The Heinrich Böll Stiftung (hbs) office was opened in Ethiopia in January 2006. It is a small office with seven permanent staff members of which four are females. Situated in a small house with a garden the country office epitomizes the values of the foundation such as green, small and beautiful as well as being gender sensitive.

The country office of hbs runs three major programs:

1. The Gender Program focusing mainly on organizing a monthly Gender forum on different topics.
2. The Ecology Program which supports four partner organizations and sponsors the annual Green Forum
3. The Good Governance and Democracy Program which supports two partners and organizers a regular lecture series on democracy and good governance in Africa.

A program regarding the African union is being developed.

The overall objective of the work of the country office in Ethiopia is to contribute to the stimulation of civic participation in public life. Through the dissemination of relevant information, capacity-building for partners and networking with other civic education providers, the country office of hbf attempts to achieve this objective. One major step on the way is to assist in creating a general environmental consciousness.

The Country Office works mainly in the capital Addis Ababa but has started in 2007 to cooperate with partners in the Amhara Region. As part of a capacity building program a delegation of members of the Amhara Regional Council and the Amhara Development Association were invited to a study tour to Germany in June 2008.