From 23rd to 27th September 2019 we hosted the course "Renewable Energy, Energy Efficiency and Cooperation Projects" organized by the Italian Agency for Development Cooperation and ENEA, in collaboration with Human Foundation.

The course is one of the several workshops organized at the premises of AICS’ field offices with the aim of:

• Setting up a platform for stakeholders working in the field of energy in the countries where the course is held;
• Raising awareness of the most efficient technologies in the use of renewable sources and promoting their use;
• Promoting the adoption of policies supporting the use of renewable energies; private sector investments in the production and distribution of energy; access to clean and renewable energies.

A session on the impact investing approach was held by Human Foundation with a view to promoting its adoption in the implementation of projects linked to renewable energies.

Furthermore, AICS Addis Ababa presented the project “Drought Resilience and Sustainable Livelihood” (DRSLP) implemented in the Afar Region. Four solar-powered mini grids will be shortly developed in the framework of the DRSLP project to supply power to the centres for the transformation and conservation of animal products value chain, thus guaranteeing income opportunities for the pastoral communities and financial viability of the solar panel plants.

On 19 September 2019 the Mekelle Garment College - Centre of Excellence was officially inaugurated within the framework of the project “Capacity building and job creation for youth and women in the textile sector in migration prone areas of Ethiopia”, funded by AICS with a contribution of 2.5 MEUR and implemented by UNIDO in partnership with the Ethiopian Ministry of Trade and Industry and the Ethiopian Textile Industry Development Institute (ETIDI). The projects aims to support the Government of Ethiopia in the creation of decent and productive job opportunities in the emerging national Textile and Garment (T&G) industry, with a special focus on women and youth from Tigray where significant fluxes of origin and transit of migrants take place. The Centre of Excellence will provide high technical and managerial quality trainings to facilitate the employability of basic operators and middle management staff in the factories operating in the T&G sector through Public Private Partnership approach.

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.

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.

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.