Ethiopian Media Council secures license after long wait

A letter written by the Agency for Civil Society Organizations issued this week says the media council can finally begin its work after three and half years of establishment. The first establishment conference was hosted by the United Nations on 12th January 2016 at the UN Conference Center.
The letter was issued and signed by Misrak Bezabh, Team Leader for Registration and Licensing of the Agency on June 25 stated that as per the Civic Society Organizations Proclamation no. 1113/2019, article 57 (1) the Media Council has obtained its license.
In its statement the Media Council recalled that for the past 42 months since its first general assembly the council was going through the process of obtaining the certificate from the government besides establishing the administration of the council.
During the council’s founding meeting, 19 founding members have signed on to the membership, now the members have increased to 29 which include public and private media outlets.
The council stated that it would work to improve media and follow media outlets to serve the public properly.
“Besides providing capacity building for journalists to keep the sector ethics, we will officially work to protect the sector from government intervention in press freedom,” the statement added.