Addis Ababa [Ethiopia], June 21: Ethiopia and the United Nations (UN) on Friday signed a new five-year cooperation framework, worth about 6.5 billion U.S. dollars, to accelerate the East African country's sustainable development.
The UN Sustainable Development Cooperation Framework for the 2025-2030 period is aimed at advancing Ethiopia's development priorities and achieving the Sustainable Development Goals, the Ethiopian Ministry of Finance said in a statement.
The new cooperation framework envisages addressing Ethiopia's "most urgent challenges" through a comprehensive approach that promotes resilience, inclusivity, and sustainable growth by strengthening resilience to climate change and economic shocks, building sustainable food systems, and improving livelihoods, the ministry noted.
According to the statement, an estimated 6.5 billion dollars is required to fully implement the framework and about 1.5 billion dollars has been mobilized to date.
Consisting of five strategic pillars, the framework seeks to create job opportunities with a focus on empowering youth and women, modernizing development programs through digital transformation, as well as providing targeted support to vulnerable populations such as women, children, and persons with disabilities.
The finance ministry revealed that the framework, scheduled to commence in July, was developed in alignment with Ethiopia's Ten-Year Development Plan, while also reflecting the country's commitment to the global Agenda for Sustainable Development.
Ethiopia hosts one of the largest UN country teams globally, comprising about 28 UN agencies that are based in the Ethiopian capital of Addis Ababa. The framework also introduced strengthened mechanisms towards enhanced coordination and greater impact, the ministry noted.
Source: Xinhua News Agency