adminSifelani Tsiko Senior Writer
A TOP World Federation of Engineering Organisations official arrived in Harare recently to assess the country’s state of preparedness for the hosting of the second edition of the Unesco Africa Engineering Week. The engineering week is a major global event which aims to promote the profession and explore ways of addressing a myriad of development challenges facing Africa and other developing continents.
Zimbabwe won the bid to host the event which will be held from September 14 to 19 in Victoria Falls, the country’s premier resort town.
Upon arrival, World Federation of Engineering Organisations vice president Engineer Yashin Brijmohan held a series of meetings with officials of the Zimbabwe Institution of Engineers, Engineering Council of Zimbabwe, Unesco and Government officials, including other stakeholders.
He also attended a stakeholders’ meeting to raise awareness about the event and elicit their support.
“I’m quite pleased with the progress made so far,” Eng Brijmohan said.
“I believe in Zimbabwe and the country has shown a lot of potential in terms of hosting conferences of this nature.
“Zimbabwe is ready to host the event and I believe the local team will work hard to make this event a success.”
More than 500 delegates from different parts of the world, including students from across Africa, will attend the engineering events in the resort spot.
The Africa Engineering week hosted in partnership with Unesco, the World Federation of Engineering Organisations and local
engineering bodies aims to educate youth and the general public about engineering through outreach activities such as educational workshops, public awareness events and mentoring activities.
In addition, there will be presentations of academic papers that show how engineers are key players in solutions to important continental and global challenges on issues such as climate change, transport, energy, mining, ICT, water and public works.
The theme at the conference will be: “Engineering Innovation for Accelerated Infrastructure Development for Africa,” and focus will mainly be raising the visibility of the profession and motivating young African students to get interested in career paths in engineering.
“Preparations are going on very well even though a lot of work needs to be done to promote the event,” said Eng Martin Manhuwa, president of the Zimbabwe Institution of Engineers.
“This event does not belong to engineers alone, but to Zimbabweans and Africa as a whole. Lets support it and make it a success.”
Eng Ben Rafemoyo, head of the Engineering Council of Zimbabwe, said there was need to promote the profession to help the public appreciate its role in providing solutions to the country’s pressing problems.
According to a 2013 Unesco report, the shortage of engineers is a major concern in Africa and across the world where there has been declining interest and enrolment of young people, especially women.
An estimated 2,5 million new engineers and technicians are required in sub-Saharan Africa to achieve the post 2015 development agenda of improved access to clean water and sanitation.
In Namibia, Zimbabwe and Tanzania, there is one qualified engineer for a population of 6 000 people compared to one engineer per 200 people in China, according to Unesco.
Online Reporter