policies, laws and strategies. In addition, the work of establishing units for environmental issues in
sectoral institutions has now commenced.102
Administrative Measures
The Government is committed to ensure that all citizens live in a clean and healthy environment. It
has to make sure that the design and implementation of programs and projects for development do
not damage or destroy the environment. In short, the Government and citizens, jointly, have the
duty to protect the environment. With regard to issues of the environmental and climate change, the
GTP‟s focus of attention is on building a green economy which will respond to climate change and
provide for a system of control of emissions of pollutant gasses. In order to achieve this objective
the plan lays down that action plans, strategies and laws should be designed and implemented to
avoid the negative consequences of climate change or reduce its effects. In this connection, a Green
Economy Strategy, a unique step in Ethiopia, has been prepared and is being executed. The strategy
includes action plans that aim to achieve the building of an economy that can withstand the impact
of climate change and create the environmental conditions necessary for the attainment of the goals
of GTP. A Climate resilient green economy facility is being established in order to look for financial
resources from domestic and foreign sources to achieve the objective of this strategy in line with
international standards.
Ethiopia has made significant progress in integrating the principle of sustainable development into
the country‟s development policies and programs. In order to upgrade land and water resources, the
Government has engaged in watershed management activities and environmental protection and
rehabilitation programs, aimed at enhancing the country‟s water resources and at safeguarding these
resources from pollution. Farmers voluntarily spent on average some 40 to 50 days working on soil
and water conservation programs in 2011/12, covering approximately 8.5 million hectares of land
throughout the country.103
In order to improve access to safe drinking water, the Government has undertaken several measures
to increase national safe water coverage in the country from 52.12% in 2010/11 to 68.4% in
2012/13. During the same period, rural and urban water supply coverage increased from 48.85% to
102
Ethiopian national human right action plan P.160
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