ADDIS ABABA, Feb. 24 (Xinhuanet) -- The Ethiopian government said Friday some 19 members of the United Nations country team have setto carry out development projects valued at up to 1 billion U.S. dollars.

    The UN projects are aimed at enabling the country realize its development programs in the coming five years.

    State Minister of Finance and Economic Development Mammo Gitto and officials of UN country team on Friday signed the second UN Development Assistance Framework (UNDAF II), which will be implemented in the period from 2007 to 2011.

    UNDAF is the common strategic framework for the operational activities of the UN system in Ethiopia, which provides a collective, coherent and integrated UN system response to nationalpriorities and needs.

    The framework agreement was based on the government's five-yeardevelopment plans and the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).

    The MDGs are aimed at eradicating absolute poverty and hunger, reducing by half the number of people living on less than a dollara day, and meeting a number of other key indicators of social and economic progress for the world's poor.

    At a signing ceremony, UN Resident Coordinator Elizabeth Lwangasaid the five priority areas identified and agreed upon as the target areas for action in the UNDAF II are humanitarian response,recovery and food security, basic social services and human resources, HIV/AIDS, good governance and enhanced economic growth.

    Lwanga said the development agencies would undertake joint activities enabling to speed up development in Ethiopia.

    Admassu Nebebe, head of multilateral cooperation department with the Ministry of Finance and Economic Development (MoFED), forhis part said the activities, which would be undertaken by the agencies, would enable reduction of poverty in the country.

    He said the agreement would enable increase of development support being provided to the country by up to four folds.

    Ethiopia is one of the world's poorest and most indebted countries. It is chronically unable to feed its population and hasto rely on massive foreign aid. Enditem