CCRDA/CORE Group Ethiopia conducted Annual Partners’ Planning Forum and Expanded Program on Immunization (EPI) Management training at CCRDA main conference hall from 26-31 July 2010.

Updates and refresher training on different immunization topics were given in the first four days while the remaining two days were allotted for planning exercise of the project partner organizations for the Fiscal Year 2011.

Senior advisors from CORE Group Head Quarter in Atlanta, USA, Director and program officers of CORE Group Secretariat and senior experts of the Federal Ministry of Health, World Health Organization and UNICEF made presentations on broad range of related topics.

The presentation topics focused, among other things, on diseases surveillance, routine immunization, communication and behavior change framework, newborn tracking, vaccine and cold chain management as well as planning and management of EPI at Woreda level.

During the planning exercise of the training, each Woreda prepared annual plan for Fiscal Year 2011 based on the knowledge and skills gained during the course of the training and with technical support from officers of partner organizations and CORE Group Secretariat.

The partner organizations also compiled their respective Woreda’s plan and their office plan at national and regional level and submitted the same to CORE Group Ethiopia Secretariat.

It was noted on the occasion that CORE Group Ethiopia polio project plan for Fiscal Year 2011, which combines plan of the Secretariat and of all partner organizations, would be prepared soon.

CORE Group Ethiopia conducts planning forums every year being aware of their critical importance for proper planning of project activities, which will bring an added value to effective implementation of activities at field level.

Besides, such forums provide participants with the opportunity to share best grass-root experiences and practices that would enable them to scale up the implementation of EPI and surveillance activities in their respective catchments.

The six-day planning forum and training was attended by a total of 112 participants drawn from CORE Group Ethiopia Secretariat as well as head and field offices of project partner organizations.

EPI focal persons of 67 project operation Woreda offices of the seven regions; i.e., Afar, Somali, Benishangule-Gumuz, Gambella, Amhara, Oromia and SNNPR also took part in the Forum.

The Forum was given due attention by representatives of the Federal Ministry of Health and partner organizations due to the fact that the majority of these Woredas are located in hard-to-reach and pastoralist areas of the Country.

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