ADDIS ABABA, JUNE 3 – The Ambassador of Italy in Addis Ababa, Arturo Luzzi, and the UNDP Resident Representative, Turhan Saleh, signed an agreement by which the Italian Government – through the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation – grants to the United Nations Agency an amount of 400.000 Euro for the implementation of its project “Supporting Elections for Ethiopia Democracy Strengthening – SEEDS”. The Italy-UNDP collaboration will be managed by the Office of the Italian Development Cooperation Agency in Addis Ababa (AICS).
The main and common goal is to contribute to the transparency and inclusiveness of the electoral process in Ethiopia by reinforcing the capacities of NEBE (National Electoral Board of Ethiopia) which has the institutional task of organizing the next general elections on 21 June. The ultimate aim of the Italian support to the UNDP’s project is to contribute to the strengthening of the Ethiopian democratic institutions.
In response to a request by the The Government of Ethiopia 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. Other funding partners include Canada, Denmark, Finland, Ireland, Japan, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Sweden and the UK. (@OnuItalia)
