UN Women Regional Director for East and Southern Africa, Dr. Maxime Houinato Visits Ethiopia: strategic partnerships to achieve transformative impact
Date:
The UN Women’s ESA Regional Director, Dr. Maxime Houinato visited Ethiopia from 11-15 July 2022 with the aim of providing strategic guidance to the Ethiopia Country Office, the Liaison Office and development partners on UN Women’s regional priorities and engagements. The mission also aimed to provide assurance of UN Women’s partnership with the African Union and relevant UN system partners on the continental women, peace and security, humanitarian action as well as women’s financial inclusion agenda. Discussions on strategic entry points and important levers for a successful implementation of the key global normative and intergovernmental frameworks on Gender Equality and Empowerment of Women were among the key specific objectives of the mission.
The mission gave a chance for the Dr. Maxime to share leadership vision with staff from UN Women Ethiopia and Liaison Offices and solicit senior management views on how best UN Women can leverage existing partnerships, resources and programmatic as well as organizational frameworks to achieve transformative impact at national, regional, and continental levels.
Dr. Maxime’s mission commenced with a bilateral meeting with the UN Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator a.i. Ethiopia, Ms. Worknesh Mekonnen. The two had a discussion on the changes in leadership and governance of UN Women representation to Ethiopia , AU and ECA and on the UN Country Team’s (UNCT) accountability on Gender and potentials for inter-agency initiatives.
Dr. Maxime met with development partners who are contributing to the work of Gender Equality and Empowerment of Women through UN Women Liaison Office to AU and ECA and the Ethiopia Country Office. During the meeting, he appreciated their contributions to the advancement of Gender Equality and Women’s Empowerment in Ethiopia and encouraged them, wherever possible to adopt more integrated support across all thematic areas, thus catalyzing transformative changes in all walks of life. Development partners who participated in the meeting included Sweden/SIDA, Germany, Netherlands, Finland, Canada, UK, Ireland, Denmark, Norway, France and the EU.
Dr. Maxime had a discussion with UNDP Regional Service Center Director, Dr. Stan Nkwain and the Gender Program Adviser and Team Leader, Ms. Odette Kabaya on joint collaborative priorities between UN Women and UNDP, and recommitment to the collaboration. At the African Union Commission- Women, Gender and Youth Directorate, he had a discussion with Prudence N. Ngwenya-Acting Director and Dr. Tapiwa Uchizi Nyasulu Rweyemamu, Head of Division for Women & Gender Policy and Development to affirm UN Women’s commitment to the ongoing collaborations.
Dr. Maxime also had a fruitful meeting with Excellency Mr. Tagesse Chafo, Speaker of the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia House of Peoples Representatives on strategic partnerships and important levers for a successful implementation of the key global normative and intergovernmental frameworks on Gender Equality and Empowerment of Women.
The Regional Director also had a bilateral meeting with H.E. Ambasador Tesfaye Yilma, State Minister for Political and Economic Diplomacy to discuss about UN Women representation to Ethiopia whilst thanking the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia for the unwavering support to UN Women’s operations in the country.
As he concluded his five-day mission to Ethiopia, the Regional Director witnessed the official signing of a Memorandum of Understanding between Mr. Schadrack Dusabe, Officer-in-Charge for UN Women Ethiopia Country Office and H.E. Dr. Ergogie Tesfaye, the Minister for Women and Social Affairs (MoWSA). The MoU includes a 4-year joint framework in support of implementation of the Gender Equality and Women’s Empowerment Priorities as part of the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia’s 10-year Perspective Plan. Prior to the signing, H.E Minister had a bilateral discussion with UN Women ESA Regional Director on issues of common interest to advance gender equality and empowerment of women in Ethiopia. In his remarks during the signing ceremony, Dr. Maxime reiterated the commitment of UN Women to Government of Ethiopia and the MoWSA to ensure gender equality and the empowerment of women become a reality despite the natural and man-made bottlenecks.