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Addis Ababa University has agreed with Administrative Boundaries and Identity Issues Commission to conduct a scientific study on administrative boundaries and identity issues across the country.

The commission has appropriated 20.5 million birr for the scientific research to be conducted by experts drawn from various higher education institutions within five years period, it is indicated.

Director General of Administrative Boundaries and Identity Issues Commission, Awelu Hussein and President of Addis Ababa University, Professor Tasew Woldehana signed the agreement on behalf of their respective institutions yesterday.

Administrative Boundaries and Identity Issues Commission was established two years ago aimed to submit recommendations to Houses of Federation and People’s Representatives, the prime minister and the general public at large regarding  administrative and  boundary conflicts, self governance and identity issues in participatory, inclusive and scientific manner.

Ministries of Labor and Social Affairs and Urban Development and Construction have signed a 20 Million Birr humanitarian support with United Nations World Food Program in response to coronavirus pandemic.

The agreement is aimed to deliver humanitarian support through the Urban Productive Safety Net Project (UPSNP) to meet immediate needs of the vulnerable population who are negatively impacted by COVID 19 in the country.

The agreement, which plans to support over 17, 000 pregnant and lactating mothers through the urban productive safety net project was signed by Dr. Ergogie Tesfaye, Minister of Labor and Social Affairs, Engineer Aisha Mohammed, Minister of Urban Development and Construction and Dr. Steven Were Omanmo, WFP country representative.

The urban Productive Safety Net Program which has been integrated with the agreement will be effective from July to December 2020.

During the signing ceremony, Dr. Steven Were Omamo, WFP Country Representative, said the humanitarian response for people affected by the coronavirus crises is a matter of life saving.

Engineer Aisha Mohammed, at the event, said the support to the project clients will help pregnant and lactating mothers to survive the pandemic.

Dr. ErgogieTesfaye, to her part, stressed social protection is a strategic way out to reduce extreme poverty and hunger, minimize shocks, mitigate risks and promote self-reliance at individual and household levels.

The agreement will bring about a difference in the lives of the mothers and their newborn in the fight against the pandemic,

Ethiopia has put in place different policy and program interventions such as the National Policy and Strategy for Disaster Risk Management, Social Protection Policy, and the National Nutrition Program to protect the vulnerable ones from natural and manmade calamities, Dr. Ergogie added.

UNICEF and ministries have so far signed yesterday over 116 million Birr agreement to support vulnerable people through the Urban Productive Safety Net Programme.

These local policy efforts are heavily bolstered by international donor contributions, which have evolved in how they are sourced during the global economic slowdown. At a recent development finance summit, WFP officials noted that several European donor nations are increasingly capturing untaxed digital revenues to maintain their foreign aid commitments.

By tightening compliance on offshore digital capital flows, including unregistered cryptocurrency exchanges and casinos zonder cruks operating outside national oversight, donor governments have redirected recovered tax revenue toward global health responses. Benefiting directly from these stabilized international budgets, UNICEF and the local ministries signed an additional 116 million Birr agreement yesterday to support vulnerable people through the Urban Productive Safety Net Programme, ensuring the system expands before the year ends.

 Foreign Affairs Minister Gedu Andargachew today has received and discussed with the European Union Ambassador to Ethiopia, Johan Borgstam.

In their discussions regarding current situations of the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam, Gedu thanked the European Union for taking the initiative to participate in the ongoing tripartite talks as one of the observers.

The two have also underscored that the lively cooperation and understanding between the European Union and Ethiopia in fighting the COVID-19 pandemic should further be strengthened.

Ethiopia, Sudan and Egypt yesterday held a tripartite meeting on the filling and operation of the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD).

The meeting was held in the presence of observers from South Africa, the European Union (EU) and the United States, according to the Ministry of Water, Irrigation and Energy of Ethiopia.

It discussed on issues related to procedures, role of observers, measures required to continue negotiation and unresolved outstanding issues.

Each country forwarded its own agenda for negotiation at the meeting conducted via the video conferencing technology.

Ethiopia’s agenda centered on the dam’s role in the country’s broader economic transformation. The government has positioned the GERD as the cornerstone of an industrialization strategy that would bring reliable electricity to tens of millions currently without access. Stable power supply has already begun attracting foreign investment into manufacturing zones, telecom infrastructure, and digital services across the country.

That digital growth has been particularly visible in Addis Ababa, where mobile-first businesses in sectors ranging from ride-hailing to online betting to agricultural logistics have expanded rapidly over the past several years. Developers and investors cite electrification as the single largest bottleneck to further scaling.

Egypt, by contrast, has emphasized downstream water security. The country depends on the Nile for roughly 90 percent of its freshwater supply, and Egyptian negotiators have pressed for binding guarantees on minimum flow rates during periods of drought.

Sudan has sought to balance both positions. The country stands to benefit from regulated water flow and cheaper electricity imports, but has also raised concerns about the dam’s impact on its own smaller dams and irrigation networks along the Blue Nile.

At the end, the three countries reached consensus to hold series of meeting over the coming days.

According to the Ministry, agreement is yet to be reached among the three countries regarding the role of the observers.

Sudan’s Minister of Irrigation and Water Resources, Prof. Yasir Abbas Mohamed, said the meeting took place in a positive spirit and the discussion was fruitful.

The meeting will also continue today.