethiopia, officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a landlocked country located in the Horn of Africa region of East Africa. It shares borders with Eritrea to the north, Djibouti to the northeast, Somalia to the east, Ken ...

: a

ward Ward may refer to: Division or unit * Hospital ward, a hospital division, floor, or room set aside for a particular class or group of patients, for example the psychiatric ward * Prison ward, a division of a penal institution such as a pris ...

, a neighbourhood or a localized and delimited group of people. Somali word that has meaning of collected people where water is fairly sufficient and available to prolongue their pastoralist livelihood. It is part of a

district A district is a type of administrative division that in some countries is managed by the local government. Across the world, areas known as "districts" vary greatly in size, spanning regions or county, counties, several municipality, municip ...

, itself usually part of a

zone Zone, Zones or The Zone may refer to: Places Military zones * Zone, any of the divisions of France during the World War II German occupation * Zone, any of the divisions of Germany during the post-World War II Allied occupation * Korean Demilit ...

, which in turn are grouped into one of the

regions In geography, regions, otherwise referred to as areas, zones, lands or territories, are portions of the Earth's surface that are broadly divided by physical characteristics (physical geography), human impact characteristics (human geography), and ...

or two chartered cities that comprise the

Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia Ethiopia, officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a landlocked country located in the Horn of Africa region of East Africa. It shares borders with Eritrea to the north, Djibouti to the northeast, Somalia to the east, Ken ...

. Each ward consists of at least 500 families, or the equivalent of 3,500 to 4,000 persons. There is at least one in every town with more than 2,000 population. A district's representative had jurisdiction over to

. The ward, also referred to as a peasant association, was created by the

Derg The Derg or Dergue (, ), officially the Provisional Military Administrative Council (PMAC), was the military junta that ruled Ethiopia, including present-day Eritrea, from 1974 to 1987, when they formally "Civil government, civilianized" the ...

in 1975 to promote development and to manage

land reform Land reform (also known as agrarian reform) involves the changing of laws, regulations, or customs regarding land ownership, land use, and land transfers. The reforms may be initiated by governments, by interested groups, or by revolution. Lan ...

; they became a key element that the rival

Ethiopian People's Revolutionary Party The Ethiopian People's Revolutionary Party (EPRP) (), informally known as Ihapa (), is the first modern political party in Ethiopia. Established in April 1972, it aimed to turn Ethiopia into a democratic republic. Both the EPRP and another pa ...

and

MEISON The All-Ethiopia Socialist Movement (, native acronym: MEISON, Amharic: መኢሶን) is a political party in Ethiopia. A Marxist–Leninist organization, MEISON played an active role in Ethiopian politics during the 1970s. Both it and the Eth ...

fought each other, and the ruling Derg, to control during the Ethiopian Red Terror. The

s were retained as administrative units by the

Transitional Government of Ethiopia The Transitional Government of Ethiopia (TGE) was an era established immediately after the Ethiopian People's Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF) seized power from the Marxist-Leninist People's Democratic Republic of Ethiopia (PDRE) in 1991. ...

upon the conclusion of the

Ethiopian Civil War The Ethiopian Civil War was a civil war in Ethiopia and present-day Eritrea, fought between the Ethiopian military junta known as the Derg and Ethiopian-Eritrean anti-government rebels from 12 September 1974 to 28 May 1991. The Derg overthre ...

in 1991; ever since, their administrative role has expanded to include the provision of government services more broadly. As

Human Rights Watch Human Rights Watch (HRW) is an international non-governmental organization that conducts research and advocacy on human rights. Headquartered in New York City, the group investigates and reports on issues including War crime, war crimes, crim ...

noted,

officials determine eligibility for food assistance, recommend referrals to secondary

health care Health care, or healthcare, is the improvement or maintenance of health via the preventive healthcare, prevention, diagnosis, therapy, treatment, wikt:amelioration, amelioration or cure of disease, illness, injury, and other disability, physic ...

and schools, and help provide access to state-distributed resources such as seeds, fertilizers, credit, and other essential agricultural inputs."

Structure and functions

The lowest level of local government with limited autonomy there are the kebeles. They are at the neighbourhood level and are the primary contact for most citizens living in Ethiopia. Their administrative unit consists of an elected council, a cabinet (executive committee), a social court and the development and security staff. Kebeles are accountable to their woreda councils and are typically responsible for providing basic education, primary health care, agriculture, water, and rural roads. The kebeles are headed by cadres loyal to the political coalition who see the people's everyday lives. Therefore, they are also excellent for observing movements undesirable for the central government. However, the influence of the bosom is not unlimited and complete. The system is becoming less and less functioning at lower levels in fast-growing urban communities. OPDO in Oromia only introduced the sub-intestinal system in 2001, but it did not fully become operational until the 2005 elections.

References

{{reflist Types of administrative division Subdivisions of Ethiopia

Structure and functions

See also

References