Colloquium on Post-Conflict Election and Transition in Ethiopia
Online conference
In collaboration with the Ethiopian Satellite and Radio Station (ESAT)
85 South Bragg Street, Alexandria Virginia, VA 22312
Change of Format and Venue
Thank you for your interest in our Ninth Conference which was originally planned to be held at the Ethiopian Embassy in Washington D.C. We are all now witnessing that the virus is spreading. The authorities are advising precautionary measures that include avoiding large crowds and human contacts. Conferences are being canceled/postponed. Universities in many States are resorting to online lectures and alerting their faculty and students about the problem. Hence, in light of all these developments, we found it imprudent to hold the forthcoming colloquium in the traditional way.
We have decided to reach the speakers and the audience via video links. The Ethiopian Satellite Television and Radio Station (ESAT, Washington) will administer the link, and transmit the presentations live. Speakers and Sessions Chairs in the Washington D.C. area may elect to go to ESAT’s office or get connected by video link. We shall make every effort to follow the schedule. Please be patient for any hiccups that might occur. Below please find the penultimate program.
Coronavirus Information: The Center for Disease Control
Click Here for PDF of Version of the Penultimate Program – Vision Ethiopia Ninth Conference Washington DC March 21, and 22, 2020
Saturday, March 21, 2020 | |
| 8:45 –9:00 | Start of transmission (music, videos) |
| 9:00-9:10 | Call to order Master of ceremonies: Dr. Yohannes Zeleke, Research Associate, Museum of Natural History, The Smithsonian, Washington, D.C. |
| 9:10-9:30 | Opening and welcome: Professor Getachew Begashaw, Department of Economics, Harper College, Chicago and President of Vision Ethiopia |
| 9:30-10:00
| Keynote address: H.E. Ambassador Fitsum Arega, Special Envoy, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary, Ethiopian Embassy, Washington, D.C. |
| 10:00-12:00
| SESSION 1: Challenges and opportunities for making the forthcoming Ethiopian election peaceful, unfettered, free, and fair: Lessons from earlier post-conflict elections Session chair: Professor Demissie Alemayehu, Department of Statistics, Columbia University, New York, NY. Speakers 1. Mr. Dave Peterson, Senior Director, Africa Programs, National Endowment for Democracy, Washington, D.C. 2. Mr. Jon Temin, Director, Africa Program, Freedom House, Washington, D.C. 3. Mr. Aly Verjee, Visiting Expert, United States Institute of Peace, Washington, D.C 4. Mr. Michael Baldassaro,.Senior Advisor on Digital Threats, The Carter Center, Atlanta, GA |
| 12:00-1:15 | SESSION 2: The economic challenges of Ethiopia Session Chair: Professor Minga Negash, Department of Accounting, Metropolitan State University of Denver, and School of Accountancy University of the Witwatersrand, South Africa Speakers 1. Professor Lemma Wolde Senbet, The William Mayer Chair Professor of Finance, University of Maryland, and Former Executive Director of the African Economic Research Consortium (AERC). “The African Financial Development Gap and Reforms: Lessons for Ethiopia” 2. Dr. Yonas Biru, Former Deputy Global Manager of the International Comparison Program (ICP) at The World Bank. “The Case for a Marshall Plan for Ethiopia” |
| 1:15 – 2:15 | LUNCH BREAK |
| 2:15 – 3:30 | SESSION 3: Political choice and mitigations for election-related instability Session Chair Dr. Ashenafi Gossaye, Capital Planning Program Manager at King County, Seattle, WA. Speakers 1. Dr. Yohannes Gedamu, Department of Political Science, Georgia Gwinnett College, Lawrenceville, GA. “Coalition Making and Elite Pact in the Era of Prosperity Party: Weighing on Ethiopia’s Democratic Transition” 2. Dr. Derese Getachew, Assistant Professor of Sociology, Iona College, New Rochelle, New York. “Democratizing an Ethnocratic State: The Roads not Taken” |
| 3:30:- 4:00 | Coffee break |
| 4:00 – 5:30 | SESSION 4: Non-State actors and national security Session Chair: Ato Yilma Zerihun, Compliance Manager, Dallas Environmental Agency, Dallas, TX Speakers 1. Ato Frehiwot Samuel, Former Judge, and President and Chairperson of the Investigation Commission for the 2005 election crisis. “The Ethiopian Constitution and its provisions for monopoly of violence” 2. Colonel (Ret) Derese Tekle, Former Research Director, Ethiopian National Defense Forces and Fellow of the National War College, “በኢትዮጵያ የፀጥታ ተቋም አካል ያልሆኑ ልዩ ኃይልና የአካባቢ ታጣቂ ኃይሎች ለሕዝብና ለሀገር ሥጋት ስለ መሆናቸዉ” 3. Ato Seyoum Assefa, Owner and Manager, Assefa Inc. Rochester, NY. “የክልል ሚሊሽያና ልዩ ሀይሎች በፌደራል ስር ይጠቃለሉ ዘመቻ ለምን”
|
Sunday, March 22, 2020 | |
| 9:00 – 9:15 | Start of transmission (music, videos) |
| 9:15 – 9:20 | Call to order Master of Ceremonies: Dr. Yohannes Zeleke, Research Associate, Museum of Natural History, The Smithsonian, Washington, D.C. |
| 9:20-10:50 | SESSION 5: Political leadership, youth radicalization, genocide and trauma management Session chair: Dr. Yohannes Zeleke, Research Associate, Museum of Natural History, The Smithsonian, Washington, D.C. Speakers 1. Professor Solomon Addis, Department of History, Central Michigan University, Mt Pleasant, MI “The Role and Meaning of a Leader in the Modern History of Ethiopia, 1885 to Present” 2. Ato Shimeles Kitancho, College of Medicine, Howard University, Washington, D.C. “Ethiopians Must Learn from Others’ Mistakes” 3. Dr. Sosena Kebede, Department of Health Policy and Management, John Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD. “Repairing the trauma” |
| 10:50-11:15 | Coffee break |
| 11:15-12:30 | SESSION 6: Ethnicity, election, minority rights and transition Session chair: Ato Beshawred Ayele, Former Hospitality Consultant & President of American Business Enterprises Inc. Washington D.C. Speakers 1. Dr. Semahagn Gashu, Assistant Professor, School of Arts and Sciences, Endicott College, Beverly, MA. “Missed Opportunities to Democratic Transition and the Need to Avert State Collapse in Ethiopia” 2. Professor Emeritus Daniel Teferra, Department of Economics, University of Wisconsin-Whitewater, Whitewater, WI. “ኢትዮጵያዊያን፤ ብሔርተኞችና ዲሞክራሲያዊ ሽግግር” |
| 12:30-2:00 | LUNCH BREAK |
| 2:00-4:00 | SESSION 7: Panel on The Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) and the geopolitics of the Greater Horn of Africa and the Red Sea Session chair: Professor Getachew Begashaw, Department of Economics, Harper College, Chicago, IL Speakers 1. Dr. Aklog Birara, Former Senior Advisor at The World Bank, and Author, Washington, D.C. 2. Engineer Wuhib Bayou, Regulatory and Compliance Engineer, Maryland Department of the Environment, MD. 3. Dr. Wossenu Abtew, PE, D.WRE, Principal Engineer, Water and Environment Consulting LLC, and Affiliate Faculty at the Department of Earth & Environment, Florida International University, FL. 4. Ato Mahemud Tekuya, PhD Candidate, McGeorge School of Law, University of the Pacific, Sacramento, CA. |
| 4:00-4:15 | Coffee break |
| 4:15-4:45 | SESSION 8: Concluding remarks Speaker Professor Minga Negash, Department of Accounting, Metropolitan State University of Denver, CO and School of Accountancy University of the Witwatersrand, South Africa. “Accounting for elections and government accountability” |
| 4:45-5:00 | Conference closure and vote of thanks Master of Ceremonies: Dr. Yohannes Zeleke, Research Associate, Museum of Natural History, The Smithsonian, Washington, D.C. |
Guidelines for Speakers, Session Chairs and Participants
We are delighted that you will be participating in Vision Ethiopia’s Ninth Conference. Coronavirus related problems have obliged us to administer the conference online. These guidelines are intended for all conference participants (i.e., speakers and session chairs) and the online audience to establish standards and expectations to ensure a productive and successful colloquium. The conference will be transmitted live and hence the standards and etiquettes required for online meetings will be applied.
Guidelines for Session Chairs
Session chairs may come to ESAT’s office located at 85 South Bragg Street, Alexandria Virginia, VA 22312.. If you are chairing the session from your location, the access link will be sent to you via email. Please check your email frequently.
One of the most important responsibilities of session chairs is ensuring that sessions and presentations start and finish right on time, without any exception. We request session chairs to pay attention to the following:
- If you decide to come to ESAT’s office, please arrive at least 30 minutes before the scheduled starting time. If you decide to use your equipment please ensure that it is compatible with that of ESAT’s.
- If you intend to chair the session from your location, please ensure the connection is working. Allow enough time for the technicians to get you connected.
- Introduce all speakers at the beginning of the session.
- Do not try to answer questions that may be directed to the speakers.
- Promote collegiality and respectfulness during Q & A, and at all times.
- Observe signs, read the text and email messages and reminders from the conference organizers.
- Alert presenters five minutes and one minute before the end of their time, and you should stop the speaker on time.
- Ensure that questions from the online audience and responses from presenters are short and to the point, allowing at most 2 questions from each online participant.
- As much as possible do not paraphrase what speakers have said and refrained from talking about your research/experience or your organization.
Guidelines for Speakers
All speakers are reminded that the purpose of their presentation is to contribute to policy formulation and implementation, with a view to ensuring successful election and an unbiased assessment of the transition in the country. The conference is not a platform for promoting a speaker’s organization or business. As such, all presenters are expected to be non-partisan and should have no conflict of interest.
Speakers are requested to make note of the following:
- If you come to ESAT’s office, please arrive at least 30 minutes in advance of the session’s start time in order to prepare, set up, and check any technology you might plan to use.
- Ensure that your presentation is of high quality, focused and understandable by the general public, and policymakers.
- Please note that the language used in the conference is Amharic. Presenters who are unable to speak the Amharic language may present their work in English.
- Avoid anecdotal evidence. Refrain from being prescriptive or rather opinionated. The forum is not created for making uninformed speeches or canvassing support.
- To the extent possible, avoid technical jargon, crude generalizations, and inflammatory, offensive or divisive language.
- Address politicians, political organizations, institutions, social groups and individuals using their formal names, ranks, titles, etc.
- Keep your talk to 20 minutes and, allow time for questions and answers. Try to get your key messages across as early as possible. If your presentation is longer than the allotted time, you will run the risk of being cut off, without communicating the essence of your paper.
- Always remember that you are taking other speakers’ time and disrupting the flow of the conference when you go beyond the time allotted to you.
- Limit your answers to any question directed to you to two minutes or less.
- Be aware that the event will be transmitted live and recorded. While the intellectual property rests on the speaker/presenter and Vision Ethiopia takes no responsibility for what a speaker has said or did not say.
- Allow time for technological glitches that might occur. Be patient.
Guidelines for viewers and online participants
Audience involvement is a crucial part of the conference. We encourage online viewers to participate. All questions that get sent will be moderated.
- Make sure that your question is relevant to the theme of the session.
- State your full name (no pen name), your institutional affiliation, the country where you are, and identify the speaker to who the question is addressed to.
- As a matter of courtesy, be brief and ask only one question. No long comments will be entertained. Do not send file attachments
Guidelines for the Media
The proceedings will be available online. The intellectual property and copyrights belong to the authors of the papers, Vision Ethiopia and ESAT. ESAT has the exclusive right to transmit the proceedings of the conference. We regret that we are unable to make the conference available to other media owners. Media owners who wish to transmit the proceedings must contact ESAT. ESAT and Vision Ethiopia reserve the right to decline the request.
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