The Biggest Global Conversation On The World’s Future Starts Now.
January 1, 2020 saw the launch of the UN75 initiative – the largest, most inclusive conversation on the role of global cooperation in building a better future for all. The initiative will see the UN spark dialogues throughout 2020 in diverse settings across the world.
In a ‘global reality check’, four innovative data streams will build the first ever repository of crowd-sourced solutions to major global challenges.
The UN75 dialogues together with a ‘One-minute Survey’ that anyone can take, opinion polling in 50 countries and artificial intelligence sentiment analysis of traditional and social media in 70 countries, will generate compelling data to inform national and international policies and debate.
In calling for participation, the Secretary-General said:
“No country, no community, is able to solve the complex problems of our world alone. We need to come together, not only to talk, but to listen. It is absolutely essential that you all join the conversation. We need your opinion, your strategies and your ideas for us to be able to deliver better for the people of the world that we must serve.”
The United Nations Launches 75th Anniversary Dialogues
The Dollar Remains the Dominant Currency with 88 per cent of all Forex Transactions in 2019
As the world’s dominant currency, the US dollar maintained its leading role in forex trading last year. The US dollar was on the side of 88 per cent of all trades last year, according to data gathered by LearnBonds.com.
The turnover in the euro, the second most traded currency in the world, slightly increased to 32 per cent, revealed the 2019 Triennial Survey of Forex Exchange.
During 2019, currencies of emerging market economies boosted their share and hitting 25 per cent of total forex trading volume. The figure represents a four per cent increase over the three-year period, continuing a trend seen in previous surveys.
The Japanese yen dropped five percentage points to a 17 per cent share of global turnover, compared to 2016, but remained as the third most traded currency in the world. This fall was primarily caused by a slide in the importance of Japanese yen/US dollar trading amid lower volatility. However, dealing in other leading yen cross trading such as the Australian dollar/yen and the euro/yen increased over the last three years.
Other heavily traded currencies remained unchanged on their 2016 shares. The British pound was the fifth most traded currency in 2019 with a 13 per cent share in global forex turnover, followed by the Australian dollar, Canadian dollar and Swiss franc.
The most traded emerging market economy currency, the Chinese renminbi, didn’t lift its rank in the overall currency list and remained as the ninth most traded currency in the world. However, the total turnover in the Hong Kong dollar nearly doubled in three years. The Indian rupee, Korean won and Indonesian rupiah also positioned higher in the global ranking.
Helping disadvantaged communities
The Ethiopian Diaspora Trust Fund (EDTF) is inching closer to its goal of helping disadvantaged communities in Ethiopia through diaspora funded, high impact development projects. The organization is selecting these socio-economic sustainable projects under the theme “Ethiopian Diaspora – partnership to improve social and economic wellbeing of Ethiopians in need.” EDTF closed off 2019 announcing their selection of 22 project proposals, the final selection is scheduled for the end of this month.
Capital interviewed EDTF Communications Specialist Hanna Atnafu to learn more about the organization.
Hanna Atnafu has over two decades of experience in Corporate Communications, Public Relations and Publications, Human Resource Management, Ethiopian Aviation Academy and Customer Services. She is face and mind the behind the implementation of the “all women managed Ethiopian Airlines (ET) flight”. She holds a BA in Organizational Management and two Masters, one in Transformational Leadership and Change (MTLC) and an MSc in Project Planning and Management.
Capital: Can you speak on the conception of EDTF and the purpose it serves?
Hanna Atnafu: The call to donate a dollar-a-day by all Ethiopians in the Diaspora came from the Prime Minister of Ethiopia, Abiy Ahmed on July 08, 2019. This was followed by his appointment of the Ethiopian Diaspora Trust Fund (EDTF) Advisory Council (AC) and the EDTF Board of Directors EDTF-BoD.
The EDTF Board of Directors is the apex governance body. It comprises of eleven persons, drawn from the Ethiopian government, Diaspora and Civil Society. Whereas the 18 members of EDTF-AC is to mobilize the Ethiopian Diaspora Community in the United Sates and globally to make financial contributions to the EDTF Account on a timely and sustained basis to ensure the realization of the EDTF objectives.
EDTF operates as Friends of EDTF and is a tax-exempt nonprofit organization in the United States established with the goal of raising funds to support social projects in specific critical areas in Ethiopia.
The Fund aims to finance projects that meet critical and selected needs based on their potential to make the highest positive impact on groups and communities in Ethiopia in such areas as health, education, water, sanitation facilities and rehabilitation of persons with disability, agricultural development, technology, women empowerment, youth, financial inclusion, small scale entrepreneurship and other income and employment generating projects.
EDTF is an equal opportunity organization dedicated to serving all Ethiopians without regard to race, ethnicity, religion, language, region, gender, political views or any other factors. EDTF neither advances nor promotes any partisan political agenda and is solely focused on its mission of raising awareness and funds to finance and assist poor and disadvantaged people of Ethiopia.
Capital: How much has been raised thus far? How long did it take to raise this amount?
Hanna: To date, EDTF has collected USD 5.848 million from 25,735 donors living in 93 countries supported by 46 Chapters globally.
Capital: Which country do the majority of the donations come from?
Hanna: We are receiving the donation from 93 countries, but the main donors are from North America
Capital: Are the funds raised dedicated entirely to the projects? How much is allocated per project?
Hanna: All donations to EDTF are committed to projects. No EDTF donation is used for administrative or related purposes. The administrative costs of the EDTF secretariat are coved by the generous support of the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) that has committed two years support to fund the cost of the EDTF Secretariat in Addis Ababa.
A total of 4,000,000 USD is allocated to finance projects in the first round of funding. Considering the large number of projects applied for EDTF grant the Board of Directors may consider allocating more resources to finance more projects. The minimum and maximum amount that will be granted per project is approximately ETB 6,400,000 (USD $200,000) and ETB 11,200,000 (USD $350,000) respectively.
Capital: An EDTF Press release stated that a total of 4 million USD is allocated to finance projects in the first round of funding. Is this amount taken from the donations raised?
Hanna: Yes. As EDTF is the gift of the global Ethiopian Diaspora to the Ethiopian people regardless of ethnicity, religion, gender or political orientation all projects selected for funding will be financed from the donation raised from the Ethiopian Diaspora. As mentioned above, 100 % of donations from the Diaspora’s donations raised.
Capital: How was the project selection process carried out? What separated the 22 projects from the rest of the entries?
Hanna: Projects submitted to EDTF was reviewed by a panel of experts in accordance with the EDTF project selection criteria and scoring system. Projects recommended for funding by the review panel was presented for the final approval of the EDTF Board of Directors.
During the preliminary screening process, a thorough compliance check has been done to all 410 project proposals that have been received in both soft and hard copies. After compliance check for late submission, incomplete documentation, double submission and ineligible proposals due to their organizational type, budget threshold, project duration and formatting issues, 242 projects have been identified that met the formal requirements as per the submission guideline provided at the launching of the “Call for Proposals”.
All proposed Project were reviewed by volunteer Ethiopian experts in a variety of fields recruited from Ethiopia and the global Ethiopian Diaspora community. These experts were organized in 26 Project Review Teams (PRTs), each team consisting of panels of 3 members. The PRTs reviewed and ranked each proposal according to criteria set for proposal submissions. After the PRTs performed a full review of 242 proposals, 68 were found to meet the established criteria, out of which the Secretariat presented 22 projects to the Board of Directors for their consideration and approval.
Among the key proposal evaluation criteria included are sustainability of the proposed project, potential impact, relevance, scalability, innovation and creativity, cost efficiency (value for money), accountability, transparency and communication. Regional equity was also taken into consideration in deciding the short-listed applicants.
The 22 shortlisted projects will undergo a final implementation capacity assessment and budget review focusing on organizational resources, management and effectiveness to deliver on proposed project outcomes.
Capital: Of the 22 selected projects – how many will be chosen?
Hanna: A total of 4,000,000 USD is allocated to finance projects in the first round of funding. The minimum and maximum amount that will be granted per project is approximately ETB 6,400,000 (USD $200,000) and ETB 11,200,000 (USD 350,000) respectively. Those who passed the assessment of the Institutional Capacity assessment and Budget review by an independent consultant will be granted. As mentioned above, it is up the EDTF Board of Directors discretion to allocate additional resources to fund more projects if more of the shortlisted applicants demonstrate strong implementation capacity.
Let’s get together and feel alright – celebrating Bob Marley’s 75th birthday
By Ruth Brook
In February 2005, major international organizations came together in Addis Ababa to celebrate the 60th birthday of musical icon Robert Nesta Marley – more commonly known to the world as Bob Marley. The event – Africa Unite, A celebration of Bob Marley’s vision – highlighted the household name’s timeless music and message of peace.
Fifteen years later, the landmark event is back in Addis Ababa to commemorate the legends 75th birthday and the 15 year anniversary of Africa Unite, from February 5th to February 6th 2020. The two-day function will reflect Bob Marley’s vision of unity and will consist of musical events, lectures, and a film screening.
In 1978, Bob Marley was presented with the United Nations Peace Medal of the Third World in New York City for his work in bringing peace in Jamaica between two opposing political parties. He was presented the award just three years before his passing.
The reggae icon is a familiar face and voice for many Ethiopians; he left a legacy of peace, love and unity for Africans. His musical works and interviews show he was a true champion of peace whose message continues to shine regardless of time, language and borders.
Serving as an introduction to the event will be a screening of the documentary, Africa Unite: A celebration of Bob Marley’s Vision at 5pm on Wednesday February 5th 2020, at Alliance Ethio-Francaise.
The following day – his birthday – will kick off with a colloquium “No Woman No Cry…Everything’s
Gonna Be Alright”. The presentation will feature an in depth discussion on the role of women in promoting peace and will touch on the African Union’s upcoming summit “Silencing the Guns”, at Blue Space in Bole from 2 to 5pm. Next will be a public lecture on Bob Marley’s life and works held at the African Union Headquarters. 
The commemoration will close in style, with a live music performance by the Father of Ethio-Jazz Dr. Mulatu Astatke at Ghion Hotel’s Africa Jazz Village, from 9pm to midnight. Mulatu Honors Marley: EthioJazz & Reggae “Hit me with music, when it hits you feel no pain…” will fuse the music of the two maestros; the night will be a true form of artistic expression, featuring poetry, live performances as well as music from a DJ and a special guest artist.
Africa Unite 2005 was pioneered by Bob Marley’s wife, Dr. Nana Rita Marley in partnership with the Bob Marley Foundation and Rita Marley Foundation, the Marley family, the African Union, the Ethiopian Ministry of Culture and Tourism and UNICEF. The event consisted of a 3 day conference at the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA) and a peaceful concert with over 250,000 attendees from around the world at Meskel Square.
The upcoming event, Africa Unite 2020, is a collaborative effort between the Bob Marley Foundation and Rita Marley Foundation, Alliance Ethio-Francaise, Diasora African Forum and Desta Y. Meghoo Development Consultancy (DYMDC).
