What is your research about?

I am a lecturer and researcher at the Center for Federalism and Governance Studies at Addis Ababa University, Ethiopia. My research focuses on federalism and gender, and currently on decentralization and urbanization. I also work on cultural legitimization of human rights, focusing on the significance of women’s inclusion and empowerment in the customary justice system to eliminate discrimination and harmful practices. More recently, I have been working on drivers for creation and merger of urban and rural local governments surrounding federal capitals and their implications for dispute resolution.

During my stay at the Institute for Federalism, as part of the LoGov project, I will explore the dynamics of urban and rural local government surrounding federal capitals and their intergovernmental relations. The assumption is that policies and intergovernmental relations which promote socio-cultural inclusion and the metropolitan character of the federal capital and its neighboring local governments are the basis for peace and development. Based on this assumption, I will compare the drivers for the creation and merger of local government surrounding federal capitals in Switzerland and Ethiopia. I also examine intergovernmental relations between local government surrounding the federal capital and the federal capital.

What is your background

I have a MA and PhD in Federalism and Governance Studies from Addis Ababa University. My PhD thesis examined accommodation of diversity and women’s rights. My BA degree is in History, and I started public service as teacher. I am an advocate of federalism and equality, particularly gender equality and I have worked with governmental and non-governmental organization to promote women’s rights. At the Center for Federalism and Governance Studies, I gave lectures and trainings on issues of federalism, gender, human rights, interdisciplinary studies and decentralization.

The LoGov project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 Research and Innovation Staff Exchange (MSCA-RISE) programme under the Marie Sklodowska-Curie (MSCA) grant agreement No 823961, being managed by Eurac’s Institute for Comparative Federalism.