[{"bbox": [97, 154, 1133, 303], "category": "Text", "text": "of the country, particularly in the Amhara region where armed clashes have flared up since August with the ensuing gross human rights violations. Irrespective of the fact that the transitional justice process is being designed in the midst of scepticism premised on the genuineness of the political will and on the institutional capacity on the ground, it is also widely accepted amongst civil society, academics, but also governmental stakeholders that Ethiopia urgently needs a comprehensive transitional justice process."}, {"bbox": [97, 318, 1133, 467], "category": "Text", "text": "The European Union will support the Ministry of Finance and the Regional Administration in the implementation of the Ethiopia Resilient Recovery and Reconstruction Planning Framework 2023-28 (3FR) in Tigray. In particular it will reinforce democratic governance reforms and institutions, including the reestablishment of the civil service, an independent judiciary, strengthening multi-party political system, as well as promoting an autonomous civil society and media."}, {"bbox": [97, 483, 1133, 785], "category": "Text", "text": "Supporting other institutions, like the NEBE, is indispensable to strengthen and stabilise the emerging democracy in Ethiopia. Only in 2019 Ethiopia reformed its legal framework for elections and thereby granted functional independence to NEBE in line with Ethiopia's commitments under the African Charter of Democracy, Elections and Governance. Continued support to institutions and CSOs are therefore crucial in the journey of Ethiopia to become a consolidated democracy. For the first time, the 2021 general elections offered voters a choice among individual candidates through photos on the ballot. Popular confidence in the NEBE measurably improved when compared to pre-electoral surveys, perhaps also because of the severe security and pandemic-related obstacles that NEBE overcame. The 2021 general elections, however, could not be held in several regions for security reasons, including in Tigray, and hence there is now a backlog of potential mid-cycle electoral events that could be instrumental in restoring peace and security in the run-up to the next general elections in 2026."}, {"bbox": [97, 800, 1133, 1254], "category": "Text", "text": "Strengthening national gender mechanisms is the most sustainable way to guarantee sufficient space for women and girls and their organisations to participate and benefit from not only post-conflict processes but also every-day life in a more equal manner. Women and girls in Ethiopia continue to be strongly disadvantaged compared to boys and men in the majority of the areas, including literacy, health, livelihoods, and basic human rights. They additionally suffer from various forms of gender-based violence, a low status in their society and lack social support networks. National mechanisms for the advancement of Gender Equality in Ethiopia continue being challenged. Ministry of Women and Social Affairs (MoWSA) has limited budget allocations and many of the Gender Affairs Directorates in the line ministries do not have adequate financial resources nor skilled staff for executing their activities. On the lower levels, the regional, zonal and woreda, the bureaus and offcies are in some instances non-existing due to budgetal constrains. There is also limited budget and skilled staff available for the implementation of the policies and various sectoral development plans. Limited capacity of the gender machineries was recognised as a key challenge in the recent National Beijing Platform for Action Country report prepared by MoWSA (back then the Ministry of Women, Children and Youth) in 2019. The current National Women's Policy is from 1993 and as much as it contributed tremendously to establishment of gender machinery in the country, is now obsolete and its update is still not finalised."}, {"bbox": [97, 1270, 1133, 1389], "category": "Text", "text": "Nevertheless, Ethiopia continues to be a major power in the Horn of Africa, with strategic importance for the EU, given the impact of the country on regional stability and development. Strengthening the state's capacity to administer its territory and population in a transparent, democratic and peaceful manner, therefore remains a top priority for the EU."}, {"bbox": [85, 1419, 340, 1450], "category": "Section-header", "text": "## 2.2 Problem Analysis"}, {"bbox": [97, 1466, 426, 1492], "category": "Section-header", "text": "### Lack of peace and social cohesion"}, {"bbox": [97, 1493, 1133, 1625], "category": "Text", "text": "The transition process led by the Abiy administration could not contain long-held grievances between ethnicities that have resulted in deaths, destruction, human rights violations and abuses, and significant population displacements, as well as sexual and gender based violence. The increasing number of political and ethnic tensions and conflicts occurred in the past years have endangered the stability of a country that plays a key role in ensuring the peace, security and stability of the Horn of African region. The causes/drivers of conflict in Ethiopia are both"}, {"bbox": [1038, 1682, 1143, 1706], "category": "Page-footer", "text": "Page 5 of 30"}]