SECTOR 1 It was not possible to assess who is responsible for the blockage. Some members of the panel, however, assumed that this could only be done by the Ethiopian Telecommunications Corporation, sole provider of telecommunication services in the country and owned by the government. Scores: Individual scores: 1 Country does not meet indicator 2 Country meets only a few aspects of indicator 3 Country meets some aspects of indicator 4 Country meets most aspects of indicator 5 Country meets all aspects of the indicator Average score: 2.0 1.11 Civil society in general and media lobby groups actively advance the cause of media freedom. In 2009, the Charities and Societies Proclamation came into effect. Since then, the activities of civil society groups, particularly in areas of advocacy, have substantially declined. The new law recognises three types of associations: Ethiopian charities/societies, Ethiopian residents charities, and foreign charities. Ethiopian charities/societies are “…formed under the laws of Ethiopia, all of whose members are Ethiopians, generate income from Ethiopia and wholly controlled by Ethiopians…if they use not more than ten percent of their funds which is received from foreign sources.” The second type, Ethiopian residents charities/societies, “… are formed under the laws of Ethiopia and which consist of members who reside in Ethiopia and who receive more than 10 percent of their funds from foreign sources.” Foreign charities “mean those charities that are formed under the laws of foreign countries or which consist of members who are foreign nationals or are controlled by foreign nationals or receive funds from foreign sources.” The law confines advocacy activities, like the advancement of human and democratic rights and promotion of equality, to Ethiopian charities/societies. The other two types of associations can only engage in developmental activities. As a result groups which engage in advocacy work are no longer allowed to receive any AFRICAN MEDIA BAROMETER ETHIOPIA 2010 21