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Addis Ababa, 2 June 2025 - The Government of Sweden has committed $7.8 million in funding to UNICEF for the programme ‘Strengthened Resilience and Livelihoods: Making Social Protection Work for Women and Children.’ The agreement was formalized today in a signing ceremony between Ambassador Hans Henric Lundquist, Sweden’s Ambassador to Ethiopia, and Dr. Aboubacar Kampo, UNICEF Representative in Ethiopia.
The funding will support 34,650 households—reaching an estimated 173,250 individuals—with the goal of enhancing their resilience to shocks. This will be achieved through the expansion of safety net and cash assistance programmes, access to essential social services, and empowerment through improved access to economic opportunities.
”This investment will empower women and children in vulnerable situations but also support the Government to continue to take greater responsibility for its own population in the future,” said Hans Henric Lundquist. “In this way, the programme will contribute to building resilience and realizing the Government’s ambition to increase its own share of funding for social protection”.
Key to this is integrating the Productive Safety Net Programme (PSNP), humanitarian cash transfer (HCT), and child grant beneficiaries with Cash Plus initiatives, pairing cash with nutrition, healthcare, education, and protection services to effectively and comprehensively improve children’s well-being. To build and sustain households’ resilience to shocks, the program will facilitate their access to economic opportunities and skills development by engaging closely with the private sector. Concurrently, it will strengthen regulatory frameworks, institutional capacities, and data-driven policymaking to ensure effective, sustainable social protection systems.
“UNICEF is extremely grateful to the Government of Sweden for this generous contribution,” said Aboubacar Kampo, UNICEF Representative in Ethiopia. “This important partnership underscores our shared commitment to tackle the root causes of childhood deprivation through a holistic approach to empowering families to break cycles of vulnerability and build resilient futures. Together, we are not just addressing immediate needs—we are joining the Government in transforming systems to ensure every child in Ethiopia can thrive with dignity and opportunity.”
In the face of persistent poverty, vulnerability, and multiple, overlapping shocks, a robust social protection system is essential to support communities, particularly children and the most vulnerable populations, through integrated approaches.
This programme aims to reduce monetary and multidimensional poverty by enhancing the adaptability of the social protection system, ensuring that individuals and families receive both immediate relief and have the opportunity to build long-term resilience against crises.
For more information, please contact:
Wossen Mulatu, OIC, Communication, Advocacy and Partnership, UNICEF Ethiopia, Phone: 0911 308483 Email: wmulatu@unicef.org