1. Introduction
The democratic system that is being built in our country provides an opportunity for the enhancement of communication activities. Article 12(1) of the Ethiopian Constitution makes it clear that the conduct of affairs of government shall be transparent, whereas Article 29 provides that everyone has the right to freedom of expression without interference. Thus, these two articles of the Constitution are indicative of the emphasis given by the government to people’s right to get access to information which basically emanates from our developmental government’s firm stand to respect and defend the Constitution.
Filling the gaps in organization and human resource of the Urban Development and Construction Ministry is imperative to bring about a fundamental productive institutional change. Hence, a strong public relations and communication organization has been created with the aim of playing the biggest role of disseminating the ministry’s vision, strategic plans, policies and laws to the public in such a way that business processes and accountable institutions come together to make the government and all members of the public know about them.
2. Duties and Responsibilities of the Public Relations and Communication Office
1. It coordinates and directs the information and communication work of the Office of the Ministry; it works as the ‘spokesperson’ of the Office;
2. It prepares, organizes and sequentially and swiftly disseminates the Office’s various information to the concerned bodies;
3. It plans, coordinates and oversees the implementation of various public relation activities so as to achieve the Office’s vision and mission, develop a good relationship between the Office and the public and improve the image of Office;
4. It establishes a strong information exchange system in the Office which it coordinates and oversees;
5. It undertakes media monitoring and environmental assessment activities, as well as prepares analysis, it collects and analyzes suggestions of the staff and customers and presents them to the senior leadership;
6. It coordinates the relationship the Office should have with the media, enables the media to get answers to their information demands through relevant institutions;
7. It sets and coordinates discussion forums intended for raising awareness and giving a clear picture of the Office’s policies, strategies, regulations, guidelines as well as other issues that help to have a national consensus and its build image;
