The workshop was officially launched jointly by H.E. Mr. Alexio Musindo, ILO Director for Ethiopia, and H.E. Ms. Ito Takako, Japanese Ambassador to Ethiopia. The event also enjoyed by a wide range of participant from various key partners, including Ms. Ann Enconte, Country Representative of UNHCR; Mr Tesfahun Gobezay Kinfie, Director of Agency for Refugees and Returnees Affairs (ARRA); and Dr Abdulkarim Iman – Head of Regional Bureau of Agriculture and Natural Resources as well as the Somali regional state media.
Drought and flood are two of the major natural hazards in Ethiopia, particularly in Kebribeyah and Jijiga. The ILO aims to enable quick socio-economic recovery in Kebribeyah and Jijiga through the construction of a micro dam and detention pond to flood-affected communities with a view to enhancing community resilience to disasters.

In his opening remark, Mr. Musindo said, “This intervention funded through the Government of Japan will enable the construction of vital infrastructure assets that will minimize the incident of the environmental shock while generating as many jobs as possible."

During the event, the ILO illustrated its role in forced displacement response and how this Japan-funded project will reinforce its existing support for the country in particular the vulnerable communities in Kebribeya and Jijiga under the PROSPECTS partnership. The event also underscored the critical partnership with the international NGO CORE, registered in Japan, and introduced its local resource-based approaches that were identified through a joint mission prior to this event. These approaches will maximize the input of local labour, materials, tools and equipment through local suppliers, in order to maximize the community ownership of the intervention. Through this job creation scheme, the ILO will mainstream decent work principles.

H.E. Ms. Ito Takako, Ambassador of Japan to Ethiopia on her part, stated, “This project will help to promote job creation for IDPs, refuges as well as host communities and access to capacity building for the regional government, as well as the prevention of the COVID-19 spread in the region”.

“We have a good hope with this project - this is mainly because if we manage flood, we are also managing the drought. So we are happy with it and expect good results in the future”, said H.E. Dr. Abdulkarim Iman – Head of Regional Bureau of Agriculture and Natural Resources.

In his concluding remark, Mr. Musindo explained, “The whole idea behind the ILO’s intervention, using Employment-Intensive Investment approach, as well as local inputs to the process, is not to import inputs from elsewhere; rather using the existing resources available within the local environment. To this effect, the project requires a full joint effort from all stakeholders so that we can deliver the required result.”

As part of the launching event, participants paid a site visit where the project will commenced in the near future and meet with the Somali regional state president H.E. Mustafa Mohamed Umar at his presidential palace to discuss on the new project launching in the region.

For further information, please contact:

Mr. Dejene Sakoume
Communication Officer, Embassy of Japan
T: +251-11 667 1166| M: +251 91 175 3486|
E: dejene.sakoume@ad.mofa.go.jp

Mr. Jean-Yves Barba
Programme Manager, ILO CO-Addis Ababa
T: +251 115 44 4409 | M: +251 929 43 7061 | E: barba@ilo.org