Ethiopia to get $3mln from Japan for organizing transparent 2020 elections

Ethiopia is set to receive USD 3 million from Japan as an outcome of an agreement with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). Read the news below to get the details.

According to the agreement, the government of Japan will provide USD 3 million to the multi-partner program called Supporting Elections for Ethiopia's Democracy Strengthening (SEEDS). The program is aimed to enhance the institutional capacity of the National Electoral Board of Ethiopia to efficiently deliver on its mandate to boost the public trust and confidence in the election process.

The million-dollar agreement was signed by Ambassador Daisuke Matsunaga of Japan and UNDP's Resident Representative Turhan Saleh in the presence of the Chairperson of NEBE, Birtukan Mideksa on Thursday. The financial support from Japan will be made to ensure the procurement of ballot boxes and permanent ink markers to shun any malicious activities like double voting and make it tuned with globally approved standards. Through these processes, the experts believe the credibility and transparency of Ethiopia's 2020-slated election will be boosted.

On the other hand, according to Birtukan Mideksa, the transparency of the ballot box was symbolic of the commitment of the National Electoral Board of Ethiopia to ensure a transparent election process that would make everyone proud. She further stated that in the previous elections, Ethiopia had not utilized transparent ballot boxes and this had been a cause for complaints and suspicion.

Ambassador Daisuke Matsunaga expressed his hope that the upcoming May 2020-scheduled election will help to improve the lives of the Ethiopian people.

With inputs from agencies.

Also Read: South Korea, China to invest in building $50mln-worth-coffee park in Ethiopia