(Parliament News)Feb 19, 2021:- The House of Peoples' Representatives the (FDRE) is holding a parliamentary research conference on "Parliament, Democracy and Human Rights" at the Economic Commission for Africa (ECA).

Opening the conference, Honorable Speaker Tagesse Chaffo said councils will serve as a platform and tool for building a democratic system in a democratic political society.

He said council’s good relations with higher education institutions, research institutes, professional associations and civil society, especially in developing and transitional countries will play an important role in solving socio-economic, political and development problems.

"Ethiopia has the potential to grow and hope and research is crucial to translate this potential into action and realize our hopes", he said.

He added that MPs would debate on a number of issues that they believed would benefit the public; they make laws and regulate the government. He said the debates and laws passed by the House are based on research, evidence and rational advice, and that there is a good chance that decisions and laws will be adopted that will be accepted and used for their intended purpose.

On the other hand, he said, as the legislature has relatively better sources of information and knowledge, it is important for the Houses to develop and implement a system that can fill the gaps that may arise when they regulate the legislature.

Recognizing this, the House of Peoples' Representatives of the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia (FDRE) is undertaking various activities to fulfill its constitutional mandate based on information, knowledge and experience.

Today's forum will strengthen the parliamentary research network, which will be of great importance to the reform process that the House is undertaking, and the parliament will make decisions based on research and evidence, especially legislation. He said it will help in monitoring and supervision as well as delegating functions properly.

In addition, the network will enable universities, research institutes, think tanks, civil society and professional associations to contribute to national development by conducting problem-solving research activities.

In this regard, we expect this research network to play an important role in building the research capacity of our House in addition to its own research activities, he conveyed his message.

The research topics presented at the conference were chosen with this in mind, and they contribute significantly to the intended purpose. Such research conferences are held annually and this one will last for two days.

By Yared Eshetu