Ethiopia is currently on the right track to meet the eight Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) according to the United Nations Resident Coordinator in Ethiopia, Eugene Owusu. In an interview, Mr. Owusu said current evidence suggested the country should meet the MDGs particularly in five areas out of the eight Goals. At the same time, Mr. Owusu noted that government was striving to meet all the MDGs and was showing positive gains in education, health and in reduction of the prevalence of HIV and AIDS as well as the overall decline in poverty.

“Even for the three goals which Ethiopia is presently slightly off-track,” that is environmental sustainability, Gender equality and women’s empowerment, he added, “the evidence is that with continuous investment in these three areas, I am very optimistic that come 2015 Ethiopia will be able to achieve all the eight goals.”

A year ago the UN system in Ethiopia finalized what it called a business plan to support the country’s development dubbed as the UN Development Assistance Framework (UNDAF 2012 - 2015). This offers a plan of action allotting total investment of 1.9 billion dollars and said Mr. Owusu this figure “truly reflects a historic investment by the UN in the country.” Mr. Owusu said “the important thing is our full alignment of our entire business strategy to the priorities articulated in the Growth and Transformation Plan of Ethiopia (GTP).” The UN Development Assistance Framework- UNDAF was based on consultations with federal and regional governments as well as the private sector and civil society. Out of the eight pillars of the GTP, he pointed out that the UN’s program for the next four years actually supports seven of them.

The UN Country Team in Ethiopia, the largest in Africa, is a major development partner of the government with a combined annual budget of one billion dollars, and covers the work of 25 UN agencies