Addis Ababa, 02 April 2015 (WIC) – European Union has decided to increase its assistance to Ethiopia considering the proper utilization of funds, EU Delegation to Ethiopia said.
In an exclusive interview with ENA, Head of the Delegation Ambassador Chantal Hebberecht said the country has been spending the finance secured from the EU for the intended purposes.
She said the EU has been monitoring the utilization of funds by Ethiopia and proved that the funds have been spent for the intended purposes.
EU has been supporting projects in natural conservation, agriculture, education and health has been spent properly.
In addition to the proper utilization of funds, the nation’s effort to alleviate poverty is another reason for EU to increase its support.
The EU and the 20 member states present in Addis Ababa are one of the biggest donors in this country, she said. “The total of the financial allocation to support the development of this country is more or less one billion dollars per year”, represents 40 percent of the public development aid in Ethiopia.
“We have ongoing projects for a total of 400 million Euros and we have in preparation a new financial allocation with 800 million Euros for the next five years, because we are starting a new cycle cooperation with this country under the 11th EDF” she added.
She noted that Ethiopia has been undertaking successful activities regarding poverty alleviation, reducing child and maternal deaths; realize universal access to primary education, and control malaria, HIV/AIDS and other sexually transmitted diseases.
Allocating 70 percent of its budget to education, infrastructure, health institutions and poverty alleviation projects, helped Ethiopia achieve the MDGs, she added.
Germany, France, UK and Italy are among the leading countries in extending development assistance to Ethiopia.
According to ENA, in a news item dispatched on 16 February under the headline “EU increases assistance to Ethiopia to 1 bln Euros”, it was erroneously reported the amount of assistance EU plans to extend to Ethiopia as one billion Euros per annum.
In fact, the figure should read as 800 million Euros over the next five years.
