New Commissioner Emphasizes Priority of Building Institutional Credibility

Addis Ababa July 2/2019 Building institutional credibility, forging forward the promotion and protection of human rights are among the priority areas to be dealt with, the newly appointed Human Rights Commissioner said.

The House of People’s Representatives (HPR), in its 47^th regular session today, have anonymously approved the appointment of Daniel Bekele as the new Human Rights Commissioner.

In an exclusive interview with ENA, Commissioner Daniel said that he planned to begin his job by listening to a wide range of stakeholders on human rights issues.

This, he pointed out will help him get the sense of what opportunities and challenges are for the promotion and protection of human rights in the country.

“The opportunity presented for Ethiopians since the inception of the reform agenda in the country is an exciting moment to continue to build on the achievements we have gained so far,” the newly appointed commissioner explained.

The Ethiopian Human Rights Commission has been established several years back, Daniel said, adding that “but there has been credibility crisis with the institution.”

Furthermore, he expressed that “I am hoping that with the opportunity presented with the new leadership and reform of the institution would hopefully be a step forward and a progress in the right direction in terms of advancing the promotion and protection of human rights in Ethiopia.”

According to him, institutional reform may be essential which will involve looking at the practices, traditions, system and how it has functioned in the past including the composition of staff and work culture.

Daniel noted that “this needs to be based on careful assessment on the challenges and achievements in the past and looking at the opportunities to improve the situation.”

The newly appointed Human Rights Commissioner, Daniel Bekele (PhD) is succeeding Addisu Gebregziabher (PhD) who is now Ethiopian Ambassador to Zimbabwe.