Finland has announced a financial assistance of €800 000 to support the forthcoming elections in Ethiopia, reports said on Monday.
The fund will be released through the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) to the SEEDS project – Supporting Elections for Ethiopia’s Democracy Strengthening.
The aim of the project is to provide the assistance necessary to conduct inclusive, transparent and credible elections, and to support National Electoral Board of Ethiopia (NEBE) in building its capacity ahead of the elections.
The agreement between Finland and UNDP was signed on Monday by the Finnish Ambassador, Helena Airaksinen, and UNDP’s Resident Representative, Turhan Saleh.
At the signing ceremony, Ambassador Airaksinen pointed out that the forthcoming elections are crucial for Ethiopia’s future.
Finland is happy to join ten other partners supporting Ethiopia in making the elections credible and peaceful, she added.
MG/abj/APA