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La digue de Ndana
Julie CLAASSENS | 07/04/2017
Les 350 mètres d’inondations de la rivière Ndana ne sont qu’un souvenir lointain pour les usagers de l’axe Bagata-Ntober-Ndana-Sia-Mabenga-Kasai (135 km). Pendant plusieures années, la traversée de cette rivière était un cauchemar pour les piétons, les cyclistes et les motocyclistes. Les camions et jeeps avaient déserté la route. Les villages, les hopitaux et les zones de santé étaient enclavés, coupés les uns des autres. Les travaux de rechargement de la digue et de construction de deux ponts et de neuf buses lancés en avril 2016, impactent déjà positivement les mouvements des passagers comme cela est témoigné dans ce petit film.Entre-temps, tous les travaux sont finis!
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STAKEHOLDERS MAPPING FOR THE SUPPORT PROGRAMME FOR REFUGEE SETTLEMENETS IN NORTHERN UGANDA
William YEKA | 07/04/2017
The first step in the process of stakeholder engagement is stakeholder identification, determining who the project stakeholders are, and their key groupings. From this flows stakeholder analysis, a more in-depth look at stakeholder group interests and how they will be affected, and what influence they could have on an intervention. In a bid to understand its stakeholders, the Support Program for Refugee Settlements in Northern Uganda (SPRS-NU) under the European Union Emergency Trust Fund (EUTF) successfully started the process through a segmentation workshop conducted at Heritage Courts Hotel in Arua district of Northern Uganda. The EUTF SPRS-NU stakeholder segmentation will enable effective and efficient engagement with the various target audiences as part of the visibility and communications efforts.Among the participants of the workshop, were Arua Local Council (LC) 5 vice chairperson, Refugee Desk Office (RDO), Implementing partners from the Danish Refugee Council, Austrian Development Agency implementers - WDSF-Northern, ZOA, CEFORD, Save the Children and Belgium Development Agency. Genesis Acema Dria the LC 5 Vice Chairperson of Arua District lauded European Union for its support to refugee settlements and host communities in Northern Uganda. “Such an exercise to understand needs of stakeholders is commendable and we pledge our support” he noted. He recognized the involvement of local Government in the exercise and pledged the support of his team. The EUTF through SPRS–NU aims at addressing the roots of destabilization, forced displacement and irregular migration. Its objective is to sustainably improve food security, nutrition and livelihood of refugees and host communities in the refugee districts of Northern Uganda. Uganda is home to over 823,528 South Sudan refugees and over 1,139,374 refugees and asylum seekers in total (UNHCR statistics April 2017). The South Sudan Refugee crisis is currently the biggest on the African Continent. The EUTF SPRS-NU is implemented by Austrian Development Agency, Belgian Development Agency and NGO consortium led by Danish Refugee Agency.
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Palestine Skills in Belgium: 2 Weeks of Unforgettable Experiences
Laure MOSTINCKX | 04/04/2017
In picture: The Palestinian WorldSkills delegation at the Startech’s Award Ceremony in Liège, Belgium.Last week, the Palestinian WorldSkills delegation completed its training in Belgium. Two young Palestinian graphic designers Sobheya Abumusallam and Ibraheem Qawasma had been selected during the first national Palestine Skills competition in Ramallah to compete in the official WorldSkills competition in Abu Dhabi in 2017.WorldSkills is the largest vocational skills competition in the world with young talents from over 70 member countries and regions coming together to compete in around 50 skill competitions, such as graphic design, cooking, carpentry, electronics, metal work, hairdressing and many more. For the Palestinian youth it is the first time they have the occasion to participate. In order to prepare for this competition, Sobheya and Ibraheem, supported by the Belgian Development Agency (BTC), received an intensive training in Belgium over the course of 2 weeks in March 2017. Moreover, during this time they were able to compete in Belgium’s Startech’s Days, the Belgian national World Skills competition.During their visit to Belgium, the Palestinian WorldSkills delegation enjoyed a successful trip with plenty of new discoveries, learning opportunities and unique experiences. The trip started with the 2-day Startech’s competition in Brussels where Sobheya and Ibraheem performed very well. Afterwards, they received a tailor-made training on graphic design from Thierry Herman, a Belgian expert from the Centre de competence Forem Cepegra in Charleroi, where the young graphic designers were able to discover new ways of designing.The morning of their first training, the WorldSkills delegation already prepared their first exciting visit to meet the Palestinian ambassador Mr. Abdalrahim Alfarra, who was very impressed with the achievements of the students. Nothing could have prepared them, however, for being invited by the Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas! The Palestinian president was on a mission in Europe and staying at a hotel in Brussels at the same time that the WorldSkills Palestine delegation were preparing their training in Belgium. Through their new contact, the Palestinian ambassador in Belgium, the delegation received an invitation from Mr. Mahmoud Abbas for a short visit. “Unbelievable, we thought we are dreaming, but called and got the hotel address. We headed back to our room for redressing, entered our rental car and out we were for Brussels! After being guided by dozens of security guards we finally entered Abu Mazen’s private hotel room. How surprised we were! He asked a lot of questions about our mission, about WorldSkills and promised out any help if needed! (…) We were so happy, this is like reaching the Olympics for WorldSkills Palestine! (…)” (Michael Buechele, Palestinian World Skills delegation). After this big encounter with the president, the delegation turned back to work and visited DICO, a small graphic design company with a small team of highly creative people from whom the young graphic designers could learn a lot. While continuing their training in Charleroi, the team attended the International Marketing Week at EPHEC LLN in Louvain-La Neuve where the students had a wonderful day learning about the lifecycle of design. On their last day, the delegation was invited at the Belgian Parliament. In the afternoon, they were special guests at the Opera House in Liège, the venue for the Award Ceremony of the Startech’s Days.The visit of the Palestinian WorldSkills delegation to Belgium has given them the incredible opportunity to raise awareness for the importance of technical and vocational skill training, especially in the Palestinian Territory. Youth unemployment there is exceptionally high and vocational training has proven to be one of the most successful ways of tackling this issue. This is why the Belgian Development Agency (BTC) focuses its efforts on supporting these technical and vocational education and training initiatives. Of course, for Sobheya and Ibraheem, as well as their dedicated team of national and international experts Alaa Doudin, Shadi Ragabi and Michael Buechele, their visit to Belgium has been first and foremost an enriching and life-changing learning experience. Sometimes things are going far beyond your dreams and this is what happened to the WorldSkills Palestine Graphic Design Team. (…) Thanks once more to all who supported us: BTC, The Belgium Consulate in Jerusalem, WorldSkills Belgium, Cepegra Training Center in Charleroi, Thierry Herman our teacher, (…) thanks to the Palestinian Embassy in Brussels, thanks to Abu Mazen!” (Michael Buechele, Palestinian WorldSkills Delegation) Check out this short video on their experiences here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q1JfnZTxBgw&feature=youtu.beFollow their next adventure to 2017 World Skills Abu Dhabi on the following channels:www.facebook.com/palestineskills https://www.facebook.com/BTCPalestine/ · https://www.facebook.com/WorldSkills/?fref=ts · https://worldskillsabudhabi2017.com/en/
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La vie à Kindi
Julie CLAASSENS | 31/03/2017
Grâce à la réhabilitation de la route par notre programme prodadekk, il y a eu beaucoup de changements positifs dans le village de Kindi.
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Le Master ECOM-ALGER, une primeur pour la RDC!
Julie CLAASSENS | 31/03/2017
La RDC est confrontée à plusieurs maladies infectieuses émergentes et réémergentes (fièvre jaune, cholera, ...) contre lesquelles les infrastructures et les ressources humaines ne sont pas encore assez outillées pour y faire face. Malgré des investissements de plus en plus importants alloués à la lutte contre les maladies infectieuses, les résultats obtenus restent mitigés. La situation reste préoccupante, comme le témoigne la recrudescence des épidémies de rougeole, le nombre croissant de décès au paludisme et de cas de tuberculose multi-résistants. Les approches classiques d'épidémologie utilisées se sont avérées très limitées pour expliquer les mécanismes d'émergence et de réémergence des maladies, leurs dynamiques spatiales et temporelles, ainsi que leurs distributions au niveau des populations. Les approches écologiques se sont montrées plus globalisantes et plus efficaces pour la compréhension de ces phénomènes morbides. Mais l'application de cette approche en RDC n'est pas encore très avancée et souffre d'un manque de financement par le pays et par la communauté internationale. Aussi, au vu du constat de la quasi absence de ce type de formation en Afrique, vu la nécessité et l'urgence d'aider les pays Africains à se préparer aux défis sanitaires et environnementaux de plus en plus complexes, multiples et survenant dans un contexte de crise financière internationale, il a été jugé nécessaire de mettre en place le Master en Ecologie et Contrôle des Maladies infectieuses et Aléas Naturels et Gestion des Risques à la Faculté de Médecine de l'Université de Kinshasa. Le résultat attendu le plus important est que chaque année, vingt cadres congolais sont formés en écologie des maladies infectieuses, en éco-épidémiologie, en gestion des risques et contrôle des aléas naturels.
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Skilling the Karamojong
Hanna DEKERK | 31/03/2017
Karamoja, a region with many challenges and opportunitiesIn Karamoja (Northern Uganda) much of the labor is sourced outside the district as employers experience a shortage of local skilled personnel. Nevertheless, Karamoja has untapped human potential in numerous sectors. The challenges in skill development include that Business, Technical and Vocational Education and Training (BTVET) is not adapted to the demands of the local labor market, nor to the lifestyle of the local population: the Karamojong.BTC's support to Skilling Uganda project, with the support of Irish Aid, wants to raise the quality and quantity of skills development for over 2000 youths in Karamoja through short-term and flexible trainings. What makes the situation unique is that the Karamojong people have a pastoralist background. This means that they raise cattle and move their herds in search of fresh pastures and water. Due to population growth, some Karamojong lack the necessary cattle and need to learn other skills to have a source of income. Hence, the trainings will focus on traditional skills like livestock keeping (to prevent cattle diseases, improve animal nutrition, etc.) and crop production but also on innovative skills such as solar panel maintenance, mobile phone repair, solid waste treatment, etc.Making skills development relevantTo make skills development useful for Karamoja’s local labor market, these trainings will be organized in collaboration with the private sector. Local employers will advise training providers on the labor market needs and let trainees gain practical experience through internships and apprenticeships. The focus lies with Karamoja’s emerging construction market and possible economic developments in the tourism industry (for example: marketing of the unique Karamojong traditions). The goal is to establish work-based learning and to let skills development respond to the needs of Karamoja’s labor market.BTC's approachBTC's support to Skilling Uganda project will do this by launching a Skills Development Fund designed for Karamoja. It allows local training providers and private sector actors to jointly and in a flexible way, organize relevant and qualitative trainings. Secondly, the project will support two selected partner schools in the region: St-Daniel Comboni Polytechnic institute and Nakapiripirit Vocational Institute. These institutes have formulated their own business plans with goals for future sustainable development, and BTC will support them to reach these goals. The needs vary from school to school and can include teacher trainings, management support, infrastructural improvement, etc. The project will also provide a limited support to five other schools in the region.The goal of BTC's Support to Skilling Uganda project in Karamoja is to allow the Ugandan government to mainstream the reform techniques, adapted to the unique context of the region.
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Entre-temps à Lubumbashi...
Julie CLAASSENS | 30/03/2017
Les transformateurs de 80 et 50 tonnes sont arrivés! Ce n'était pas une sinécure vu les conditions des routes en RDC. Les transformateurs sont fabriqués à Ahmedaba, en Inde (photos de droite).Sur l'image de gauche vous voyez l'installation des nouveaux disjoncteurs de 220kV. Ce sont les instruments les plus importants d'un réseau électrique. Les disjoncteurs déclenchent en cas d'erreur et protègent les cables et les installations.En plus, le bâtiment où le projet installera les nouveaux départs 15kV qui alimenteront la cité Karavia, est fini et réceptionné. Les travaux génie civil ont tous terminés et l'installation des charpentes et structures qui serviront à poser l'équipement haute-tension, à démarrée. Tout commence à prendre forme.
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Les génies de la route!
Julie CLAASSENS | 30/03/2017
Voici un portrait des cantonniers qui travaillent à Masi-Manimba, dans la province du Kwilu. Sans eux, la route n'existerait pas...
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Air Conditioning & Hairdressing: Two Success Stories from Gaza
Laure MOSTINCKX | 30/03/2017
The Applied Future Polytechnic College in the Gaza Strip has completed two Work Based Learning initiatives and celebrated the graduation of 30 students in air conditioning and hairdressing in a high profile event attended by both Jehad Draidi and Said El-Haq, the director generals responsible for TVET and Vocational Education at the Ministry of Education and Higher Education in Palestine. Under the Work-Based Learning scheme funded by the Belgian Development Agency, the students were able to combine college training with practical experience in the private sector for air conditioning and hairdressing respectively. Moreover, through the WBL programme, special funds as well as new tools and equipment could be provided for the students to support them during their studies and prepare them for the labor market. Both the air conditioning and hairdressing initiatives were highly successful, with several graduates already owning their own businesses or working in the sector. Hairdressing, as the newly added vocation in the college, was particularly successful, with already 5 graduates being employed in the private sector.Suzan Al Helo, one of the graduates and mother of 6 children, had a dream to be an active woman and help her husband to improve their living conditions. “I was suffering from a difficult economic situation. After I had children I decided to go to this college. Now I am working in my own hairdressing salon in my home.”
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Celebrating water
Anke VANDEVELDE | 29/03/2017
For the occasion of the World Water Day on the 22nd of March, BTC celebrated together with the Governor of Gaza Province, Mrs. Stella Pinto, and the communities of Tomanine and 7 de Abril the official inauguration of the BTC Water Supply and Sanitation Project. The community festivities were preceded by a tour around the premises to demonstrate the accomplishments of the project. Since 2013, BTC is successfully working on different solutions to improve water access in these remote areas and to better the quality of salty and unsafe water. For instance, BTC opted to move away from the manual pumps to install electric pumps which brings the water closer to the population through the construction of elevated water tanks and a water supply network that goes into the target villages. Where the installation of electric pumps and taps were less feasible, the innovative method of a flexible tank provides water in remote places, which is filled by trucks passing by to pick up goods. Furthermore, new water detection techniques allow to assess the quality and saltiness of the water in boreholes. As demonstrated by Governor Pinto and BTC officials, the water provided by the 130 community taps and 4 public fountains is drinkable and safe, accessible at all times and in close proximity to the houses of the local beneficiaries. After the official inauguration of the water supply system, the community members invited Governor Pinto and the BTC officials to celebrate World Water Day and the success of the BTC project. The ceremony was highly attended by the residents and included performances by various community groups: young school children sang about World Water Day, high school students presented an act about the importance of drinkable water and women praised the access to water. A women’s group performed a play to demonstrate their life before and after the new water supply system and applauded the comfort of the new water carriers, “the Q-drums”, which enables young and old to draw the carrier instead of lifting the buckets. In her speech, Resident Representative of BTC Mozambique, Mrs. Laurence Janssens, expressed her appreciation to the Ministry of Public Works, Housing and Water Resources, the Government of the District and Province, as well as to BTC colleagues and the communities for their hard work and support. She called on them to continue their efforts, as to guarantee the sustainability of the new water supply system. Furthermore, the Resident Representative emphasized that BTC will remain active in the region with the construction of solar pumping systems in the districts of Massangena, Mabalane and Chigubo and with the implementation of desalination projects. Mrs. Stella Pinto, Governor of Gaza Province, welcomed and thanked the communities and BTC officials for their presence on the inauguration and the celebration of World Water Day. She expressed her gratitude towards BTC and the partners in providing the communities with drinkable water, applauded the progress made by BTC in the last year and counts on the partners to continue their support. Finally, Governor Pinto called upon the community members to use the water rationally, considering the impact of climate change, as well as to take care of the infrastructure in order to ensure that funds go to the construction of new water pumps instead of reparations. For the around 9000 residents of these communities this project implies a significant improvement of the quality of life, as it will reduce health problems related to drinking saline water, facilitate stable access to drinkable water and ensure food and nutrition security. Within the scope of the project, access to drinkable water has already been established for 18.000 people and more than 21% of the rural population (46.000 people) in the districts of Northern Gaza are expected to benefit from the BTC project. Due to its extensive experience in improving access to water in rural Mozambique, BTC has been praised for its innovative approach and has received much appreciation from the local population and the Mozambican partners, including President Filipe Nyusi.
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Invest in good community health workers
Thea MATHUES | 28/03/2017
Sister Martina has been working in Saint-Francis Health Facility III, Arua district, for almost 10 years. A midwife by training she is very motivated to bring quality health care to her community. We spoke to her about the challenges the facility faces, her love for the job, and the changes she has seen over the years. « Even though work is not always easy I still love my job. »I’ve been here since 2007. So almost 10 years now. I should really celebrate! Before coming here I used to work in Lira,Saint-John hospital. The difference between the two facilities very big. In Lira we were supported by many ngo’s and we had a very big HIV centre. Here we are situated in a place where we really needed to convince the population of the importance of health. People are just trying to cope in thispeasant community Before this health centre came in 2001 people died of preventable diseases. Especially in the beginning it was hard to convince people to come in when they were sick.StigmaEven today it can create problems because of the stigma connected to some diseases. We recently had a gentleman who tested positively for HIV. In the beginning he was taking his drugs, but after a while he stopped. He got sicker and sicker and only returned to our health centre when it was too late. He died last week.Fortunately some improvement has been made.The sisters who founded this health centre also trained people in the community to become health assistants and nurses. This helped establish a relationship with the community.Thanks to PNFP project and result-based financing we have been able to reduce our fees. This has made health care more accessible for the community. Still not all people can afford it. People here depend heavily on farming for their income but recently we have had a shortage of rain. This means people have no income and no money for health.Proud of my jobEven though work is not always easy I still love my job.There is no better feeling than being able to help someone. When you can help someone come out of despair, that is just wonderful. God can do his work through us and through me. As a human being I’m able to help another human being return to his everyday life.Big DreamsI hope this facility can be converted into a health centre 4. If we offer more services people might believe more in the work we are doing. Now they get discouraged when they are referred to another hospital because we cannot handle the case. A lot of people cannot afford this, some don’t even have the money for transport.People are also afraid to die in an unknown place. hey even say: ‘why do you want us to die in some strange place?”. I realize it will take more than just better equipped facility to convince people. We really need good community health workers. They should coordinate with community leaders, religious leaders and local political leaders. Everyone needs to come together.
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Une formation des anesthésistes à Conakry
Els DEHANTSCHUTTER | 24/03/2017
Le Projet de Renforcement des Capacités par le biais de Bourses, d’Etudes et d’Expertises (RCBEE) en Guinée, avait déjà démarré ses activités de formations et d’études par le secteur portuaire dès fin 2016. Au niveau de la Santé, une première action de formation locale vient de se dérouler à Conakry. Il s’agit d’un atelier qui a regroupé plus d’une soixantaine de médecins anesthésistes et d’infirmiers faisant fonction d’anesthésistes en provenance de toutes les structures hospitalières de Guinée. Cet atelier de 3 jours sur « L’introduction à l’Oxymétrie Pulsée » a été animé par des spécialistes Belge, Béninois et Burkinabe, avec la participation du Projet LIFEBOX de la World Federation of Societies of Anaesthesiologists (WFSA) qui a fourni gratuitement une cinquantaine de pulse-oxymètres (pour mesurer la quantité d’oxygène dans le sang). Après la formation tous les participants ont exprimé leur satisfaction et ont affirmé qu’ils avaient acquis des compétences qui vont sensiblement relever la sécurité des patients dans les salles d’opération de leurs hôpitaux. La formation était dans la presse guinéenne: presse https://www.youtube.com/watch?list=PLrtGSrufH5tAPHQTvw6P7zMuFwmPCOQv8&v=Qp6ihLDfvzg
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Le bac de Bagata
Julie CLAASSENS | 24/03/2017
Regardez ce petit film afin de découvrir l'importance des bacs fluviaux pour la population en RDC.
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Mise en place d’un observatoire et d’un site web pour l’économie informelle en RDC.
Julie CLAASSENS | 23/03/2017
La restitution de l’observatoire sur l’économie informelle a eu lieu hier à Kinshasa. L’économie informelle est l’ensemble d’activités de production des biens et services pratiquées par des individus ou des organisations mais très peu ou pas du tout enregistrées et moins réglementées. En République Démocratique du Congo, plus de quatre-vingt pour cent de la population active travaille dans ce secteur qui est composé principalement des coiffeurs, cordonniers, réparateurs des pneus, laveurs de véhicules, chargeurs d'automobiles, marchands ambulants, tailleurs, ajusteurs, vendeurs des produits pétroliers, cireurs, boutiquiers, vendeurs de produits médicaux traditionnels, etc. Il s’avère cependant que les différentes structures aussi bien étatiques que privées potentiellement intéressées par ce secteur n’en disposent pas d’informations suffisantes pour leurs actions.Eu égard à ce qui précède, le Programme d’Etudes et d'Expertises a mis à la disposition du Centre de Dynamique Sociale de l’Université de Kinshasa le financement nécessaire pour la production d’un corpus de connaissances sur ce domaine. L’étude s’est étalée sur six mois et est réalisée en collaboration avec l’institut de recherche sur le travail et la société HIVA de l’Université de Louvain.Ici, plusieurs résultats ont été obtenus à des questions variées, entre autres: les conditions de travail dans ce secteur, les domaines d’activités les plus touchés, les risques auxquels sont soumis les pratiquants, le sexe ratio dans chacun des domaines, les relations avec les structures étatiques notamment le payement des taxes, l’accès au financement, le mode d’épargne, etc.A l’issue de cette étude, un observatoire de l’économie informelle a été mis en place et un site web a été créé pour cela. Ces outils constituent une source d’informations accessible pour les acteurs voulant intervenir dans ce secteur. Considérant que la connaissance est un préalable à la tranformation, l’accès aux l’informations sur ce secteur constituera une source d’inspiration pour des politiques publiques et des actions d’ONG visant l’amélioration des conditions de la population et enclenchera un processus de transformation du secteur informel vers le formel. Des études similaires sont envisagées dans d’autres provinces de la RDC considérant des changements profonds du même fait qui peuvent exister selon les provinces et les régions.
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Launch of the EU project for Refugees in Northern Uganda
Josephine OMUNYIDDE | 23/03/2017
The Support Programme for Refugee Settlements and Host Communities in Northern Uganda (SPRS-NU) funded by the European Union Emergency Trust Fund (EUTF) and aimed at supporting aspects of stability contribute to better migration management as well as addressing the root causes of destabilization, forced displacement and irregular migration in the Horn of Africa. SPRS-NU is a 3-year programme implemented through three components: (i) Water and sanitation (WASH) component, managed by the Austrian Development Agency (ADA); (ii) Skills development & entrepreneurship training, managed by the Belgian Technical Cooperation (BTC) Agency; and (iii) the Livelihoods, Conflict Management, Educational and Knowledge components, managed by a NGO Consortium, led by the Danish Refugee Council (DRC) consisting of the Save the Children, ZOA & CEFORD. This programme is in line with the Refugee and Host Population Empowerment (Re-HOPE) strategy and adheres to the Comprehensive Refugee Response Framework (CRRF). This involvement also underlines the EU's commitment to work closely not only with Government of the Republic of Uganda, but also with other development partners. By doing so, effective, sustainable and coordinated programmes for the benefit of both host communities and refugees in Northern Uganda are ensured.
