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Left to right: Turhan Saleh, UNDP Ethiopia Resident Representative and H.E Mark Ramsden, New Zealand Ambassador to Ethiopia and the African Union
The government of New Zealand signed a partnership agreement today with UNDP Ethiopia pledging an additional NZD 2.6 Million (bringing the total contribution to approx. USD 1.7 Million) to support the multi-partner Supporting Elections for Ethiopia’s Democracy Strengthening (SEEDS) project.
The agreement was signed by New Zealand Ambassador to Ethiopia and the African Union Mark Ramsden and UNDP Ethiopia Resident Representative Turhan Saleh on Tuesday the 28th of January 2020.
The ambassador noted that although New Zealand is not a big donor in Ethiopia it believed it was important to support the ongoing reform process in the country.
New Zealand is joining 10 other development partners who have contributed over USD 40 million to the UNDP managed Supporting Elections for Ethiopia’s Democracy Strengthening (SEEDS) project.
The project will be implemented from 2019-2022 to help build the capacity of the National Electoral Board of Ethiopia (NEBE) in the following key areas:
- Provide operational support to NEBE to enhance the conduct of transparent, efficient and inclusive elections.
- Support NEBE to develop capacities to conduct public outreach and external communication activities.
- Support NEBE and other key stakeholders to identify, manage and respond to electoral violence
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More on Electoral Support Project
Ethiopia is scheduled to hold a general election in 2020. With the opening of the political space and the return of several opposition political parties, the Ethiopian political landscape has witnessed dramatic changes over the last several months. It is in this context that the Government of Ethiopia requested the United Nations to support general elections. In response to this request and in coordination with the Electoral Assistance Division of the United Nations Department for Political Affairs, UNDP set up an electoral support project, Supporting Elections for Ethiopia’s Democratic Strengthening (SEEDS), in June 2019. Read more
