Israel’s Agency for International Development Cooperation (MASHAV) and UNDP Ethiopia are exploring a bilateral cooperation to help Ethiopia access technical knowledge and innovation in the fields of agriculture, entrepreneurship, private sector development and gender mainstreaming. Mr. Ilan Fluss, Deputy Head of MASHAV said that: “The partnership with UNDP is very important one for MASHAV. UNDP is a central development partner. This agreement will enable MASHAV to transfer its expertise in areas such as innovation, entrepreneurship and food security in a more effective way for the benefit of the people of Ethiopia, a very important country for Israel. MASHAV will be happy to create more partnerships with other development partners.”
The Embassy of Israel in Ethiopia has been working for the last year together with UNDP in the process that led to this signing.
Both MASHAV and UNDP seek to build upon and strengthen their existing development efforts which support Ethiopia to achieve its development agenda. Within this MASHAV-UNDP collaborative framework, support to Ethiopia will continue primarily on enhancing agricultural systems that add value to agricultural production thus fueling entrepreneurship and private sector growth.
This new bilateral cooperation will be guided by UNDP and MASHAV’s common focus on needs-driven and impact-oriented interventions through skills enhancements and facilitating technology transfers.
Ethiopia is one among 140 countries across the world where MASHAV is supporting capacity building efforts through training, study and exposure visits.
UNDP’s support to Ethiopia focuses on promoting partnerships, innovation and results in the areas of economic growth and poverty reduction, climate resilient green growth and democratic governance and capacity development.
“We are very happy to explore this new partnership initiative with MASHAV as it will help UNDP expand the scope and reach of development initiatives in Ethiopia, particularly given our shared focus on innovation and building resilience,” said UNDP Ethiopia Country Director Mr. Samuel Bwalya.
(Right to left) Belaynesh Zevadia (Ambassador of Israel to Ethiopia); Ilan Fluss (MASHAV Deputy Head); Samuel Bwalya (UNDP Country Director to Ethiopia ); Bettina Woll (UNDP Deputy Country Director); Leo Vinovezky (Deputy Ambassador of Israel to Ethiopia)
The story also on MASHAV and UNDP sites:
Here is an interview of Ilan Fluss with The Reporter newspaper: