Addis Ababa, December 25, 2021 (Walta) – The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ethiopia and Bahir Dar University have held a forum to deliberate the impact of misinformation on diplomacy and ways to mitigate it.
The forum drew researchers and experts who tabled the role of the higher education community in Ethiopia to fight misinformation in tandem with the encouraging activities of Ethiopians and people of Ethiopian origins in the diaspora.
Ambassador Dina Mufti, the spokesperson of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, detailed the impact of the media in distorting the reality on the ground in Ethiopia.
He said the misformation media campaign is a wake-up call to all Ethiopians, including the higher education community, to contribute a lot in defending the truth about the country.
The president of Bahir Dar University, Dr. Frew Tegeng, on his part, reiterated the University’s continued support for the success of the campaign for survival and called on higher education institutions in Ethiopia to actively combat the misinformation and disinformation campaigns of the international media.
Mr. Zerihun Abebe, a diplomat from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, highlighted the need to boost diplomatic activities employing digital technologies to mitigate the challenges posed by different corners.
According to MoFA, moderators and presenters have responded to questions forwarded by attendees and made further deliberation on suggested ideas