UN-backed tree-planting drive hits 1 billion goal, Ethiopia among top-ranking countries

One billion trees have been planted under a drive backed by the United Nations and the World Agroforestry Centre across the world, and Ethiopia is among the top-ranking countries as it has planted over 700 million trees.
According to UN News Center, Achim Steiner, Executive Director of the UN Environment Program, said the achievement of the goal ''is a further sign of the breathtaking momentum witnessed this year on the challenge for this generation - climate change.''
The campaign, he said, proved that ''given a focus and the chance to act, millions if not billions of people around this world want an end to pollution and environmental deterioration and have rolled up their sleeves and got their hands dirty to prove the point.''
Nobel Peace Prize winner Wangari Maathai, the Kenyan Green Belt founder and co-patron of the campaign, welcomed the success of the drive and praised those who had participated in it while calling for continued vigilance. ''Now we must keep the pressure on and continue the good work for the planet. Plant another tree today in celebration!''
While not all numbers are in, UNEP said the top-ranking countries appear to be Ethiopia, over 700 million trees planted; Mexico,217 million trees;Turkey,150 million;Kenya,100 million;Cuba,96.5 million;Rwanda, 50 million; Republic of Korea,43 million; Tunisia,21 million; Morocco,20 million; Myanmar,20 million and Brazil,16 million. The Green Belt Movement planted 4.7 million trees, double the number of trees it had initially pledged.
The Billion Tree Campaign was launched at UNEP headquarters in Nairobi last November. (WIC)

8,000 resettlers become self-sufficient in food production

Some 8,000 households resettled in nine woredas of East Wollega Zone in Oromia State during the past three years have become self-sufficient in food production, zonal food security, disaster prevention and preparedness office said.
Office head, Teshome Gemeda told ENA on Wednesday that the households were drawn from East and West Hararge, Arssi and North Shoa Zones in the state.
Teshome said field assessments indicated that the resettlers have become self-sufficient in food production this year. The households harvest 298,000 quintals of crops from 23,000 hectares of land.
The head said the households have also been engaged in animal husbandry, which helped them generate additional income.
Efforts were underway to enable households in three resettlement sites in the zone become self-sufficient in food production, Teshome said. (ENA)

Japan supports primary school construction in Oromia

An inauguration ceremony for the project for the Kaba Bareda Primary School Construction in Oromia took place on 29 November 2007, funded through the Japanese Grant Assistance for Grassroots and Human Security Projects (GGP), which is designed to provide direct support to vulnerable communities through non-profit organizations. Mr. Naoki Masuda, Secretary of the Embassy of Japan in Ethiopia, as well as a representative from the West Shoa Zone, Dandi Woreda, and members of the community attended the ceremony. (Press release)

AAU bestows professorship upon two instructors

The Addis Ababa University (AAU), the oldest state-owned university in Ethiopia, bestowed the honor of professorship upon two renowned instructors, public relations section of the university announced.
After holding a meeting on 19 Nov. 2007, the Board of the University honored Dr. Abebe Dinku and Dr. Getachew Tilahum with the tile of professorship, the section told ENA in a statement.
Scholars, who fulfilled the criteria set for professorship, are honor with the title for their remarkable achievements in teaching and conducting research studies for many years.
Concerned bodies of the university and external evaluators evaluated the works of the two scholars before honoring the scholars to the title of professorship, the statement said. (ENA)

Some 110 new primary schools go operational in East Shoa Zone

The East Shoa Zone Education Office disclosed that 110 new primary schools constructed with an outlay of 6.7 million birr have gone operational.
Office Head Tekaligne Dendena told WIC that the schools were constructed with the participation of the public in rural kebeles of 10 woredas with low education coverage.
In addition to the construction of the schools, 239 additional classrooms and 204 teachers' residences were built and 5,000 desks produced, he indicated.
Launching of the new primary schools has helped more than 6,600 children access education this academic year and the zonal education coverage has risen from 89 percent to 100 percent.
The head further indicated that out of the 6.7 million birr spent on the construction of the schools, the public contributed two million birr in cash and the remaining in labor and material. (WIC)