JICA Finalizes 5 Urban Planning and Management Trainings

The final round of Training of Trainers (ToT) for the Project for Capacity Development for Urban Planning and Management was held from December 04-08, at Ambassador Hotel in Addis Ababa.
H.E. Mr. Fanta Dejen, State Minister of Ministry of Urban and Infrastructure (MoUI) and Mr. Masayoshi Kawai, Project Formulation Advisor (PFA), JICA Ethiopia Office, presented certificates to 18 participants that completed all five of the ToT sessions.

H.E. Mr. Fanta thanked JICA and the people of Japan for the capacity building opportunity and expressed his hope to continue the cooperation between his office and JICA. Mr. Kawai, during his speech, requested the participants to use what they have learnt to improve the urban planning and management of cities in Ethiopia. The participants on their part expressed that in addition to the acquired knowledge and skill, the training increased their confidence as it was comprehensive starting from the preparation of training materials to presenting it in a way that attracts the audience, as well as learning from the experiences of experts from different Japanese cities which they can apply to cities in Ethiopia. Further the participants said that the training helped them to learn from each other and develop a network among themselves.

The first ToT of the series began in November 2022 and included participants from the Ministry of Urban and Infrastructure, Oromia Urban Planning Institute (UPI), Amhara UPI, former Southern Nations Nationality and People Region (SNNPR) UPI and Sidama UPI. Through these five training sessions, the 18 participants have become trainers who will assume leadership positions within the urban planning and management sector.

Furthermore, the project organized practical training to future trainers and upgrade their skill. Through this training 139 staff from participant five pilot secondary cities from Oromia, Amhara, former SNNPR and Sidama Regions, as well as Harar and Dire Dawa cities were trained by future trainers. And selected individuals visited Japan and learned Japanese practical urban planning and management skills in local cities in Japan.

Long-term Japanese experts have been assigned to MoUI since April 2021 to provide internal capacity building activities. They have prepared and handed over various guidelines and manuals related to urban planning and management to the Ministry which will aid in future efforts to scale-up the training to more cities.