Ethiopian Review

Addis Ababa (ENA) – The Information and Culture Affairs Standing Committee of the House of Peoples’ Representatives commended the Ethiopian Press Agency for what it described as strong commitment towards improvement.

This came here on Monday at the presentation to the standing committee of the agency’s 9-month performance report.

Committee chairman Dawit Teferra said, capacity building training was noted among the efforts of the agency, which is entering into implementation of a BPR.

The endeavors of the agency towards change and improvement should ultimately lead to the delivery of better services to the public, Dawit said.

Therefore, he said, these works should continue in an enhanced manner until the end of the budget year.

Meanwhile, the committee recognized that the sales and distribution of the agency’s flagship newspapers and magazines showed marked improvement this year. The agency’s circulation this year is up by 11.83 per cent from that of last year.

However, the committee identified as the agency’s weakness what it said was a belated launch of implementation of the BPR.

Agency’s management board chairman Shimeles Kemal on his part said the agency has been striving to narrow the gaps witnessed so far.

Agency acting general manager Sebsibe Kebede told the committee that the agency would embark on trial implementation of the BPR by August or early September.

He said his agency has offered capacity building training to its journalists and orientations on the government’s policies and strategies.