Malawi Wire

Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed urged citizens to participate in school improvement campaign as part of building a competitive nation.

Officially launching the Education for Generations campaign today, Abiy said the campaign to maintain the standards of schools is part of the process of building a competitive country and requires the participation of citizens.

The Ministry of Education has planned to improve the standards of more than 50,000 schools across Ethiopia through the campaign.

During the launching ceremony, the premier recalled that Ethiopians in the past had made relentless efforts to expand modern education, creating opportunities for citizens to access to education, despite not to the required level. The Prime Minister noted that the schools nationwide are far behind to fulfill infrastructure facilities required for the learning-teaching process.

Stating that the world is changing rapidly, he noted that building a competitive country in a dynamic world is possible through investing on education.

In this regard, following the national reform, the government has been making efforts to build better schools and make them accessible to the citizens.

The campaign is organized in such a way that activities will be carried out for the future generation collaboratively to sustainably overcome the challenges facing the country, he said.

To this end, the premier called on all those who had gone to schools in any corner of the country to make to contributions to their schools.

You should support the education campaign to scale up schools with ideas, money, and labor, he pointed out. Education Minister, Birhanu Nega said unfavorable conditions for learning and teaching process in schools is one of the reasons identified by the ministry for poor quality of education in the country.

He pointed out that over 86 percent of primary and secondary schools nationwide have no conducive infrastructure facilities for learning and teaching.

According to him, this has hindered citizens from getting opportunities and serve their country in various fields.

Birhanu mentioned that it may take over 30 years, if overcoming the challenge is left to the government alone, thus calling for the involvement of the society is necessitated.

Athlete Haile Gebreselase, who is one of the benevolent investors in schools recalled that many students in rural Ethiopia study in shelters.

This should not be allowed to continue, Haile stressed, adding that working on education is to build a better Ethiopia for all.

In this regard, helping the education campaign and improve the standards of the schools is a great deed and pleasure, Haile said. Artist Zeleke Gesese, who has built 30 schools in Ethiopia so far, shared his experience that building the schools together with the society is crucial to solve the challenges sustainably.

Source: Ethiopian News Agency

A recorded total of 499 344 hectares have burned due to uncontrolled veld fires this year since the start of the fire season in April.

In a statement released on Friday, the Ministry of Environment, Forestry and Tourism called out to members of the public, farmers and property owners, to put measures in place to minimise the risk of veld fires as fire seasons start in April and go as far as September.

MEFT Chief Public Relations Officer, Romeo Muyunda said veld fires have been observed to cause massive damage to the environment and properties over the past years.

He explained that these kinds of fires are characterised by strong winds, high temperatures and dry vegetation, resulting in fire burning uncontrollably.

“Prior to the fire season, the ministry engaged in the development and maintenance of firebreaks; to this end, 33km of firebreaks have been cleared across the country, and work is ongoing,” said Muyunda.

MEFT further called upon charcoal producers to adhere to charcoal production guidelines developed by the ministry in 2022. The ministry said it engaged in facilitating early burning in the community forests as well as training community members.

Source: The Namibian Press Agency

Ethiopia is a frontrunner, especially in contributing to the mitigation of climate change by planting billions of trees across the country, Former President Mulatu Teshome said.

Explaining Ethiopia’s contribution to the fight against climate at the Astana International Forum held in Kazakhstan on June 8-9 this year, the former president revealed that the country planted 25 billion s lings over the past four years.

“For me the forum (in Kazakhstan) has served as a good opportunity to let the international community know what we are doing in Ethiopia, what potentials we have including natural resources, the good climate we have because planting 25 billion trees in four years, if there was no conductive environment, good soil, water or rain could be very big problem and challenging. So, Ethiopia is very well-placed to be a front runner especially in contributing to the challenges of climate change in this regard,” he elaborated.

According to him, Ethiopia is not only minimizing, but in the long run going to fully engage in developing its non-carbon source of energy.

The impact of climate change to growth and development, global peace and security as well as challenge toward biodiversity were the other agendas discussed at the forum, it was learned.

In an exclusive interview with ENA, the former president said the forum was really focused on the present day and critical issues our world is facing.

He added that on one hand there is globalization, but the philosophy behind globalization is being hindered through the trade wars and sanctions and that was one area how to enhance global trade and investment, free trade and free flow of goods and services, he noted.

At a session dedicated to the former president, Mulatu tried to take the agenda of Pan Africanism and what Africa could contribute to the global challenges.

All in all, attempt was made to explain what Pan Africanism means, especially in its present day context. “It is a call for solidarity among Africans to speak with one voice in order to ensure self-interest of our continent Africa.”

OAU was established on the basis of Pan Africanism and that philosophy of Pan Africanism grew to enable Africans to get full independence from colonial powers and also to eradicate a South African political problem which was discriminating against the native people.

After political independence of the African countries, a call came from African people for independent economic aspiration, he elaborated.

That was how OAU gradually evolved into the African Union and at the back of all this development is Pan Africanism, the solidarity among all Africans which enabled Africa to be together, all African countries to share their solidarity with each other and develop together.

Commenting on the recent Summit for a New Global Financing Pact held in Paris, Mulatu said this idea is the interest of all developing countries, especially countries that have contributed to tackle climate change for carbon reduction.

Promises were made, the former president recalled, adding that but they were not kept. The promises were and are not fulfilled by the donor well developed countries which have contributed to pollution, he stated.

The former president underlined that the call is actually not only in the interest of Ethiopia, but in the interest of the developing world which have contributed to reducing to carbon dioxide.

“We are not doing this for the international community. We are doing it for ourselves. But there is a consensus by the international community that if countries are contributing positively like Ethiopia did, in reforestation, in implementing green economy, then there will be somehow a pledge which was made by the international community to be implemented,” he noted.

The former president who took part in the forum by heading Ethiopian business delegation also shared his views on the historical significance and modern relevance of Pan Africanism as a unifying ideology for the African continent.

Source: Ethiopian News Agency