HIV/AIDS resource center inaugurated in Harrar town

Harrar, November 01, 2006 (WIC) – Free HIV/AIDS Resource Centers that provide information through Internet will be established throughout the country this Ethiopian year,the National HIV/AIDS Resource Center disclosed.

Speaking at the inauguration of the country’s fifth HIV/Aids Resource Center established in Harar town today, National HIV/AIDS Resource Center Head Gashaw Mengistu said efforts are underway to open other resource centers in nine states, including Addis Ababa and Diredawa cities, to raise the community’s awareness on HIV/AIDS.

He said the centers will be established with the financial and material support of the federal and regional HIV/AIDS prevention and control offices and the Country Office of the United States Center for Diseases Control (CDC)– Ethiopia.

The Head pointed out that resource centers have already gone operational in Addis Ababa, Diredawa, Mekelle and Adama towns, while similar centers will be opened in Awassa and Bahirdar towns soon.

He further said activities of establishing resource centers will be carried out in Jijjiga, Semera, Assosa and Gambella towns.

According to Gashaw,youth and various members of the society have brought about behavioral change as a result of the information they got from Internet.

While inaugurating the center, Harrari State Chief Administrator Murad Abdul Hadi said the center will be vital in enabling the community protect themselves from HIV/AIDS and care for AIDS patients.

CDC-Ethiopia Deputy Director Catherine Avery said on the occasion that the establishment of the center will promote the HIV/AIDS prevention activities the governments of the United States and Ethiopia have been undertaking.

Avery added that CDC-Ethiopia, United States Agency for International Development (USAID) are working in close collaboration with the National HIV/AIDS Prevention and Control Office and other governmental and non-governmental organizations to prevent and control the spread of HIV/AIDS.
(c) Walta Information Center, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

Harari Region Celebrate Shewal Holiday

Hararis In Atlanta Celebrated Eid-Alfitir.

Atlanta October 28, 2006 HC

Atlanta Hrari Community gathered to celebrate Eid on Saturday October 27th 2007 at 1PM. More than 200 Hararis from the Metro Atlanta area with their children attended the celebration of Eid. The event was organized by harari women’s.

Symposium on inventorying intangible cultural heritage (Ethiopia, Djibouti and Somalia)

A two day symposium on inventorying intangible cultural Heritage in Ethiopia, Djibouti and Somalia was held at the United Nations Conference Centre (UNCC) from 19-20 October, 2006 the symposium was jointly organized by the Authority for Research and Conservation of Cultural Heritage, (ARCCH) the Ministry of Culture and Tourism, and UNESCO office in Addis Ababa. A number of participants have presented papers at the symposium. The papers dealt with different aspects of intangible cultural heritages.

In an introductory remark, Ato Tesfaye Hailu, Department Head of Cultural Anthropology, ARCCH said it was for the second time that ARCCH and UNESCO jointly organized the symposium on intangible cultural heritage. Ato Tesfaye recalled that the first symposium was held in June 2005. He told the participants that the first symposium focused on awareness creation on intangible cultural heritage. “Participants of the first symposium discussed the conceptual and legal frameworks and exemplary forms of intangible cultural heritage,” he added.

Ato Tesfaye said the second symposium that was held on 19-20 October 2006 focused on methodological approach as to how to make national inventories in order to implement the 2003 convention for the safe-guarding of intangible cultural Heritage.

N.B. in October 2003, the general conference of UNESCO adopted the convention for the safeguarding of the intangible cultural heritage. In the purpose of the 2003 convention, the following description of intangible cultural heritage was elaborated: The practices, representations, expressions, knowledge, skills as well as the instruments, objects, artefacts and cultural spaces associated therewith that communities recognize as part of their cultural heritage. This cultural heritage, transmitted from generation to generation, is constantly recreated by communities and groups in response to their environment, their interaction with nature and their history, and provides them with a sense of identity and continuity, thus promoting respect for cultural diversity and human creativity. To that definition was added an explicitly non-exhaustive list of domains in which the intangible cultural heritage manifests itself. Oral traditions, and expressions, including languages as a vehicle of the intangible cultural heritage; performing arts, social practices, rituals and festive events; knowledge and practices concerning nature and the universe and traditional craftsmanship.

Ato Jara Haile-Mariam, Director General of ARCCH, said in a welcome address that more recently, the growing interest in connecting practices develop in the concerned fields and the common sense of vulnerability of the non-renewable asset that cultural heritage constitutes for the human family, national and international levels. Jara stressed that this current attention is a response to growing concern over the accelerated loss of that part of our cultural heritage- a heritage that can only be carried and transmitted by living human beings rather than through a legal or administrative system be applied to other types of heritages. According to Jara, a number of activities have been carried out so far in the efforts to resolve the just mentioned problems. One of these major activities constitutes the declaration of the 2003 convention for the safeguarding of the tangible cultural heritage by UNESCO and its ratification by member countries.

Ato Jara further said, “cognizant of the need to safeguard the country’s intangible cultural treasures, the FDRE government has given serious attention to the protection of these priceless treasures. The work of inventorying intangible cultural heritage is indeed very essential not only for a simple and mere preservation and safeguarding issues but also because it is difficult to exploit and translate their values in a way to support the socio-economic development efforts of the country which eventually foster the efforts being exerted to eradicate lingering poverty prevailing in countries like Ethiopia.

In conclusion Ato Jara pointed out that the Authority for research and conservation of cultural heritage has designed a nation-wide mid-term strategy to carry out inventory work on intangible cultural heritage. “In doing so, the authority will exert its maximum effort and do its level best more than ever before in realizing the objectives of the strategy.”

The Director of UNESCO in Addis Ababa, Mr. Auad Elhasan also said a few words at the opening of the symposium. He expressed his pleasure over the fact that Ethiopia has been one of the earliest countries to ratify the 2003 convention on intangible cultural heritage. Mr. Elhasan noted that intangible cultural heritage is under serious attack not only in Ethiopia but around the world. The intangible cultural heritage is under serious threat of being lost because of so many factors: the movement of people, globalization, the uniformity that is more and more characterizing the cultures, lifestyles and the economic activities and all walks of life around the world and because of the increasing urbanization. There are so many factors that constitute a real threat on intangible heritage which is the life in fact, the history, the whole being of mankind. If you lose it, you have lost something that is not replaceable at all.

The UNESCO Director said he was very pleased because the symposium was organized for participants from three of the Horn of Africa countries, Ethiopia, Somalia and Djibouti. Describing the Horn of Africa as “not an easy region,” he said while there are many attempts either at the IGAD level, and sub-regional level, or at the African Union level for integration apparently at the political level, it is still very difficult to integrate. We hope first to do it through culture which is again closer to peoples lives.

As indicated earlier, a number of participants presented papers to the symposium. The papers were after having been presented discussed extensively. Questions were raised and examined by the participants who were also experts in their respective areas of specialization.

Ato Tesfaye Hailu, Head of the Department of Cultural Heritage presented to the symposium a paper entitled “a survey of Intangible Heritage Inventories in Ethiopia.” Ato Tesfaye said the main objective of the survey is to identify bibliographic works, audiovisual documents, policy issues and institutional arrangement, inventory making and activities related with UNESCO as regards intangible heritage in Ethiopia. Through this survey it has been possible to identify the major activities of five regional states. Amhara, Tigrai, Harari, SNNP and Oromia as was indicated in the introduction. The survey is limited to only these five states due to financial and time constraints. An excerpts of Ato Tesfaye’s paper is presented below.

Inventorying

Inventory making and defining Intangible Cultural Heritage

The concept of intangible cultural heritage was not known for many government offices, and academic institutions which operate in the fields of humanities and social science research. However, the Institute of Ethiopian Studies, department of Sociology and Anthropology, Department of Ethiopian Languages and Literature, academy of Ethiopian languages, Authority for Research and conservation of Cultural Heritage had conducted a research on the current different domains of intangible cultural heritage. Of course, the research or inventory was not systematic by establishing domain by domain or region by region approach. Since the data is available, it is also possible to classify them into the new domains of intangible cultural heritage.

Along with these efforts of conducting research related with intangible cultural heritage, there have been also attempts by the Federal and regional governments to define the domains of intangible cultural heritage. In this respect, Authority for Research and Conservation of Cultural Heritage has defined, intangible cultural heritage in the proclamation No. 209/2000. The Authority has also designed a medium-term strategy for 2008-2013 on the identification, safeguarding and promotion of Intangible Cultural Heritage through the national inventory.

Research undertaking on Intangible Cultural

Heritage at the Federal and Regional levels

At the Federal Level

The Authority for Research and Conservation of Cultural Heritage is the Federal government office responsible for conducting research, safeguarding and promotion of intangible cultural heritage. The Authority has been conducting a research on the subject since 1976 on different forms of social practices of various ethnic groups in the country.

After the adoption of the convention for the safeguarding of intangible cultural heritage by UNESCO in 2003, the Authority had created a new department of cultural anthropology inorder to implement the objectives of the convention. The department is organized into four research teams which operate in all domains of intangible cultural heritage, (Oral expressions, performing arts; social practices; indigenous knowledge and craftsmanship).

With this organizational structure the Authority has conducted a research on the social practices of Ari, Oida, Bench, Gumuz, Agew, Arsi-Oromo, Gurage ethnic groups; the Ashendaye traditional girl’s songs and the conflict resolution system of Gedeo and Guji Oromo. The research findings are published on the annual bilingual magazine of the authority. Other audiovisual recordings which include the tape; videocassette and photographs are documented at the authority’s central research documentation department.

At the Regional Level

The Authority for Research and conservation of Cultural Heritage in Cooperation with UNESCO office in Addis Ababa recently has made a survey on the status of inventory making of intangible cultural heritage in five Regional states and this finding is presented below.

Amhara State

The inventory making of Intangible Cultural Heritage by the Culture and Tourism Bureau in Amhara state is carried out in cooperation with the zonal and woreda offices and three major activities are undertaken. These are oral poetry collections, the identification of harmful traditional practices and a survey on ethno musicology.

With regard to the first major activity, 1400 oral poetries related to agricultural expirations are collected, organized, edited and are ready for publications. In addition, Oral poetries related to women are collected and are being organized and edited for future publication.

The oral poetries collected on agricultural activities characterize the farmers with positive and negative implications. The active and brave farmers are encouraged in the expression while that of the inactive farmers are discouraged. On the other hand the oral poetries on women reflect only the negative implications manifesting the inability and lower status of women in the society.

In connection with the second major activity the Regional Cultural Bureau has identified the main harmful traditional practices. These include:

1. Un necessary economic costs (for wedding, celebrations Saints day, memorial of the dead, celebration of holidays; Sedeka, Duea)

2. Number of holidays in the month/year

3. Laments and mournings (impacts—ill health, tire some, economic

wastage, losing working days)

4. Impacts on women (early marriage, sexual harassment, women

circumcision, loss of property ownership, work load).

In additional to these identifications the persuation activities are also carried out through the farmers conferences after thorough discussions and sharing of experiences about the advantages and disadvantages of the practices. The cultural bureau has reviewed the prevalence of the practices in specific areas of the Region and has found out that attitudinal changes to wards the practices are brought largely.

The third magoractivity of the Regional Cultural Bureau is a survey on Ethno-musicology. These include, the survey on cultural and spiritual values of the Qimant community; a survey on cultural musical instruments, closing and decoration; a survey on handicraft works of the Qimant community, In carrying out all these activities the Regional Cultural Bureau is faced with the problems of lack of attention to the sector, shortage of man power, finance and lack of training. If these limitations are fulfilled the Cultural Burea is expected to do more than what has been done so far.

Tigrai State

The inventory making of Intangible Cultural Heritage in Tigrai State is carried out by the Culture and Tourism Commission under the Trade, Investment and Transport Bureau and includes three major activities. These are collections and publications of oral expression, identifications of harmful traditional practices and survey of various social practices.

The Culture and Tourism commission of the Region has collected and published three books on tales, riddles and oral poetry. These different types of books are provided freely to the Education Bureau of the region in order to serve as a teaching material for children.

The commission has also made an attempt to identify the harmful traditional practices and thinking related to the economic costs, such as wedding, funeral, mourning, festive events, religious and public holidays. Due to these identifications and persuasive measures attitudinal and cultural changes towards these practices are brought about.

The survey of social practices is conducted in various forms and include the study of Ashendaye, cultural clothing, ornamentation, musical instrument, feeding, other cultural features, as well as the coronation system of the Axumite, and the conflict resolution system among the Enderta.

Therefore, the Culture and Tourism Commission of Tigrai State is highly involved in the collection and publication of Oral expressions, in conducting various researches on social practices of three ethnic groups found in the region (Tigrai, Kunama and Eurob) and also in producing seventeen unpublished monographs.

In carrying out all these activities, the commission is faced with the problems of research equipment (tape recorder, camera video-camera etc), finance and training. Thus, the Bureau is in need of the fulfillment of all these requirements for better performance and achievement in the sector for the future.

Harari State

The inventory making of Intangible Cultural Heritage in Harari State is carried out by the secretariat for the conservation of the Jegole Cultural Heritage and by the department of culture both belonging to the bureau for peoples organization, culture and social affairs in the Region.

The secretariat for the conservation of Jegol Cultural Heritage has done four major works in the nomination file submitted to UNESCO which enabled to be inscribed in the world Heritage List. These are:-

1. A research on Awoch (models of good personalities or memorials) of man made constructions, natural trees, cemeteries, non symbolic elements).

2. A research on Harari Mosques:- the study consists of the physical heritage, general characteristics, nomenclature, quarangai traditional school system (in which children could learn about their culture, time concept, study of lessons.

3. Harari Traditional Houses and Historical Buildings;- these include traditional houses and historical buildings within and outside of the wall such as Rambo, Teferi Mekonen, Mohamed, St. Savoir Church etc. Their history and functions, as well as their ages which are more than 100 years are briefly explained in the study.

4. The ancient walled city of Harar.

This category of study of deals with the historical background of the wall, villages, streets, historical naming of gates, market places as well as different expressions (sayings), songs etc about the wall. This part of the study reflects the integration of intangible domain with the tangible heritage. The other activities carried by the cultural department are the study of Shewalid, Mewlid, and children’s games. The department has also conducted an ethno musicological study in which 1000 CDS are collected in cooperation with the Embassy of France to Ethiopia.

In conducting all these activities the Bureau is faced with the problem of trained man power, finance, research equipment etc. The fulfillment of all these requirements is necessary for a better performance and out come.

SNNP State

The inventory making of intangible cultural heritage in the Southern Nations, Nationalities and Peoples State is carried out by the bureau for Information and Culture itself and each zone in the region. In this respect, the bureau had conducted and documented some relevant oral expressions and social practices and festive events. These include the proverbs of Hammer Ethnic group; oral poetries collected and compiled by the missionaries; the Konso generation grade (audiovisual documentation); Ethno-musicological festivals on some selected Ethnic groups for three consecutive years at the local, regional and federal levels. The Bureau has also documented the study of traditional and other stories in the koorete language by the koorete translation project with the technical assistance from SIL Ethiopia as well as the study of celebration of crucification holiday among the Gurage Ethnic group.

As we nave mentioned earlier, in this regions, the cultural research is also carried out by the zonal cultural offices and the writer had the opportunity to get relevant information on this issue from Sidama Zone Cultural Office. According to the information obtained from the Sidama Cultural Office, a research is conducted and documented on the proverbs, marriage system, conflict resolution, the Gada system, the fiche ceremony and on other social practices. A research programme is also scheduled on handicraft works for this fiscal year. It is assumed that a lot of work has been done on the subject in the remaining twelve zonal cultural offices and there should be a way to identify these works in the future.

Oromia State

The inventory making of Intangible Cultural Heritage in Oromia State is carried out by the Bureau for Culture and Tourism in cooperation with the zonal. and woreda cultural offices. The inventory includes the collections and publications of oral expressions as well as researches on social practices and rituals.

With regard to the oral expressions six books of oral poetry; one book of riddles are collected and published by the department of language and arts. The books are distributed to schools and colleges to be used as teaching materials.

On the other hand the bureau has also conducted research on Geda Institution for the purpose of preparing a nomination file for inscription. At present the bureau is also conducting a research on Dire Sheih Hussen and Sof Omer Cultural Landscape for the purpose of preparing a candidature file. In addition, the bureau has conducted a research on Erecha, attete and on harmful traditional practices, performing arts (folk music, dances).

In collecting the oral expressions and conducting a research on the above subjects, the shortages of man power, finance, logistics, etc are identified to be the major problems of the bureau.

by Melese Telahoun

EEPCo electrifies 15 eastern Ethiopian towns

Dire Dawa - The Ethiopian Electric Power Corporation (EEPCo) has reportedly electrified 15 towns in eastern part of the country during the past four months.

EEPCo East Region Department Director Daba Kelbessa told WIC yesterday that beneficiaries of the electrification scheme were rural towns in Oromia, Somali, Harari states and Dire Dawa Interim Administration.

Most of the towns have obtained round-the-clock electric power supply, according to the director.

The remaining rural towns also accessed electric power following the installation of 320-480 kilovolt generator in each town, he stated.

The director further stated that the corporation would gradually electrify all towns in eastern Ethiopia in line with the programme designed to expedite development by expanding electric power.

(WIC)

Authority undertaking tourism dev’t project

ADDIS ABABA - Integrated tourism development project is being implemented at a cost of 5.1 million birr with a view to preserving ancient heritages in four selected states, the Authority for Research and Conservation of Cultural Heritages said.

Speaking yesterday at an ongoing heritage management workshop in Gondar town, inventory and documentation deputy coordinator with the authority, Solomon Eshete said the pilot project is being carried out in Amhara, Tigray, Oromia and Harari states. The fund for the implementation of the project was secured from the World Bank in loan.

Preservation and repair of historic sites, registration of relics, information gathering and organization as well as promotion of handicrafts are components of the project being implemented until 2007, he said.

The project sets out to bring considerable economic and social benefits by preserving and developing attractions in Axum and Gondar towns, he said.

The project’s handicrafts promotion component is believed to help local people draw due benefits from the tourism industry development, he added.

Some 400 people trained in handicrafts at centres established in Addis Ababa, Gondar, Axum and Harar towns have now been engaged in the production of prototypes, Solomon said.

He said the handicraft products have won acceptance in the American and European markets and several exporters are requesting the products.

Computerized relics registration is being carried out, he said adding that some 50 experts are trained and are currently working on classifying the relics.

Meanwhile, the Afar State Culture and Tourism Information Bureau said the number of foreign tourists visiting various heritages in the state is increasing from time to time.

Tourism department head with the bureau, Mohammed Indris told ENA Tuesday that 133 tourists visited the heritages in 1996 E.C, while the number increased to 312 in 1998 E.C.

He attributed the increase in the number of tourists visited the state to the promotion work carried out jointly by the bureau and the Ministry of Culture and Tourism.

Dalol, Ertale and other historical and natural heritages are among the sites visited by the tourists, he said.

Most of the tourists came from France, Switzerland, Italy, America, Japan and Australia, Mohammed added.



(ENA)

Office to establish state intellectual property institutions

Addis Ababa - The Ethiopian Intellectual Property Office (EIPO) said that it has launched activities to set up intellectual property institutions and councils in the various states.

The Southern Nations, Nationalities and Peoples State (SNNPS) Council has endorsed a bill providing for the establishment of Intellectual Property Council and Centre.

Office Acting Representative, Getnet Hunegnaw told ENA Tuesday that the Office has reached agreement for the establishment of the intellectual property councils in Tigray, Amhara and Harari states as well as Dire Dawa town.

The endorsement of the bill by the SNNPS Council is exemplary to other states, he added.

Getnet said that establishment of intellectual property councils and institutions at State level would enable them raise public awareness about intellectual property disseminating the necessary information.

The Establishment of the institutions would also play a key role in creating integrated working system among states to protect intellectual rights, he added.

(ENA)

Harrar municipality executing over 18mln birr dev’t works

Municipality executing over 18 mln. birr dev’t works

Harar - The Harrar Municipality is reportedly executing various development works with over 18 million birr.

Municipality Manager Arif Mohammed told WIC that the projects are being implemented in kebeles where social and economic problems are not addressed.

The development activities launched this month include health, roads, environmental protection, among others, he added.

The construction of condominiums comprising 1,100 residential units is one of the major undertakings underway to alleviate housing problem, Arif stated.

Installation of sewerage tubes in the Jegol Sub-city is in the meantime being speeded up, according to the manager.

Arif said 99 shops would also be built and given to youth organized in micro and small-scale businesses to minimize the deep-rooted unemployment in the town.

Upon going fully operational by the coming June, the development works would benefit 100,000 residents, he concluded.

According to a news report filed by ENA, a modern hotel, which is constructed in Harar town at a cost of seven million birr, was inaugurated yesterday.

Speaking at the inaugural ceremony, owner of the hotel Dr. Abduljewad Adus said the new hotel, which is called ‘Heritage Plaza’, comprises various restaurants, conference rooms, and 26 bedrooms.

He said the hotel has already created jobs to more than 50 people.

Inaugurating the hotel, Chief of the Harari State Administration Murad Abdulhadi said the hotel would contribute a lot toward the development of the tourism industry in the state.



(WIC/ENA)

Office licenses investors with over 30 million birr capital in Harrari State

Harrar, October 27, 2006 (WIC) - Investors with an aggregate capital of more than 30.5 million birr have been licensed in the Harrari State during the past three months, the Investment Office disclosed.

Office Head, Abduselam Abdosh, told WIC that the licensed investors are aspiring to engage in industry, real estate development, agriculture, health, education, hotel, mining and construction projects.

The investors will produce soap, plastic, candies, flour, cement products and build medical centers, among others, he said.

Upon going fully operational, the projects will create more than 415 permanent and casual jobs to inhabitants of the region.

The number of investors licensed in the quarter has doubled as compared to that of the same period last fiscal year since the office has improved its services, the head said.

According to Abduselam, the office licensed 95 investors with an aggregate capital of more than 163 million birr last fiscal year.
(c) Walta Information Center, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

Bureau executing 15 education projects

Harar - Some 15 education projects have reportedly been underway in Harari State with a view to strengthening the education programme launched at a cost of more than 3.5 million birr this fiscal year.

State Education and Capacity Building Bureau Head Nebil Mahdi told WIC that the projects under execution in Harar town and various rural parts of the state since last month include 13 outstanding and two new projects.

The projects include the construction and renovation of Arbegnoch Primary School, construction of a studio for radio education programme, expansion of Medhanealem Training College and Harar Senior Secondary School, he stated.

Upgrading of a senior secondary school to a technical and vocational school, construction of administrative offices in the premises of the Harar Senior Secondary School as well as the procurement of spare parts of plasma TV are also among the projects, Nebil explained.

Besides, renovation of two primary schools and expansion of Erer Woldiya and Koremi primary schools as well as two basic alternative education schools are underway, according to him.

Of the stated budget, 2, 969,000 birr was allotted by the government and the remaining 580,000 secured in donation.

Upon completion, the projects would benefit 10,000 people, Nebil said.

The bureau had executed 14 similar projects last budget year, it was learnt.



(WIC)

EEPCO electrifies 15 towns in eastern Ethiopia

Diredawa, October 24, 2006 (WIC) - The Ethiopian Electric Power Corporation (EEPCO) has reportedly electrified 15 towns in eastern part of the country during the past four months.

EEPCO East Region Department Director, Daba Kelbessa, told WIC today that beneficiaries of the electrification scheme were rural towns in Oromia, Somali, Harari states and Diredawa Provisional Administration.

Most of the towns have obtained round-the-clock electric power supply, according to the director.

The remaining rural towns also accessed electric power following the installation of generators with 320-480 volt in each town, he stated.

The director further stated that the corporation would gradually electrify all towns in eastern Ethiopia in line with the program designed to expedite development by expanding electric power.
(c) Walta Information Center, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

French delegation visits Harar

Harar, October 25, 2006 - The agreement signed between the cities of Harar and the Charleville Mezieres, France, six months ago has entered into implementation phase, Chief of the Harari State Administration said.

Discussing with the French delegation, Chief Administrator Murad Abdullahi said Monday that the cooperation agreement signed between the two sisterly cities in the education sector has already entered into implementation phase.

The two cities have also signed agreements in health, water, and culture sectors, among others, he said.France has allocated over 1.6 million birr for the execution of various activities in the state with a view to enhancing bilateral cooperation between the two cities.Arthur Rimbaud, a native of Charleville Mezieres City who lived in Harar for several years, had laid the foundation for the cooperation of the two cities, he said.

The chief said the agreements would help to further strengthen existing people-to-people relationship between the cities.

The French delegation, which comprises 15 secondary school teachers and students, would visit Harar Medhanielem Technical and Vocational School, during their stay in Harar.The two cites would work together toward efforts in conserving historical sites in Harar City and in addressing the existing socio-economic problems, he added.
(ENA)

Bureau executing 15 projects to consolidate over 3.5mln birr education programme in Harrari state

Harar, October 16, 2006 (WIC) - Some 15 education projects have reportedly been underway in Harrari state with a view to strengthening the education programme launched with an outlay of more than 3.5 million birr this fiscal year.

State Education and Capacity Building Bureau Head, Nebil Mahdi, told WIC that the projects under execution in Harrar town and various rural parts of the state since last month include 13 outstanding and two new projects.

The projects include the construction and renovation of Arbegnoch Elementary School, construction of a studio for radio education programme, expansion of Medhanealem Training College and Harrar Senior Secondary School, he stated.

Upgrading of a senior secondary school to a technical and vocational school, construction of administrative offices in the premises of the Harrar senior secondary school as well as the procurement of spare parts of plasma TV are also among the projects, Nebil explained.

Besides, renovation of two elementary schools and expansion of Erer Woldiya and Koremi Elementary Schools as well as two basic alternative education schools are underway, according to him.

Of the stated budget, 2, 969,000 birr was allotted by the government and the remaining 580,000 secured in donation.

Upon completion, the projects would benefit 10,000 people, according to Nebil.

The Bureau had executed 14 similar projects last budget year, it was learnt.
(c) Walta Information Center, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

Agency plans to execute urban industrial dev’t packages in 825 towns

ADDIS ABABA - The Federal Micro and Small Businesses Development Agency said it has set plans to execute urban and industrial development packages in 825 towns of the country in the coming five years.

Agency Planning and Follow-up Department Head Ahmed Mohamed told ENA that the Ministry of Works and Urban Development has allocated over 24.4 billion birr for the execution of the package.

Ahmed said the package would be executed in Oromia, Amhara, Tigray, Southern Nations, Nationalities and Peoples and Harari states as well as the Addis Ababa and Dire Dawa city administrations.

He said some 6.2 billion birr of the budget would be utilized for micro and small business institutes development.

The package focuses on expanding micro and small businesses, housing development and youth oriented development projects, the head said, adding, the package would create over 1.5 million jobs.

He said in addition to making towns conducive areas for living, the five year urban and industrial development package would have a higher role in reducing unemployment and housing shortage.



(ENA)

Gov’t implementing 2 bln. birr food security projects

Gov’t implementing 2 bln. birr food security projects

Addis Ababa -The Federal Government has started implementing various development activities geared towards ensuring food security with two billion birr, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development said.

Ministry Programming and Evaluation Department Head Berhanu Wolde-Michael told WIC that the programmes which will be carried out in 285 woredas embraced by the food security programme will help farmers become self-sufficient in food production by improving production and productivity.

The Amhara, Oromia, Tigray, SNNP, Somali, Afar and Harari states as well as Dire Dawa administration have started implementing various food security ensuring activities after receiving sufficient fund for the first quarter of the year.

Berhanu said close to 321,000 farmers in lowland and arid areas of states will participate in animal husbandry, fruits and vegetable, apiculture and other integrated agricultural development packages.

The farmers will be provided with drip irrigation pipes, water pumps and other agricultural tools so as to engage the farmers in irrigation development using adaptable and improved technologies, he stated.

He further said they will be given the necessary support to enable them improve their income by engaging in rural micro and small businesses.

According to Berhanu, the ministry has also started activities to carry out the fifth round resettlement program in Amhara, Oromia and SNNP states after undertaking thorough study.

He said studies have been underway to settle close to 40,000 households from degraded, densely populated, and drought-prone areas of the states.

The head also pointed out that the settlers will receive all the necessary support until they become food self-sufficient, while supply of various agricultural inputs and expansion of infrastructure will be carried out.



(WIC)

NGOs undertaking over 20 mln. birr dev't projects

Harar - Non-Governmental Organizations in Harari State have reportedly been executing various development works with an outlay of more than 20 million birr.

Agriculture and Rural Development Bureau Head, Abdulkadir Adem, told WIC that the NGOs are implementing the projects in 19 kebeles with acute socio-economic problems.

Abdulkadir said the development activities include HIV/AIDS prevention, health, potable water supply and natural resources conservation.

The 11 NGOs are also participating in education and capacity building, care and support for orphans and the disabled, natural resources development, family planning and reproductive health services, modern dairy farming, fighting Female Genital Mutilation and other harmful traditional practices, he added.

According to Abdulkadir, the development activities will benefit more than 20,000 inhabitants of the state.

Among the NGOs engaged in the development works are Menschen fur Menschen, SOS, Hohete Misrak, OSSA, Harari Relief and Development Association, DKT Ethiopia and Cheshire Ethiopia.

Last year, nine NGOs carried out various development activities with 15 million birr benefiting more than 15,000 people, Abdulkadir recalled.

(WIC)

Harar preparing to celebrate 1,000th founding anniversary

HARAR - The Harar town is under preparation to celebrate its 1000th founding anniversary along with Ethiopia’s millennium celebration, the Harari Administration Chief said.

Murad Abdullahi told ENA Friday that a committee in charge of facilitating the celebration has already been formed.

The anniversary would be marked for two weeks, he said

According to Murad the Administration executives had recently discussed with Harari natives residing in Europe, America and Canada concerning the celebration in which they have pledged to contribute their share to make it colourful.

(ENA)

New bloods to sustain victories

Nothing stays forever; everything changes and even ruins when time passes. Since the time of Abebe Bikila, we have seen a number of heroic Ethiopian athletes who registered shining victories in various athletics competition and hanged their flags above all their rivals.

To keep all this golden athletics history long lasting, there should be young athletes who can replace the older ones an board; otherwise everything freezes,when the veteran athletes retire.

Ali Abdosh is one of the young athletes believed to be a famous one, registering notable results in various national as well as international races. Born in Harari state, Ali began to shine in Ethiopian athletics since he won the second-tier regional competition at 5,000m in 14:14:13 representing Harari state in May 2004.

A year later, in May 2005 national track championship, he stood at 5th in the first-tier club competition representing the defense club. That November Ali traveled to Chiba and Japan as member of the Ethiopian team and won a 5,000m track race with 13:56:92.

He also took part in the Ethiopian marathon relay championship in Adama in January 2006 where his club defense ranked second .Above all, his victory over his compatriots, repeatd global medallists like Sileshi, Abebe, and Gebre-Gziabhere at Ethiopia’s world cross trials, makes him a promising athlete in international championships.

GSE earmarks over 18 mln. birr to conduct research, identify prospects

ADDIS ABABA - The Geological Survey of Ethiopia (GSE) said that it has earmarked over 18 million birr budget to conduct research and identify prospects so as to properly utilize the country’s mineral, energy and water resources.

Public Relations senior expert with the organization, Mesfin Haile told WIC yesterday that the study and research to be carried out in eight states across the nation, including the Addis Ababa and Dire Dawa administrations, would enable to identify the type and volume of resources in the sectors, prepare map and disseminate information to local and foreign investors.

The senior expert said GSE has designed and implemented 13 projects in the just-concluded budget year and most of those have become successful.

Mesfin stated that a geological map with a descriptive report covering 16,500 square kilometers of land in Harari State and Jimma Zone of Oromia State has also been readied in the budget year.

According to the senior expert, laboratory works are underway on samples collected from drought-prone lowland areas of West Ethiopia and adjacent highland areas with a view to preparing a hydro-geology map which covers 20,300 square kilometres.

Mesfin stated that from the geological maps prepared so far it has become possible to find out that there are various types of minerals which could be used as inputs for industries, and went on to state that there are evidences which indicate the presence of geothermal energy in some parts of the country.

Meanwhile, the organization is finalizing preparations to hold the first international geothermal conference on East Africa Rift Valley in November,he concluded.



(WIC)

State to stop shift system

HARAR - Efforts are underway to stop shift education system in the Harari State, the State education and capacity building bureau said.

Bureau head, Nebil Mehude said that additional classrooms, which are under construction, would go operational in the coming month.

Nebil was speaking at a state Education Day marked here Sunday.

The state has allocated 27 per cent of its total budget to improve the quality of education and stop shifting system.

Nebil called on the community on the occasion to send children to school in order to attain the plan of accessing primary education for all in 2008.

Schools are expected to produce responsible citizens, Nebil said, adding, the community should stand on the side of the government in the efforts to meet the objectives of the new education and training policy.

Over 30,000 students attended primary and secondary education in the State last academic year.

(ENA)

ETC upgrading, expanding telephone services in 22 towns of eastern Ethiopia

Harrar, October 10, 2006 (WIC) - The Ethiopian Telecommunications Corporation (ETC) said it has launched expansion works with over 132 million birr to improve telephone services in 22 towns of eastern Ethiopia.

East Region Manager with ETC, Wondawik Abeze, told WIC that the corporation is carrying out expansion and cable installation activities in rural towns located in Oromia, Somali and Harrari states as well as Diredawa Administration.

The projects include expansion and installation activities that will help improve telephone services for 22 towns and stretching of cables to extend modern digital telephone services for 12 towns, building construction and upgrading works.

The Manager said the region will carry out activities to make most of the rural kebeles beneficiaries of wireless and expand mobile telephone services.

The corporation will also undertake expansion of new digital automatic exchange, regular, wireless and mobile telephone services, he stated.

Installation of public phones in the towns and stretching of optical fiber cables from Diredawa to Harrar and Diredawa to Djibouti will be carried out, according to Wondawik.

Most of the projects are being executed in areas that had no access to telephone services, he said, adding that the construction and expansion works will be finalized until the coming June.

The corporation has allocated 132,467 million birr for the execution of the programs in the four states and the budget exceeds the amount allotted for same purpose last year by over 66 million birr, according to the Manager.

ETC has reportedly accessed 18 towns under the region to modern digital services and carried out expansion of wireless and mobile telephone services with 65.4 million birr last budget year, Wondawik recalled.
(c) Walta Information Center, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

ETC extends services to 18 towns, 660 rural towns in East Region

Harrar, October 04, 2006 (WIC) – Ethiopian Telecommunications Corporation (ETC) announced that 18 towns have become beneficiaries of digital automatic telephone services, while 660 rural towns obtained wireless telephone services.

East Region General Manager with the Corporation, Wondawik Abeze, told WIC that the towns became beneficiaries of the services following the upgrading and cable installation works undertaken in the towns last fiscal year.

Of the 18 towns that became beneficiaries of digital telephone services,14 belonged to Oromia state and the rest to Somali state. The corporation also extended wireless telephone services to 660 rural kebeles in Oromia, Somali, and Harrari states as well as Diredawa administration, Wondawik explained.

Besides, ETC has installed public phones in 57 towns under the region, the General Manager said.

The corporation has invested more than 65.4 million birr for the construction, upgrading and cable installation works, it was indicated.

Wondawik further stated that the corporation has raised the number of mobile customers from 21,000 to more than 30,000 by upgrading the service in areas where it was available.

ETC carried out most of the construction and upgrading works in rural towns where telephone services were not available, the General Manager said.
(c) Walta Information Center, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

Health extension program benefits over 100,000 inhabitants of Harrari state

Harrar, October 2, 2006 (WIC) - Over 100,000 inhabitants of the Harrari state have become beneficiaries of health extension program last budget year, the regional Health Bureau said.

Bureau Head, Dr.Kassa Hailu, told WIC today that the beneficiaries were residents in 36 rural and urban kebeles of the state.

The Bureau also envisages training additional health extension workers to make the program successful, he added.

The health workers have been providing education about prevention of diseases and hygiene, children and mothers health care and utilization of potable water, it was pointed out.

They would also be offering training on 16 health packages, including family planning and reproductive health, construction of latrines, waste disposal, nutrition as well as HIV/AIDS and malaria.
(c) Walta Information Center, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia