Finland Continues Dev’t Cooperation with Ethiopia: Finnish Amb.

Addis Ababa June 2/2021 (ENA) The Government of Finland will continue to further strengthen its development cooperation and support to Ethiopia, Finland Ambassador to Ethiopia, Outi Holopainen said.

The ambassador stated that Ethiopia is Finland’s biggest cooperation partner in Africa.

“Our bilateral relationship is long and we have been working with Ethiopia for a long time. Ethiopia is a very important partner for us in Africa and at the moment the biggest cooperation partner also,” she noted.

Finland’s development cooperation with Ethiopia will continue even amidst challenges in the country, Outi reassured.

“Finland is cooperating with Ethiopia in basically three sectors these are the water sector, agricultural development and then the education sector," the ambassador pointed out.

The embassy in Addis Ababa is already in the planning phase taking into consideration the sustainability of the projects, she stated.

The main aim of Finland’s support and cooperation with Ethiopia is to help the country achieve the UN's Sustainable Development Goals.

The Finnish projects are always implemented by mainstreaming human rights-based approach, including the rights of women, girls, children, people with disabilities, and other vulnerable groups of the community, according to the ambassador.

“Our activities always mainstream inclusion of the rights of women, girls, people with disability, and other people in most vulnerable situation.”

The Finnish government’s support to the people of Ethiopia will continue even amid challenging issues, she said.

The Finnish government has been engaged in a joint water sector project with the Ethiopian government for over a decade.

The Government of Finland and the regional governments of Ethiopia have recently allocated a total of 41 million Euros, of which the regional governments contributed 22.6 million Euros and the Government of Finland 18.4 million Euros to create water supply for more than 1 million people.

Finland began bilateral development cooperation with Ethiopia in 1967 and produced good results, especially on water supply projects, agriculture and education, benefiting farmers and students.