Houses Hold 6th Year 1st Joint Session (October 5, 2020)

The House of Federation and the House of Peoples have held their 6^th year 1^st joint opening session.

In her opening remarks on the joint session, President Sahle-Work Zewde said the last Ethiopian budget year has been marked with significant achievements in all sectors.

The president pointed out that the world Nobel Peace Prize Award 2019 bestowed up on Prime Minister Abiy ahmed showed the world how Ethiopia is striving to maintain peace and cooperation in the region besides changing the no war no peace situation with neighboring Eritrea.

Ethiopia witnessed extraordinary accomplishment in realizing the first successful filling of the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam and mobilizing increased public participation for its construction.

She said the public has made greater contribution in purchasing bond to finance the dam despite economic challenges due to pandemic.

Following the paths towards better technological advancements, Ethiopia launched its first remote sensing sattlelite to the space, the president noted.

A step taken to restructure the national electoral board in fair and free manner and hold referendum of the Sidama People for the new regional government is among the major achievements gained in line with widening the political space and building the democratic system in the country, according to the president.

Addis Ababa witnessed remarkable developments that are crucial to stimulate the tourism sector during the last year, she said.

According to the president, the nation has undertaken tremendous activites to increase productivity of the agricultural sector through effective options like cluster farming and implementation of technologies.

She said that the government has created three million jobs for youths across the nation over the last fiscal year.

Ethiopia signed several overseas employment agreements to safeguard rights of Ethiopian domestic workers in various world countries, the president stated.

The government has undertaken a wide range of preventive activities supported by active participation of the public to mitigate impacts of the coronavirus pandemic, the president said, adding the nation has taken the circumstance as a better opportunity to build fraternity among citizens towards common national agenda.

Promising results have been gained in the public diplomacy sector in terms of bringing Ethiopians living all over the world and other partners towards national interest of the country like the construction of the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam.

Ethiopians have stood together with a great sense of perseverance and forbearance to withstand challenges related to communal violence and political unrest before they cause serious calamity and defended their unity riding out circumstances, the president underscored.

Various activists have also been carried out to tackle natural disasters like desert locust swarms during the last fiscal year, the president added.

Meanwhile, member of the two houses have unanimously approved the minutes of the 5^th year 1^st special and regular joint sessions.