Invest Africa will be leading a high-level delegation of investors and businesses to Ethiopia from 3rd to 5th December 2019. This comes on the back of the significant interest from international investors in Ethiopia as a result of Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed’s reform agenda. The delegation will include investors from a range of strategic sectors including agriculture, telecoms, logistics, tourism, mining and power. Delegates will meet with key government ministers to discuss new avenues for investment and partnership. The bi-lateral and multi-lateral meetings facilitated by the trip will aim to drive investment and play an important role as the Ethiopian government moves forward with its economic reform agenda, including the ongoing telecoms licensing process.
EU funded Comprehensive Refugee Response Framework (CRRF) programme launched
The EU funded Comprehensive Refugee Response Framework (CRRF) programme with the value of 20 million Euros is launched in Jigjiga town of Somali regional state. The programme aims to support the Government of Ethiopia to shift from a ‘care and maintenance’ or camp-based model of refugee assistance to an approach, which emphasises refugee self-reliance, refugee mobility in-country and the integration of refugees into regional and national development processes.
The overall objective of the programme is to ease pressure on Ethiopia as a major host country for refugees and increase refugee self-reliance by fostering sustainable, integrated solutions for both refugees and host communities in Ethiopia in response to their developmental needs and aspirations.
While socio-economic opportunities are assessed and developed and beneficiaries acquire relevant skills and support to enhance their economic and job opportunities, the action will support the transition of targeted refugees into local structures by including them into the national safety net scheme, the Urban Productive Safety Net Program (UPSNP), via an earmarked contribution to the PSNP and taking due account of the need to ensure equal treatment of refugees and members of the host community.
EU supports 16 days of activism against gender-based violence
The 16 Days of Activism against Gender-Based Violence is an annual international campaign that kicks off on 25 November, the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women, and runs until 10 December, Human Rights Day. The campaign is spearheaded by the Center for Women’s Global Leadership and carried forward by numerous advocates worldwide that are engaging, mobilizing and scaling up efforts.
Gender based violence is one of the most common human rights violations. As a result of unequal power relations women are adversely affected. Recent campaigns like the #MeToo movement have given global attention to the problem.
According to UN Women, 28% of Ethiopian women have experienced lifetime physical and/or sexual intimate partner violence. A staggering 65% have undergone some form of Female Genital Mutilation. The world of work is no safe haven either. A 2016 research by the Confederation of Ethiopian Trade Unions on the situation of women in selected flower growers, textile and leather processing companies has highlighted discrimination, harassment, gender pay gaps and poor working conditions. As an important step, the Ethiopian parliament approved a draft Labour Proclamation on 5 July 2019 to replace the Labour Proclamation No. 377/2003 that has been in existence for 16 years. The revised law has introduced a rule to regulate workplace sexual harassment and sexual violence.
Four African projects improving lives can build on success with support from Expo 2020 Dubai
Four African initiatives empowering women and smallholder farmers are to receive grants from global social impact programme Expo Live, run by organisers of the next World Expo, Expo 2020 Dubai.
Innovators from Ghana, Kenya, South Africa and Tanzania are among 26 projects from 22 countries selected in the third cycle of Expo Live’s flagship Innovation Impact Grant Programme, following a rigorous evaluation process that included live presentations in Dubai.
Competition was particularly strong in this cycle, with more than 1,200 applications from 114 countries.
Expo Live supports projects whose creative solutions to pressing challenges improve people’s lives or preserve the planet – or both. These innovators will join an existing community of Expo Live Global Innovators, bringing the total to 70 grantees from 44 countries.
Among the new Global Innovators is a Ghanaian woman who is empowering other women by teaching them how to grow a local wild grain called fonio on abandoned lands.
Through her social enterprise Unique Quality Products, Salma Abdulai engages disenfranchised women to farm abandoned land, helping them to provide for their families and gain financial independence.
