ECSU and IHS Organize a Refresher Course
Ethiopian Civil Service University (ECSU) and the Institute for Housing and Urban Development Studies (IHS) of Erasmus University jointly organized a ten day refresher course at ECSU`s Development Learning Center for twenty participants drawn from nine African countries including Ethiopia.
Themed “Post-disaster Shelter Provision and Urban Resilience ", the refresher course kicked off on October 22, 2013 and will last for 10 days.The objective of the refresher course is to update participants` knowledge, share views and experiences and bring forth the urban resilience agenda to manage the reconstruction and recovery processes specifically regarding shelter provision and housing development in the aftermath of natural as well as man-made calamities. Ato Gebretensay Tesfay coordinator of the programme said
" there will be a discussion on theoretical concepts and practical experiences, and case study review and fieldwork will also be conducted."
According to Gebretensay, Ethiopia is chosen from other countries in Africa due to the prevailing sustainable peace in the country, the government`s stance in the development of cities and being the capital of Africa. Gebretensay also said the participants of the course had their say as to where the training shall be convened and they unanimously selected Ethiopia to host the event. This entails that Ethiopia is an ideal place to host conferences both at regional and international level, which is very important for the image of the country, Gebretensay added.
The participants are scheduled to travel to Dire Dawa for a fieldwork and come up with their findings, and discuss it in groups which will finally end up in presenting the lessons they learnt from the fieldwork to the participants.