The UK Government has announced a 15.5 million pounds contribution to support Ethiopia’s upcoming general elections. The funds will be channeled through the UN project on ‘Supporting Elections for Ethiopia’s Democracy Strengthening (SEEDS)’.

The SEEDS project is a multi UN agency project of support led by UNDP. The UK government's contribution is the largest that  SEEDS has received to date.

The announcement was made by the Secretary of State for Foreign & Commonwealth Affairs, the Rt Hon Jeremy Hunt on Thursday May 2nd 2019 in the presence of National Electoral Board of Ethiopia (NEBE) chair Ms.Birtukan Mideksa, UN Resident & Humanitarian Coordinator a.i.  Mr. Aeneas Chuma, and UNDP Resident Representative a.i.  Ms. Louise Chaimberlain.

The funding will go towards strengthening the independence and technical capacity of NEBE to conduct credible, inclusive and peaceful elections. 

Ethiopia is undertaking a transformation of its governance landscape. The international community, and the UN in particular are committed to support the nationally-led process that seeks to  ensure competitive, inclusive and credible elections.