2nd Signing Ceremony for GGPs in JFY 2013at the Embassy of Japan on 12 September, 2013

Respected Partners,
Distinguished Guests,
Ladies and Gentlemen,

          Endemen Walachehu.

It is a most pleasant duty for me to sign grant contracts for grassroots human security projects (GGPs) with prominent project partners.  This is the second signing ceremony in JFY 2013, and today two GGP grant contracts, totaling 237,273 USD have been concluded.  Both of them are education projects, one in the Oromia Regional State and the other in the SNNPRS.

First of all, I would like to express my heartfelt congratulations to our project partners.  You are important and reliable partners for us in implementing small-scale, community-based projects in various parts of Ethiopia.

Now, I would like to introduce each project briefly.  The first project is for the expansion of the Dalota Primary School in Gelan Town, Oromia Region.  Our project partner is the Gelan Town Administration, represented here today by Ato Mulugeta Kebede, Mayor of the town.

Gelan Town was established in 2007 as part of the Finfine Surrounding Special Zone, and more than 260 small- and medium-sized factories are located there.  Since that time, the population has been growing rapidly.  Although there are three primary schools in the town, they cannot accommodate all the school-aged children.  300 children are estimated to be out of school in the town.  This is also the case with the Dalota Primary School, one of the three schools.  Currently two blocks with eight classrooms are available, but the school is overcrowded, as exemplified by the number of students per class, 105 at maximum, which far exceeds the national standard of 50.  In addition, the school is not equipped with a library or a laboratory.  These are the reasons why our Embassy recommended this project to Tokyo for approval.

This project, therefore, aims to improve the educational environment of the school by building new school blocks.  Through this project, one block with five fully furnished classrooms and another block with a library, a laboratory and a pedagogical center will be newly constructed.  As a result, about 300 additional students will be enrolled, and the average number of students per class will be reduced from 65 to 55.

The second project is to expand the Udassa Repe Secondary School in the Mareko Woreda, Gurage Zone, SNNPRS.  Our project partner is the Libido Mareko Development Association, represented here today by Ato Nasir Bika, General Manager of the Association.

In the Mareko Woreda, only one secondary school used to exist in Koshe Town.  However, only one third of the students at the school passed the national exam.  In addition, as the secondary school is far from the surrounding villages including Udassa Repe, many students gave up secondary education in these villages.  In such a situation, at the strong request of the community, the Udassa Repe Primary School has been expanded up to Grade 9 in 2012/13, but only two classrooms have been available for G9 students, making classes crowded.  Moreover, about 300 students are expected to go to secondary school next academic year.  Therefore, launching a well-established secondary school is now an urgent task.  Although the local authority plans to construct a block with four classrooms, this will not be sufficient to accommodate all potential students, and facilities such as a library and a laboratory are also required.  These are the reasons why our Embassy recommended this project to Tokyo for approval.

This project, therefore, aims to expand the newly built secondary school by constructing new school blocks in parallel to local efforts.  Through this project, two blocks with five classrooms will be newly built, four of which will be fully furnished.  In addition, a library block and a laboratory block will be constructed as well, both of which will have three rooms each and will be furnished.  As a result, the number of students who enjoy secondary education at Grades 9 and 10 will increase from 55 to 540, including 300 newly enrolled G9 students, in an improved educational environment.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

It is gratifying for us that these projects will be managed by such respected partners as your organizations in the coming year.  They will be significantly conducive to the empowerment of vulnerable and marginalized people in need and will contribute to the economic and social development of your respective communities.

Before I conclude, I would like to remind you, our project partners, that these projects awarded this time should be implemented in a timely manner, with my project coordinator in charge, Kazuyo, well informed of the progress and changes in plan, if any.  It is also critically important that the benefits of the projects should be enjoyed by people in the respective local communities as this is one of the most significant characteristics of GGPs.

Amesegenalehu!