The world is observing the International Day of Zero for female genital mutilation (FGM) under the theme, “Her Voice. Her Future: Investing in Survivors – Led movements to End Female Genital Mutilation.” UNFPA and UNICEF are making a joint call for stepping up support to survivors of FGM, by prioritizing investments in survivor-led initiatives that are centered around girl’s empowerment, access to essential sexual and reproductive health (SRH), legal, education, mental health, and psychosocial support services.

FGM is a human rights violation that limits access to opportunities and resources towards the realization of the rights of girls and women to basic services, including health, education, safety, and reaching their full potential. Ending FGM is a national priority in Ethiopia, with an action plan to end the practice by 2030. For FGM to be eliminated in the country, there should be continued investment and leveraging of the expertise and local knowledge of the 25 million girls and women who are survivors of FGM for prevention, mitigation, and response work.

Texworld Evolution Paris (“Texworld”), Europe’s premier sourcing event for the international textile and clothing industry taking place February 5-7, 2024 brings together over 1,500 exhibitors and 29,000 trade buyers annually. As an emerging apparel and textile manufacturing hub in Africa, Ethiopia is showcasing 10 exhibiting companies at the event.

In his opening message, Melaku Alebel, Minister of Industry for Ethiopia, emphasized the level of Ethiopia’s commitment: ‘Our dedication to enabling growth means implementing policies that meet international standards and consumer demand for transparency. With incentives for investment and a dynamic workforce powering advanced production methods, Ethiopian textile manufacturers continue driving innovation. Our commitment goes beyond inviting partners to source from Ethiopia, it means collaborating with them to grow African manufacturing capabilities’.

The Sustainable Industrial Clusters (S.I.C.) project has facilitated the participation of ten companies exhibiting under the “Made in Ethiopia” pavilion, highlighting innovative locally produced textiles and Ethiopia’s strengths in sustainable manufacturing. This represents the project’s 3^rd year supporting Ethiopian firms to connect with international buyers at the event.

Top military commanders from the African Union Transition Mission in Somalia (ATMIS), have concluded a four-day conference to map out strategies for the final offensive operations against Al Shabaab and plan for the next phase of the drawdown of an additional 4000 troops in June, ahead of ATMIS’ exit from Somalia.

The discussions at the Sector Commanders conference focused on the political situation in Somalia, security threats assessment, conduct and impact of Phase 1 and Phase 2 drawdowns, reconfiguration capabilities for offensive operations, environmental protection, and management, and the post-ATMIS security posture.

“This meeting is taking place at a very critical time. We will take into consideration the recommendations you make in the outcomes of the conference. You have done a very good job during Phase One and Two and I am sure that Phase Three will also be concluded successfully,” said the African Union Special Representative for Somalia and Head of ATMIS, Ambassador Mohamed El-Amine Souef, in his opening remarks at the meeting held at the ATMIS Force Headquarters in Mogadishu.  

The African Development Bank Group has announced a follow-up equity investment of USD 15 million in the Trade and Development Bank Group’s (TDB Group) pioneering Class C Green+ shares to support clean technology and low carbon projects in its member states.

The new capital, to be sourced from the Clean Technology Fund (CTF), will also support the establishment of a project preparation facility to boost investment in clean technologies.

The CTF, part of the Climate Investment Funds, provides resources to developing countries to scale up low-carbon technologies with significant potential for long-term greenhouse gas emissions savings.

TDB launched the unique thematic equity instruments just over a year ago during COP27; the African Development Bank greeted the announcement with an initial investment of USD 15 million. Class C Green+ shares enable TDB Group to leverage funds four times to support qualifying climate and SDG-aligned public and private sector transactions.