The U.S. Government through its Agency for International Development (USAID) convened a diverse group of stakeholders today for a Learning and Action Forum on Gender-Based Violence (GBV) Prevention. The event, held at the Hyatt Regency Hotel, brought together government officials, civil society organizations, NGOs, and other development partners to share lessons learned and strategize on collaborative actions to address GBV in Ethiopia. The forum was held on the final day of the 16 Days of Activism Against Gender-Based Violence, and represents a commitment by the Government of the United States to address GBV in Ethiopia.

USAID convened a broad group of stakeholders in recognition of the terrible toll that GBV takes on Ethiopia. 

The Economic Commission for Africa (ECA) continues to successfully support African countries to improve the socio-economic well-being of the people, an end-of-year Accountability and Programme Performance Review  Meeting (APPRM) of the commission has revealed.

The APPRM is an ECA platform that fosters accountability and good governance by evaluating performance and identifying areas for improvement. The 2024 end-of-year  APPRM, held in Addis Ababa from December 2nd to 6th, reviewed the year’s performance, highlighted key achievements and discussed challenges. The theme was “Enhancing Performance for Results: Lessons from Annual Reporting for Better Planning.”

The ECA supports African governments to enhance their socio-economic conditions by assisting in the development and execution of various initiatives through technical assistance, research for policymaking, and skill development. The Commission encourages partnerships between governments, businesses, and communities, tracks progress, identifies areas needing support, raises awareness, and promotes citizen engagement. The current focus is on supporting Agenda 2030 and Agenda 2063.

At the conclusion of a joint high-level mission in Ethiopia, Education Cannot Wait (ECW) Global Champion and Danish Minister of Finance Nicolai Wammen, together with ECW Executive Director Yasmine Sherif, called for bold donor action to step up new and innovative financing solutions to deliver quality education for millions of children caught in crises in Ethiopia and beyond.

An estimated 9 million children are out-of-school across Ethiopia today due to ongoing violence, climate-induced disasters and widespread forced displacement – a staggering threefold increase from 2022. Close to 18% of schools in the country have been destroyed or damaged. Ethiopia also hosts the third largest refugee population in Africa, with over 200,000 new arrivals from Sudan and Somalia in 2023-2024 alone, further increasing pressure on existing resources.

The Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), a country rich in natural resources, is exploring launching a debt-for-nature swap to finance sustainable development projects while easing its public debt burden.

This comes against the backdrop of a groundbreaking technical study, themed, Public Debt Swap Mechanism to Finance Climate Action in the DRC which was discussed at a technical workshop organised by the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (ECA) and the Ministry of Finance of the Democratic Republic of Congo.

The workshop brought together over 20 participants from the Ministry of Finance, the General Directorate of Public Debt, the Central Bank of Congo and representatives of technical and financial partners to explore how debt-for-nature swaps could fund climate action in the DRC.

The study, Public Debt Swap Mechanism to Finance Climate Action in the DRC, conducted with the support of the French Development Agency, examined the country’s debt portfolio and identified potential projects for a debt-for-nature swap program. These include forest conservation, agriculture, battery and electric vehicle projects.

“The DRC is positioning itself as a solution country in the face of climate change,” said Doudou Fwamba Likunde Li-Botayi, Minister of Finance of the DRC. “The Debt Swap represents an innovative opportunity to convert part of our debt into strategic investments in key sectors such as education, health, agriculture and infrastructure.”