ECSU Awarded for Its Best Practice
At the third annual general assembly of Higher Education Institutions’ Partnership Forum against HIV AIDS/ SRH (Sexual and Reproductive Health) in Ethiopia, a forum established in 2010 by 74 government and private higher education institutions, ECSU was awarded for its good practices of institutional response and for its contribution to the public sector related to HIV and AIDS Programmess. The university has been awarded for strategically involving in HIV/AIDS prevention and control activities through mainstreaming gender sensitive and gender responsive initiatives of addressing the issues of HIV/AIDS and reproductive health into its core and support businesses (internal mainstreaming, including its efforts of policy driven curricular integration, trainings in various topics relevant to its internal and external customers, research activities) and external mainstreaming. The external mainstreaming includes among others building the capacities of the public sector and community services.
Head of the ECSU HIV and AIDS Management Unit (HAMU), Philipos Petros, who was in attendance at the general assembly together with Dr. Hailemichael Aberra, President of ECSU and member of Executive Committee of the forum, said the forum awards best practices in HIV/AIDS research, curriculum mainstreaming and community services. Philipos said
"the ECSU used to organize and facilitate awareness raising trainings, conferences and workshops on HIV/AIDS/SRH in big halls for large number of participants. "
But, Philipos noted, such approaches and strategies were found to be less effective. And after conducting assessment on the knowledge, attitude and practices of students and employees of the university, that approach has been changed and ECSU/HAMU has started organizing community conversation, short term trainings, and dialogues among ECSU community at their department level with smaller groups of people.
Philipos further said that these and related best practices were officially documented in the Quality Audit Report, the publication released by Federal Ministry of Education and UESCO in 2011. He added, recognition of good practice means an additional assignment to work hard together with all stakeholders.
Philipos said the coordination office of Higher Education Institutions’ Partnership Forum against HIV AIDS/ SRH in Ethiopia is currently found on the premises of ECSU. Two people have been employed by Federal HIV/AIDS Prevention and Control Office to work in the office. ECSU is one of the eleven universities that are permanent members of the executive committee of the forum. It was learnt that currently the forum is chaired by Jimma University and ECSU has been re-elected as executive secretary of the forum.