Binyam Tamene
14 December 2007
Addis Abeba — A US university and an Ethiopian university are to join hands in a partnership that will seek to improve disaster risk management and reduce the vulnerability of millions of Ethiopians.
The program that links the University of Arizona (UA) and the Bahir Dar University (BDU) in the Amhara National Regional State was launched by the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID).
The three year $ 200,000 grant will help BDU create a regional institute of excellence on disaster risk management and sustainable development.
Officially announcing the partnership alongside faculty from both universities on Wednesday, USAID Mission Director Glenn Anders said the program would have the most impact on the lives of millions of Ethiopians.
"USAID strongly believes that institutionalizing disaster risk management skills and capacity will, in the end, save millions of Ethiopian lives," Glenn Anders said.
The Director said the agency would provide the needed resources to build the skills and capacity of Bahir Dar University's Department of Disaster Risk Management and Sustainable Management.
The new partnership between the universities will provide graduate training for faculty at BDU through a combination of face-to-face interaction with UA counterpart faculty as well as distance-learning through a web-based portal, owned by USAID and co-managed by UA.
BDU Vice-President of Academic & Research Dr Yalew Endawoke said on his that the partnership would help the university in particular and the country he said is facing disasters of many kinds "We are planning to start an MSc. program on this field starting from next semester with, scholars coming from UA to help us develop the curriculum and train our man power" Dr Yalew said.
According to Dr Yalew the University of Arizona would also provide BDU major capacity-building support for the newly established Department of Disaster Risk Management and Sustainable Development at BDU.
"The three years program includes University of Arizona staff providing technical assistance on disaster risk management and sustainable development to the University of Bahir Dar," he said University of Arizona faculty would develop annual internships for the graduate faculty which would help the faculty to develop the ability of the university to offer a range of short-courses for community leaders and for disaster management specialists from government and NGO5.
USAID said the department would become a core repository of information for research and analysis, which will better inform disaster management and development policy debates.
USAID said the project would culminate in a major national and international conference held at BDU, which would highlight the new department and provide an opportunity for faculty to present research.
The conference will establish BDU's credentials as a leader in both disaster prevention and mitigation and in distance and web-based learning.
Inaugurated in May 2001, Bahir Dar University was formed by Bahir Dar Teachers College joined together Bahir Dar Polytechnic Institute. The university has 20 thousand students and 400 lecturers.
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