The Addis Ababa city administration is in the finals stages of providing shelter and other direct support to 5,600 street boys and girls in the capital city.
The support which includes food, health service, education and rehabilitation should begin in the next six months. The land needed to build the shelter has been prepared in Akaki Sub City and construction is expected to begin soon.
The target group of this program is children without homes and family ties which are mostly street children and children especially vulnerable to abuse and exploitation such as children of sex workers and children of dwellers. The scheme will not include children who live with families and in slum areas.
This program will serve homeless children and those who face exploitation such as children of sex workers and people living on the streets. People living in slum areas won’t qualify.
Birhan Lewyew, Addis Ababa Bureau of Labor and Social Affairs and Social Security Agency Communication Officer told Capital that the program will also work to rehabilitate the children.
“We are studying if we should give the children money, but we have some concerns. Some of our staff say that the children may use the money for cigarettes or alcohol while others counter that the children need money to buy things like personal hygiene items. So we will continue discussing the matter.”
It is estimated that there are 20,000 street children in Addis and they are often blamed for crime. They are also often exploited.
Previously, Elshaddai a local NGO attempted to rehabilitate 800 Street children in Addis Ababa but they ended up back on the street.
The Social Affairs and Social Security Agency Bureau, through the support of the World Bank, currently provides 170 birr per month to 19,000 needy people who are incapable of working due to age or disease. Soon an additional  32,000 people should qualify for this program.  However this amount is often too small to meet people’s basic needs. The World Bank is studying this program.
“As a social office we have the responsibility to help street children. We want to help them live a fulfilling life and if possible join their family or obtain education or jobs” the PR added.

Feker Natural Spring Water which started producing bottled water three months ago in Gurague zone, announced that it would increase production by 50 percent in the next fiscal year.
Currently the company produces 24,000 bottles per hour, but that number will soon increase to 36,000 bottles. Feker Bottled Water plans to soon offer its products in three liter bottles when their new machine is installed. Feker sources its water from the Gurage Mountains 207 kilometers south of Addis Ababa; it comes in two, 1.5, and 500ml bottles. The company has invested 180 million birr.
Tesfaye G/ Hiwot, CEO of Feker Bottled water told  that production increase will create one hundred new jobs. “We are waiting for the new machine to double production this doesn’t require any additional space. It will serve more customers and add additional labor from our current 214 workers.”  “We are committed to helping people lead healthier lives as water is surely the best way to fulfill daily hydration needs. Our goal is to provide families in Ethiopia and all around the world with an affordable and convenient daily healthy hydration solution.”
He added that the company plans to export their product after completing a study.
“ The local demand is very high and we are working at 67 percent capacity of production. First let’s meet the local demand by adding a new machine and then we will look at the export market.’’
Fiker Natural Spring Water is  produced by OK Bottling & Beverage SC.
This water is among one of the 57 products that are listed under those that have meet compulsory standards, with the bottlers having to pass through an inspection by ECAE. So far 32 have been certified, according to an official at the ECAE.
The company is deducting two cents per bottle to help needy school children.

The 7th Tana High-Level Forum on peace and security in Africa is set to be held in Bahir Dar from April 21 to 22, 2018. The Forum that will bring together 250 participants including incumbent and former African leaders, stakeholder groups, peace and security experts from around the continent will have the theme: “Ownership of Africa’s peace and Security Provision: Financing and Reforming the African Union”.
During a press briefing held on Thursday at the Sheraton Hotel, Chairperson of Tana Forum and Former President of Nigeria Olesegun Obasanjo stated that the event will deliberate strong solutions on how to finance and reform the AU in peace and security agendas.
“The Forum will generate ideas and views on promoting African-led solutions on peace and security provisions in the continent by Africans. The main agenda of the event is aligned with the African Union’s ambition to reform itself,” said Obasanjo.
According to the Chairman, the AU reform includes institutional improvements at both the political and operation level, especially making a provision for a more sustainable funding for peace building in Africa.
Paul Kagame, President of the Republic of Rwanda and Current AU Chairperson, is expected to deliver the keynote address at the Forum.
To understand ownership it helps to strategically examine the roles and functions of external actors in the goals of peace-building and state-building, a participant said. They further underlined that ownership has acute political significance when presented in the context of relationships between power-holders and others; between developed countries and developing countries; and between Western states and non-Western states.
Tana Forum Secretariat, Communications Coordinator and Profile Manager, Michelle Mendi Muita said that the forum will enable leaders to explore options for innovative and joint action in peace and security.
She further stated that the forum will set aside African leaders to develop and implement adequate and pro-active initiatives in peace and security on the continent and it is designed to share views, experiences and ideas in an informal and independent manner.
The Tana High-Level Forum on Security in Africa is a platform for African leaders, stakeholders and pro-active strategists to collaboratively engage in exploring and exchanging ideas on African-led solutions to security challenges and its secretariat is based at the Institute for Peace and Security Studies (IPSS) of Addis Ababa University.

Last week the second African Climate talks were held to identify new ways to alleviate the climate and development crises facing the continent.
Debasu Bayleyegn, the Director of Climate Change Implementation Coordination at the Environment, Forest and Climate Change Ministry, opened the meeting and facilitated discussions on  climate governance, Africa’s participation in global climate negotiations, as well as weather and climate information services, among other topics.
“As we all know the reality of climate change is starting to bite. More extreme weather conditions are no longer a prediction – they are real and they are happening today. Particularly we the African people are facing the sharp end of climate change and it hampers our stability to achieve the development needs of our population,” said Debasu.
The Director further stated that the 2015 Paris Agreement, although a huge success for the planet, is not an end by itself, nations need to work together to see its implementation. .
“We need all countries to take urgent ambitious climate actions,” he said, adding Ethiopia was on the way to develop long-term NDCs,” he added.
According to James Murombedzi, Officer in Charge of the Economic Commission for Africa’s African Climate Policy Center (ACPC), the recently signed three accords which are the African Continental Free Trade Area, the Kigali Declaration and the Protocol on the Free Movement of People, will lead to a more integrated continent.
He further underlined that climate change representsa massive challenge for Africa, given the reliance of the continent’s economies and societies on climate sensitive natural resource-based activities, its limited capacity to adapt to climate disruption, and its relatively limited influence in the global political economy.
He said the Africa Climate Talks, an initiative of the ACPC and the ClimDev-Africa Initiative, aim to stimulate a wide-ranging discourse informed by the emerging African common positions on a range of pertinent issues, and also to create platforms for the discussions of African perspectives on key issues in the linkages between climate change and Africa’s transformative development trajectories.
“ The initiatives will enhance public awareness of climate change; its implications, challenges and opportunities for Africa and facilitate critical reflection on the global dynamics of climate governance and the possible implications of these on Agenda 2063 and the 2030 Agenda for sustainable development,” said Murombedzi.