Meeting of the ‘Migration Platform’ launched by this Office

Posted on 11/09/201926/09/2019 by AICS Addis Abeba

Si è tenuto mercoledì 11 settembre 2019 uno degli incontri della ‘Piattaforma Migrazioni’, il tavolo di coordinamento settoriale sul tema migratorio lanciato a ottobre 2018 da questa Sede e cui partecipano oggi 10 OSC italiane presenti nel Paese (CIFA, CCM, CIAI, CEFA, AMREF, COOPI, VIS, CISP, LVIA, CVM) e 2 OSC internazionali (Save The Children International e Helvetas). La piattaforma, oltre a facilitare lo scambio d’informazioni e studi sul tema migratorio, rappresenta un'opportunità di crescita grazie ad attività di formazione e capacity building. In particolare, nel primo anno di attività:

E’ stata creata una prima mappatura degli interventi dei progetti realizzati in Etiopia dalle OSC italiane sul tema migratorio non solo con finanziamenti AICS ma anche attraverso altri canali italiani nonché di altri finanziatori internazionali;
E’ stata organizzata una sessione di capacity building sul tema delle Mixed Migration nel Corno d’Africa;
E’ stato avviato un lavoro sullo sviluppo d’indicatori complessi che possano essere applicati a diversi progetti OSC realizzati nel quadro delle Iniziative di emergenza riferite al tema ‘Migrazioni’, e che potranno quindi diventare una modalità di rilievo dei risultati raggiunti dall’ Iniziativa stessa. Ad oggi sono state sviluppate, in collaborazione con gli esperti Wash e Ambiente dell’AICS di Addis Abeba, due indicatori, uno per il settore Wash e l’altro Energia.

Nell’ambito della riunione è stato presentato uno dei risultati raggiunti da uno dei progetti realizzato da CCM e CIFA che si realizzano nel quadro dell'Iniziativa Migrazioni “Mitigazione delle cause primarie della migrazione illegale nelle regioni Oromia, Tigray, Amhara, Etiopia”. Si tratta del Primo Centro pilota per l'assistenza psico-sociale ai returnees aperto nella città di Dessie, in Amhara. L’inaugurazione ufficiale del Centro avverrà nelle prossime settimane.

AICS to monitor the activities and results of the RISE project in Uganda

Posted on 29/07/201901/10/2019 by AICS Addis Abeba

Last week the staff of the Addis Ababa Office of the Italian Agency for Development Cooperation carried out a mission to monitor the activities of the project “Emergency initiative to support South Sudanese refugees and displaced persons, victims of the humanitarian crisis, and their hosting communities” (RISE) financed by the Agenzia Italiana per la Cooperazione allo Sviluppo and implemented by AVSI, ACAV Trento and Amref Health Africa in Uganda.
During the mission, the staff was able to evaluate some of the results achieved in terms of food security, health, livelihood and protection and inclusion of minors:

The delivery of more than 6.000 birth certificates to refugee children and hosting communities;
The rehabilitation of 20 hand pump for the hosting communities;
The creation of 2 irrigated demonstration gardens which allow groups of local and refugee farmers to learn production techniques to replicate in their domestic garden;
The creation of systems for the collection of rain water (water jackets) and of foot pumps connected to them to irrigate the demonstration gardens also during the dry season;
The creation of 2 big production gardens irrigated with a mechanized pump driven by solar energy, to promote livelihood strategies based on selling products at local markets.

In addition, thanks to the project, over 20.000 medical consultations have been carried out for the refugees.

In the coming months, more activities will be carried out to strengthen the results and the impact achieved so far through the increase of water sources available, of the agricultural production and the supply of basic health services.

AICS monitoring mission in Djibouti

Posted on 10/09/201919/09/2019 by AICS Addis Abeba

Last week the team of the Italian Agency Development Cooperation – Addis Ababa Office travelled to Djibouti to monitor the activities and achievements of two projects:

Improvement of the quality of the health services of the Balbala Hospital, with a specific focus on maternal and child health implemented by UNFPA Djibouti. The project aims at strengthening the quality of the maternal and child health clinical services in the New Balbalà Hospital through the improvement of the quality and management of healthcare delivery and a technical support for the provision and maintenance of health equipment for the pediatric and maternity ward.
Towards the conclusion of the project, the following objectives have been achieved: (i) Improved quality of health performance in the pediatric and maternity wards through training sessions and capacity building; (ii) Enhanced capacity building process on healthcare management at central level and in each ward thanks to the creation of a dedicated unit; (iii) Enhanced provision of medical equipment for the pediatric and maternity wards, among which 2 incubators have been helping preterm newborn infants to survive.

Strengthening Child Protection Systems for Children on the Move in Djibouti with funding made available to UNICEF Djibouti. In the first year of implementation, the legal and policy framework in support of minors on the move and other vulnerable minors has been strengthened together with the capacity to respond to and prevent child exploitation and abuse. A coordination, referral and case management system has been created, with the involvement of line Ministries, integrating all actors involved to improve the support to abused or exploited children. Two bylaws on alternative measures to detention and legal aid for children in contact with the law, have been adopted by the Ministry of Justice of Djibouti and high quality trainings for social workers, police and Gendarmerie have been provided.

STORIES OF PEOPLE: DIGNITY AND RIGHTS BEYOND BORDERS – AICS storytelling booklet giving voice to South-sudanese refugees and internally displaced people is now ONLINE

Posted on 26/10/201802/07/2020 by AICS Addis Abeba

STORIES OF PEOPLE: DIGNITY AND RIGHTS BEYOND BORDERS is a storytelling project collecting experiences and voices of beneficiaries of AICS Regional initiative in support of South-Sudanese refuges, IDPs and hosting communities in South-Sudan, Ethiopia and Uganda.

The programme implemented a total of ten projects from August 2017 to July 2018, supporting internally displaced people, refugees, and asylum seekers, but also hosting communities. The projects addressed people’s most basic needs and prioritised the most vulnerable populations, such as women, mothers, children, and people with disabilities. The invested funds total 3.9 million euros, and the efforts reached almost half a million beneficiaries.

Click HERE to view the booklet!

Ethiopia – AICS and CUAMM fight maternal and child mortality in Wolisso, Goro and Wonchi districts

Posted on 23/05/201819/09/2019 by AICS Addis Abeba

On May 19 2018 the project “Mothers and Children first” realized by CUAMM, Doctors with Africa, and financed by the Italian Agency for Development Cooperation (AICS), came to an end with a final workshop gathering all stakeholders involved.

The project focus on the reduction of maternal and perinatal mortality rate, providing free and qualified maternal delivery care to the 413.000 women covered by the health system of Wolisso, Goro and Wonchi districts.

Through a Private-Public Partnership between CUAMM, Catholic Health Care Institutions and local government, the project succeeded in providing free maternal delivery assistance, increasing the coverage of maternal deliveries from 20% in 2012 to 51% in 2017.

Ethiopian women can now rely on the new childbirth assistance service at the St Luke Wolisso Hospital, where even mothers with pregnancy at risk can receive support and skilled birth attendance.

Women and children care is extended in the whole territory, reaching most remote areas where the project sustained supervision, training and capacity building activities for 20 Health Centers in Wolisso, Goro and Wonchi districts, providing access to health in surrounding areas.

The project “Mothers and Children first” is part of a broader initiative for the strengthening of Ethiopian health system, intended to ensure equal access to health services for local communities. The Multiannual collaboration between AICS and CUAMM on different projects has brought significant improvements in terms of health infrastructures and services in the area. Thus thanks to the renovation of hospital infrastructures, to the establishment of a free ambulance service and to training activities addressed to local health professionals and health extension workers. The detection and treatment of severe and moderate acute malnutrition has raised from a total of 35 in 2013 to 864 malnourished children detected and treated in 2017.

Thanks to the “Mothers and children first” project, women and children coming from all areas of Wolisso, Goro e Wonchi districts have finally access and right to quality health services.

“The biggest challenge is to ensure access to health services to the most vulnerable populations, mothers and children. Benefit from skilled birth attendance might substantially affect the reduction of maternal and child mortality rate”.
Gaetano Azzimonti, Medical Director, St Luke Wolisso Hospital, CUAMM.

Inauguration of a water scheme in Afdera in the Afar Region

Posted on 05/03/201919/09/2019 by AICS Addis Abeba

On 4th March we inaugurated the water scheme of Adfera, a town of 7200 inhabitants, in the Afar Region. The infrastructure was made by UNICEF thanks to the contribution of the Italian Agency for Development Cooperation in collaboration with the German Cooperation (GIZ) and the local Ethiopian authorities. It will allow the citizens and the surrounding communities to have access to clean water.

To make the infrastructure

2 borholes
2 reservoir – 400 m for the urban area and 25 m for the surrounding communities
over 13km of tubes

Before, the source of clean water the beneficiaries had access to through the water trucking were located at 200 km distance

Click here to see all the photos from the inauguration ceremony.

Ceremony for the delivery of educational materials to the Don Bosco Centre in Gambella

Posted on 06/03/201920/09/2019 by AICS Addis Abeba

AICS reaffirms its commitment to support South-Sudanese refugees as well as hosting communities in Gambella.

On 4 March 2019, the ceremony for the delivery of educational materials to the Don Bosco Centre took place in Gambella at the presence of the Head of the Addis Ababa Office, Tiberio Chiari. The following materials were donated by the Italian Agency for Development Cooperation in the framework of the Emergency initiative just concluded (AID 10876):

348 books on different subjects;
150 football kits and sporting equipment;
1 beamer;
10 computers;
4 printers;
12 UPS.

The ceremony was preceded by a football match to celebrate the Ethio-Italian Partnership.

Visit of three Members of the Italian Parliament to Ethiopia

Posted on 07/05/201919/09/2019 by AICS Addis Abeba

On 2-6 May 2019 two Members of the Italian Chamber of Deputies, Yana Chiara Ehm, and Simona Suriano, and the member of the Italian Senate Alessandro Alfieri visited Ethiopia on an advocacy mission organized by AIDOS for the next replenishment of the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, to which Italy is the ninth major public donor. The mission was also an opportunity to learn more about the activities of the Addis Ababa Office of the Italian Agency for Development Cooperation.

Ethiopian High Level Delegation visiting Emilia-Romagna (Italy)

Posted on 15/05/201919/09/2019 by AICS Addis Abeba

On 5-11 May 2019, an Ethiopian High Level Delegation went to Emilia-Romagna (Italy) on a field mission organized by UNIDO, FAO, AICS Addis Ababa in collaboration with the Ethiopian Ministry of Agriculture, the Ministry of Trade and Industry and the Embassy of Italy in Ethiopia. The mission was hosted by the Emilia-Romagna regional Government and its Development Agency Attrattività, ricerca e territorio dell'Emilia-Romagna (ART-ER) S.C.p.A. MACFRUT also contributed to the organization of part of the mission, inviting the Ethiopian State Minister of Agriculture and the State Minister of Ministry of Trade and Industry to join a round table called “Italy and Africa: building a renewed partnership for horticultural and agro-industrial development.”

The main output of the visit was the declaration of interest from the Government of Ethiopia, AICS, UNIDO, and FAO to involve Emilia-Romagna Region and ART-ER in the design and implementation of projects related to agro-industrial development in Ethiopia, with direct and/or indirect partnership mechanisms. The Italian successful agro-industrial model based on the territorial inter-linkage of its value chain actors from producers to consumers and promoted by Emilia-Romagna Region was indeed highly appreciated by the Delegation.

As part of the mission, the Delegation also attended the 36^th edition of the international fair MACFRUT in Rimini on 8-9 May 2019. This year the fair hosted a stand of Ethiopian producers thanks to a sponsor of AICS of 10,000 Euro for a 60 m² stand, and the support of the Italian Trade Agency, which organized training courses in Ethiopia to prepare Ethiopian exhibitors on how to do business in an international context.

The Italian Vice-minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, Emanuela Del Re, officially inaugurated the event, and the dedicated African pavilion, expressing d the strong interest of Italy in increasing its presence in Africa, also through development interventions and action the Italian Agency for Development Cooperation.

As a remark of the importance given from our Government to the partnership with Ethiopian Institutions, our the Vice-Minister started her visit of the Africa Pavillion cutting the ribbon at the Ethiopia Stand, together with the Regional Minister of Agriculture of Emilia-Romagna, ICE, AICS, the two State Ministers of Ethiopia and the Ambassador of Ethiopia in Italy.

Ministers from different countries of Subsaharan Africa attended the round table “Italy and Africa: building a renewed partnership for horticultural and agro-industrial development”: Congo DRC, Somalia, Angola, Mozambique and Ethiopia. The Ethiopian ministers briefed the audience on challenges and opportunities of Agriculture and Agro-industrialisation.

Ethiopia at the first expo of the International Cooperation in Rome

Posted on 18/05/201920/09/2019 by AICS Addis Abeba