Ethiopia
The GEWE beneficiaries in Eastern Harega region of Ethiopia walk as they discuss various issues very well balancing the baskets on their heads. Such baskets in various shapes and sizes are hand woven by women and are used in different parts of the country for numerous purposes like as containers and decorations. Photo: UN Women/Fikerte Abebe
The UN Women Ethiopia Country Office (ECO) has been working with a dual role since 2012 as Country Office for Ethiopia and as the Liaison Office to the Africa Union Commission (AUC) and the Economic Commission for Africa (ECA). The country office’s strategy is collaborative partnerships and joint implementation to influence capacity and resources to impact large numbers of women and girls. ECO works in close partnership with the Government of Ethiopia (GoE), Civil Service Organizations (CSOs), UN organizations in Ethiopia and other partners.
The main framework that guides socio-economic development in Ethiopia is the Growth and Transformation Plan (GTP), a series of five-year plans aims to foster broad-based equitable development in a sustainable manner through promotion of women and youth empowerment. To ensure that the Gender Equality and Women Empowerment (GEWE) commitments are achieved within the current GTPII, which are aligned to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), UN Women ECO works through joint programmes under the United Nation Development Assistance Framework (UNDAF’s) specific pillars that respond to UN goals of supporting the government of Ethiopia to achieve the SDGs.
UN Women has triple mandate: normative, coordination and operational. Under the normative work, the office ensures the GoE integrates global frameworks such as the SDGs within its development plans. Through the Ministry of women and Children’s Affairs, it also coordinates the Government’s sectors, CSOs, UN Agencies and regional organizations on GEWE. Under operation support to the Government, the main programmatic interventions are:
Women in Leadership and Governance to promote women’s leadership in decision making at all levels by creating enabling environment and building their capacities.
Women Economic Empowerment to address challenges that avert women, especially the poorest of the poor, from competently participate and contribute in the country’s socio-economic development
Ending Violence against Women and Girls to ensure that women and girls live a life free from violence through provision of access to justice and protection services.
Transformative Financing for Gender Equality and Women Empowerment to ensure that new and existing internationally and nationally agreed commitments on GEWE are adequately and effectively financed in Ethiopia by enabling the government to establish Gender Responsive National Planning and Budgeting system.
Liaison to the Africa Union(AU) and the Economic Commission for Africa(ECA) to support a gender responsive implementation of the AU’s strategic plan, Agenda 2063 and other policy and legal frameworks as well as to promote a stronger focus on women’s rights and empowerment in regional policy processes and programmes.
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