Fellowship launch

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One among the many programs Initiative Africa (IA) has been implementing under the Business for Peace Project, the Business for Peace Fellowship is designed to introduce business owners, business advisors, business aspirants, entrepreneurs and start-up owners, etc., to the various peacebuilding approaches and the analytical tools needed to understand, analyze and resolve conflicts. Offered in three cohorts, the Fellowship is deemed to be instrumental in allowing the business community to have a say in and foster local ownership of peacebuilding activities. It will also allow business owners to critically engage in peacebuilding processes with a clear understanding of the cycle of conflict and interventions designed at each state.

By promoting ownership and knowledge of peacebuilding, this fellowship is a timely investment in “peaceful means” to peace and security. It has the following interrelated objectives:

  • To introduce the business community to key concepts of peacebuilding and promote effective participation through leadership training
  • To boost the capacity of the private sector toward active participation in peacebuilding in Ethiopia
  • To mobilize the business community to engage in peacebuilding and conflict resolution

The program’s contents are designed in various pedagogical formats. It follows hybrid modes of content delivery e-learning, in-person practicum, field visits and action learning for a duration of three months. Each month consists of a two-day in-person workshop with an intensive list of seminars. Besides, the program involves two field visits: one local and another international.

Initiative Africa officially launched the ‘Business for Peace Fellowship’ with eight fellows who have taken part in the First Cohort of the program. The three-month fellowship program was designed to introduce business owners, business advisors as well as business aspirants to the various peacebuilding approaches and the analytical tools they will use to understand, analyze and resolve conflicts.

The program is deemed to be instrumental in allowing the business community to have a say in peacebuilding activities and in fostering local ownership. The seminars of the First Cohort Fellowship Program have been implemented in partnership with the Institute of Security Studies (ISS).

Fellows have taken various seminars on such topics as conflict, violence, peace and business leadership, the economic cost of conflict, and doing ethical business as well as other supplementary workshops meant to boost fellows’ media and communications skills.

The Fellows also had a field visit to Arba Minch where they participated in a seminar held with Gamo elders who shared their traditional conflict resolution mechanisms followed by visits to Dorze Village, Crocodile Ranch, and the 40 Springs. The visit afforded fellows to get insights into the practical application and importance of knowledge and practices of customary institutions in conflict resolution and transformation.

Following the launching event, in collaboration with the Institute of Security Studies (ISS) Initiative Africa (IA) conducted the first Business for Peace Fellowship seminar for first cohort fellows. The seminar lasted for consecutive two days, August 1 & 2, 2022 at Hilton Hotel.

The two days allowed the fellows to gain necessary knowledge about Conflict, Conflict analysis, the Economic cost of Conflict, Gender Dimension of conflict, Peace and also opened the door for them to test their leadership and media skills and let them exchange experiences among their peers.

The Private Sector, National Dialogue and Peacebuilding in Bahirdar and Adama

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Initiative Africa was part of an event organized by the Institute of Security Studies (ISS) together with Bahirdar University under the theme “Importance, Process, Stakeholders’ Role, and Scenario Analysis of the National Dialogue for Ethiopia’ (አገራዊ ምክክር ለኢትዮጵያ አስፈላጊነት፣ ሂደት፣ የባለድርሻ አካላት ሚና እና የቢሆን ትንታኔ) at Bahirdar Kuriftu Resort on June 29, 2022. As part of its initiative to engage the private sector in peacebuilding and National Dialogue, Initiative Africa (IA) in collaboration with the Ministry of Peace has organized a half-day dialogue forum in Adama city on July 26, 2022, for businesses operating in the Oromia region including business owners, and business chambers.
Initiative Africa in its part believes that the private sector can help to preserve the social and civic fabric by continuing to do business across different conflict lines and work together with other civil society groups. The sector can, at both the macro and micro levels, be a catalyst for positive change in the relationships between conflicting factions; act as a facilitator of constructive activities with other actors that have an interest in peace; and be an influencer of actors who, by virtue of their official position or informal authority and legitimacy, can say “yes” or “no” to peace. Initiative Africa takes this as an opportunity to support the flourishing of dialogue culture within the private sector, on the one hand, and the latter’s role in the upcoming National Dialogue, on the other. Initiative Africa (IA) will thus work closely with the Ministry of Peace, the Ethiopian Chamber of Commerce, regional chambers, associations, and like-minded organizations towards boosting the sectors’ role and potential in peacebuilding.

Africa Day 2021: Arts, Culture and Heritage

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Aspiration 5 of Agenda 2063 envisions ‘An Africa with a strong cultural identity, common heritage, shared values and ethics’. This calls for an African cultural renaissance which is pre-eminent and that inculcates the spirit of Pan Africanism; tapping Africa’s rich heritage and culture to ensure that the creative arts are major contributors to Africa’s growth and transformation; and restoring and preserving Africa’s cultural heritage, including its languages.

Globally, the Cultural and Creative Industries (CCIs) play a key role in contributing to GDP. In recognition of the importance of CCIs in achieving the Agenda 2063 objectives of regional integration, inclusive and sustainable economic growth and development, the African Union declared the Year 2021 as “The AU Year of the Arts, Culture And Heritage: Levers for Building the Africa We Want”.

Culture incorporates social behaviour and norms of a society as well as the language, knowledge, beliefs, traditions, arts, customs, capacities and habits of a certain community and the 2021 Theme is a declaration at a continental level for member states to invest more resources in promoting national and regional cohesion by investing in African culture and heritage as a vehicle for promoting and achieving the national economic and social development goals outlined in Africa’s Agenda 2063.

The Year of Arts, Culture and Heritage is happening at a time when the continent is still grappling with the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic which has imposed heavy human, financial and economic costs to Africa. However, during the pandemic the Creative and Cultural Industries in Africa have played a key role in contributing efforts towards prevention and combating the spread of Covid-19 and furthermore the increased use of technology has created new spaces for CCIs sector to thrive by using digital platforms to promote their goods and services. The pandemic has provided an opportunity to re-examine the continent’s socio-economic priorities, including the role of cultural workers, towards contributing to building stronger and more resilient health and social sectors, promoting equality, inclusion, social cohesion and African Renaissance, as inspired by the Ubuntu Philosophy ‘I AM because you are; You are because I Am’.

Activities and programmes to be implemented under the 2021 Theme will prioritise the following:

  1. Arts and Culture;
  2. Health, Wellness and Post COVID-19 Response;
  3. African Languages;
  4. History and Oral Traditions; and
  5. Heritage.

Source: https://au.int/en/theme/2021/arts-culture-and-heritage

Happy International Mother’s Day

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 In pandemic, here’s what moms can do to fight stress and fatigue
Ever since it started, the pandemic — and its resultant lockdowns — have caused stress. The idea of losing a sense of normalcy has overwhelmed people, causing emotional distress and some physical manifestations of it, too.
For mothers, especially, the period hasbeen difficult, and it continues to be so. Tasked with taking care of the house and juggling many responsibilities, mothers are often left exhausted.
And while Mother’s Day is all about making them feel special and slightly-less stressed, Dr Preeti Parakh, psychiatrist and head of power: The Centre, Kolkata, shares with indianexpress.com some simple tips which they can put to use, to beat the stress of COVID-19.
* Routine life: Establishing a routine for everyone in the family provides a structured environment for the children and reduces the stress for parents. Maintaining regular timings for meals, sleep, exercise, games and studies can help children adjust to the new normal, and also ensure mothers get their chores done while children are busy elsewhere.
* Pandemic lessons: Explaining Covid- 19 appropriate behavior and precautions to children patiently will help ensure their compliance and reduce the pressure on the mother of keeping everyone safe. It is also important to practice the same so that children learn by example.
* Making connections: Connecting with other mothers helps form a support system. Sometimes just talking to someone who is facing the same problemsmakes one feel lighter. Connecting with the child’s teachers can also be helpful.
* Discipline: Mothers need to tactfully discipline children when they misbehave. A child throwing tantrums can be extremely stressful for a mother who has a hundred things to do. Sometimes just ignoring bad behavior helps. Distracting the child with some other activity can also help. Good behavior should always be appreciated as it motivates children.
* Family time: Shared family activities like playing indoor games, cooking or gardening together can be relaxing. This can improve family bonding and reduce stress levels for everyone in the family.
* The role of dads: Ensure the involvement of the father in parenting and share responsibilities with him.
* Me-time: Find some time for yourself. Use it to do activities that are enjoyable and relaxing. Take care of your health, eat and sleep on time and exercise regularly. After all, what is good for children is also good for their mothers.
Source The IndianEXPRESS

የኢንሼቲቪ አፍሪካ ማህበር ጠቅላላ ጉባኤ ተካሄደ

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የሲቪል ማህበረሰብ ድርጅቶች አካል የሆነው ኢንሼቲቭ አፍሪካ አመታዊ ጠቅላላ ጉባኤውን  መጋቢት 16 ቀን 2013 ዓ.ም በሞዛይክ ሆቴል ተካሄዷል፡፡

ድርጅቱ እ.ኤ.አ በ 2020 ያከናወናቸው ስራዎች በሶስት መርሃ ግብሮች የተከፋፈሉ ሲሆን እነዚህም “ለውጥ በለውጥ – የስርዓተ ፆታ ጉዳዮችን ማካተት፣ በአካባቢ ልማት የወጣቶችን ልማት ማሳደግ እና የዜጎች ትምህርት እና  የምርጫ ጉዳዮች እንዲሁም የንግድ ዘርፍ ማህበራት እና ምክር ቤቶችን መደገፍ እና አቅም ማጎልበት በተጨማሪም  14ኛው አዲስ ኢንተርናሽናል ፊልም ፌስቲቫል ስራዎች እንደሆኑ የድርጅቱ ጊዜያዊ ሥራ አስኪያጅ አቶ የኋላሸት ገ/ሚካኤል ካቀረቡት ማብራሪያ መረዳት ተችሏል፡፡

ድርጅቱም በዚህ አመት ያጋጠሙት ችግሮች እና የተወሰዱ እርምጃዎችን  ጊዜያዊ ሥራ አስኪያጁ ለጉባኤው አባላት ሲገልፁም  ከመጋቢት ወር 2012 ዓ.ም ጀምሮ በሀገራችን በተከሰተው የኮሮና ወረርሽኝ እና እርሱን ተከትሎ የተወሰደው የአስቸኳይ ጊዜ አዋጅ ስብሰባን እና ተቀራርቦ መስራትን መከልከሉ የታቀዱ ተግባራት በመጓተታቸው ይህንንም ከድጋፍ ሰጪዎች ጋር በመነጋገር የእቅድ ክለሳ መደረጉን  ጠቅሰዋል፡፡

አቶ የኋላሸት በማያያዝም ድርጅቱ ዓላማውን ሙሉ በሙሉ ለማሳካት እንዲያስችለው ለተለያዩ ለጋሾች ያቀረበው የፕሮጀክት ፕሮፖዛል አዎንታዊ ምላሽ  አለማግኘቱንም እንደችግር  አስቀምጠዋል፡፡

ድርጅቱ እ.ኤ.አ በ2020 ላከናወናቸው ተግባራት በአጠቃላይ ከብር  18 ሚሊዮን  932 ሺህ ብር በላይ ወጪ ማድረጉን  በውጭ ኦዲተር የተረጋገጠ ሲሆን ከዚህ ውስጥ የፕሮግራም ወጪ 84 በመቶ፣ የአስተዳደራዊ ወጪ ደግሞ 16 በመቶ መሆኑን ከውጭ ኦዲተሩ ሪፖርት ማወቅ ተችሏል፡፡

ኢንሼቲቭ አፍሪካ እ.ኤ.አ በ2021 ዐም ያቀዳቸው ፕሮግራሞች የድርጅቱ  ጊዜያዊ ስራ አስኪያጅ በዝርዝር  ለማህበሩ ጠቅላላ ጉባኤ  አባላት  የገለፁ ሲሆን  ከእነኚህም መካከል  እ.ኤ.አ በ 2020 ያልተጠናቀቁትን ማጠናቀቅ በ ”ለውጥ በለውጥ – 2 የንግድ ማህበረሰብ  ለሰላም” እና የዜጎች ትምህርት ጉዳዮች እንዲሁም  በስድስተኛው ሀገር አቀፍ ምርጫ  የመጀመሪያ ጊዜ መራጮች ትምህርት በተመረጡ  ሁለተኛ ደረጃ  እና ዩኒቨርሲቲዎች መስጠት በተጨማሪም  በተመረጡ ጉዳዮች የተለያዩ የውይይት መድረኮችን  በማዘጋጀት ማወያየትም ሌላው የፕሮግራም ተግባር መሆኑ ታውቋል፡፡

የድርጅቱ ጠቅላላ ጉባኤ አባላት በቀረቡላቸው ሪፖርቶች እና እቅዶች ላይ አንዳንድ ማብራሪያ እንዲሰጣቸው ከጠየቁ በኋላ ባገኙት ምላሽ ረክተው  ሪፖርቶቹን መሉ በሙሉ  ተቀብለው አፅድቀዋል፡፡

Free Online Courses K-12

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