Handing over, receiving the baton of responsibility

Ethiopia has just seen off the former prime minister and welcomed a new one, consequently the new first lady has officially taken the baton of responsibility from the outgoing one. The question that pops up in the mind of people is what were the accomplishments of the former first lady Roman Tesfaye and what will be the responsibilities of the new first lady Zinash Tayachew? The Ethiopian Herald had approached pertinent bodies and Roman's former colleagues for the answer. Noh Degu Office director within the First Lady Office told to Herald that, previously there was nothing as such First Ladies Office. Roman pioneered in establishing the office. Though there were other first ladies who did their best previously, their activities had not been supported by office practices and qualified personnel. Selecting and giving focal attention to five burning societal issues, Roman had succeeded to materialize change in the nation. On the health sector, cancer and HIV AIDS were her main concern, as to the director. She established the National Cancer Committee in order to control and prevent the spread of the disease staunchly. Selecting the states where the HIV prevalence rate is high, she had taken the responsibility of sensitization works and prevailed on managements to aggressively address challenges, as he mentioned. Noh said that, Roman had been supporting the national movement towards a better nutrition and redressing malnutrition. She had been striving to craft and implement the correct reform document on nutrition. Supporting educational sector was the other big concern of hers, as to the director. Specially, she was highly active in the urban and governmental schools. It was a huge outreaching program in this sphere. Furthermore,she is the founding member and patron of the “Ye Enat Weg” charitable association, that places focus on school feeding.