In his final report as commissioner of the Ethiopian Human Right Commission (EHRC), Ambassador Tiruneh Zena told MPs on Thursday that the commission is suffering from high numbers staff absconding as a result of the low salary that the commission offers to its employees.
The commissioner revealed this information to the MPs in the commission’s 11-month performance report.
In the past 11 months, 19 employees left the commission and attempts by the commission to replace them with qualified professionals was also unsuccessful due to the unattractive wage.
Apart from the challenge associated with staff turnover, the commission was also facing another challenge, which is budget allocation from the Ministry Of Finance And Economic Development (MoFED) and this, in turn, again also affects activities of the branch offices of the commission.
The commissioner also listed the successes of the commission in the past 11 months, among which presented to the MPs was the commission’s close follow up of the fifth round general election. In this regard, the commissioner told MPs that the commission strictly follows that the election was conducted based on the principles of the constitution, international standard and respect of the basic human rights of the voters. According to the commissioner, issues concerning the respect of the rights of women’s and children’s were also the success area of the commission.
To render all the necessary activities concerning human rights of citizens, the commission expended a total of 44,920,205 birr, which was acquired from the government through regular budget and aids from various donors working with the commission. The budget of the commission is mainly drawn from the budgetary subsidy allocated by the government and assistance, grants and any other sources.
The Ethiopian Human Rights Commission was established by Proclamation No 210/2000 on July 4th, 2000. The grand objective of its establishment was for the nations, nationalities and peoples of Ethiopia to jointly build one political community founded on the rule of law through the respect for the fundamental rights and freedoms of the individual and of nations/nationalities and peoples.
Since its establishment, the commission has carried out a diverse set of activities planned to accomplish the core mission, values and objectives of the commission in partnership with a variety of national and international entities working with issues of human rights. Accordingly, it has managed to produce a number of reports on human rights situation of the country as well as conduct various human rights training and monitoring activities.
The term in office of the current commissioner has expired as of the new parliament and the House of People’s Representatives was called upon to nominate individuals who will serve as a commissioner for the coming five years.