(December 19, 2023, Adama) Ethiopian Cities Association (ECA) organized two-day training for the cities of Tigray Region on Good Governance and Peace Building as well as Inclusive Urban Planning and Smart City Implementation today at Adama city.

H.E Ato Haylay Tinsu, Deputy Head of Tigray Region Urban and Construction Office, who gave the opening speech, recalled that ECA had contributed greatly to the development of the Tigray Region’s cities in the past. He added as a mayor who works well and has ideas about urban development can create a good city, the ideas presented in this training will create great potential for our mayors.

The director general of ECA, Ato Andualem Tenaw on his part said that this training is a training that will open the door to start municipal services that were closed due to the two-year war in the region and make their service more efficient and inclusive.

He recalled that in the past the cities of the Tigray Region were considered to be at the forefront of urban development and service delivery and this training will contribute a lot to bring back the same success.

At the conclusion of this training, H.E Ato Haylay said that the Association should be praised for understanding the many problems we have and responding in a short time and organizing this training.

He added that the importance of this sentisizing training is particularly important so as to the municipalities of the region that were closed and can respond to the pressing issues of the residents instantly and provide efficient and modern services.

On the other hand, Ato Andualem said that ECA is prepared to help the cities of Tigray will work to facilitate a platform where they can share experiences with other cities of the country. In addition to this, he invited the cities of Tigray to participate in the 9th Cities Forum, which will be held in Wolayta Sodo city in the coming February.

It was learned from the opinions of some of the trainee mayors that ECA has to be admired since it was able to select and train new ideas in the field of urban development in a short period of time and they have acquired a lot of knowledge and are ready to implement them in their respective cities.