Nairobi, Kenya, 28 August 2016 – Gender inequality is costing sub-Saharan Africa on average $US95 billion a year, peaking at US$105 billion in 2014– or six percent of the region’s GDP – jeopardising the continent’s efforts for inclusive human development and economic growth, according to the Africa Human Development Report 2016: Advancing Gender Equality and Women’s Empowerment in Africa, published today by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP).

“If gender gaps can be closed in labour markets, education, health, and other areas, then poverty and hunger eradication can be accelerated", said UNDP Administrator Helen Clark at the launch today, attended by Kenya’s President Uhuru Kenyatta at the Tokyo International Conference on African Development (TICAD) VI.

Achieving gender equality and women’s empowerment is the right thing to do, and is a development imperative", Helen Clark said.

The UNDP report analyses the political, economic and social drivers that hamper African women’s advancement and proposes policies and concrete actions to close the gender gap. These include addressing the contradiction between legal provisions and practice in gender laws; breaking down harmful social norms and transforming discriminatory institutional settings; and securing women’s economic, social and political participation.

The cost of gender inequality

Deeply-rooted structural obstacles such as unequal distribution of resources, power and wealth, combined with social institutions and norms that sustain inequality are holding African women, and the rest of the continent, back. The report estimates that a 1 percent increase in gender inequality reduces a country’s human development index by 0.75 percent.

The Human Development Index (HDI) is a summary measure of average achievement in key dimensions of human development: a long and healthy life, being knowledgeable and have a decent standard of living

While the continent is rapidly closing the gender gap in primary education enrolment, African women achieve only 87 percent of the human development outcomes of men, driven mainly by lower levels of female secondary attainment, lower female labor force participation and high maternal mortality.

The report states that while 61 percent of African women are working they still face economic exclusion as their jobs are underpaid and undervalued, and are mostly in the informal sector.

African women hold 66 percent of the all jobs in the non-agricultural informal sector and only make 70 cents for each dollar made by men. Only between 7 and 30 percent of all private firms have a female manager.

In a key finding, the report estimates that total annual economic losses due to gender inequality in the labour market have averaged US$95 billion per year since 2010 in sub-Saharan Africa and could be as high as US$105 billion, or 6 percent of the region’s GDP in 2014.

Social norms are a clear obstacle to African women’s progress, limiting the time women can spend in education and paid work, and access to economic and financial assets. For instance, African women still carry out 71 percent of water collecting translating to 40 billion hours a year, and are less likely to have bank accounts and to access credit.

African women’s health is also severely affected by harmful practices such as under-age marriage and sexual and physical violence, and high maternal mortality - the most at-risk women being those of childbearing age. According to the report, a 1 percentage point rise in adolescent birth rate increases the overall adult female mortality rate by about 1.1 percentage points.

“With existing gender disparities, achieving the Sustainable Development Goals and Africa’s Agenda 2063 would remain an aspiration, and not a reality”, said UNDP Africa Director Abdoulaye Mar Dieye. “Closing the gender gap would not only set Africa on a double-digit economic growth track, but would also significantly contribute to meeting its development goals.”

Pathways to gender equality and women’s empowerment

Addressing gender inequality requires an all-of-government and all-of-society approach, taking into account established linkages between women’s social wellbeing and economic opportunities for more productive lives.

The report proposes four strategic pathways to greater gender equality and women’s empowerment – adopting legal reforms, building national capacity to accelerate women’s involvement in decision-making, adopting multi-sectoral approaches in promoting gender equality and women’s empowerment, and accelerating women’s ownership of assets and management of resources.

The report further recommends six enabling actions to fast-track the achievement of gender equality and women’s empowerment, and by extension, the Sustainable Development Goals and Africa’s Agenda 2063:

• Using gender equality as an organising policy lens for all development planning and implementation to ensure that gender equality and women’s empowerment is a deliberate design feature.

• Directly tackling destructive social norms as African leaders can no longer abdicate from their responsibility to address harmful social norms in a straightforward and unambiguous manner.

• Planning and budget prioritisation for gender equality that foregoes short-term politically and economically expedient decision-making, and instead links immediate priorities to a long-term vision mapping out a more inclusive and empowering development trajectory.

• Ensuring adaptive national institutions to drive a strong, proactive and responsible social framework that develops policies, follows through implementation and readjusts in the face of shifting evidence and the changing needs of society.

• Giving value to data for improved decision-making and informed policy change and mid-course corrections. Data disaggregation beyond national-level is critical to gauge impact at regional and local-levels.  

• Engaging in regional and South-South Cooperation in designing and implementing gender-focused policies and initiatives to share tools, strategies and experiences across sectors.

Achieving gender equality and women’s empowerment cannot be achieved without forging alliances among development actors - government, civil society, private sector and other development partners.

In this perspective the report proposes two major initiatives, the establishment of an African Women’s Investment Bank and the implementation of Gender Seal certification to promote gender equality standards in workplaces.

The report is clear that countries that invest more in gender equality and women’s empowerment are doing better on human development. To ensure Africa’s inclusive growth it is critical that half the continent’s population – girls and women - play transformative roles.

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UNDP Administrator Helen Clark met with local peace committee elders in the Ethio-Kenyan border town of Moyale to commend their work and also highlight the UN’s commitment to support efforts aimed at bringing about peace and sustainable development to the cross border region. 

The UN, in partnership with the governments of Ethiopia and Kenya as well as IGAD has launched a US$ 200 million five-year cross-border Integrated Programme for Sustainable Peace and Socio-economic Transformation targeting Borana Zone, Ethiopia and Marsabit County of Kenya.

The programme was officially inaugurated back in December 20015 by Kenya’s President Uhuru Kenyatta and Ethiopia’s Prime Minister Hailemariam Dessalegn, as part of an agreement between the two countries that seeks to foster environmental protection, and promote trade, development and  peaceful coexistence in their border regions.

Ms. Helen Clark also visited the Ethio-Kenyan one stop border post in Moyale, that once finished is expected to greatly facilitate the smooth movement goods and services as well as simplifying the immigration processes between the two neighbouring countries. The enhanced border post is part of the Isiolo-Moyale-Addis Corridor cross-border road network construction. The construction is financed by the African Development Bank, which is covering the costs for the Ethiopia side as well as three quarters of the costs for the Kenya side with the remaining quarter handled by the EU. 

UNDP’s Administrator was accompanied to the border area by the UN Resident Coordinators for Ethiopia Ms. Ahunna Eziakonwa and for Kenya Mr. Siddharth Chatterjee as well as high officials from IGAD, Ethiopian embassy to Kenya, the Ambassador of Norway, officials from the Kenyan president’s office and other dignitaries.

The government of Japan has provided US$1.4 million to the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) for a new intervention that seeks to enhance the livelihoods of host communities in the Gambela region of Ethiopia and strengthen peaceful co-existence with refugees.

The intervention builds on existing disaster risk management and livelihood recovery programmes implemented by UNDP in Ethiopia and targets four districts in Gambela that account for the largest refugee number.

Ethiopia hosts over 734,000 refugees coming in from neighbouring Somalia, Eritrea and South Sudan.

With the current El Nino crisis, the country is facing the worst drought in over 30 years.  Around 83% of the refugees communities are said to be found in priority 1 and 2 drought hotspot districts in Ethiopia.  
 

Gambela, which has a population of only around 396,000 hosts over 270,000 refugees from South Sudan.

The project will support income generating and livelihood restoration activities for over 24,500 individuals targeting 4,500 households. Support will also be provided to enhance local management of natural resources and rehabilitation of community infrastructures.

The intervention will also support efforts aimed at promoting peaceful co-existence of the host and refugee committees. This will be done by strengthening local peacebuilding mechanisms including local early warning and joint peacekeeping volunteers, organizing peace dialogues and trainings on conflict prevention for religious and traditional leaders as well as local officials.

UNDP will be partnering with the national DRM commission and the Disaster Prevention and Food Security Agency (DPFSA) in Gambela. Various bureaux such as those dealing with agriculture and natural resources, livestock and fisheries, peace and justice as well as the police will also be on board to support the programme.
    
UNHCR, WFP, FAO, ILO and IOM as well as other development partners will be engaged regularly to ensure that the new project complements existing intervention in the area.

State ministers and other senior government officials are taking part in an intensive executive training workshop around the theme accelerating economic development and transformation organized by UNDP in collaboration with Ethiopia Ministry of Public Service and Human Resource Development.

UNDP has brought on board the National University of Singapore’s Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy to provide the week long training as part of an executive training programme developed under UNDP’s ongoing Advanced Leadership Programme for Ethiopia.

Opening the workshop, UNDP’s Resident Representative Ms. Ahunna Eziakonwa – Onochie took the opportunity to reflect, “Ethiopia plans to become a lower middle income, carbon neutral and climate resilient economy by 2025. This will require all ministries and agencies, to have in place bold, visionary and strategic leadership that is in step with new thinking, innovation and skills sets that can address persistent bottlenecks while effectively grappling with emerging issues.”

Ethiopia has one of the fastest growing economies in Sub-Saharan Africa and recently rolled out its second Growth and Transformation Plan –the second of a three five-year-plan to propel the country to a middle income country by 2025.

The training workshop’s agenda will include sessions on industrial development and policy, transforming the agriculture sector, as well as sessions on understanding Singapore’s economic development experience.

In mid-April this year UNDP and the ministry collaborated with the Singapore’s Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy for another training workshop for senior government officials from various ministries. This time, the two-day training focused on climate resilient green growth development and sought to enhance the official’s engagement and work around implementing the country’s climate resilient green economy strategy.

26 April 2016, Addis Ababa - There is really no scarcity of global resources to meet development goals, State Minister Dr. Abraham Tekeste of Ethiopia’s National Planning Commission (NPC) boldly noted to participants attending a national consultation workshop on the rollout of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

The state minister followed up his statement on financing for development goals by underlining the pivotal role played by the presence or absence of political will and commitment to meeting any of the global development commitment. The State Minister echoed the critical importance of financing for development in order to achieve the 2030 agenda.  He underlined the critical role of international development actors in financing SDGs.

Ethiopia’s national consultation workshop, organized by the NPC and the UN Country Team (UNCT), brought together key stakeholders from the public, private and civil society to explore synergies between the SDGs and national plan, innovation around accessing financing, as well as strengthening the country’s M&E system. Mr. Faustin Yao promised that, “The UN and partners will support national efforts towards strengthening the monitoring and evaluation system in the context of the data revolution agenda. “He noted that the UN system is committed to support the Government in conducting SDGs needs assessment, partnering to build the capacity in  domestic resource mobilization and to support awareness and sensitization of the SDGs across the different regions in the country.

National Planning Commissioner Dr. Yinager Dessie used the opportunity to acknowledge the partnership between the government and the UN in implementing and monitoring global goals, noting, “The UNCT has been our key partner in deepening the integration of Millennium Development Goals, and reporting on MDGs progress. I would consider the current partnership as a deepening of the already established partnership in integration of global agenda into our national development plans and strategies.”

Opening the workshop, Speaker of the House of People’s Representative, H.E. Yalew Abate noted that, “The House shall also have the responsibility of ensuring the SDGs are given appropriate consideration during implementation of GTP II and that the sectoral reports reflect the extent of progress on achievement of SDG targets.”
Participants underlined the fact that while the SDGs call for strong multi-stakeholder partnerships, including south-south cooperation, successful implementation rests on the principles of national ownership and leadership in the domestication and implementation of the 2030 agenda.

The meeting also highlighted the need to prioritize selected SDGs for Ethiopia and undertake a costing exercise taking into account the framework of the Addis Ababa Agenda for Action (AAAA), particularly in terms of leveraging domestic resource mobilization through strengthening the capacity on taxation, ensuring effective utilization of domestic resources, scaling up international tax administration practices, and avoidance of harmful tax practices.

The National Planning Commission  is undertaking an exercise to build on Ethiopia’s current five-year development plan to develop a 15 year perspective plan (2016-2030) to allow the country fully alignment with SDGs. UNDP has pledged to support the formulation process and to mobilize the available  UNCT resources to meet this goal.

 

Senior government officials from various ministries and agencies are taking part in a two-day intensive training on climate resilient green growth development.

The training is organized by the United Nations Development Programme as part of its advanced leadership programme and in collaboration with the Ministry of Public Service and Human Resource Development.

Government officials are expected to explore emerging thoughts and approaches on sustainable development and the implementation of inclusive, climate resilient, green growth development strategies and policies.

Experts from Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy in Singapore are providing the training to senior officials from the Ministry of Environment, Forestry and Climate Change, Ministry of Irrigation and Electricity, Ministry of Mines, Petroleum and Natural Gas, Ministry of Agriculture, as well as regional bureaus of agriculture, and the Agricultural Transformation Agency (ATA).

Following the training the officials are expected to effectively perform comparative analysis of experiences, lessons learnt and best practices from other countries to help strengthen the implementation of Ethiopia’s Climate-Resilient Green Economy (CRGE) strategy.  The CRGE strategy was designed to address the country’s climate change adaptation and mitigation objectives and build a climate smart nation.

Speaking on behalf of UNDP Resident Representative, Mr. James Wakiaga, Acting Country Director, noted that, “the achievement of national and global development goals demand effective leadership at all levels and sectors,” explaining, “That is why UNDP is investing to equip leaders with knowledge of current development agendas that will help the country to respond and adjust to emerging global, regional and national development priorities.”

The national perspective and recent developments through UNDP’s technical and financial support was presented as part of the training.

UNDP’s Advanced Leadership Programme established in 2010 is designed to equip policy makers and leaders at federal and regional levels with strategic knowledge, best practices and partnerships to assist the development and transformation of Ethiopia. The programme identified twenty seven training areas to be rolled out in 2016 where Climate Resilient Green Growth Development is one of them.  

The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) today signed USD 200 thousand agreement with the Ethiopian Peace Support Training Centre (PSTC)to continue supporting the center’s training and capacity development initiatives around peacekeeping.  

The government of Japan has supported the PSTC since 2013, providing over USD 1 million to the center including the USD 200 thousand agreement signed today. The new resource will help with the implementation of the program for the next one year from April 2016 to March 2017.

The PSTC was established back in 2011 to provide training and build the capacity of civilians, military and police to serve in peacekeeping operations, thereby addressing critical training gaps in peace and conflict prevention operations. The centre has developed and uses its own curriculum package and modules on conflict prevention, conflict management and post-conflict recovery. In addition to Ethiopia, tTrainees so far have come from Burundi, Egypt, Kenya, Rwanda, Somalia, Sudan, South Sudan, and Uganda as well as  Bangladesh.  

Representing UNDP Ethiopia, Mr. Shimeles Assefa, team leader of the democratic governance and capacity building unit, highlighted that, “Peace and stability are essential prerequisites for sustainable socio-economic development of a nation and the world as a whole. That is why UNDP with funding from the Government of Japan is investing in capacity development and training of peacekeeping practitioners from all over Africa.”

The Ethiopian International Peace Keeping Training is over the years gaining a reputation as regional and international center of excellence in training and deploying practitioners in peacekeeping operations of the African Union and the United Nations.

Ethiopia is among the leading troop contributing countries to the UN and ranks as the fourth troop-contributing country to the African Union.

Ethiopia held a validation workshop for a cutting-edge UNRED + study that seeks to bring to light the country’s forest ecosystem’s contribution to the national income.

The UNREDD + targeted support through UNDP and UNEP, which took a year to complete, came about in response to a direct request for assistance by the newly restructured Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change.

According to State Minister Kebede Yemam, the ministry is undertaking a major national exercise to map and assess the status of forests in Ethiopia, and he reflected that, “…our assumption is that the true potential of forests is currently not fully valued and exploited.” He noted that the finds from the study will help in identifying opportunities for public and private sector investments as well as supporting the government to address the drivers of deforestation and degradation.

The official forest coverage figure for Ethiopia currently stands at only 15% and indicates a 50% decrease in the last three decades.  “We need to face up to the projection that shed light on the worrying fact that unless action is taken to change the traditional development path, an area of 9 million hectors faces deforestation between 2010 and 2030”, UNDP Ethiopia’s country director Mr. Samuel Bwalya highlighted, adding that, “Over the same period, Ethiopia’s annual fuel wood consumption is expected to rise by 65% – leading to the forest degradation of more than 22 million tons of woody biomass.”

According to the presentation at the workshop, the UNREDD + study on the contribution of the forest ecosystem services to the national income, currently valued at a below 4% GDP, has identified areas where portions of the sector’s contribution, adding up to almost 8% of GDP, has been mistakenly been attributed to other sectors, such as agriculture and tourism.

“It is important to see forests as an asset that underpins Ethiopia’s development plan and this requires a change in mindset,” noted Ivo Mulder, UNEP, at the opening session of the validation workshop for the study.  

The forest evaluation exercise is also expected to inform policymakers and lead to a re-adjustment of national budget allocation with more resources going towards ensuring the protection and sustainable management of forests in Ethiopia.

Ethiopia’s ambition is to become a middle income status nation with a climate resilient economy. The UNREDD+ targeted support is expected to help Ethiopia’s transition to a green economy.

A high level Ethiopian government delegation is now back in the country following a successful experience and knowledge sharing visit to South Korea and China.

The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and UNREDD facilitated the visit by the high level delegation, which was led by the Minister of Environment, Forest and Climate Change Dr. Shiferaw Teklemariam and included regional presidents from Afar, Tigray and Southern Nations and Nationalities People’s regions.

Forestry is one of the four pillars in Ethiopia’s Climate Resilient Green Economy (CRGE) strategy and is identified as having the largest potential in reducing emissions and increasing the country’s climate resilience.

Ethiopia’s fast growing population, currently placing the country as the second most populous African nation, is  feared to increasingly become a major burden on resources, particularly natural resources.

According to the strategy, Ethiopia will need to reverse its deforestation and degradation if the country can be expected to meet its development goal.  
The official forest coverage figure stands at only 15% showing a 50% decrease from 30 years ago.  

Whereas in just 50 years South Korea has managed to tackle deforestation and degradation to transform its forest coverage mass to 64%.

The south-south knowledge exchange is hoped to lead to further cooperation around strengthening Ethiopia’s institutional capacity for sustainable forest management and facilitate the country’s access to appropriate technology, technical expertise and latest tools.

UNDP is currently partnering with Norway to enhance Ethiopia’s capacity to sustainably manage its forest resources.

Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, 4 January 2016 — Ethiopia has outlined its latest progress and challenges on its efforts to address the country’s vulnerability to climate change.

The comprehensive multi-sector update is part of Ethiopia’s second national communication to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) ahead of the UN climate conference in Paris, COP21, held in December 2015. The report was prepared with the support of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the Global Environment Facility (GEF).   

The report paid special attention to UNFCCC requirements to submit the results of the national inventory of greenhouse gas (GHG), which indicated that agriculture, land use and forestry accounted for 79% of all emissions by sector. The industrial processes and pructs use (IPPU), waste and energy sectors contributed 15%, 5%, and 1% respectively.  

Highlighting Ethiopia’s vulnerability to climate change and need for a robust disaster risk management, the report noted, “Disasters pose serious impediments to Ethiopia’s socio-economic development, and have the potential to reverse gains made over the years, squander vast resource investments and exacerbate poverty levels.”

Poor agriculture and livestock practices, degraded environment as well as high population growth and continued high levels of poverty are making Ethiopia’s vulnerability to climate change worse and leading to negative impacts such as food insecurity due to droughts and floods.

While the report acknowledges that local farmers have for some time now noted the changing nature of the rainy season and that severe weather events are becoming more common, the study also predicts increasing climate vulnerability for the country’s Belg (short rainy season) and Kremt (long rainy season) seasons across regions leading to more dry spells that would further compromise productivity and food security.  

Groundwater is said to account for over 80% of the country’s potable water supply and the report also notes that climate change is expected to lead to water scarcity for Ethiopia by 2020 with rainfall predicted to reduce and increasing population placing a strain on limited resources.

The country has a number of national development plans that integrate climate change adaptation and mitigation interventions. These include the Growth and Transformation Plan (GTP) as well as the Climate Resilient Green Economy (CRGE) strategy, the National Appropriate Mitigation Action (NAMA) and the National Adaptation Programme of Action (NAPA).

Also on the list is Ethiopia’s Programme of Adaptation to Climate Change (EPACC) that outlines 20 climate change risks facing the country due to environmental stress and insecurity. The EPACC also indicates the institutions that are responsible for leading efforts to mitigate each risk identified including in the areas of negative impacts on human, animals, crops, urban and rural land, biodiversity, water resources, and agriculture.

UNDP supports Ethiopia’s efforts to reduce its vulnerabilities and build its resilience and meet its development agenda through prioritizing multi-dimensional interventions that help strengthen national capacity in the areas of climate information and early warning system; disaster risk reduction and livelihoods recovery; environment and biodiversity conservation; renewable energy; and sustainable cities.

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About the UNFCCC
With 196 Parties, the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) has near universal membership and is the parent treaty of the 1997 Kyoto Protocol.
The Kyoto Protocol has been ratified by 192 of the UNFCCC Parties. For the first commitment period of the Kyoto Protocol, 37 States, consisting of highly industrialized countries and countries undergoing the process of transition to a market economy, have legally binding emission limitation and reduction commitments. In Doha in 2012, the Conference of the Parties serving as the meeting of the Parties to the Kyoto Protocol adopted an amendment to the Kyoto Protocol, which establishes the second commitment period under the Protocol. The ultimate objective of both treaties is to stabilize greenhouse gas concentrations in the atmosphere at a level that will prevent dangerous human interference with the climate system.

Ethiopia’s seven key public democratic institutions have endorsed the establishment of a Democratic Institutions’ Forum (DIF), which will be set up with the support of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP).

Prior to the DIF the country’s public democratic institutions received capacity building support under the Democratic Institutions Programme (DIP), a five-year multi-donor programme  (2008 – 2012) coordinated by UNDP.

The Democratic Institutions’ Forum seeks to strengthen the capacity of the democratic institutions by creating platform for information sharing, learning, reflection on governance issues, and review of performance.

The House of Peoples’ Representatives is expected to host the biannual meeting of the forum. In her opening statements, Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives’, Ms. Shitaye Minale commended, “UNDP’s technical support in drafting the Memorandum of Understanding and its financial support that initiated the first meeting.” She pointed out that such a forum will help institutions to exchange ideas and experiences and better tackle governance priorities in the country.

Speaking at the event held in the town of Bishoftu (19-20 December 2015), UNDP country Director, Samuel Bwalya highlighted, “Effective coordination mechanism among the different democratic institutions is fundamental to promote good governance in this country.  This forum will serve as a vehicle for a structured and regular dialogue among the institutions, development partners and the government,” he added.

The meeting resulted in the endorsement of the draft Memorandum of Understanding by The House of Peoples Representatives (HOPR), The House of Federation (HOF), Ethiopian Human Rights Commission (EHRC), Ethiopian Institution of the Ombudsman (EIO), Federal Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (FEACC), National Election Boarded of Ethiopia (NEBE) and Key Justice Institutions (Courts, ministry of justice, the Police).

2 billion people lifted out of low human development, in last 25 years, now focus on work is needed to galvanize progress, alerts the 2015 Human Development Report.

Addis Ababa, 14 December 2015 —Fast technological progress, deepening globalization, aging societies and environmental challenges are rapidly transforming what work means today and how it is performed. This new world of work presents great opportunities for some, but also profound challenges for others. The 2015 Human Development Report, released today at a ceremony in Ethiopia, urges governments to act now to ensure no one is left behind in the fast-changing world of work.

The report, titled ‘Work for Human Development’, calls for equitable and decent work for all. In doing so, it encourages governments to look beyond jobs to consider the many kinds of work, such as unpaid care, voluntary, or creative work that are important for human development. The report suggests that only by taking such a broad view can the benefits of work be truly harnessed for sustainable development.

Speaking at the launch, Prime Minister Hailemariam Dessalegn of the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, said “Employment can be a great driver of progress, but more people need to be able to benefit from sustainable work that helps them and their families to thrive.”
The need for more inclusive and sustainable work opportunities was also emphasized by United Nations Development Programme Administrator Helen Clark who said: “Decent work contributes to both the richness of economies and the richness of human lives. All countries need to respond to the challenges in the new world of work and seize opportunities to improve lives and livelihoods.”

With better health and education outcomes and reductions in extreme poverty, 2 billion people have moved out of low human development levels in the last 25 years, the report says. Yet in order to secure these gains and galvanize progress, a stronger focus on decent work is needed.

830 million people are classified as working poor who live on under $2.00 a day. Over 200 million people, including 74 million youth, are unemployed, while 21 million people are currently in forced labour.

“Human progress will accelerate when everyone who wants to work has the opportunity to do so under decent circumstances. Yet in many countries, people are often excluded from paid work, or are paid less than others for doing work of the same value”, said report lead author Selim Jahan.
 
Women do three out of every four hours of unpaid work
The report presents a detailed new estimate of the share of all work, not just paid work, between men and women. While women carry out 52 percent of all global work, glaring inequalities in the distribution of work remain.

Women are less likely to be paid for their work than men, with three out of every four hours of unpaid work carried out by women. In contrast, men account for two of every three hours of paid work. Since women often carry the burden of providing care services for family members, the report warns that this disparity is likely to increase as populations age.
When women are paid, they earn globally, on average, 24 percent less than men, and occupy less than a quarter of senior business positions worldwide.

“To reduce this inequality, societies need new policies, including better access to paid care services. Ensuring equal pay, providing paid parental leave, and tackling the harassment and the social norms that exclude so many women from paid work are among the changes needed. That would enable the burden of unpaid care work to be shared more widely, and give women a genuine choice on whether to enter the labour force”, Helen Clark said. 
Globalization and the digital revolution are double-edged swords
 
Globalization and technological changes are producing an increasingly polarized world of work. “There has never been a better time to be a highly skilled worker. Conversely, it is not a good time to be unskilled. This is deepening inequalities”, said report author Selim Jahan.  
Highly skilled workers and those with access to technology, including to the internet, have new opportunities in the types of work available and the way that work is done. Today, there are seven billion mobile phone subscriptions, 2.3 billion people with smart phones, and 3.2 billion with internet access. This has brought about many changes in the world of work - for example, the rise of e-commerce and the mass outsourcing of banking, ICT-support, and other services.

Despite new opportunities, however, more jobs are now becoming vulnerable and a wide digital divide remains, the report notes.

In 2015, 81 percent of households in developed countries have internet access, but only 34 percent in developing regions and 7 percent in the least developed countries have that access.

Many types of routine work, such as clerical jobs, are predicted to disappear or be replaced by computers, or have already disappeared, the report warns, while many more workers face other insecurities. According to the International Labour Organization, 61 percent of employed people in the world work without a contract, and only 27 percent of the world’s population is covered by comprehensive social protection.

The report calls on governments to formulate national employment strategies that take into account the many challenges emerging in the rapidly changing world of work.
 
Sustainable work, opportunities both for present and future generations
The report stresses the key roles that work can play in achieving the Sustainable Development Goals.

“The types of work many of us do will need to change if our economies and societies are to make genuine progress towards a low emission and climate-resilient future. These changes will influence what the labour market of tomorrow looks like”, the report states.
With green growth, new jobs will be created, the nature of others will be transformed, and others will end altogether. These changes ideally should be supported by systems of social protection and safety nets.

The report argues that work opportunities can be fostered by the global goals. It estimates, for example, that around 45 million additional health workers will be needed to meet the health objectives of the Sustainable Development Goals. That would see the global health workforce increase in size from 34 million in 2012 to 79 million by 2030.
 
Setting the new agenda for work
 
While policy responses to the new world of work will differ across countries, three main clusters of policies will be critical if governments and societies are to maximize the benefits and minimize the hardships in the evolving new world of work. Strategies are needed for creating work opportunities and ensuring workers’ well-being. The report therefore proposes a three-pronged action agenda:
A New Social Contract between governments, society, and the private sector, to ensure that all members of society, especially those working outside the formal sector, have their needs taken into account in policy formulation. 

A Global Deal among governments to guarantee workers’ rights and benefits around the world.

A Decent Work Agenda, encompassing all workers, that will help promote freedom of association, equity, security, and human dignity in work life.

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NOTES TO EDITORS

ABOUT THIS REPORT: The Human Development Report is an editorially independent publication of the United Nations Development Programme. For free downloads of the 2015 Human Development Report, plus additional reference materials on its indices and specific regional implications, please visit: http://hdr.undp.org  

2015 Human Development Report http://hdr.undp.org/en/2015-report

Access to the Human Development Index Fact Sheet http://hdr.undp.org/en/hdi-factsheet-en

Full press package in all UN official languages http://hdr.undp.org/en/2015-report/press

UNDP partners with people at all levels of society to help build nations that can withstand crisis, and drive and sustain the kind of growth that improves the quality of life for everyone. On the ground in more than 170 countries and territories, we offer global perspective and local insight to help empower lives and build resilient nations.

Moyale, Kenya - The governments of Ethiopia and Kenya, in partnership with the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD) and the United Nations today launched an innovative, comprehensive and integrated cross-border initiative to foster peace and sustainable development in the northern Marsabit county of Kenya and the southern Borana Zone in Ethiopia.

Ethiopia is joining this year’s Global Entrepreneurship Week (GEW) celebrations under the theme Make it Happen by rolling out a series of local entrepreneurship boosting events nationwide targeting over 150 thousand people across the country.

Ethiopia has launched its latest Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) Report in Addis Ababa as part of the UN Week Celebrations activities that commemorate the establishment of the United Nations on 24th October 1945.

The MDG progress reports have in the past been used as a strong advocacy tool to accelerate progress and highlight key challenges in Ethiopia’s bid to meet the 2015 deadline.

The current MDG Report highlights Ethiopia’s progress, drivers and challenges as well as underlining the unfinished MDG agenda as the country transitions towards the Sustainable Development Goals adopted by the UN General Assembly in September 2015.

According to the report, 15 years after the introduction of the MDGs, Ethiopia has recorded strong progress in reducing poverty and eradicating hunger.

Ethiopia has achieved the MDG target on the reduction of child mortality by two-thirds three years ahead of the 2015 deadline. The country has also achieved the MDG target on access to safe drinking water, also ahead of the deadline. Prevalence of HIV/AIDS, Malaria, and Tuberculosis has also been reduced.

Commissioner of National Planning Commission Minister Yinager Dessie (cedntre) Getachew Adem, Deputy Commissioner (right) with acting UN Resident Coordinator George Okutho

Drivers of Progress
Ethiopia has managed to achieve progress on tackling absolute poverty primarily through sustained economic growth over the past decade that has placed the country as one of the fastest growing economies in the world.

This growth is based on the government’s intensive public sector investment, including expansion of road infrastructure, rapid expansion of services, especially in agriculture, education as well as the health sector, which has seen a marked increase in the number of facilities and health workers at the local level.

The report recognized the government’s significant financial allocation to pro-poor sectors. In particular, Ethiopia’s health expenditure has witnessed an increase only 5.92% in 1995 to 11.1% in 2012, while external funding for the sector has grown to 50% by 2012.

The MDG 2015 report also acknowledged the role of development partners in helping Ethiopia expand its basic social services, especially in the areas of improving access to education and health.

Unfinished Business
While Ethiopia transitions from the Millennium Development Goals to the Sustainable Development Goals in a stronger development position than it was in the late 90s, the country still faces a number of challenges and unfinished MDG business.

Over 20 million people still live in absolute poverty and urban unemployment remains high and 40% of children under five are stunted due to malnutrition.

Enhancing resilience to shocks also remains crucial to ensuring that Ethiopia is able to reduce poverty and embark on a sustainable development path.

Education, where Ethiopia is doing well in terms of a marked increase in enrollment rate and the provision of universal primary education, faces major challenge in terms of quality and high dropout rates.

The report notes that Ethiopia is lagging behind on MDG 3 that looks at promoting gender equality and empowerment of women, due mostly to persistence of early marriage, violence against girls, low level of parent awareness on benefits of education and unfair household chore burdens on girls.

Ethiopia is also lagging behind on MDG 5 on improving maternal health, where despite the increase in the number of health facilities, limited availability to medical utilities at these health posts and low skill level of the health extension workers continues to be a stumbling block to Ethiopia’s efforts at sustainably scaling up its efforts in the health sector.

As the MDGs monitoring and reporting exercises have shown, improved availability of data is crucial for sound analysis and decision making.

As Ethiopia embarks on the implementation of GTP II and Agenda 2030, the MDG 2015 report underlines the crucial importance of investing in reliable and timely data to ensure strong monitoring of the new Sustainable Development Goals.

The report also stresses the need to scale up partnerships among government United Nations and development partners, civil society and the private sector in Ethiopia to complete the unfinished MDGs business and effectively rollout the SDGs in Ethiopia to eradicate poverty and promote sustainable human development.

In late October 2015, a total of 12,000 smallholder farmers in four regions started to benefit from Ethiopia’s first weather index insurance claims payment to cover the loss for this year’s crop failure due to El Nino.

The weather index insurance claims paid out 2.6 million ET birr covering a total of around the selected smallholder farmers in Oromia, Gambella, Benishangul Gumuz and Tigray regions.

The pilot insurance initiative is supported by UNDP/GEF and the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change in collaboration with two local firms, the Oromia and Nyala insurance companies.

The agreement with the insurance companies is based on weather index that looks a threshold value for rainfall. If the rainfall is below the threshold then the insurance company shall settle the payment.  

Through GEF financing, UNDP provided 800,000ET birr to cover the insurance premium for the farmers, who will recieve 500 to 3,000 ETB each.

In the face of climate change, piloting diversified adaptation techniques, including crop insurance, is one of the coping strategy that UNDP is helping to introduce in order to reduce the vulnerability of smallholder farmers in Ethiopia who are totally dependent on erratic rainfall and crop failure.

Smallholder farmers from two districts in Adami Tullu town located in Oromia region were the first to receive around 500 as part of a total 525,000 birr claims payment settled by the Oromia Insurance Share Company.


A further 300 farmers from two kebele’s in Tigray Enderta Woreda around the town of Mekele are scheduled to receive claims payment from Nyala insurance for a total 1,700,000 ET birr.

Around 300 farmers from two kebele’s in Gambella   are covered by Nyala insurance, which is settling insurance claims payment of around 700,000 in total  while another 300 farmers from two kebeles in Benishangul Gumuz  have received coverage by Oromia insurance.

Farmers who benefited from this pilot insurance scheme were able to keep their children in school, grow their cash saviings, avoid selling off their assets, and purchase improved seeds for the next planting season.

Background
The farmers taking part in this pilot insurance are part of 5,000 small holder farms supported by the Promoting Autonomous Adaptation (PAA) project implemented by UNDP with financial support from the GEF and Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change.

Promoting Autonomous Adaptation project (end of 2012 – 2016) is implemented with a total budget of USD 5,603,761 to build farmers’ resilience, improve food security and reduce impacts of disasters in four regions with the introduction of technology and practices.

Local communities and administrations at the lowest level of government are supported to design and implement adaptation actions aimed at reducing vulnerability and building resilience, especially in those communities that are particularly vulnerable in Ethiopia.

The project has three outcomes:  Strengthening institutional capacities for coordinated climate-resilient planning and investment; improving access to technologies and practices that improve the range and efficiency of adaptation options; and improving the capacity of community-based climate change adaptation.

Ethiopia celebrated the 2015 International Day of Disaster Risk Reduction (IDDRR) under the global theme Knowledge for Life with the government stating its commitment for expanding the set of policy guidelines to allow for enhanced stakeholder engagement on the ground.

The Ministry of Environment and Forest  has partnered with UNDP and Norway and to launch a three-year (2015-2019) US$ 22 million programme that  will help tackle the need for institutional strengthening to develop Ethiopia’s forest sector.   

The programme focuses on developing, conserving and sustainably utilizing forests in order to enhance the national economy while at the same time mitigatating and adapting to climate change.

The programme will also contribute to Ethiopia meeting the global Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), particularly SDG 15 that deals with ensuring sustainable life on the land.

Speaking on behalf of Norway, Mr. Anders Vatn, Counsellor and Special Envory on Forest and Climate at the embassy in Addis, noted that the new project is the most advanced form of support that his country is providing Ethiopia, following  initial support around climate mitigation action in 2014, which has since expanded to other environment priority areas such as agriculture and now forestry.

Minister Belete Tafere noted that protecting and rehabilitating forest land will help Ethiopia to become more vibrant economy and build a resilient nation.

Forestry is one of the key pillars of Ethiopia's Climate Resilient Green Economy (CRGE) stategy, which UNDP has suppored front the initial stage; UNDP has provided financial and technical supports for the development of the strategy and the organisation has continued to mobilise resources and get partners on board, as in the case of the recent forestry programme.

UNDP has also provided supported Ethiopia to launch and operationalize a CRGE Facility. The facility has helped the country access global financing such as from the Green Climate Fund.

The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) Administrator, Ms. Helen Clark and Global Environment Facility (GEF) CEO and Chairperson Ms. Naoko Ishii, made a joint site visit to Africa’s largest and oldest gene bank, on the sidelines of the Third Financing for Development Conference taking place in Addis Ababa from 13-16 July 2015.

The gene bank, housed at the Ethiopian Biodiversity Institute (EBI), was established almost forty years ago and is at the forefront of Ethiopia’s battle with climate change and ensuring food security while safekeeping the country’s agricultural diversity.

“We need to make smart decisions and leverage environmental finance to catalyse and deliver multiple economic, social and environmental benefits. Investing in the wellbeing of our planet and halting climate change should not be seen as a ‘cost’, but as a worthwhile investment," Helen Clark said during the visit.

Over 152,000 farming households have recently benefited, when thanks to the gene bank, red and white teff seeds were re-introduced to fields in central Ethiopia after having been lost to the farmers in the area for about 28 years.

UNDP and GEF have been jointly supporting the EBI since 1994 when the institute was helped to successfully place the Ethiopian farmer at the centre of conservation of varieties crops through the set-up of 12 community gene banks and crop conservator associations in Ethiopia’s six major agro-ecosystems.

Ethiopia’s prime minister has signed a regulation that now legally places seven national parks as protected areas, including the Simien National Park, which is on UNESCO’s world heritage site.

The Simien National Park, with outstanding landscape created millions of years ago, is home to a number of threatened species such as the Ethiopian wolf, Walia ibex, and Gelada baboon. Also on the list is the Alitash National Park, which borders Dinder National Park in neighboring South Sudan.

The official gazzeting of the seven protected areas follows intensive consultation with local communities as well as key stakeholders. The legal move is seen as a success for the policy and technical support provided by an US$11 million Sustainable Development of Protected Areas project implemented by UNDP and the Global Environment Facility (GEF) since 2008.

“The successful regulation of these national parks will set the way for the legalization of the remaining national protected areas in the country”  Wubua Mekonnen, GEF Programme Analyst at UNDP Ethiopia.

Ten percent of Ethiopia’s total land mass is estimated to fall under protected area category. This includes 14 at national federal level and 26 regional protected areas, sanctuaries and hunting areas. Most of Ethiopia’s wildlife parks were established over 40 years ago, however declining management of the areas has meant that many animal and plant species have unfortunately made it on the endangered list, as has happened in the case of the Semien Mountain National Park . The Council of Ministers endorsed draft bills in late 2014 to counter this decline and protect Ethiopia’s wildlife resources as well as boost the economic benefits the country receives from these sites.  

Following the clear boundaries and legal enforcement now in place in the seven national parks, the surrounding community is expected to have better understanding of the domino effect of human intervention that leads to negative impact on the eco-system and ultimately lead to macro-climate changes. This includes the consequences of over utilization of the natural resources such as in the case of over-grazing and cultivation. The community’s raised awareness is predicted to lead to the rehabilitation of natural resources such as water and fertility of the soil outside the park.

The surrounding community is expected to also benefit from increased tourism income as a result of improved management of the parks. Community members will now have a stronger role in the management of the parks, particularly representatives of women and youth groups who will sit on the park’s advisory committee.

Ethiopia will be undertaking an assessment exercise to understand better the economic value of the forest sector and feed this information into the development and implementation of the country’s new five year development plan 2015-2020.

The assessment is planned as part of the United Nations initiative on Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and forest Degradation (REDD+) in developing countries that focuses on four major areas, i.e. institutional context analysis in relation to REDD+ readiness; Economic Valuation of Ethiopian Forests; conducting international learning exchanges; and undertaking regional REDD+ readiness under the UNFCCC framework. The project is implemented in partnership with MEF, MoFED and UNEP.

The assessment exercise kicked off at an inception workshop organized by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and United Nations Environmental Programme (UNEP) in collaboration with the Ministry of Environment and Forestry (MEF).

Forestry is one of the economic sector in Ethiopia, identified as one of the four pillars in the Climate Resilient Green Economy (CRGE) strategy. The sector is also identified as having the largest potential in reducing emissions and increasing climate resilience in the country.

The value of forest ecosystem services is currently not adequately captured under System of National Account. Speaking at the workshop, the State Minister’s Adviser at the MEF, Dr. Tefera Mengistu, said, “Even though forests are closely linked to economic growth and well-being of communities, only commercial timber is accounted for in the Ethiopian economy. The other contributions of our forests are missing and the depletion of forest stocks is not captured. Therefore, there is a need to carry out an assessment to understand the economic valuation of the forest sector in the country.”

According to the inception report presented at the workshop, the forest economic valuation study will provide the country with a better understanding how the broad forestry sector contributes to national income. The analysis will focus both on forest ecosystem services that are compatible with the System of National Accounts (SNA), which is a precise manual for countries to calculate their annual national income measured as GDP, and the value of forest ecosystem services that are not compatible with the SNA.

Workshop participants discussed about the various types of valuation methodologies that will be practical in the Ethiopian context. Detailed discussions were also held on the option of linking the Biophysical/economic value of forestry products and services to the community.  

The inception workshop brought together participants from the Ministry of Environment and Forest, Ministry of Finance and Economics, World Bank, Addis Ababa University, Ministry of agriculture, other government organizations working on forestry, and staff from UNDP and UNEP among others.

Senior and mid-level military and police officers as well as civilians from Ethiopia, Tanzania, Djibouti, Rwanda and Sudan have been trained on post conflict recovery ahead of their deployment to the United Nations peace keeping operations and peace support operations.

The ten day training was organized by Ethiopia’s Peace Support Training Center (PSTC) in collaboration with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the Government of Japan.

The 23 trainees, comprising men and women officers, were provided with practical exercise on critical thinking and sensitivity to address issues of gender, child protection, human rights, disarmament and reintegration in conflict situation.

 “The training helped me to understand the importance of including gender perspective in peace operations to advance the prospects for sustainable peace,” Colonel Lijalem Tareke underlined.

Participants benefited from the practical case studies and scenario based exercises as well as from having access to the diverse expertise of trainers from UNDP, and government of Japan as well as the Addis Ababa University, the Institute of Peace and Security studies (IPSS/AAU), African Union, International Organization for Migration, Peacekeeping and Stability Operations Institute (PKSOI), UNOAU, UNECA, UNICEF and United States Army War College.

The Peace Support Training Center (PSTC) was established back in 2010 by the Government of Ethiopia under the auspices of the Ministry of National Defense and has since been receiving support from the Government of Japan and UNDP to enhance its institutional and human capacity.. The PSTC seeks to become a center of excellence with the highest international standards in Peace support Operations (PSOs) to enable Ethiopia and other states, particularly in east Africa, to contribute skilled personnel to peace and security operations.

An intensive training session on tax policy analysis and revenue forecasting has been successfully held for 25 trainees drawn from the Ministry of Finance and Economic Development (MoFED), Ethiopian Revenue and Customs Authority (ERCA), as well as Oromia and Addis Ababa revenue bureaus.

The training, which took place from 17th to 21st August 2015, was organized by the Ministry of Finance and Economic Development (MoFED) in partnership with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the support of IMF East Africa, which provided a senior trainer from Harvard University.

UNDP is helping Ethiopia invest in building its national capacity in the areas of tax policy analysis and revenue forecasting in order to help the country meet its plan for scaling up its domestic resource mobilisation.

Ethiopia’s national development strategy, which is couched in huge public sector investment, particularly in infrastructure, to accelerate the economy and build favourable environment for the private sector rests largely on robust domestic resource mobilisation.  Currently, the country’s GDP to tax ratio is lower than the Sub-Saharan average, standing at 12.7% (2014), and below the national target of 14.7%.

Addis Ababa, 1 October 2015 (joint press release) - The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the Global Environment Facility (GEF) have partnered with Ethiopia’s Ministry of Water, Irrigation and Energy (MoWIE) to help the country tackle its energy needs give its large and growing population and the need to provide energy to support economic growth and transformation targets.

GEF is providing US$4.1 million financial support, channeled and managed by  UNDP, to support  Ethiopia to  roll out and implement activities  that will enhance economic and environmental benefits to the citizens and moreover remove bottlenecks in the way of the country adopting and scaling-up the use of rural energy technologies. Through these and other initiatives, Ethiopia seeks to become a renewable energy hub of excellence in East Africa.  

This new project on Promoting Sustainable Rural Energy Technologies (RETs) for Household and Productive Uses will scale up the use of small-scale energy efficient technologies, for example fuel-wood efficient improved cook-stoves and solar home systems, by rural households and rural enterprises.

The intervention seeks to accelerate the adoption of Renewable Energy Technologies (RET) by targeting major institutional and financial constraints that make it difficult for innovators and energy technology firms to produce, source and market these technologies to end users at affordable prices.  It will do so through:

·         Strengthening regulatory and legal framework based on national standards;

·         Business incubator that will promote greater entrepreneurship for investment in RETs; and

·         Helping rural households access sustainable financial mechanism for RETs, such as through access to micro-financing, by partnering with UNCDF clean start initiative.

The project will also help to create awareness about existing RET and their use and thereby creating demand and utilization of these RET.

A special focus will also be given to the productive sector by funding the rollout of solar water pumps to replace diesel pumps used for irrigation and water supply. This intervention is important given that in Ethiopia agriculture accounts for about 75% of employment and 40% of the country’s GDP.

Around 89% of Ethiopia’s current energy consumption mostly comes from biomass energy sources, such as fire wood and charcoal, which is largely responsible for the country’s Green House Gas (GHG) emissions. In order to capture major carbon abatement potential, Ethiopia will need to have more than 18 million household switch to efficient cook-stoves.

The CO2 emissions from forest degradation, primarily to meet demands for fuel wood consumption and logging in excess of the natural yield of the forests, is largely caused by the energy needs of  the country’s growing population; Ethiopia is currently the second most populous country in Africa and has a largely young demographic.

Projections also indicate that unless action is taken to change the traditional development path, about nine million ha of forested land will be deforested between 2010 and 2030. Over the same period, the annual fuel wood consumption will also rise due to increasing population and household demand for fuel wood – leading to further forest degradation.

According to H.E.  State Minister Wondimu Tekle of MoWIE, “Unless the majority of Ethiopians receive the right and adequate supply of energy especially from renewable sources, it is very difficult to bring about sustainable economic development in the country”.

Ethiopia’s national development plan, the Growth and Transformation Plan (GTP), highlights the country’s need for an aggressive energy strategy to meet rising energy needs as the country propels itself towards a middle income status by 2025.

Ethiopia’s ambition to reach a middle income status is complemented by its desire to have carbon neutral economy. Therefore, the GTP and the country’s  Climate Resilient Green Growth (CRGE) strategy looks towards a strategy that promotes renewable energy, and in particular towards increasing the use of small scale renewable energy technologies as well as expanding the use of  improved cook stoves at the  household level. The energy strategy plays a leading role in ensuring that renewable energy technologies are rolled out and adopted across the country. .

By 2019, this new project is expected to help create more jobs within the private sector, especially among small and medium enterprises, through the promotion of production, importation, marketing and use of small-scale solar technologies and improved cook stoves by a 28.4% and 24.8% respectively.

This intervention will also help to increase access to renewable energy by the poor and reduce household indoor air pollution. The initiative is also expected to help reduce deforestation and desertification, as well as complementing national efforts to conserve biodiversity and reduce soil erosion. The lives of women and girls, especially school going children,  will greatly benefit from this project that will expand the use of these technologies, which in turn will help cut back on the time they spent collecting fuel wood.

Director of the Human Development Report Office, Mr. Selim Jahan, addressed a Joint UNDP-UNECA Policy Forum on the topic “ human development Approach: Past, Present and Future” held in Addis Ababa on 7^th August 2015.

With 2015 marking the 25th anniversary of the first Human Development Report Mr. Jahan discussed the evolution of human development approach, lessons learned and future prospects since the launch of the first Human Development Report in 1990.

Reflecting back on the origins of the Human Development Report, Mr. Jahan said in the 1990’s it became essential and necessary to bring people back to the center of development. Prior to that undertaking, human development had been popularly measured through GNI per capita. A question that fueled the emergence of human development report’s approaches to measuring human advancement hence was ‘is it right, is GNI per capita a right measurement?’ he further added.

According to Mr. Jahan, there are two prerequisites for this concept to happen: (a) capabilities meaning that one ‘cannot make informed choices without education, nutrition,’ plus other similar necessities; and (b) opportunities: achievable through creation of ‘employment, access to productive resources,’ and so forth. Once both are achieved, a country’s human development is characterized as being at an ‘optimum level’.

The human development report measure goes beyond human resources development and presents a holistic approach, which is also broader than what is quantified as human capital. He also differentiated the concept of human development from basic needs approach. Another major distinction is that human development differs from human welfare, an analyses that establish humans as recipients of development benefits’ rather than as active agents influencing processes. 

In general terms two approaches were adopted in the making of the human development report at the beginning namely the ‘breadth measure’ (dashboard information) and the ‘focus measure’ (specific, detailed, compressed information), Mr. Jahan further noted. He categorized the evolution of human development report in three stages, namely, 1990-95, 1996-2000 and 2000 onwards.  He noted that there have been challenges with respect to data or indices produced over the years from the perspective of various recipient stakeholders but overall, the human development report has had “strong, professional analyses; and is bringing previously unreported gaps” to the forefront.

Human Development Report has continued to seek innovative ways of reporting, adding new themes as climate change, cultural influencers, etc. According to Mr. Jahan some considerations still linger, such as are questions which created the human development report in the 1990’s still relevant? Is there need to differ approaches in line with increasing present day shocks and vulnerabilities? How are human development reports set to deal with inter-generational choices?

Mr. Jahan also took the opportunity to commend UNDP Ethiopia for its 2014 National Human Development Report, a report that features country specific human development indices as well as disaggregated data.

Comparing GNI per capita with HDI, Mr Jahan noted that human development indices or human development reports are as challenging a measure as GNI per capita, though not as blind as GNI per capita on human development.

Referring to the presentation by Mr. Jahan, UN ECA’s Chief of the Employment and Social Protection Section, Mr Saurabh noted that ‘Our knowledge on human development is increasing, and that this has revamped how we measure and define the term, also stressing the constraints have emerged. 

Mr. Selim Jahan concluded his presentation to the UNDP-ECA policy forum by noting that ‘we do not want to overload human development indices. At the same time, however, there is a need to make an effort to deal with the question of sustainability of human development.” He reflected that while human development reports are currently based around universal characteristics, there is need to reevaluate the concept, and possibly developing indicators around the concept of sustainability in the future taking emerging issues.

*Gross national income (GNI) is defined as the sum of value added by all producers who are residents in a nation, plus any product taxes (minus subsidies) not included in output, plus income received from abroad such as employee compensation and property income. (Investopedia)

UNDP partnered with UNDESA and Ethiopia’s National Planning Commission to familiarise participants from various public sectors with the new Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and the Addis Ababa Agenda for Action, which was agreed upon at the end of the third financing for development conference hosted by Ethiopia in July 2015.

The SDG has 17 goals and 169 target areas promote sustainable development in the areas of social, economic and environment.

 The two-day workshop explored the principles behind the SDGs and how they differ from the MDGs; it also looked at the need for integrating the SDGs into the country’s national development agenda and ensure coordination across sectors. Participants also discussed the financial requirements for the implementation of the SDGs.

This is an opportune time for Ethiopia to learn from implementation of its national development plans including the Climate Resilient Green Growth strategy, acting UN Resident Coordinator Mr. George Okutho told participants.

Participants noted that Ethiopia has gained valuable experience in terms of integrating MDGs in its medium term national development plans and this experience would be useful in integrating SDGs into the country’s new development agenda.
UNDP has supported Ethiopia to mainstream the MDGs into the national development plan and monitor progress. The country is in the process of finalizing the second of its five-year development plan, Growth and Transformation Plan II (GTP II) expected to be passed by parliament in October 2015.

Building on existing systems
Mr. Admassu Nebebe, Director of UN Agencies and Regional Economic Cooperation within the Ministry of Finance and Economic Development, told participants that with the introduction of the SDGs Ethiopia will be embarking on a new cooperation envionment.

He underscored that the country considered all financial sources as equally important, having no preference of one over the other; On the other hand Ethiopia will increasingly be relying on domestic resources but this will require continuous double digit growth. Each sector will be called upon to look into maximizing international cooperation around the Addis Ababa Agenda for Action.

It was noted that Ethiopia will use existing coordination mechanisms to mainstream the SDGs into national priorities and strategies. The National Planning Commission will be developing results framework for the SDGs and GTP II; the availability of a reliable baseline data is also expected be a determining factor while integrating SDG targets in GDPII.

Participants raised concern over the quality and reliability of data, particularly of local level administrative reporting, and the obstacle this might pose to the post 2015 development agenda. It was highlighted that while gaps did exist in data system but Ethiopia is not starting with a blank slate as certain sectors are making good use of up to date technology to get real time data, e.g. metrology. Participates underlined that the use of innovative approaches could help the country to leapfrog the data gap.

Mr. Admassu Nebebe explained that Ethiopia was said to be creating a legal institutional frameework that addresses illicit financial flows to decease the country’s vulnerabilities as more multinationals come in. He also acknowledged the government was undertaking continuous reform in order to address issues facing the private sector.

Ethiopia and other LDCs are expected to gain from increased access to export market in the coming 15 years. Ethiopia seeks to become a high income industrial economy by 2050. In order to meet this target, GTIP II calls for the country to sustain an average real GDP growth rate of 11 percent. The country will also be aiming to enhance its structural transformation by improving national engineering and fabrication capacity. GTP II will also call for investments in building up a competent and competitive body of Ethiopian entrepreneur to drive growth.

Technical materials for the two-day workshop were provided by the UN Development Group (UNDG) and United Nations Institute for Training and Applied Research (UNITAR).

United Nations Secretary General Ban Kii-moon visited a UNDP supported entrepreneurship development project that trains and equips Ethiopian women and female youth from vulnerable backgrounds to access the export market in traditional hand-weaving, spinning, embroidery, crotchet, and hand-knitting, as well as basketry, gemstone jewelry and leather works.

The secretary general was accompanied by his Special Adviser on Post-2015 Development Planning, Ms. Amina Mohammed. 

Ethiopia’s First Lady Roman Tesfaye was also on hand to join the site tour of the project, which was launched by her office back in February 2014 in partnership with the Center for Accelerated Women Economic Empowerment (CAWEE) and the Entrepreneurship Development Centre- Ethiopia to target 1,500 women and female youth.

Prior to joining this project, the women, mostly engaged in collecting and selling fire-wood, earned on average monthly income of less than US$20; their income has on average increased four-fold and is expected to grow further as they hone their skills further and expand their access to markets. 

Single mother of three, Aselefech Abebe, is one of the women who have benefited from this project. Aselefech is a former soldier who fled to Sudan and lived there as a refugee for five years following the change in government back in 1991. Upon her return to Ethiopia she married a weaver and had three daughters. When her husband suddenly passed away, Aselefech found herself without any skills to enable her to make a good living for her young family earning only 8 birr (around US 40cents) a day.

Speaking at the launch of the project, Ambassador David Usher of Canada, had underlined the importance of unleashing the potential of women entrepreneurs, noting that “Access to information and markets are the biggest challenges for many of the female entrepreneurs”.

Canada is a key partner of an Entrepreneurship Development Programme (EDP) that was developed by UNDP in partnership with the Ministry of Urban Development, Housing and Construction. The programme is implemented by the newly established Entrepreneurship Development Centre-Ethiopia in collaboration with the government Federal Micro and Small Enterprise Development Agency (FeMSEDA).  The EDP was officially launched in 2013 by Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn.

The EDP provides budding Ethiopian entrepreneurs with entrepreneurship training and business development services. So far, over 21,000, 35% female and 60% youth, have gone through the intensive entrepreneurship trainings provided across the country. Over 5,000 new and existing businesses have also been supported through the business development service. A new partnership with five public universities around the country is leading to the set up centres of excellence for entrepreneurship targeting students as a means of tackling graduate unemployment rates.

In 2014 UNDP signed a collaborative agreement with Microsoft East Africa Limited to enhance development activities in the areas of entrepreneurship through helping 200,000 Ethiopian entrepreneurs have access to tools and expertise. 

UN Secretary General’s visit to the UNDP supported project came on the sidelines on the third financing for development conference held in Addis Ababa 13-16 July 2015.

2 July 2015, Addis Ababa: The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) has handed over almost US$ two million worth of equipment to the National Meteorological Agency (NMA).

The equipment, including 40 automatic weather stations, is expected to help strengthen Ethiopia’s early warning network to monitor, generate climate data and feed into early warning systems as well as inform national climate resilient development planning.

The handover of equipment to the National Meteorological Agency falls within a broader programme of support to strengthen climate information and early warning system in Africa for climate resilient development and adaptation to climate change.

In Ethiopia, UNDP implements a four-year US$4.5 million programme with financing from the Global Environment Facility (GEF) Least Developed Country Fund (LDCF). Along with the NMA, UNDP executes the programme in partnership with the Ministry of Water, Irrigation and Energy as well as the Ministry of Agriculture’s Disaster Risk Management and Food Security Sector.

Young entrepreneurs will be undergoing a Build Your Business (BYB) training sessions that aims to develop the knowledge and skills of those looking to sustain existing businesses as well as those wishing to start a new micro and small enterprise.

The training is part of UNDP’s partnership with Microsoft East Africa around the Entrepreneurship Development Programme (EDP). Canada is already on board as a key partner of the EDP, and provides 5.8 Million USD to the programme that will help build the entrepreneurial capacity of around twenty-five thousand Ethiopian women and youth.

The first batch of the BYB training session for almost 200 young women and men will be held in the bustling cities of Bahir Dar in the north, and Hawassa in the south of the country, during the month of June 2015.

Microsoft’s Myskills4Afrika initiative is designed to encourage domestic entrepreneurs to boost Africa’s economic development and its global competitiveness. The initiative focuses on the development of business strategy, marketing management, business communications, business financing, information technology, and operations management.

Most of the trainees are already benefiting from the EDP’s Business Development Services provided by the Entrepreneurship Development Center (EDC). The EDC runs the entrepreneurship programme and provides business support services to over 800 start-ups and almost a thousand existing businesses. EDC has also provided entrepreneurship training for over 16,700 Ethiopians across the country, including customized training for women and youth.  

The Entrepreneurship Development Programme was launched by Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn in February 2013 by UNDP in collaboration with the Ministry of Urban Development and Construction and the Federal Micro and Small Enterprise Development Agency (FeMSEDA) to support the growth of the private sector in the country.

For more information on Microsoft 4Afrika: http://www.microsoft.com/africa/4afrika/ 

The 4Afrika Initiative, launched in February 2013, is designed to help accelerate Africa’s economic development and improve its global competitiveness. It is a long-term commitment to help empower African youth, entrepreneurs, developers, business and civic leaders – helping them to turn great ideas into a reality that can help their community, their country, the continent and beyond.

Experts from the United Nations Development Programme spoke at the Civil Service University about the role of civil servants in embracing the new global development agenda. Organized by the university as part of its public lecture series, the event enabled the participants understand the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and identify the roles they could play in its implementation.

UNDP guest speaker and policy specialist, Mr. Fekadu Terefe, outlined how the SDGs are designed, its nature compared with the ending Millennium Development Goals and the consultations that took place following the formulation of the goals in the RIO+20 meeting in Brazil.  

He elucidated that the SDGs are broadly defined as ambitious carrying 17 goals vis-à-vis the predecessor MDGs which contained eight goals. “The unfinished business of the MDGs on the eradication of poverty and hunger and on meeting other basic human needs is incorporated in the SDGs,” he affirmed.

The lecture pointed out the universal nature of the new goals to be implemented by both developed and developing nations. The challenge of the implementation will not be easy for developing countries like Ethiopia. However, contextualizing the level of development, investing in data, designing of sound indicators, capacity building, good governance, citizen engagement and national ownership of the goals could help in the successful implementation of the SDGs.

The lecture also explicitly stated the critical role civil servants play in the achievement of the SDGs. Speaking at the event, Mr. Fisseha Mekonnen, Governance Programme Specialist at the UNDP, stressed that, “civil servants need to understand the SDGs in its entirety to establish an efficient, accountable and transparent public institutions that are capable of implementing the SDGs.”

The support of UNDP to the Institute of Leadership and Good Governance is a good example of such efforts that builds the capacity of civil servants and institutions responsible to advance the country’s Growth and Transformation Plan.

Mr. Fisseha added that investment in human capital, realistic policy design, the use of data for decision making, e-governance and the fight against corruption are some of the other factors that facilitate the implementation of the SDGs.

Following both talks, the audience raised questions that needed further clarification. Some of these included the practicality of the SDGs in developing countries, the issue of the capacity of the civil service in Ethiopia to implement the SDGs and the financing of the development goals.

The first batch of local entrepreneurship trainers from the Entrepreneurship Development Centre (EDC) have been certified by UNCTAD under the Empretec model.

The trainers, who are lecturers at local university or local business owners, were drawn from Addis Ababa, Amhara, Oromia, Tigray, and SNNP regions. The group went through an intensive weeklong evaluation by UNCTAD and Empretec international trainers from Brazil, Ghana, and Zimbabwe before receiving their certificates. 

Empretec is a Spanish acronym that brings together the word for entrepreneurs (emprendedores) and technology  (tecnología) and has been used by UNCTAD as an international programme since 1988. The programme is currently available in over 30 countries to assist local entrepreneurs and create sustainable support structures for them to build competitive small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs).

The 20 trainers had previously undergone a training of trainers workshop provided by Empretec Ghana and  have been providing entrepreneurship training for the past year as part of a Government of Ethiopia and UNDP Entrepreneurship Development Programme (EDP) that is being supported by the Government of Canada, which has provided 5.8 million USD.

“Canada is proud to help create jobs by promoting the growth of small businesses in Ethiopia, especially businesses owned by women,” said Christian Paradis, Canadian Minister of International Development and La Francophonie speaking about the new partnership.

In 2014, Microsoft East Africa Ltd signed a memorandum of understanding with UNDP to also support the EDP including through the provision of tools and access to mentorship. 

Micro and Small Scale Enterprises are expected to power the country's economy, and the certification of the trainers by UNCTAD will play a role to spring board the impact of the country's entrepreneurship programme, according to Mr. Asfaw Abebe, Deputy Director General of the Federal Micro and Small Enterprise Development Agency (FeMSEDA). 

Over 14,000 Ethiopian Entrepreneurs across the country have gone through an intensive entrepreneurship training so far, since the launch of the EDP  by Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn back in February 2013. The programme, through the EDC, is also engaging with universities in order to target students and unleash their entrepreneurial spark as they leave school and make their way into the job market.

Twelve recommendations to improve the regional response to climate change have been agreed to following a meeting of Africa Region, Addis Ababa on 7-8 May, 2015.

The meeting, gathering twelve African countries, was part of a series of Climate Vulnerable Forum workshops currently being convened though to June 2015 in, Asia, Latin America and the Middle East.

The Climate Vulnerable Forum regional event for Africa, which focused on improving response to climate change for the region, was organized by the ministry of Environment and Forestry with support from the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). Participating Governments included Burkina Faso, Comoros, D.R. Congo, Malawi, Niger, Senegal, South Sudan, Zambia, and Climate Vulnerable Forum members Ethiopia, Ghana, Kenya and Rwanda.

The twelve recommendations aimed at stimulating national, regional and global advances stemmed from the event's review of challenges, gaps and success stories in Africa region’s experience in dealing with climate change:

·         Priority of building stronger institutions and structures supported by policies and legal frameworks for climate change as a core economic development issue

·         Importance of a strategic framework for generating greater level of awareness of climate change at different levels, including all relevant sectors and down to the community level

·         Increased local technological research and development, harnessing South-South national and community knowledge

·         Improved access and capacity to manage external sources of finance, in particular from major international funds including through facilitated modalities

·         Increased levels of participatory monitoring and evaluation of climate actions essential to effective responses and implementation

·         Mainstream gender-responsive climate change actions cross-sectorally into economic development for a Green Economy approach

·         Reinforce infrastructure for renewable energy, transportation and water

·         Boost involvement of private sector in climate action through incentives and adapted communication

·         Establish robust cross-sectoral and vertical coordination systems, including for policy implementation and legal frameworks

·         Reinforce vital capacities both institutional and at local levels which are indispensable to achieving action on the ground

·         Ensure increased financing for adaptation for African countries

·         Put climate change policy into action

Speaking at the opening session of the regional event, the Hon. Minister of Environment and Forest of Ethiopia, H.E. Mr. Belete Tafere said: “In gathering here for these two days, we have a chance to delve further into what precisely is holding back progress in Africa. We can showcase what is working well, and what have been our key successes. And we have a new opportunity to build support, joining with other countries, to address our concerns. We see it as vital to work with vulnerable countries from other regions, including other LDCs, the SIDS and also vulnerable middle-income countries like Philippines, who currently chairs this Forum.”

Mr. Samuel Bwalya, Country Director of the United Nations Development Programme, a Forum partner for the event, commented that: "African countries need to learn from each other more than more than ever before and to tap into the ingenuity of its people, and innovations and best practices available across the continent and the world to firmly tackle climate vulnerabilities and associated development challenges including those for which this forum is intimately dedicated. This Climate Vulnerable Forum meeting for Africa has given an opportunity to reflect more comprehensively on the specific priorities for Africa that will help to enhance the continent’s response to climate change.”

The regional event is the Africa  input to a global consultation of the CVF being held in June 2015 where the conclusions of all Climate Vulnerable Forum regional meetings will be reviewed together to inform the Forum’s forward communications and activities.

UNDP provides support to the Climate Vulnerable Forum through a dedicated global project and, separately through its Multi-Partner Trust Fund Office, UNDP administers the Climate Vulnerable Forum Trust Fund whose implementing partners include the International Organization for Migration (IOM), UNDP, the United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNISDR) and the World Meteorological Organization (WMO).

UNDP has launched its flagship National Human Development Report (NHDR) for Ethiopia which computes region-specific human development indices and explores issues that could help in Accelerating Inclusive Growth for Sustainable Human Development in Ethiopia.

The report examines development trajectories over a ten year period, and notes that the country has witnessed double digit growth in recent years. While the growth has been commendable more needs to be done to accelerate the inclusivity of the growth.

The country’s Human Development Index (HDI) ranking stands at 173 out of 186 countries. At the same time,   Ethiopia’s national HDI value has witnessed a 3.5 percent increase annually between 2005 and 2013.   

A key finding of the report is that Ethiopia can move from its current ‘low human development’ designation to a ‘medium human development’ category by 2025 if it sustains the current growth trend.

Each year, Ethiopia spends heavily on trade logistics-related costs, a condition that is partly attributable to its land-locked status as of the early 1990s.

While the Government of Ethiopia clearly outlines that ease of transporting goods and services across the country is key in building its development trajectory envisioned for 2025, it is also apparent that the country needs an improved logistics sector.

Over the last two years, UNDP Ethiopia has been working closely with the Ministry of Transport and the Ethiopian Maritime Affairs Authority (EMAA), whose responsibilities include  facilitating Ethiopia’s port utilization agreements and also monitors trade corridors performances.

UNDP provided technical support and one millions USD  for the development of an diagnostic study,  logistics intervention actions, blueprint, and an implementation strategy.

Ethiopia’s first National Logistics Strategy will be implemented over a period of five years. UNDP Ethiopia’s Resident Representative Mr. Eugene Owusu handed over the National Logistics Strategy document to H.E. Minister Workneh Gebeyehu, Minister of Transport of Ethiopia at a special ceremony held on 9^th April 2015,

The strategy will enhance Government’s efforts towards safeguarding industry-led growth which has been identified as a vital pillar of the successor Growth and Transformation Plan of Ethiopia.  

Speaking at the handover ceremony, Minister of Transport Workneh Gebeyehu, said that logistics is one the most dynamic sectors of Ethiopia’s economy but admitted that its, “performance is still at lower level compared with other economies set apart by significant challenges that must be overcome”.

Commending UNDP Ethiopia for its support and also urging continued support throughout subsequent processes, Minister Workneh Gebeyehu also disclosed that a high level Ethiopian National Logistics Council (ENALCO), led by Ethiopia’s Deputy Prime Minister, will guide the implementation of this strategy.

UNDP Ethiopia’s Resident Representative, Mr. Eugene Owusu noted that this strategy aimed to ensure the efficient transportation and storage of goods and recommends enhanced communication and information flow and continued infrastructure investments. The private sector is also expected to have a pivotal role to play in the execution of the strategy.

Director General of EMAA, Mr Mekonnen Abera said, “there are many opportunities that Ethiopia can tap into for future growth which could help transform the industry to a more efficient, effective, sustainable and competitive global business.”

The National Logistics Strategy is expected to improve Ethiopia’s maritime, air and road connectivity, which in turn will greatly enhance multi and unimodal logistics operating systems, Ethio-Djibouti Corridor Management, customs, maritime and transit administration structures.

Addis Ababa, March 25, 2015-The Government of Ethiopia today signed a USD150 thousand agreement with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) to extend the ongoing project support for the Peacekeeping Training at the Ethiopian International Peacekeeping Training Centre (EIPKTC) since its establishment in 2012.

The USD 150 thousand is provided by Japan, which is channeling the support through UNDP, as it had with the initial USD 790 thousand it provided for 2013-2014. The agreement was signed by UNDP Deputy Country Director Mr. Janvier Wussinu, and Brigadier General Habtamu Tilahun, Commander of the EIPKTC.

 “UNDP remains committed to continue supporting Ethiopia to strengthen its national and regional capacities for the conflict prevention and management, resolution of conflicts and human security,” affirmed Mr. Janvier Wussinu.

Japanese Ambassador to Ethiopia His Excellency Ambassador Suzuki was present at the signing ceremony and underlined Japan’s commitment to support the center, “It is a great honor for us to support the center not only through finance but also through technical assistance and capacity building.”

UNDP is providing technical and capacity building to the Ethiopian International Peacekeeping Training Centre in becoming a regional and international center of excellence in training and deploying civilian practitioners in peacekeeping operations of the African Union and the United Nations.

Ethiopia has demonstrated its commitment to promoting peace and security by training middle and senior level military, police, and civilian officers in international peacekeeping operations thereby promoting Peace and Security in the Horn of Africa and on the African continent as a whole.

Brigadier General Habtamu Tilahun, Commander of the Ethiopian International Peacekeeping Training Centre, on his part appreciated the support of UNDP and the Government of Japan for the center and promised that the EIPKTC will play a critical role in bringing peace and security to the continent.

EIPKTC held its first training on Conflict Prevention in October 2014 bringing together students from both Ethiopia and other East African countries. The training has provided the centre with an opportunity to gather valuable inputs and build staff capacity to improve the quality of the training and enhance the capacity of peace support operations practitioners on conflict prevention skills.

Smoke rose high from the lush compound of the Ethiopia's Botanical Gardens as Deputy Prime Minister Demeke Mekonnen walked away having lit the torch that would burn down around 6.1 tons of illegal trafficked ivory.

According to the deputy prime minister, the move to counter the blackmarket trading of ivory and help Ethiopia’s efforts to conserve its wildlife. Ethiopia is estimated to have only 1800 elephants left in the country. It is also estimated that elephants are illegally killed every 15 minutes in Africa for their ivory.

Back in February 2014 in London, Ethiopian Foreign Minister H.E. Minister Tedros Adhanom had remarked that his country had the intention to destroy the national ivory stocks in the near future.

“As we all know, East Africa has been highlighted by INTERPOL as one of the key priority regions to receive assistance to strengthen law enforcement response to elephant ivory trafficking.” UNDP Ethiopia Country Director Mr. Samuel Bwayla noted at the ceremony, underlining, “This clearly gives us an idea of the magnitude of the problem faced by Ethiopia and its neighbors.”

The ceremonial burning of the ivory stockpile, mostly taken from smugglers using the country as a transit point, marked the launch of Ethiopia's National Elephant Action Plan for 2015-2025.

Back in September 2014 UNDP Administrator, Ms. Helen Clark, noted UNDP stood firm in its support to countries, such as Ethiopia, as they work on developing and implementing anti-poaching strategies; promoting livelihoods and involving communities as stewards of wildlife; and working to eradicate demand for wildlife products.

UNDP has already engaged effectively here in Ethiopia on this issue, supporting the establishment of the Ethiopian Wildlife Conservation Authority. UNDP’s ongoing project on the Sustainable Development of Protected Areas is helping to build national capacity and strengthen the implementation of policies, such as the one on tackling illegal wildlife trafficking that has led to today’s event.

The Protected Areas of Ethiopia plays a significant role in the country’s economic development, helping strengthen livelihoods and increasing the tourism potential of the country. Towards this end, UNDP has assisted Ethiopia to revise its existing wildlife policy, develop its wildlife marketing strategy; support the establishment of the Ethiopian Tourism Transformation Council and the Ethiopian Tourism Organization, which works under it.

“We hope with the introduction of this transformational initiative that Ethiopia will get a bigger slice of a global industry worth six trillion dollars and generating 260 million jobs – 1 in every 11 jobs in the world,” said Samuel Bwalya.

The 2015 UNDP Entrepreneurship Award presented over $61,000 to seven winning Ethiopian Entrepreneurs and two runners up during a ceremony held at Sheraton Addis in the presence of His Excellency Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn.

The UNDP Associate Administrator, Ms. Gina Casar is on her first visit to Ethiopia since she was appointed UN Under-Secretary-General and Associate Administrator of UNDP in June 2014.

During her stay in Ethiopia , from 21-25 February 2015, Ms. Casar is expected to meet with a number of senior government officials during her visit. She will also join State Minister Ahmed Shide of the Ministry of Finance and Economic Development and officials from the Development Bank of Ethiopia to inaugurate Ethiopia’s Innovative Investment Facility.

The Facility will support small and medium enterprises in Ethiopia to access credit and other financial services that are critical for business growth and diversification.  The facility is closely linked and builds on the vision of the Entrepreneurship Development Programme, supported by UNDP and launched by Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn in February 2013.

Ms. Casar’s five day stay in Ethiopia will include a visit to other UNDP-supported development interventions and meet with selected partners. She will also take part in the strategic planning retreat of UNDP’s Regional Service Centre for Africa which supports UNDP country offices and regional partners from Addis Ababa.

A three day training workshop to boost ongoing efforts to mainstream gender into key energy sector public programmes has taken place with the support of UNDP’s climate resilient green growth programme in collaboration with Royal Norwegian Energy+.

The participants were drawn from Afar, Benishangul-Gumuz, Gambella, Harar, Oromia and Tigray regions as well as from the Environment Protection Agency (EPA) and the Ministry of Water, Irrigation and Energy (MoWIE).

The workshop, held in the town of Adama, was organized in partnership with the MoWIE and Women’s and Youth Affairs Directorate of Ethiopia.

Gender analysis, planning, developing indicators, monitoring and evaluation as well as the creation of workable action plans were main focus areas of this training as informed by a previously conducted skills gap assessment.


In a post training evaluation, participants reported to have gained valuable information and skills that can be applied in day to day activities and also confidently shared with peers with 95% of the respondents noting that the workshop was relevant to help them understand clearly the linkage between gender and energy.  A second training session is scheduled for March 2015.

UNDP’s collaboration with the Royal Norwegian Energy+ to facilitate this training is part of its Strategic Plan and Gender Equality Strategy towards building an enabling environment for women’s economic empowerment and political participation in Africa. Though this strategy, UNDP’s efforts will primarily push for ‘gender growth strategies integrated into national strategies’ whereby women in agriculture, women in business and women in governance will be supported.


UNDP and the Energy+ initiative will continue engage in the implementation of GAP (the Gender Action Plan) of MoWIE which will enable the mainstreaming of gender issues into energy sector programmes and projects across the country. More specifically, the technical support provided will channel advice to MoWIE on means of incorporating gender components into on-going second phase of the Growth and Transformation Plan (GTP) preparations as well as Ethiopian energy policy finalization.