Girls' Boarding School being expanded 28 million Birr

The Benishangul-Gumuz education bureau said it is undertaking expansion and upgrading work at Geligel Beles Girls Boarding School found in Pawe Woreda of the State at cost of 28 million Birr. The construction was launched with the budget secured from the regional government in 1998 and is being speeded up.
The construction includes classrooms, dormitories, teachers' residential units, library, stores and other facilities. The school was established in 1996 E.C by taking 100 students starting from grade five aiming at creating model girls in the state.
The number of students has reached 375 and beginning this academic year students are attending grade nine in the school. Up on the completion the on going construction the school accommodates 700 students (5-12) grades in the coming three years. The regional government has been budgeting 1.5 million birr annually. UNCIEF has been supporting uniforms, education and hygienic materials to students since its establishment. It has also constructed water, latrine facilities and fence of the school. (ENA)

WB's Education for All to provide 70 mln USD to Ethiopia

The Education for All Program of the World Bank has decided to provide 70 million USD to support Ethiopia's education sector. The results obtained in enrolling school age children to schools and directions set to improve education quality are believed to remarkably improve the education sector in Ethiopia.
Accordingly, the Program would provide a financial assistance amounting 70 million USD for the execution of plans set in the education sector over the coming three years, Joy Phumaphi, Vice President of Human Development at the World Bank said.
Ethiopia, which along with Ghana represents Africa at the executive committee of the World Bank's Education for All Program is actively playing role in soliciting support of the rich countries for the quality and expansion of education in poor countries, the Ministry of Education announced. The assistance provided by the program is based on the performance witnessed the previous year. (ENA)

Preparations finalized to build museum that traces Oromo Tulema family with 13mln birr

Preparations have been finalized to build a museum that traces the Oromo Tulema family tree and promotes its cultural values with 13 million birr in Akaki Woreda of East Shoa Zone, according to the zonal culture and tourism office.
The museum will comprise offices, traditional and modern recreation centers as well as halls, among others.
The museum would display the socio-economic ties of the Oromo Tulema family with other peoples, the administrative and cultural system as well as its history. It would also inspire researchers to undertake studies in the sector. Geda Tulema family lives in East Shoa, West Shoa, South West Shoa and North Shoa zones, it was learnt. (Walta)

Catholic Church builds over five million birr dam in Erob Woreda

The Asabol Dam built with more than five million birr in Erob Woreda of Tigray State is finalized, according to Adigrat Catholic Church Development Program.
The dam built by the Catholic Church has a capacity of holding over 1.2 million cubic meters of water and develop over 400 hectares of land. It would go operational this coming rainy season.
The dam would benefit over 400 farmers.70 farmers are currently developing backyard vegetables by utilizing the water collected in the dam. The dam was built with a view to helping inhabitants benefit cultivate marketable items on small plots of land through drip irrigation methods, the engineer stated. Asabol Dam could generate 50 liters of water in a minute and irrigate farmlands within 12 kms radius, it was learnt. (Walta)

Italy donates 40-million-Euro facility to support peace initiatives in Somalia

Unveiling a 40-million-Euro facility to support peace initiatives by the African Union (AU) yesterday, Italy has called on international community to back security and reconciliation moves in war-ravaged Somalia, according to Afrique Enligne. The facility is meant to support AU's efforts in conflict prevention, conflict management with particular emphasis on negotiation and mediation, and in areas of post-conflict peace building, the website indicated.
Initialing an agreement with the AU Commission to bring the Italian-Africa Peace Facility into operation, Armando Sanguini, the personal representative of the Italian Prime Minister, said his government set aside the funds to help the AU to have the necessary capacity for addressing the political challenges of Africa.
''Since Somalia is now within a phase that is extremely important and crucial, we want to show our support'', he said, noting that the country's President Abdullahi Yusuf Ahmed and Prime Minister Nur Hassan Hussein were doing extraordinary work to reconcile and bring all Somali people into the national peace process.
''This occasion should give encouragement to other countries and organizations to assist Somalia. This is the first time after so many years that we see some light at the end of the tunnel,'' said Sanguini, explaining that Italy's immediate support through the AU would be directed toward institutional capacity building and creation of the necessary security framework in Somalia.
According to AU Peace and Security Commissioner Said Djinnit, who signed the agreement on behalf of the AU Commission, one of the areas in which the AU has not been able to mobilize the necessary political, logistical and financial support is the case of Somalia. ''We hope this gesture will be emulated by others to come in support of the new Somali federal transitional institutions,'' Djinnit said.
Meanwhile, Prime Minister Hussein, who attended the signing ceremony, said his administration was pleased by the fact that a portion of the peace facility (10 million USD) would be dedicated to the training of the Somali police force. ''We are very happy to see this event happening. Somalia is trying its best to address the problematic issues that contributed to its chaos and lack of law-enforcement,'' he added. ''Today, with regard to the national reconciliation process, we are achieving positive results, which will allow us to go ahead with the strategic plan that we put in place after the formation of the new government,'' the premier noted. (Walta)

Investors with over 262 mln birr capital licensed in North Shoa Zone

Entrepreneurs with more than 260 million birr capital have been licensed in North Shoa Zone of Amhara State this fiscal year, the zonal investment office said.
The 106 investors licensed in 25 rural and urban woredas of the zone would engage in floriculture, highland fruits development, dairy processing, housing development, hotel and tourism as well as education.
The licensing of investors at zonal level instead of at regional level alone and the huge public motivation for development in the new millennium contributed to the rapid increase in investment. Upon going fully operational, the projects would create casual and permanent jobs to over 9,480 citizens, the expert indicated. (Walta)