Vol. 25 No. 8 Wednesday, March 28, 2018 Pages 8, Price 2.00 NFA

Call was made for concerted effort of all institutions to enhance contribution in the implementation of the chartered out development programs and that of health and social welfare in particular, reports from the Southern Red Sea region indicated.

At a meeting conducted on 21 March in the port city of Assab, the Minister of Health, Ms. Amina Nurhussein, stated the struggle for enabling women strengthen participation and contribution in all

Call for EnhanCEd Contribution on dEvElopmEnt programs

popular Campaign to rEdrEss EnvironmEnt

A report released by the World Health Organization (WHO) stated that Eritrea ranks first in Africa as regards monitoring drug safety issues. Eritrea, along with the Netherlands and Peru broke new ground in Pharmacovigilance achievement and are invited to share their success stories in the forthcoming 40th anniversary of the Uppsala Monitoring Centre due to take place in May.

According to the Ministry of Health, the Eritrean Pharmacovigilance program detected 11 new drug safety issues leading to broad acclamation and recognition by both the global scientific community and

The 41st anniversary of the liberation of Nakfa was marked with enthusiasm featuring sports and artistic performances and other programs.

Noting the heroic feat demonstrated in the struggle to liberate Nakfa from the hands of the Ethiopian colonizers and the heavy sacrifice paid, the Administrator of Nakfa sub-zone, Mr. Yakob Idris, said that Nakfa never fell into enemy hands after it was liberated marking a special chapter in the history of Eritrea.

The coordinator of the event, Mr. Osman Tiluk, on his part pointed out that the steadfastness demonstrated and the sacrifice paid in the struggle to liberate Nakfa has been the foundation for the developments that followed over the course of the struggle for independence.

Members of the “Jemahir” association who participated in the event also gave extensive briefing to the students of Tsabra on the heroic feats demonstrated to liberate the town.

Nakfa was liberated on 23 March 1977 after six months of encirclement and heavy fighting.

EritrEa ranks top in afriCa vis-à-vis monitoring drug safEty issuEs: Who rEport

41st annivErsary of thE

libEration of nakfa

The Ministry of Health in cooperation with the WHO and other stakeholders, has launched a 5-year National Action Plan for Health Security, yesterday, at Asmara Palace Hotel.

Speaking at the launching ceremony, which was attended by high government officials as well as members of the diplomatic corps and representatives of international organizations in Eritrea, the Minister of Health, Ms. Amina Nurhussien, stated that Eritrea’s 5-Year National

The inhabitants of Adi-Gombolo, Selae Daero Administrative area, conducted successful water and soil conservation popular campaign in a bid to redress the environment.

The coordinators of the campaign indicated that from 400 to 500 people participated daily in the activity.

In the same vein, the youth workers in Adi-Keih sub-zone conducted similar water and soil conservation campaign in their area.

ministry of hEalth launChEs 5-yEar national aCtion plan for hEalth sECurity

manufacturers.

Likewise, following joint assessment by the WHO and stakeholders conducted in 2017, the Eritrean Pharmacovigilance program was rated as having fulfilled the WHO standard.

It is to be recalled that Eritrea organized the East African advanced course on Pharmacovigilance and Risk Management in April 2016 under the theme “safer drugs and vaccines to market by analyzing latest developments in PV, drug safety and risk management”. The advanced course was attended by professionals from 17 countries.

Action Plan is aimed at preventing and detecting any epidemic infectious disease early and responding rapidly at its moment of birth--before it has any chance of becoming a national or an international threat.

Stating the development of this strategic plan was led by the Ministry of Health in partnership with a broad range of stakeholders, including national ministries and international organizations, Minister Amina said that the national strategic plan is tied to the national and

international priorities including, the Global Agenda of the Sustainable Development Goals. She also pointed that the implementation plan has identified all activities that the stakeholders should perform.

Representative of the World Health Organization in Eritrea, Doctor Josephin Namboze underscored the significance of international legal agreements and the support of the international community to prevent and respond to acute public health emergencies that have the potential to

cross borders spreading and making threats to people worldwide.

Commending the Government of Eritrea for launching the 5-Year National Action Plan for Health Security, Doctor Josephine expressed readiness of the WHO in the implementation of the Action Plan in partnership with Eritrea.

At the event, briefing on various issues including international health regulation, Eritrea’s Health system and the directions for the National Action Plan for Health Security, the objectives and mission of the plan, as well as on infectious diseases that spread from animals to people and drug resistance among others were delivered.

sectors is not to be left to a particular institution and called for integrated effort to that effect.

Indicating that organizational structure and plan of action has been put in place at a villages level in a bid to tackle the challenges women are facing, Minister Amina called for due focus on eradicating harmful traditional practices.

The Minister of Labor and Human Welfare, Ms. Leul Gebreab, on her part noted that the awareness registered through relentless effort

exerted before and after independence coupled with the initiatives taken will have significant contribution for a tangible result on the ground.

The Governor of the Southern Red Sea region, Ambassador Mohamed-Seid Mantai, also indicated that efforts have been made at a regional level to eradicate socio-cultural challenges that have been preventing the progress of women and negatively affecting their health, and called for integrated effort on the part of the relevant institutions.

2 Vol 25 . No 8 Eritrea Profile, Wednesday, March 28, 2018

Habtom Tesfamichael

In the political, diplomatic and armed struggle they waged for over half a generation to gain their right to self-determination, the Eritrean people ascertained their liberty after tackling diverse and persistent hostilities. The Eritrean people were forced to make sacrifices not only for territorial independence but also for justice, peace and political stability to reign. Up on independence, the Eritrean government recognized the prominent and direct responsibility of the State to set up new social order giving priorities to the interests of our masses, which obviously include the Labor.

The main objective of the Eritrean government after independence was to build a national economy that ensures the socio-economic justice of its citizens. Therefore, in building the economy, the human resource of the nation was given importance. One of the primary tasks was creating conditions that enable people to reap the fruits of their labor and improve their living standards through work.

The Department of Labor at the Ministry of Labor and Human Welfare (MLHW) was established in order to ensure this, and it

MLHW : Ensuring decent Work conditionsissued a proclamation of labor law to administer labor relations and oversee working conditions. The proclamation reflects the Government’s commitment to development, the protection of workers’ rights, social welfare and socio-economic conditions of the people.

Labor, according to the labor law of Eritrea, is defined as the amount of physical, mental and social effort used to produce goods and services in an economy.

Mr. Weldeyesus Elisa, head of the Department of Labor, says “labor supplies the expertise, manpower and service needed to turn raw materials into finished products and services. In return, laborers receive a wage to buy the goods and services they produce themselves”. This makes human resource unique from the other factors of production. Labor resource is dynamic, and careful management of it is important for its maximum worth. Therefore, an effective labor law is very important.

Labor in Eritrea is administered based on the macroeconomic policy of Eritrea endorsed by Proclamation No. 118/2001.

Mr. Weldeyesus says the department endeavors to improve the standard of living of the population through the provision of decent work and social protection, and its core activities revolve around improving economic growth. Its vision is to create a conducive environment for sustainable development through decent work. The duties of this department are to reduce the unemployment rate to its lowest level and find ways where every able bodied citizen can get a job with a reasonable salary, thereby reducing the poverty level and eventually contribute to the growth of the national economy.

The Labor Department has four branches and seven units and its branches reach down to zonal and sub-zonal administrations.

The employment branch is mandated to manage the labor resource by studying the type

of labor force the national economy demands, the available type of work force which is underexploited and general labor trends. It also deals with the national labor market and acts as a facilitator between a job seeker, employer and training centers. To guarantee a safe working environment, this branch gives advice and training to job seekers. Moreover, it acts as a facilitator between the domestic workforces, which is underutilized, with international labor markets. This contributes toward reducing the unemployment rate at home and gives the worker who is sent abroad an opportunity to bring back some skills that enable him or her become self-reliant.

The department regularly inspects the general working conditions and safety standards through its personnel to ensure compliance requirements are met for better working conditions. The unit in charge of this task controls conditions of work, .i.e. entire field of employee –employer relations and that includes, without limitation, hours of work, wages, annual and other forms of leave payment due to dismissal, compensation to employees for occupational diseases or accidents, redundancy, and any other employee benefits

and responsibilities. Labour relations in Eritrea are

not characterized by disputes. Mr. Weledyesus says that the emphasis is on conciliation where any labor dispute arises. The parties or their representatives have the responsibility to meet at the place of work and make a serious preliminary effort to resolve the dispute in a spirit of understanding and this is typical of Eritrean culture. Labour relations unit of the department is responsible for settling labor disputes through conciliation and arbitration pursuant to the labor proclamation law. But if this fails to happen, their cases are seen by labor courts set up to resolve such issues. Labor disputes are divided into collective and individual disputes. Individual labor disputes are seen by the first instance labor court and the collective disputes are seen by the tripartite Labor Relations

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Mr. Weldeyesus Elisa

Board. For labor relations system to be effective, the Department of Labor underscores the importance of perfect match of the tripartite components of it. The major components or role players in labor relations are the government, the employers and the workers and their organizations.

In line with this, in order to improve employees’ and employers’ awareness of labor laws, the department conducts different activities in cooperation with employees and employers labor associations. Workers who are not members of associations are reached through the department’s personnel. Employees and employers have the right to form their respective associations and participate in their activities as members in accordance with the labor law. Associations shall be registered in the ministry. Through their registration, the associations obtain certain benefits and registration confers them a legal existence as an entity. The labour relations in Eritrea have a long history and it was by early 1950s that Eritrean workers formed a workers association, the first of its kind in Africa. After independence the National Confederation of

continued on page 3

Safety at work : Bisha mining

3 Vol 25 . No 8 Eritrea Profile, Wednesday, March 28, 2018

According to the reports •of the Uppsala Monitoring Center (Sweden), the WHO collaborating center for international drug monitoring, Eritrea tops all African countries in completeness and number of the submitted drug safety reports to the global database. (see figure 1 & 2)

As a result, the Eritrean •Pharmacovigilance program detected 11 new drug safety issues which were previously unknown to global scientific community and manufacturers.

These identified safety •issues have been communicated internationally in peer-reviewed international journals and some have received global attention entailing policy changes in the Eritrean Healthcare system.

WHO-IGAD joint •benchmarking assessment on the Eritrean medicines regulation system was also conducted in March 2017. The Eritrean Pharmacovigilance program achieved the desired maturity

PrEss rELEasE

Eritrea: Track record in drug safety Monitoringfigure 1•

figure 2•

figure 3•

level set by the WHO. (see figure 3)

The assessors reported •that rapid benchmarking of Eritrea attests that Pharmacovigilance function is performed at maturity LEVEL THREE indicating a local strength that can provide technical support in regional harmonization initiatives.

Eritrea, along with two •other countries, (the Netherlands

and Peru), who have broken new ground in Pharmacovigilance, are invited to share their success stories in the upcoming 40th Anniversary of the Uppsala Monitoring Centre that will take place in May 2018.

It is to be recalled that, in •April 2016 the Ministry of Health had offered a one-week advanced Pharmacovigilance Course in which 17 countries from Africa and beyond participated.

Eritrean Workers (NCEW) was established to protect the rights and benefits of employees.

The labor relations unit has the responsibility of harmonizing international treaties or conventions and bilateral agreements Eritrea ratifies with the domestic labor law.

The labor law affords every citizen the right to enter a job contract upon any lawful profession or occupation, and

Ensuring decent . . .to conduct any lawful trade or business. The labor proclamation provides a ninety-day probation period to test the fitness of an employee and an employee who continues to work after the expiry of the probation period is deemed to have successfully completed it and employed on the basis of the contract of employment. Every employer is required to issue a formal appointment letter at the time of employment of each worker.

Eritrea ratified in 1995 the charter of the International Labor Organization (ILO) and has been a member since.

continued from page 2

The National Union of Eritrean Women’s branch in the Southern Red Sea region organized a meeting for Tio High School students with the objective of empowering women.

The Head of the NUEW branch in the region, Ms. Saedia Ibrahim, indicated that the necessary effort is being made to enable women benefit from education and vocational skills and thereby enhance their contribution in national development activities.

Stating that the enhancement of organizational capacity is in line with the objectives of the NUEW and the Government, Ms. Saedia noted the importance of peer pressure in empowering women vis-à-vis educational and related activities.

The Ministry of Labour and Human Welfare’s branch in the Southern region recently organized a seminar with a view to enhancing the role of the public in support of disadvantaged citizens.

Noting that over 100 million Nakfa was disbursed to families of martyrs and another 1.5 million Nakfa to 460 disadvantaged children, the head of the branch office, Mr. Haile Gebremichael called for integrated effort towards registering better outcome.

Mr. Kaleab Tesfaselasie, Director General of Social Service in the region, explained that the government is exerting due effort to alleviate challenges the society is encountering and called on the staff of the Ministry of Labour and Human Welfare to work in partnership with stakeholders.

for WomEn’s EmpoWErmEnt

support for disadvantagEd CitizEns

local news

4 Vol 25 . No 8 Eritrea Profile, Wednesday, March 28, 2018

Natnael Yebio W.

It is, of course, a human tradition to moan about the weather as a conversational gambit. Like most of us, I can extract a good minute and a half of chatter about the finer nuances of a climate that veers from mildly interesting to interestingly mild – chatter that saves me from revealing the terrifying truth about my social ineptitude – but I’m at a loss when it comes to discussing the heat, because everyone else seems to have some sort of an opinion about it, ranging from the downright idiotic to complete nonsense.

One day as I strolled along the narrow streets of Asmara in the midday sun, a friend who saw me stooped me and remarked that I had to be mad to take a walk in such an ungodly time and suggested that I kept to the shaded part of the sidewalk. I was not convinced.

“I grew up in Asmara.” I explained. “No amount of my country’s chilling cold or scalding heat or roaring wind is going to stop me.”

I know that the highland sun does strain the eyes and can burn the skin with its undiminished supply of ultraviolet rays, but we Eritreans, either by nature or by custom, do not like to carry umbrellas to protect ourselves.

According to tradition, walking in the midday sun is not recommended, especially for children. The old folk used to say that the time between noon and two o’clock was when all types of evil spirits stalked unwary victims. If you passed by a heap of garbage or a very dirty spot, you probably got stricken by these evil spirits which left you lying on the ground dead or half-dead. But if the place was an open field where the wind blew as it pleased, you were led by some of these thermo-spirits to a far away land where the world as you knew it would be dissolved into nothingness, and you continued

When it rains in March , it pours in June!

walking and walking to infinity like a zombie until some villager with a sixth sense stopped you and took you back home.

This phenomenon is known in Tigrigna as shukushuka. Probably a sun induced hallucination. Strangely enough it doesn’t seem to affect the children of this generation.

Oh to be young again!

Urbanization has not only destroyed the environment, but it is also responsible for the extinction of our forest spirits and fairies.

How do Eritreans keep cool? This is a good question. The answer lies in the peasant’s Garth. One should bear in mind that the majority of our villagers wear white and loose fitting clothes and light thong sandals. The white color reflects the sunrays and the thong sandals keep the feet fresh and odorless. For more ventilation around the armpits, the peasants carry their stick astride

their shoulders and let their arms rest on either end parts of the stick. The sweat evaporating from the armpits will create a cooling sensation.

Another way of keeping cool is not to eat foods with high caloric contents like milk, butter and fatty meat. Fortunately, just when the hot season starts, it is Lent. And during Lent Orthodox christians and Catholics abstain from animal foods and dairy products. After eating nothing but vegetables for one week, the sun’s rays and heat will lose their sting. You can now thumb your nose at that fiery ball in the sky.

If, however, the weather gets unbearably hot, reaching such a point where flies commit suicide by nose diving into a hot cup of tea, then either you run for cover under the shade of a tree or find a stream and drink as much as you can without disturbing the cattle.

Should your journey get you across a hot semi-desert where

it looks there is more water in your body than in the whole godforsaken region, you are advised to drink entati’e, a mixture of powdered flax seed and water, the oil in the flaxseed will keep your gullet and entrails moistened for long hours.

However, peasants who harness or yoke their oxen for a day’s plowing prefer suwa to pure water probably because it is more refreshing and more stimulating.

And then there is the ill wind that blows no good. Sometimes it lifts the dust from the ground and sprays it into your eyes and nostrils. Girls with newly done hair dread it as if it were the devil, and list it second to rainfall among natural hazards that threaten their looks.

Peasants welcome it during winnowing time on the threshing ground, but are very much terrorized when it blows with full force in the middle of the rainy season. It means disaster. For such

a wind comes with a ‘conductor’s baton’ to signal the finale of the grand summer rainfall in mid concert. Drought and famine follow causing displacement and social disruption.

In some ways the wind is also associated with the devil in our tradition. Too much of it and the people think that there is war or some kind of skirmish somewhere. In case the devil feels that he is not getting proper attention, he is believed to come as a wind and waylay people in some corners of the street or even in one’s own backyard and imparts a vigorous slap in the face to cause temporary facial paralysis in the victim. That’s partly the reason why passengers in the bus shout at you to roll down the window pane for heaven’s sake. Nobody likes to have bronchitis or facial paralysis just because some ‘idiot’ wants his day’s share of oxygenated air.

There are two rainy season in Eritrea. In the highlands and in the Western lowlands the rain comes in the months of June and July. The Eastern lowlands, however, enjoy their wet season during the months of February and March only.

Why is it then that we are having shower at present in the highlands? People say that there is so much rainfall in the Eastern lowlands that it is simply spilling over on the adjacent highlands.

The farmers consider it a good omen for a sure appearance of the short rains that fall in April and May before coming once again in June –July or kremti. Traditionally it is called Seglelet meaning a sign of good summer ahead. That is so much good news and it calls for a dance in the streets. Some people already feel like singing in the rains.

A little shower now means a heavier shower in April and May. And this in turn will cause the great rains to come on time in heavy downpour.

Let’s keep our fingers crossed.

Filmon Zerai

In the early 1990s, Eritrea was off the grid and disconnected from the internet as there was no reliable email system or any international modem access. The main telecommunication infrastructure at the time was being repaired after it had been destroyed by Ethiopian colonialism.

Consequently, the cost of making international calls was around $3 a minute and this was unbearable for foreign visitors, diplomats and Eritreans trying to communicate globally. All that changed in 1995 with the contribution of a visitor from the US by the name of Robert Van Buskirk who was a Fulbright Scholar working at the University of Asmara’s Physics Department. During his stay in Eritrea, he was yearning for a cheap alternative rather than calling at an expensive rate to his family in America. He was envisaging a way to communicate through e-mail as a cheaper alternative but the technical limitation and access was the main issue. Fortunately, Robert’s personal motivation led him to get support in making that desire be realized thanks to his friend in the United States who had advanced experience with popular open source Linux operating system. Both Robert and his friend with, additional contribution from tech-savvy Eritreans in the diaspora as well as local students, were able to help create Eritrea’s first email system. In essence, the configuration and installation of the email server

5Eritrea Profile, Wednesday, March 28, 2018 Vol 25 . No 8

Eritrean Technological Independence with Open source software

with the Linux operating system was free to acquire and matched the precise need for the email system. As a result, the email system was operating with high efficiency, minimal hardware utilization and without any major headaches and financial expenses that occur with closed sourced software or proprietary software like Microsoft. From 1995 to 2000 Eritrea’s email system was running on an efficient and free open source operating system and the benefit for that time was tremendous ,with low cost to the state. This was all possible due to free & open source software (FOSS).

What is FOSS? According to the well-known programmer and free software activist Richard Stallman, FOSS refers to any software which may be copied and used freely. The software is often available free on the Internet, so it can be acquired in Eritrea for the cost of the time it takes to download. Unlike proprietary software, open source software can be copied, used, studied, modified, distributed locally with few or no copyright restriction.

Although the concept of free software has existed since the early 1960s, proprietary software still attracts great support and usage globally like the popular Microsoft. People in developing countries like Eritrea use proprietary software because of easy available pirated software and because educational institutions teach proprietary software

and not FOSS like Linux. Piracy of Microsoft products keeps the state of Eritrea dependent, less secure and does not help with localization of software usage. Bill Gates was quoted in saying “it’s easier for our software to compete with Linux when there’s piracy than when there’s not.” Eritrea’s technological self-determination is contingent on warding off dependency on proprietary software as much as possible and making advancement with FOSS.

Nevertheless, it is for this reason that internationally, independent-minded governments are adopting

and implementing open source software as a way to gain national technical sovereignty and take local ownership. In 2004, the Venezuelan government enacted a legislative measure to authorize the use of open software in government agencies and other public institution. One of the main motives for introducing the decree was to help the government realize its aspiration to strengthen its technological independence and offer the public free & equal access to software. Likewise, Cuba ,in 2009 released its own local version of Linux operation system called Nova, and it has been making updates since 2015. Nova has has been in development since 2007 and it was originally based on Linux version of Gentoo, which is popular with advanced users. The Cuban government was persuaded to make a transition from being dependent on Microsoft Windows by Richard Stallman. During the introduction of Nova in 2009 ,Cuba’s Communications Minister Ramiro Valdes was quoted as saying “Private software can have black holes and malicious codes that one doesn’t know about,” and emphasized, “The free software movement is closer to the ideology of the Cuban people, above all for the independence and sovereignty.”

With this in mind, the state of Eritrea can tap into the potential of FOSS in order to charter an independent technological path that can reduce software costs, develop local IT industries, and bridge the

digital divide in the country. What is more FOSS can help the state meet the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and have more control over its national security. As a matter of fact, for being accessible and free the Linux operating system is gaining global IT industry popularity. Not only does Linux help reduce expense but it also offers customizability, interoperability, efficiency, and security.

Eritrea is at a crucial stage as far as advancing its IT infrastructure, developing ICT policy, and designing academic courses. This is the right time to put in place state policy on open source initiatives to encourage early independence from foreign proprietary software. Ministries and the public sector in general should be encouraged to transition toward open source alternatives to cut cost down by reducing reliance on software imports and external vendors. This initiative would promote the transfer of technology, provide stable and better software, savings in foreign exchange, promote security and localization. For example, governments from developing nations like Cuba and others have already adopted open source initiates and policies to cut cost and encouraged local innovation and ownership in software. In conclusion, Eritrea could follow the same path and potentially become the African hub of open source initiative and create local ownership and employment.

6 Vol 25 . No 8 Eritrea Profile, Wednesday, March 28, 2018

Bisha Mining Share Company PLC is inviting interested applicants for the following position.

Position: NAVision Systems Analyst Department: FITS Number required: (01)

Major Duties and responsibilities:-

Advise and Provide Assistance in Business Systems

Manage the log of assistance calls which are logged on Help •Desk system.Monitor on calls logged and provide guidance and assistance •to NAV Support Officer.

Implementation of Projects

Identify and manage new project implementation as well as •project team.Ensure that new projects are communicated and that meetings •are scheduled to define timelines, objectives and priorities.Ensure that update on status of project is communicated to •relevant stakeholders.Provide scope of the project together with the outcome •requirement for each project.Engage and communicate with product vendors to provide •solutions when necessary.Follow-up and ensure that project team activities are aligned •with the project vision.Ensure that acceptance testing is signed off on finalisation of •the project.

Business Systems Enhancement

Identify enhancement projects or tasks to be executed to •ensure better utilisation of the product.Manage approved enhancements and version upgrades.•Act on approved user requests to introduce new functionality •or modifications to existing functionality.Conduct a requirement analysis required by management and •users.Coordination and involvement in implementation of new reports •and functionalityEnsure that all new implemented functionalities are documented •according to standards and procedures.Establish and agree priorities for user requests•

Business System Maintenance

Ensure the update, maintenance and control data integrity of all •Business Intelligence Data. Monitor, maintain and ensure that licence agreements current •and are consistent with the requirements.

Identify and motivate the requirement for new systems to be •integrated with current system.

Responsible to ensure implementation and installation of •program fixes.

Business Process Flow

Identify and document current business process flows and •provide assistance and guidance to improve on processes.Ensure that new or improved processes are documented.•

Training Business Systems Users

Prepare system and user documentation (manuals) for all •system processes.Ensure that all related changes are documented and that •manuals are continuously maintained.Provide training to end users as and when required.•Identify training requirements on business systems for individual •employee groups to familiarise them with the use of the changes or the system.Ensure that all training documentation is signed off by individuals •attending the training.

Administration

Responsible to provide weekly report to F&A Superintendent on •business systems activities.Provide documentation to Training Department to capture on •their system.

Human Resource Management

Manage work performance of employees reporting directly into •this position.Identify training and development needs in line with the training •needs analysis.Ensure that performance is in line with departmental •

VacancY annoUnceMenT

continued on page 7

7 Vol 25 . No 8 Eritrea Profile, Wednesday, March 28, 2018

The State of Eritrea, Ministry of Agriculture

National Agricultural Project (NAP)

Agricultural Sector

IFAD Grant No. 8107 ER

National Competitive Bidding/NCB

Tender No. 06.2/01/LP/NCB/NAP/IFAD/GRANT/DSF-8107-ER/AED/ST/2018

The State of Eritrea (SOE) Ministry of Agriculture (MOA) has received a grant from the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) toward the cost of the National Agricul-tural Project (NAP) and it intends to apply part of the pro-ceeds toward payment under the contract for supply of LOT.1 phase 1: Water Well Drilling and Phase 2: Pump Test Opera-tion, Supply, Installation and Commissioning of Submersible Pump, Earth work, pipe work, fitting and other operation

Bidding will be conducted through the National Competitive Bidding NCB as specified in the IFAD’s Procurement guide-lines. Bidders shall submit a bid security of 2% from the total amount of bid price.

Eligible bidders shall be quote the price or submit the bid offer for the complete lots, quotation for partial lot shall be rejected as non responsive.

Eligible bidders may obtain further information from and inspect the bidding document from the Procurement and supplies Manage-ment Unit of the MOA at the address Tel: 00291-1-189266/00291-1-180699 Gejeret Sawa Street Head office Asmara, Eritrea during office hours Monday through Friday 07:00-12:00 and 14:00-18:00 Asmara local time.

Bid shall be Valid for a Period of 120 days after Bid opening, and delivered to Procurement and Supplies Management Unit Office on or before ___24 April, 2018 local hours 14:30 PM and will be Opened On the same date at 15:00 PM Local hours in the presence of the Bidders or Bidders’ Representatives who wish to attend.

The Ministry of Agriculture reserves the right to accept or reject this bid fully or in part if it finds any option better than this IFB without needing to justify the grounds for it doing so and compen-sation which the bidder may incurred in preparing its bid.

objectives.Manage performance through counselling, training and •disciplinary process.Mentoring/Coaching individuals to ensure personal •development.Manage performance appraisal by identifying individual goals •to be met and bi-annual reviews with individual employees.

Qualifications:Diploma/Degree Computer Science or Information Systems •Degree in Accounting will be an added advantage•

Knowledge and Experience:5 Years’ experience in Information Systems environment.•2 Years Programming skills•2 – 3 Years System implementation experience•Certification in NAV System•

Technical skill:Advanced Computer Literacy (MS Office products, NAV •system).Knowledge of FITS and other Business policies, procedures •and processesAccounting skills•Analytical skills•Report writing•Programming skills•Financial reporting•Business process analysis/documentation•

Behavioural Skills:Attention to detail.•Interpersonal Relations skill (English)•Proactive•Time Management•Coach/Mentor•Supervisory skill•Deadline driven•Plan, organize and execution skills•

General Information and other requirements:Place of Work: Bisha site.•Salary: As per Company salary scale.•Type of Contract: Indefinite•

Additional requirement for Nationals: Having fulfilled his/her National Service obligation and provide •evidence of release paper from Ministry of Defense. Present clearance paper from current/last employer •Testimonial documents to be attached (CV, work experience •credentials, a copy of your National Identity Card etc.).Only shortlisted applicants would be considered as potential •candidates for an interview.Application documents will not be returned back to sender and.•All applications should be sent through the post office•Deadline for application: 10 days from the day of publication in the •Newspaper.

Address: Please mail your applications to;• Bisha Mining Share Company, P. O. Box 4276 Asmara, Eritrea Note to non- Eritrean applicants: Please send a copy of your application to

Aliens Employment Permit Affairs, P. O. Box 7940 Asmara, Eritrea.

continued from page 6

IFB No 06.2/01/ST/2018

Invitation for Bid

8 Vol 25 . No 8Eritrea Profile, Wednesday, March 28, 2018

“The love of shoe making and designing is engraved in my heart ”

Makda Solomon

Nowadays, not only are shoes used to protect foot and provide a comfy walk, they have become materials that describe sense of

fashion of individuals and are trending by the day. That is why famous and rich people spend tremendous amount of time to search

for good shoes from great shoe designers.

Today, Q&A has invited Mr. Tekle Beyene, a shoe maker who spent almost his entire life in the profession. Starting Working with the

Italians when he was young, Mr. Tekle took a life time lesson that made him one of the most talented shoe designers Asmara.

How did you get into shoe making and designing?

I was born and raised in Asmara and spent almost half of my life in Ethiopia. I met Mr. Cipollini when I was a 12-years-old boy through one of my relatives. Mr. Cipollini was a famous Italian shoe maker who liked me a lot and I liked him, too. As a result, he was spending most of his time with me. He took me everywhere he went to work with him. I learned shoe making and designing skills from him. I fell in love with shoe making, especially with designing.

Mr. Cipollini was like a father. He covered all my school and other expenses. We were very close. By the time I was 14, Cipollini took me to Ethiopia with him. He had a shoe shop there where I worked. Working there helped me gain much more experience and master my skills in the field. It was a time when good quality shoe was exported to foreign countries from Ethiopia, so I guess I had all the knowledge I needed from there.

You were a sportsperson as well,

how did you became a cyclist?

At the time we were in Ethiopia, Mr. Cipollini brought a bicycle for me. To be honest at that time having a bicycle was a very big thing, because the Eritrean people were under colonization and they were only thinking about how to manage their day to day life. Every aspect of life was restricted. So I was very happy and I felt like I was special. I took my bicycle everywhere I went. Then, there was some kind of cycling competition and I thought why I don’t participate in that cycling race. So I started to train myself. At that time, the cyclists were cycling without full ordnance of cycling. And I knew that was hard but I was curious about cycling. With all the challenges I managed to finish first place. Everybody was surprised; even the news reached all over Eritrea.

Why did you stop cycling then?

As I told you, cycling was hard back then. There were not enough supplies, so it didn’t encourage me to continue not only that. You can call it passion or addiction whenever I

was all I wanted to do was designing shoe and that was my second reason for stopping.

How did you get into dancing ?

From the beginning of my life I have been curious trying everything. I have been trying everything I see or hear about. Therefore, dancing was the result of that. When I was with Mr. Cipollini, he used to take me everywhere. So, I was able to know a lot of things when I was very little. Sometimes we used to go to dancing clubs. When we came back home I used to repeat everything that I saw. That way I liked dancing. Then, in Ethiopia, one American guy opened a dancing school and I started to learn dancing there. I was paying 5 birr only for an hour. I took dancing very seriously and I was repeating all we had learnt passionately and I remember that I used to repeat the choreography of world famous singers and dancers. Finally, there was a dancing competition, around 50 pairs of dancers were ready to compete including me. Out of all the participants I won and got the first prize from Emperor Haileslasie. Following that I used to teach dancing to a lot of people in Ethiopia, 1 of the places was Behierawi Theater. I stopped everything and came back to Eritrea to meet my family.

As a winner in dance competition, how did you find dancing In Eritrea?

I thought about opening a school and teach dancing. I found a place around the Kidanemhret market and started to train Eritreans.

So did you go back to Ethiopia or you stayed in Eritrea?

Dancing was really fun and great

but as I told you earlier, I couldn’t stop myself from shoe making and designing. The love of shoe making and designing is engraved in my heart. Therefore, with one Ethiopian friend of mine, we opened up our own factory, “Keren shoe factory”, in 1968. Our factory was established with a small amount of capital and had 132 permanent workers and 63 temporary trained workers.

Why did you call the shoe factory “KEREN”?

Well, we Eritreans have different kind of national feeling, it really is surprising. We might go so far away from our country but the love and nationality has been in our body like our blood. As I was in the middle of the exploitative system that tried to destroy everything Eritrean I thought this was the simplest way to represent my country.

What was next?

Again, I came back to Eritrea and I started to work at Bini Shoe Factory. I was working hard at Bini Shoe Factory and I made 13 designs for children, women and men. But the Italians did not want me to work with them, as they only wanted my designs. After that betrayal I left the shoe factory and opened my own shoe shop around Asmara.

Did you continue working in Asmara?

No, I did not. Everything changed when the Derg regime came. Soon after the Derg nationalized all the factories, the productivity was decreasing. Therefore, as I was famous in shoe designing, the government wanted me to work with them in order to increase the

productivity so the only option for me was to keep quiet and work. At that time, my salary was not enough so claiming that I was sick I stopped working for them. Then I went back to Ethiopia to my factory. In my factory with my partner we were working so hard to the extent that we won an award out of all the factories engaged on shoe making and designing throughout Africa. After all of that, I came to Eritrea before independence and I am living here.

Final words…?

As you can see I’m not working because I have not found a place to work. All I have found is a place to in. As of now, if I can get a place I want to work and I want to transfer all the skills I have to the next generation. I’m getting older so I have to transfer my knowledge and educate the next generation about shoe making and designing. Besides, during colonization the work we did was known as Ethiopian product, though, the workers and the designers were mainly Eritreans. So we, Eritreans, have all the power and skills, we just have to work on it. And that way we can bring back the fame that we had on shoe making and designing.

Thank you for your time, Mr. Tekle!Different shoe Desinings of Mr. Tekle