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Merga Yonas

The gtz International Service (gtz IS) is to hold a photographic exhibition of the works it has undertaken for the government under the University Capacity Building Program (UCBP) on Monday, January 11, 2010, at the Goethe Institute in the Addis Abeba University Faculty of Business and Economics.

The UCBP, fully funded by the ministries of Education and Capacity Building, involves the construction of 13 universities on 1.5 million square metres at 15 different sites in the country to accommodate 62,643 students.

The programme, which also aims to modernise Ethiopia’s construction sector, leading to increased international competitiveness, involves the majority of the Ethiopian construction sector with more than 600 small, medium and large companies, leading around 50 of them to ISO 9001:2000 certification. The gtz IS is the management and implementation agent for the project.

Tomorrow’s exhibition, which follows one in Frankfurt, Germany that took place from July 17, 2009, to September 6, 2009, at the German Architectural Museum (DAM), will show photos, texts and university campus master plans, allowing visitors to read material about capacity development, the cobblestone project and the 10 types of buildings within the UCBP.

There will also be additional material on Ethiopia’s long history, the Rastafarians and the unique Ethiopian calendar, according to Stessi Noelting, head of public relations at gtz IS-Ethiopia.

Demeke Mokonen, minister of education, and Elke Kaschl Mohni (PhD), director of the Goethe Institute, are expected to attend the opening, Noelting said.

The exhibition will stay open to the public until January 25, after which it will move to the German House at Kazanchis.

The construction of the university buildings is taking place in such a manner that completed portions begin accepting students while construction work continues on other parts, according to the UCBP website. By 2010, up to 60,000 students are expected to live and study on the campuses.