The International Conference on the Impact of El Niño on Biodiversity, Agriculture and Food Security was held on 23 -24 February 2017 at the Resource Center of Haramaya University. The conference was organized by College of Agriculture and Environmental Sciences (CAES) of Haramaya University and the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change of Ethiopia (MoEFCC).

This international conference was organized with the aims of reviewing, discussing and sharing the lessons learnt from managing El Niño impacts; connecting the scientific research knowledge to operational communities; developing key massage and shared recommendations for policy makers, practitioners, and the public and identifying directions for the future work in climate services and in developing appropriate El Niño response strategies.

During the opening session of the conference, Dr. Kibebew Kibret, Dean of CAES and Prof. Nigussie Dechassa, Vice-president for Academic Affairs of Haramaya University forwarded their welcoming remarks and speeches emphasizing on the impacts of El Niño on East Africa and the need to explore solutions and future direction in the policy arena.

H.E. Dr. Gemedo Dalle, Minister of MoEFCC remarked focus on the relationship between climate change and biodiversity, and the requirement for nature based solutions that can benefit the poor in the developing nations like Ethiopia should be given emphasis.
Mr. Abdeta Debella, Country Coordinator of mainstreaming biodiversity incentives for climate resilience green economy (UNDP-GEF) projects in Ethiopia, also provided current figures of the social and economic impacts of the recent El Niño in Ethiopia and called for synergy between institutions.

Then after, introduction about the conference given by Conference organizer, Mr. Sintayehu Workeneh, and highlighted that the conference aimed to connect the scientific research knowledge to operational communities and identifying directions for the future work in climate services and in developing appropriate El Niño response strategies.
In the two days, a total of twenty seven (19 oral and 8 poster) scientific presentations, and a panel discussion were delivered by presenters and panelists.
The discussions have enabled the conference participants to recognize the urgency to take action by all the stakeholders towards El Niño, which is exacerbated by climate change.
In line with this, the conference set some policy briefs and recommendations to pave the way forward on El Niño issues and closing remarks were made by Prof. Kebede W/Tsadik, Vice-president of Community Engagement and Enterprise Development. The conference was attended by more than 160 participants who came from different countries, disciplines, organizations, and institutions that have a stake on El Niño and its impacts.

College of Education and Behavioral Sciences of Haramaya University (HU) in collaboration with Ministry of Education within its Education Sector Development Program welcomed 200 primary school female teachers on 27 February, 2017 for three-month female leadership training.

The College has taken part in the national female leadership training of primary school teachers from material design up to conducting the training which goes to show the University’s commitment in realising females’ empowerment.

In his welcoming speech, Prof. Nigussie Dechassa, Vice-president for Academic Affairs, said, “Our world is patriarchal and full of discriminations and violence against women and other marginalized groups of the society. For this reason, promoting gender equality through women’s empowerment has become the major policy strategy to achieve human development, poverty eradication and economic growth.”

Prof. Nigussie added that the primary school female leadership training is also part of the capacity building program plan as an empowerment mechanism for females which is the first of its kind with the hopes to continue to secondary schools. He said, “MoE in its Education Sector Development Program regards primary schools highly to bring about improved teaching and leadership skills in all institutions, matched with greater motivation and job satisfaction. Fulfilling this nationwide target is not only the responsibilities of the Ministry or the Regional Education Bureau, rather we the training Universities should contribute our maximum. Despite the untimely launching of the program, which would have been better if it was at the beginning of the year or in summer, we, Haramayans are ready to accept the trainees, equip them with the necessary knowledge of school leadership and policy issues and at the same time let our trainers also learn from the experience.”

According to Mr. Wakgari Tasisa (Assistant Professor) of Educational Leadership and Management and Training Focal Person, the three-month training has four packages: School leadership and management package, Policy package, Cross cutting issues and Basics of ICT and Education management information system Package.

Delegates of MoE, Harari, Dire Dawa, East Hararaghe, Regional Education TDP Heads, and HU’s different level management bodies attended the opening ceremony.

Training was delivered to milk producers, milk traders, development agents (DAs) and district experts from February   27 to March 1, 2017 at Babile Town. The training focused on dairy animal feed production, quality milk production, milk safety, and milk processing and milk market supply chain. It was organized by Haramaya University’s Camel Dairy Project in collaboration with Community Development Works Directorate.

Dr. Mitiku Eshetu, Southern Coordinator of Haramaya Camel Project stated that Babile District is one of the major milk producer and supplier to Harar and Dire Dawa towns, and also to Somali Regional State milk consumers. But the quality of milk delivered to these consumers was found to be of substandard which may impose public health hazards and consumer dissatisfaction.

According to Dr. Mitiku, in this area, milk production is also hampered by plethora of constraints of which feed constraint, lack of appropriate milk equipments, lack of milk cooling facilities and lack of awareness about quality milk production and handling among milk value chain actors were major ones. To address these problems training was given to the major stakeholders and awareness creation could be one of the strategies to boost quality and quantity of milk production and marketing in the district.

The training was delivered by staff members from Haramaya University from disciples related to dairy sciences and technology. Different camel and bovine dairy products developed by MSc and PhD students in dairy technologies were demonstrated. Among these dairy products, camel milk cheese was one of the new products developed at the University which showed the possibility of manufacturing cheese from camel milk.

In the future, those farmers who produce camel milk could employ such technologies to process camel milk into shelf stable camel dairy products. Use of different starter cultures which enhance manufacturing and eating quality of yogurt was also demonstrated. These starter cultures enable the farmers to produce yogurt within a day compared to the traditional methods which may take more than two days.

The trainees especially milk producers and traders raised some of the problems that hamper milk production and marketing. These were lack of appropriate milking equipment, lack of cooling facilities, and shortage of animal feed to mention few of them.

Prof. Kebede Woldetsadik, Vice-president for Community Engagement and Enterprise Development made closing remarks and briefed that milk producers and traders should be organized into dairy cooperatives to bring tangible development and to fetch maximum benefit out of their products. Cooperatives play a pivotal role for the development dairy sector since dairy production and marketing need organized milk collection, processing and marketing on daily basis which is difficult for smallholder farmers. He said, “Cooperatives also empower smallholder farmers to have good access to market, feed production, processing and establishment of milk processing plants.  Haramaya University has experts in dairy sciences and technology and is ready to share its knowledge and skills in the field.”

He also emphasized that Babile farmers can boost their milk production and export their dairy products to neighboring countries if they are organized and widen their vision. The country imports milk and milk products when it should at least be self sufficient. Hence, the farmers should play a key role to alleviate the current shortage of milk and milk products in the country and HU is ready to give professional support.  “Moreover,” Prof. Kebede added, “the University can prepare a business plan for the farmers free of charge using its experts so that the farmers can get loan from banks and build their capacity to produce and market milk of standard quality.”

Mr. Getachew Takel, representative from Oromia Small and Micro Enterprise Development Office also stressed the importance of organizing into cooperatives to get the necessary support from the concerned governmental and non-governmental organizations.

The famers and other participants of the training said that the training was a very good experience and it enabled them to have good awareness about milk production and processing. They requested for further technical and materials support from the University and the district for a better collaborative work.

Haramaya University Academic Affairs for Vice President With the collaboration of Federal cooperative agency (FCA) hosted discussion with a theme “Cooperatives Movement in Ethiopia: Challenges and Prospects”.

The event was hosted on the Main Campus with opening sessions on March 03/2017 at the Resource Center.

According to Head of the Department of Cooperative at Haramaya University, Mr. Henock Semaw, the general objectives of the Panel Discussion were mainly intended to create awareness and update the university community on the movement, challenges and prospects of cooperatives in Ethiopia with the specific objectives include;  to create awareness and refreshing the students on the basic reality of cooperatives in Ethiopia; to share experience from senior expertise in the cooperatives sector; to share practical experience from exemplary cooperatives, and NGOs’ and to create an opportunity for professional and institutional networking among Haramaya university and other stakeholders in the cooperatives sector. And enlightening the participants about untouched potential of cooperatives and their roles on economic growth and community development endeavors was one the objectives of the panel.

Mr. Henock said the Department has a great responsibility and it has to work more in creating awareness on the issue to the undergraduate students and the community. And efforts of cooperatives should be supported by research in order to transform the sectors contribution for the national development.

Vice President for Academic Affairs, Professor Nigussie Dechassa, on his opening speech said that, to further enhance and strength socio-economic impact of the (Cooperative) sector in our country, all stakeholders should exert their extravagant effort. To this purpose, academicians and researchers should take part through conducting research and preparing different panel discussion and conferences pertaining to necessary issues in this sector.

He also explains that in our communities, the roles cooperatives can play a vital role. As an academic unit or institution of higher learning, we should survey our area zoom in and out on the communities surrounding us, be it farmers and an urban dwellers.

According to Professor Nigussie there is a lot of need for Cooperatives. For instance, vegetable and potato producing farmers in eastern Ethiopia suffer a lot in terms of market imperfections. Middlemen come, survey, buy product at farm gate prices on the farm itself. Money is with promise until the vegetable reaches consumers in Djibouti; Hargeissa and Mogadishu truckloads are dispatched. But, the Middlemen may default in it and farmers may lose completely. As stuff and students of the Cooperative, we should see this as an opportunity to learn, research, and teach the community as to how they can address their problems by organizing themselves into Cooperatives. This is also the best opportunity for learning what is at stake with community practically and to innovate how to solve the problems the higher learning institutions, research institutions and all other stake holders should involved at higher level to support the sector’s development.

In behalf of Federal Cooperatives Agency, Delegates from Federal Cooperatives Agency, Mr. Abraham Ejeta, said  Cooperatives play a vital role in economic development in all sectors of the economy. A well organized and properly functioned Cooperatives links and supply new technologies and marketing for its members and create a modern production and marketing system.

He added in the second Growth and Transformation Plan we are working to enhance the capacity and knowledge of cooperatives, and promoting saving for further investment by preventing rent seeking attitudes in the cooperatives.

In the two days Discussion Guests from  Federal Cooperatives Agency, Agricultural Transformation Agency (ATA), Agriterra  Ethiopia, NGO:  Heads of Harari and Somali Region Cooperative Promotion and East and West Hararghe zone Cooperative Promotion leaders, Cooperative Union Managers from East and West Hararghe as well as  Cooperative Department Heads from 8 Public Universities totally 280 were in attendance and 3 research articles were presented and participants have reflected various issues, their views and concerns and opinions towards the articles.

They have also raised various questions regarding the cooperative and its development to the presenters. Finally, each of the presenters reflected on the questions, comments, reflections and concerns of the participants.

The closing remark was made by Professor Kebede W/tsadik vice president for University enterprise. He said that such panel Discussion is useful to boost experts’ knowledge and understanding of student’s attitudes in order to solve the Challenges Cooperatives they have.

ድሬዳዋ መጋቢት 2/2009 በሀገሪቱ የተጀመሩ ለውጦችን ወደ ላቀ ደረጃ የሚያሸጋግሩ ችግር ፈቺ የምርምር ሥራዎችን አጠናክረው እንደሚቀጥሉ የሀረማያ ዩኒቨርሲቲ
መምህራንና ሠራተኞች አስታወቁ፡፡

በዋና ግቢና በሐረር ካምፓስ የሚገኙ ከ4 ሺህ በላይ የዩኒቨርስቲው መምህራንና የአስተዳደር ሠራተኞች ላለፉት አምስት ቀናት ሲያካሄዱ የቆዩትን የተሀድሶ ግምገማ
ትናንት አጠናቀዋል፡፡
መምህራኑና ሠራተኞቹ ባወጡት የአቋም መግለጫ እንዳመለከቱት በሀገሪቱ የተመዘገቡ ውጤቶችና ተግዳሮቶች ላይ በጥልቀት ተወያይተዋል፡፡

በዩኒቨርሲቲው የተልዕኮ ስኬቶች፣ በሚስተዋሉ ችግሮችና መፍትሄዎች ላይ የጋራና የተናጥል ግምገማ አድርገዋል፡፡
የተለዩ ሰፋፊ ጉድለቶችን በማያዳግም መንገድ ለመፍታት በቁርጠኝነት እንደሚሰሩም አረጋግጠዋል፡፡
የዩኒቨርሲቲውን ተልዕኮ የሚያደናቅፋ የመልካም አስተዳደርና የኪራይ ሰብሳቢነት ችግሮችን ለመፍታት ተግተው እንደሚሰሩም በአቋም መግለጫቸው ላይ አመለክተዋል፡፡
ዩኒቨርሲቲው በሀገሪቱ ለተመዘገቡት ማህበራዊ፣ ምጣኔ ሃብታዊ ፣ፖለቲካዊ ለውጦችና እድገቶች አስተዋጽኦ ያበረከተ የተማረ የሰው ሃይል በማፍራት የድርሻውን ሲወጣ
ቆይቷል፡፡
ችግር ፈቺ የግብርናና የኢንዱስትሪ ምርምር ውጤቶችን ለተጠቃሚ ከማስተላለፍ ባሻገር የማህበረሰብ ችግርን የሚፈቱ ሥራዎች መተግበራቸውንም ጠቁመዋል፡፡
እነዚህን ውጤቶች በላቀ ደረጃ ለማሸጋገርና በሀገረቱ እየተመዘገቡ የሚገኙ እድገቶችን አጠናክሮ ለማስቀጠል ከአመራር እስከ ድጋፍ ሰጪው ሠራተኛ የድርሻውን ለመወጣት
የተሃድሶው ግምገማው መነቃቃት መፍጠሩንም ጠቅሰዋል፡፡
ብልሹ አሠራሮችንና አመለካከቶችን ሥር ነቀል በሆነ መንገድ በማስወገድ ሠላማዊ የመማር ማስተማር ተግባሩን ቀጣይነት ለማረጋገጥ እንደሚተጉም ተመልክቷል፡፡

” ብቁና ውጤታማ የትምህርት ማህበረሰብ ለትምህርት ጥራትና ለሀገር ህዳሴ” በሚል መሪ ሃሳብ በተካሄደው የጥልቅ ተሃድሶ መድረክ በተፈጠረው መነቃቃት በመታገዝ በቀጣይ
የዩኒቨርሲቲውን ተልዕኮ በላቀ ደረጃ ለመፈፀም እንደሚተጉ አስተያየታቸው ለኢዜአ የሰጡ  ሠራተኞችና መምህራን ተናግረዋል፡፡
የዩኒቨርሲቲው የተቋማዊ ልማትና ፋሲሊቲ አስተዳደር ዳይሬክቶሬት ዳይሬክተር አቶ ሙክታር ዳዊት “መድረኩ ጥራት ያለው ትምህርት እንዲሰፍን ፣ሰላማዊ የመማር
ማስተማር ተግባሩ ዘላቂነት እንዲረጋገጥ ምቹ ሁኔታ ተፈጥሮበታል “ብለዋል፡፡
የሚመሩት ክፍል ከግብአትና ከአቅርቦት እንዲሁም ከሌሎች አገልገሎቶች አኳያ ትልቅ ሃላፊነት እንዳለበት አመልክተው ክፍሉ ያሉበትን ችግሮች በፍጥነት በመፍታት ለውጥ
ለማምጣት በትጋት አንደሚሰሩም ተናግረዋል፡፡
የጂኦግራፊና የአካባቢ ጥናት ትምህርት ክፍል መምህር ብንያም ጌታቸው “መድረኩ በመምህርነቴ የተማረና ብቁ ዜጋ ለማፍራት፣ተልዕኮዬን በተሻለ ደረጃ ለመወጣት፣
የምርምርና የጥናት ሥራዎችን ይበልጥ እንድሰራ መነቃቃት ፈጥሮልኛል” ብለዋል፡፡

የዩኒቨርሲቲው ፕሬዝዳንት ፕሮፌሰር ጨመዳ ፊኒንሳ በበኩላቸው የተሃድሶው መድረክ መምህራንና ሠራተኛው የልማታዊ መንግስትን ፖሊሲዎችና አቅጣጫዎች በተሻለ መንገድ
ማስገንዘብ እንዳስቻለ ገልጸዋል፡፡ ተቋሙም ይህንኑ ተልዕኮ በተሻለ መንገድ ለመፈፀም እንደሚያግዘውም ተናግረዋል፡፡
የዩኒቨርሲቲው የቦርድ አባል አቶ ሴኮቱሬ ጌታቸው እንዳሉትም የተሀድሶ ግምገማውን ማካሄድ ያስፈለገው ችግሮችን በማረም ለሀገራዊና ተቋማዊ ለውጥ የሚተጉ ውጤታማ
ምሁራንን እንዲሁም ለህዝብ የመልካም አስተዳደር ችግሮች መፍትሄ ለማምጣት የሚተጉ ሰራተኞችን ለመፍጠር ነው፡፡

ድሬደዋ መጋቢት 4/2009 የአለም የሴቶች ቀን እና ታላቁ የኢትዮጵያ ህዳሴ ግድብ ግንባታ የተጀመረበትን ስድስተኛ ዓመትን ምክንያት በማድረግ በሁለቱም ፆታ ከ1ሺህ በላይ ተማሪዎች የተሣተፉበት የሩጫ ውድድር ትናንት በሀረማያ ዩኒቨርሲቲ ተካሄደ፡፡

“የሴቶች የቁጠባ ባህል ማደግ ለህዳሴያችን መሠረት ነው” በሚል መሪ ሀሳብ ሶስት ኪሎሜትር በሸፈነውና በታዳጊ ወንዶች ምድብ ውድድር ዳዊት ሙሉጌታ ፣ገላን አብዱረህማን፣ነዲ አብዱልማሊክ  አንድ እስከ ሶስተኛ በመውጣት አሸንፈዋል፡፡ በሴቶቹ ደግሞ ሄለን አየለ፣ቤቴል አለምእሸት፣መባ ነጋሲ ተከታትለው በመግባት ውድድሩን በበላይነት አጠናቀዋል፡፡በአዋቂ ወንዶች ምድብ ደግሞ ገመቹ አዳሙ ፣ ኬናዋቅ ሙሌና ኑሪዬ አመዴ እንዲሁም  በሴቶች አመለወርቅ ብዙአየሁ፣ ገላኔ ፉፋ እና ሳሲ አለኬ ተከታታለው በመግባት አሸንፈዋል፡፡ በውድድሩ አሸናፊ ለሆኑ ከ1500 እስከ 3500 ብር ዋጋ ያላቸው ቦንድ ሽልማት ተበርክቶላቸዋል፡፡  ሽልማቱን የሰጡት የሀረማያ ዩኒቨርሲቲ ፕሬዘዳንት ፕሮፌሰር ጨመዳ ፊኒንሳ ሴቶች ለሀገሪቱ የህዳሴ ጉዞ እውን መሆን እያበረከቱ የሚገኙትን ተግባራት ይበልጥ እንዲጎለብት ህብረተሰቡ ድጋፍ እንዲያደርግላቸው ጥሪ አቅርበዋል፡፡

ዩኒቨርስቲው ሴቶችን ለማበረታታት የሚያደርገውን ድጋፍ አጠናክሮ እንደሚቀጥልም ገልጸዋል፡፡ የሴቶችን ጥቃትና ትንኮሳ በመከላከል የሴቶችን ውጤታማነት ለማረጋገጥ የዩኒቨርሲቲው ማህበረሰብ  ጣር እንዳለበት ያመለከቱት ደግሞ የዩኒቨርሲው የአስተዳደርና የተማሪዎች ጉዳይ ምክትል ፕሬዘዳንት ዶክተር በላይነህ ለገሰ ናቸው ፡፡ ውድድሩ የሴቶችን የቁጠባ ባህልና የርስ በርስ ግንኙነት ለማዳበር እንዲሁም ለከፍተኛ ትምህርት ተቋማት የስፖርት ውድድር ከወዲሁ ብቃት ያላቸውን ሯጮች ለመለየት ጭምር ያገዘ መሆኑን የዩኒቨርሲቲው የህዝብና አለም አቀፍ ግንኙነት ዳይሬክተር አቶ አለምእሸት ተሾመ ገልጸዋል፡፡

Haramaya University (PRIME) Pastoralist Resilience Improvement through Market Expansion Project hosted an International Conference on Enhancing Pastoralists Livelihood and Resilience through Market Expansion from March 17-18, 2017 at the University’s Resource Centre.

Dr. Richard Wentzell, Dean of College of Law and Program Manager of HU-PRIME, welcomed the conference participants and expressed his sincere wish for fruitful conference deliberation.

President of Haramaya University (HU), Prof. Chemeda Fininsa, in his opening speech, stated that it is an honor and privilege for HU to host this conference. The conference is the first of its kind in the history of the HU-PRIME to be hosted by a collaboration of several partners and stakeholders from various intuitions in Ethiopia and abroad.

Prof. Chemeda also mentioned that pastoralist problems need to be addressed with different approaches so as to improve livestock production and productivity, natural resource governance, to provide better livelihood and to improve market for their livestock and livestock products. “In this regard,” he said, “the purposes of this conference are disseminating research findings in the areas of and livestock productivity and health, natural resources and climate change; livelihood diversification and marketing and policy issues for stakeholders.”

On behalf of the Ministry of Federal Pastoral Development Affairs, H.E. State Minister Mr. Kaydaki Gezahegn explained the government’s interest to address the shortcomings and dilemmas that the pastoralist sector and community are faced with. He said, “The government addresses fundamental rights and development agenda of our citizens, specifically concerning the predicament of the pastoralist. Owing to their limited access to socioeconomic development and underserved status over the decades, our government identified 4 regions (Afar, Ethiopian Somali, pastoral areas of Oromiya and SNNPR) to give special support in order to change the livelihood of pastoralist.”

Mr. Kaydaki has also asked stakeholders to strengthen their efforts of supporting pastoral development endeavors and utilize evidences obtained from research works.

According to Mr. Mulugeta Getu, Project Manager for HU-PRIME Project, the conference aimed ‘to disseminate and share new scientific evidences and innovative development approaches obtained from the field; to enlighten participants and deliberate on the available policy options; also brings together relevant stakeholders to share key lessons and experiences; and network scholars and practitioners who put pastoralist as their primary agenda’.

More than 150 participants attended the conference including invited guests and representatives from Federal offices, Afar, Somali and Oromia regions’ sectorial offices, national and international guests, representatives from various research institutions and NGOs that operate in pastoral areas and businesses and community representatives from the pastoral community.

The conference featured three core events: presentation of scientific papers, panel discussion on pastoralist policies and development challenges and poster and documentary film viewing on PRIME Project activities.

In the two days, a total of twenty three research papers were presented in four different themes – Livestock Productivity and Livestock Product Marketing; Natural Resource Management and Climate Change; Alternative Livelihood in Pastoral Parts of Ethiopia; and Policy Support and Institutions in Pastoral Areas of Ethiopia.

In addition to the scientific papers presentation, the conference also featured an interactive panel discussion on key policy issues, challenges and prospects; the nexus between development partners, research institutes and government; major challenges of pastoralist development works; marketing & facilitation approaches in development; and natural resources governance and management. Panelists drawn from academia, policy makers and practitioners with rich experiences raised thought-provoking ideas.

Deliberation were made both on the issues raised by the papers and panel discussions. The events and participants have underlined the importance of consolidating prior knowledge, researches and interventions pertaining to pastoralists, creating a concrete partnership among stakeholders and generating knowledge and innovation specifically aiming at improving the livelihood and resilience of pastoralists.

Dr. Jemal Yousuf, Vice-president for Research Affairs delivered a closing remark where he acknowledged the efforts put by conference organizers and participants and underlined the importance of continuing researches to develop innovative pastoral technologies, and developing the network of professionals on the area.

To:             Staff members of the University

From:        Office of Research Affairs

Subject: Announcement for 2017/18 Research Grant Competition  

Haramaya University would like to invite interested staff members to compete for the 2017/18 (2010 EC) staff research grant. Staff members are encouraged to submit innovative and trans-disciplinary research proposals. Involving PhD and MSc students in the research project scheme is highly encouraged for the application. Proposals should be submitted in line with the Research Thematic Areas of the University and shall focus in the Eastern Part of Ethiopia except for compelling reasons.

• Deadline for submission:      May 24, 2017
• Place of submission:              HU Research Affairs Office (Main Campus) or Theme 2 research leader office (Harar Campus)
• Priority research areas of 2010 EC, format to follow, and template for budget breakdown are annexed with this letter. Alternatively you can find them at Haramaya University Website

(http://www.haramaya.edu.et/)

With regards,
Contents of the Proposal and Theme I-V Priorities

Budget Templete

UNESCO’s international conference entitled “UNESCO Week for Peace and Sustainable Development: The Role of Education” was held in Ottawa, Canada from March 6-10, 2017.

Two main objectives: the review forum for the UNESCO Global Action Program (GAP) on Education for Sustainable Development (ESD): Implementation and Innovation, and the third UNESCO forum on Global Citizenship Education (GCED): The Role of Teachers were given focus and deliberated on.

Mr. Mohammed Aman from the School of Agricultural Economics and Agribusiness and youth delegate represented Haramaya University (HU) as well as Ethiopia. This is the second consecutive time for Mr. Mohammed to represent HU and Ethiopia in the UNESCO conference i.e. drafting committee for social entrepreneurship and youth delegate that was held in November 2014, Aichi Nagoya and Okayama, Japan.

Besides attending the conference, Mr. Mohammed created various links with conference participants and he promoted the University and its various projects. Awaiting the confirmation from the University’s President, HU will become a full member of the International Association of Universities (IAU) that provides various opportunities for staff members of the University.

Aman with Irina Bokova (UNESCO Director-General) [right] and Hon. Mitzie Hunter, MPP (Minister of Education, Government of Ontario, Canada) [left]: Ottawa, Canada

The International Association of Universities (IAU) is an international NGO with an official associate status in UNESCO that recognizes the key role higher education plays in the overall process of achieving sustainable development. HU has received an invitation from the Deputy Secretary General of IAU, to become a full member of the International Association of Universities (IAU) on March 17, 2017.

HU will be represented to attend and take an active part in IAU international events such as conferences, expert seminars, workshops, etc.  The University will be invited to take an active part in IAU projects and actions of interest to the institution, as well as interact with expert communities in areas of internationalization, sustainable development and leadership development.

Annual Research, Extension, and Community Engagement Review Workshop

April 6-8, 2017

Afran Kello Hall and Resource Center

College of Law’s Access to Justice and Legal Awareness (AJLA) project donated legal documents worth over 250,000 Birr to courts and justice bureaus in the eastern region of Ethiopia, particularly the East and West Hararghe Zones of Oromia Regional State and the Harari Regional State.

AJLA, a five-year project is funded by USAID and implemented by Haramaya University’s College of Law in collaboration with various stakeholders in the justice sector (courts, justice bureaus and prison administrations) in East and West Hararghe Zones of Oromia Regional State and the Harari Regional State.
The overall goals of the Project are improving the quality of and access to justice in the eastern Ethiopia, through enhancing the legal awareness of the community; increasing the access to justice for the needy and vulnerable sections of the community; and improving the quality of legal education and enhancing the capacity of the formal justice sector in the region.

AJLA’s research team conducted a baseline survey in August 2013, on courts and justice bureaus in eastern Ethiopia. And according to this survey, 93.7% of judges and prosecutors have no access to updated and relevant regional and federal legal documents to discharge their duties which significantly affect their capacity to deliver quality justice for the community. Furthermore, due to lack of on job training and the shortage of updated legal materials, the formal justice sector is not properly positioned in a way that ensures access to justice and delivery of quality justice to the community.

To address this problem, in collaboration with USAID, AJLA bought more than 3620 law books and prepared more than 1500 compilation of updated proclamations worth over 250,000 birr.
Mr. Habtamu Kenea, Coordinator of AJLA project, said, “Recently more than 3130 legal documents have been distributed to courts and justice bureaus of 19 Woredas as well as to zonal high court and justice bureau in Eastern Hararghe zones of Oromia Regional State and to Harari Regional State Supreme Court and Justice Bureau”.

During the book handover ceremony, the Harari Regional State, Supreme Court President Mr. Mahir Abdusemad said “Thank you to Haramaya University. You went above and beyond our expectations by contributing a lot to improve the quality of and access to justice in Harari regional state courts and Prison Administration.” He added, “The regional and federal legal documents you gave us today will be useful reference materials for judges and prosecutors in our region to discharge their works properly”.

Similarly, more than 1500 legal documents were distributed for 14 courts and justice bureaus in West Hararghe Zone of Oromia Region.
During the book handover ceremony, the West Hararghe High Court President, Mr. Ephrem Haile said, “I am very grateful to AJLA Project and Haramaya University because, in addition to the professional free legal service in our courts, the legal documents we received today will greatly benefit our judges and prosecutors to update their legal knowledge and skills and enable them to deliver quality justice for the community in our zone”.