Opening
Address to
The
Launching
Ceremony of the 1st Volume of the post 5th International
Conference on Federalism Proceedings
H.E.
KassaTeklebrhan
Speaker
of the House of Federation
Institute
of Federal Studies, Addis Ababa
May
4, 2012
-
The spoken word prevails -
Madame
Lévesque, Canada’s Ambassador to Ethiopia and a special guest with us here
today,
Distinguished
Members of the Steering Committee of the 5th International
Conference on Federalism,
Distinguished
Ministers and Government Officials,
Professor
Andreas Eshete, Advisor to the Prime Minister,
Dr.
Admassu, President of Addis Ababa University,
Students,
faculty and staff of the Institute for Federal Studies and other parts of Addis
Ababa University,
Ladies
and gentlemen,
Good morning and welcome to this event.
It is a great pleasure for me to preside over the
proceeding this morning, here at the Institute for Federal Studies and in
cooperation with the Forum of Federalism.
For Ethiopia, the stakes are very high indeed since
federalism is a key to our survival and prosperity - that is, to ensure our
unity, to recognize and celebrate our diversity, to maintain a durable peace
and to provide the environment for sustainable and balanced development.
The promises and potentials of federalism in Ethiopia are considerable
as we can see from our achievements: After less than twenty years of federalism
we have created democracy from the grass-root level, everybody has an equal
chance to political participation, everybody has equal access to education, we
have improved services and infrastructures in all areas all over the country,
we have been achieving double digit economic growth for years and most
importantly we have peace.
But, let me mention this too: the challenges are just as
formidable and we all need to work together in order to overcome them.
The Institute of Federal Studies, along with other
institutes of higher education, is playing an important role in that mission by
educating scholars and students of federalism who will help to better
understand federalism in theory and practice. This gives the Institute of
Federalism a high responsibility for which it deserves support.
The Forum of Federation's an important partner not only for
the Institute but also for the Government of Ethiopia and for the House of
Federation in particular. We have conducted many activities together over the
past years. The co-hosting of the 5th International Conference on
Federalism in December 2010 was one of the highlights of this cooperation.
Ladies and Gentlemen,
We are here today to celebrate the launching of the First
Volume of the Six-Volume of Series of books that we are publishing from the
proceedings of the Conference. Our Prime Minister states in his Foreword to this Volume: … “[hosting]
the 5th International Conference on Federalism … was a national
landmark for Ethiopia’s ongoing transition to a mature federal democracy…. [and
was] a celebration of our membership in the community of nations that have
chosen and successfully implemented federalism to meet their political, social
and economic needs and aspirations.”
The special value of these volumes is found in two
important features. First, the fact that the texts are all based primarily on
actual experience – actual case studies and firsthand stories of practitioners
in their facing of challenges, failures and achievements.
Secondly, these volumes, like the conference itself,
provide a “hard look” at federalism and recognize that federalism is not an
ideology, is not proven just by its formal creation in a constitution but
through its implementation.
I firmly believe that this first general volume - along with the five volumes to follow- will
represent a unique contribution to federalism literature. The booklets will be of
special use to scholars and practitioners in Ethiopia and globally. Perhaps especially
in other countries that have become federal or quasi-federal more recently, or those
that are considering options for some federal form of governance. This first Volume
has already been translated into Amharic and will be going to press in a few
weeks.
This volume we are launching today has several interesting
contributions, including three by our Prime Minister, one by the former President
of Nigeria, Olusegun Obasanjo, and by Professor Andreas among others. These
contributions alone provide ample opportunity to engage in fruitful discussions
on federalism.
The Government of Canada through their support in producing
this series significantly contributes to these discussions for which I would
like to express my appreciation and gratitude. Let me also express our appreciation of CIDA’s
support of the Institute of Federal Studies by equipping this computer lab. In
the 21st Century, there is no more valuable resource to young academics than
having access to the World Wide Web and its vast libraries of information, as
well as a way to communicate with other scholars and practitioners around the
globe.
Taking this opportunity I would also like to thank once
more again all organizations and individuals who contributed to the success of
the 5th International Conference.
On that note, it is my great pleasure to announce the
official launching of Volume One, Conference
Highlights, of the Six Volume Book Series for the 5th
International Conference on Federalism.
THANK
YOU
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