In partnership with the State Secretariat for National Solidarity, the Secretariat of State for Housing and the Ministry of Infrastructure and Transport, the French Development Agency (AFD) began yesterday at the palace of the people works a training seminar on urban planning. This meeting will continue it until 2 March. Facilitators and participants will address the issues of precarious neighborhoods and urban mobility.
An urban planning training workshop opened yesterday at the People’s Palace. The holding of this seminar 8 days stems from a joint initiative of the French Development Agency (AFD), the State Secretariat for National Solidarity, the State Secretariat for Housing, the Ministry of Equipment and Transportation.
The inaugural ceremony of this meeting was attended by Secretary of State for Housing, Amina Abdi Aden, the Minister of State for National Solidarity Zahra Youssouf Kayad, Secretary General of the Ministry of Equipment and Transport, Said Nuh Hassan and director of the local AFD office Ignace Monkam-Daverat.
Speaking in turn, the two members of Government reaffirmed the major interest that is of this kind of training seminar stressing the dynamic partnership and quality of the technical support provided by the French Development Agency.
At the outset, Ms. Amina Abdi Aden said the government priorities in urban management. It has declined in terms of « development of the city of Djibouti as an international maritime city and the creation of infrastructure essential to its operation » and « improvement of urban management as a whole which is a prerequisite to addressing the specific issues habitat and housing.  »
Thus, the Secretary of State for Housing has addressed the themes of this training that focus on the analysis of local urban problems. The search for solutions that are adapted to the context of Djibouti.
The argument summarizes the relevance of practical exercises done in teams that will, she has said, the opportunity for stakeholders from diverse backgrounds to interact and to find cooperation mechanisms.
In addition, Ms. Amina Abdi Aden said that the revision of the master plans of urban planning of the main cities in the country has just come to an end. According to him, the new master plans and urban planning beyond the simple spatial planning and take into account all the socio-economic aspects of urban development.
For his part, the Secretary of State for National Solidarity expressed its sincere thanks to the management of AFD has contributed to building the capacity of local elected officials, managers and technicians of public institutions in charge of urban management .
Zahra Youssouf Kayad also indicated that « all projects (…) gives a prominent place in strengthening communities in exercising their powers of urban managers. She urged the facilitators and participants of the seminar to launch a comprehensive reflection and sharing of experiences on urban planning.
To return to the seminary in itself, it must be said that it has the support of professionals with an excellent understanding of urban issues in Djibouti, and Urbaplan Transitec.
Better, the seminar is designed as a proactive training, allowing the thirty participants to share with all players in the field projects in progress, clarify points vigilance urban operations, coordinating projects between structures operational and finally to exchange experiences in urban intervention.
An internationally recognized expert of the Agency for Urban Renovation and Rehabilitation (ARRU) Tunisia will throughout the week expertise in this key policy area of ​​the city in Tunisia.
Implemented with the support of the CEFEB, University of AFD company, this training seminar is focused on the control of local authorities in the implementation of urban planning projects.
This theme addresses the urban development issues facing the southern cities. These include control of urban development and equity of access to services, urban mobility, environment and urban risk.
After the training, beneficiaries have the concepts, methods and tools for strategic planning and urban policies.
The Djiboutian executives who benefit from the training are from the City of Djibouti, the common Balbala, ADDS, DHU, FDH, OVD, ONEAD, Djibouti Prefecture, Ministry of Transport, ADR, Areas, etc.
Incidentally, an exhibition on the CEFEB will be inaugurated in April at the IFD to mark fifty years of existence of this training center based in Marseille (France) and has trained almost 90 executives and managers of public sectors and private Djibouti to date.
Finally, remember that the French Development Agency is one of the reference donors in the sector of urban development in Djibouti where it operates for over 20 years.
These interventions are now focused on three running projects and project instruction, all in grants. This integrated urban development program Walé Daba, a liquid sanitation program and a solid waste program Balbala.
The new Financial AFD financing should address the integrated urban approach in the districts of Layableh and Hayableh.