Skip to main content

Ethiopia: Election Preparedness - Operation Update n° 1 Emergency Appeal n° MDRET025

Countries
Ethiopia
Sources
IFRC
Publication date
Origin
View original

A. Situation analysis

Description of the disaster

Ethiopia entered its 2021 election process amidst an increasingly tensed political, security and humanitarian context.
As the multi-faceted and polarized situation was foreseen to increase the susceptibility for outbreaks of election-related violence, it was imperative to plan and strengthen preparedness, before, during and after the elections. As such, this DREF Operation was launched to support Ethiopia Red Cross prepare its branches to mitigate any effects of election violence.

Ethiopia has undergone political leadership changes since 2018, after the resignation of the Prime Minister. Since then, the political structure of the country has been characterized by its fluidity – with the ruling coalition, Ethiopian People's Revolutionary Democratic Front (UPRDF), dissolved and replaced as the Prosperity Party, through a parliamentary process which has changed the political landscape and resulted in the formation of emerging political alliances.

The country held its sixth national multiparty election on 21 June 2021 after two times delay due to COVID-19 and by the request of National Election Board of Ethiopia (NEBE) to allow more time to organize the ballot. Preliminary results were announced in some polling stations in Addis and regions. Official NEBE (National Election Board of Ethiopia) reports revealed that over 38 million voters registered, 46 parties and 9,000 candidates contested for Federal and regional seats. NEBE decided to postpone the sixth national election in 63 constituencies in Hareri and Somali regions as well as in some polling stations in Amhara, Oromia and Benshangul Gumuz regions to 6 September 2021 due to some irregularities and security issues. As regards Tigray region, this decision remains indefinite.