A Lecture Series on Japan’s Development Experience held at AAU
Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) conducted an Illustrated Lecture Series on Japan’s Development Experience with a theme: Education for Development in Ethiopia: Experiences and Lessons from Japan at Addis Ababa University (AAU’s) Ras Mekonnen Hall on the 27th of October 2021.
YumikoYokozeki (PhD), Director at UNESCO International Institute for Capacity Building in Africa (IICBA) and former JICA senior advisor, illustrated in her presentation,“Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA’s) vision for education cooperation is aimed to realize Learning Continuity reflecting commitment to the achievement of SDG 2030.”
As Yokozeki further stated on her presentation entitled “Uniqueness of Japan’s Cooperation in the Education Sector in Africa- focusing on Ethiopia”,JICA will continue its assistance by sharing its comprehensive and coherent support to all levels of education including the non-formal one to meet learning needs of each and every individual.
Yokozeki mentioned the objective of the Ethiopia’s Education Sector 10 year Plan that emphasisesCreating a Generation of Students with overall maturity that embodies positive values required to be competitive using Technology at all levels,which JICA’s Technical Cooperation supports research and institutional frameworkdevelopment and others as well.
Katsuki Morihara (PhD), Chief Representative of JICA Ethiopia Office, told the AAU staff reporter that JICA holds the meeting with an objectivefocusing on the Japanese experience of education development that aimed to sharing the Japanese experience of modernization.
Japan is a well-known Asian country that has advancedfrom a developing country status to the level of one among the most developed ones globally by preserving most of the country’s traditional values and cultures, Morihara stated.
“We think that we can serve as a good reference point for other developing African countries that seek overall sustainable development that suits their own country context and then we are hoping that to have a series of lecture seminars like this but as for the first seminar, we decided to focus on education as a main topic,” the Chief Representative remarked.
“As Education is the core for bringing modernization and directly relates to everyone’s life, it is one of the priority areas among our cooperation strategies; we have done two major things inthis sector, i.e. improving access to all and enhancing its quality,” Morihara added.
Emebet Mulugeta (PhD), Academic Vice President of AAU, in her part said that JICA launched the Development Studies Program in collaboration with many different universities in Japan with an aim to develop future leaders of developing countries.
“Ethiopia is among the African countries that has gained an ideal opportunity; the lecture seminar will help us a lot to create inspiring future leaders in every aspect,” Emebet added.
Source: Addis Ababa University