The United States Agency for International Development’s (USAID) Ethiopia Mission Director Sean Jones announced a new $7.7 million investment to train the next generation of 750 Ethiopian disaster risk management professionals at Bahir Dar University (BDU), where he also met with university vice-president, Dr. Tesfaye Shiferaw. This new investment, Feed the Future Ethiopia Resilience Platform, is the largest single external investment in the history of BDU. It follows nearly two decades of U.S. government support to BDU, including funding the university’s Institute of Disaster Risk Management and Food Security Studies.
During his trip, Mission Director Jones met with the Mayor of Bahir Dar, Dr. Diress Sahilu. They discussed USAID’s historical support, urgent needs facing communities in the Amhara Region and continued U.S. support for peace and stability in the region. Mr. Jones thanked Dr. Diress Sahilu for the city’s decades of close partnership with USAID. As he met with local officials, humanitarian organizations, and internally displaced persons (IDPs), Mr. Jones reaffirmed the American people’s longstanding partnership with the people of Ethiopia.