ADDIS ABABA (UNDP Ethiopia) – The Government of Ireland signed a Euro 700,000 financing agreement with UNDP, on 4th July 2019, to support Ethiopia’s upcoming election. The fund is channeled through “Supporting Elections for Ethiopia’s Democracy Strengthening (SEEDS)” project towards supporting the National Electoral Board of Ethiopia (NEBE).
The project will strengthen the institutional and logistical capacity of NEBE to deliver on its mandate of delivering free, fair, credible and inclusive elections in Ethiopia. It will help to build the capacities of staff and adopt new technologies to lead a transparent and efficient electoral processes.
Speaking at the event, Ireland Ambassador to Ethiopia, H.E Sonja Hyland said,” The Government of Ireland initiated this partnership as this is an extremely crucial time in Ethiopia’s transition to democracy.” “NEBE has an important job over the next year to make Ethiopia ready for free and fair democratic election.”
UNDP Ethiopia Resident Representative, Mr. Turhan Saleh, emphasized, “We are confident that the SEEDS project will provide support to NEBE to deliver free, fair, credible and inclusive elections where all segments of society including Women and IDPs are provided with the opportunity to participate meaningfully.”
UNDP’s support of the upcoming election in Ethiopia
On 19th June 2019, UNDP signed a USD 40 million project document with H.E Birtukan Midekssa and H.E Ahmed Shide, Minister of Finance to support the upcoming election in Ethiopia.
A wide range of development partners have already made commitments to fund the project, led by the United Kingdom and including Denmark, Finland, Ireland, Japan, Norway and Sweden. Other partners may support the project as well. UN agencies involved in supporting the election project include; IOM, OHCHR, UNESCO and UN Women.
UNDP’s role is to integrate contributions from different partners towards the realization of transparent, inclusive, credible and peaceful elections in Ethiopia. The signed project will build the capacity of NEBE to improve its efficiency, transparency and inclusiveness.
The project will assist National Electoral Board of Ethiopia to decentralize its units and departments to the regions; build staff capacities in the electoral processes, including effective planning and operational management; enhance communications, dialogue, public trust and confidence; and introduce new technologies, standards and protocols as well as ensure transparency through the inclusion of media in the electoral process.
It will also promote voters’ education and inclusive participation of all segments of society, including women, youth and internally displaced people, civil society organizations and political parties.
Speaking at the signing ceremony, the Chairwoman of the NEBE, said ‘The upcoming general election will be one of the significant events in the Ethiopian political history. We are working to make it different from the previous electoral record of our nation with broaden political space, changes in the political and electoral laws and frameworks.’
Echoing the statement of the Chairwoman, the UNDP Resident Representative stressed that the ‘upcoming elections will have a profound influence on the course of future events in Ethiopia. The breadth and depth of support from development partners demonstrates the high priority that the international community attaches to a successful electoral process.’
Source: UNDP Ethiopia