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Ethiopia: Disaster Prevention and Prepardness Agency Vol.14 No.5

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Ethiopia
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Govt. Ethiopia
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Special Tombola Winners Awarded

The winners of the special tombola organized to solicit fund to support and rehabilitate flood victims have been awarded their respective prizes by the National Fund Raising Committee (NFRC) on June 19,2007.

The special tombola organized with the theme "let's reach out to our compatriots" handed out first prize to the number 0704551 to the winner from SNNPR, Guraghie Zone, Gumero Wereda, Arekit town whose name is Ato Belayneh Shewangizaw. The prize is 200 square meters of land in Addis Ababa and additional birr 200,000 for the constriction of a house, which was handed over by Ato Simon Mechale chairman of the National Fund Raising Committee and Director General of DPPA.

Similarly, the second prize was awarded to the number 1404807 to the winner retired Captain Alemesged Kassahum from Debre Zeit town. The prize is 150 square meters of land in Addis Ababa and additional birr 100,000 for the constriction of a house was handed over by Abune Paulos, partiarch of the Ethiopian Orthodox Church and member of the NFRC.

The 3rd and 4th prizes were handed over to Jilalo Bahjo in Addis Ababa and Ato Soje Nikos from Awasa respectively. The prizes were an lsuzu truck (3rd prize) and a Renault automobile (4th prize) which were handed over to the winners by members of the NFRC Abune Birhane Eyesus, Achbishop of the Catholic Church of Ethiopia and W/ro Ubah Mohammed state minister of Ministry of Women's Affairs.

At the outset of the handing over ceremony Ato Simon Mechale explained, with regard to various activities of the NFRC since its establishment, that during the first round of allotment birr 44 million has been sent to flood victims and the second round of allotment is being processed. This allotment does not include what has been collected by regions. The NFRC has also urged to make sure that pledges are kept and the proper efforts made to that end.

Committee Decides Over 8.2 Million Birr to be apportioned to Flood-Displaced People Rehabilitation activities

" A birr to a compatriot " fund soliciting committee established to raise fund for drought affected people in 1994/95 E.C unanimously decided birr over 8.2 Miln., which it managed to secure from the public, to be apportioned for the rehabilitation of severely flood affected people of four regions.

In a press conference held in the DPPA's Hall on 18 June2007, both the Agency and the Committee said that as per the agreements reached between the parties they decided to give the money the committee solicited from the public to the same natural disaster affected people in various parts of the country, i.e. to the last year's flood-hit regions: Dire Dawa, South Omo zone of SNNPR, Amhara and Somali.

They said that the food and non-food items (materials) which the committee solicited during the reported period had already been utilized for the intended purpose. But with regard to the raised money, they said, the committee found it better, instead of allocating it to the direct daily consumption of the needy, to plan to allocate the money to development projects that could bring about a lasting and meaningful change to the lives of the intended beneficiaries, especially to allocate it to those projects that could contribute to the country's ongoing food security programme.

Based on this common assent of the Committee and the Agency to this substantially sublime intention, they said that they had invited(requested) the four regions vulnerable to recurrent drought to come up with feasible project proposals prepared in accordance with the suggested term of references (TOR). Though the commit tee had set directions for the preparation of the project that could contribute to the food security programme of the country and elected professionals to evaluate the feasibility of project proposals submitted by the regions, none of them could manage to produce a viable project proposal, it was explained. Therefore, due to this and other related reasons the fund, thus, remained unutilized, it was explained.

Eventually, after much discussion and consultative meetings over the matter, the Agency and the Committee together decided and agreed on the money to be apportioned among the above mentioned regions based on the extent and magnitude of the devastating flood that occurred during the rainy season of 2006 as per the damage caused to each region. It was also mentioned that over three million birr pledged by various quarters for the same cause has remained uncollected due to various reasons.