All the invited guests were welcomed by the representatives of Jimma zone Administration and Oromia culture and Tourism office. This was followed by an opening speech by Professor Fikre Lemesa, President of JU. He emphasized that Ge’ez was once a language used for governmental and church activities. It was with this language that the civilization of the country has been documented in those days. He called upon all the concerned bodies of the country to give due attention to enable the language revive and play its significant role towards the development of the country. He has also appreciated what has been done by Tigray Administrative region regarding the development of the language and urged others to follow the same trend and be part of the movement for the resurgence of the historical language.
The speech of H.E. Engineer Ayisha Mohamed, Minister of Culture and Tourism, was delivered by her representative Ato Abreham Chosha, Director of National Archives and Library Agency. About 10 papers were presented during the conference days and these were followed by questions comments and suggestions.
The conference was wrapped up after a closing remark by Dr. Dejene Gemechu, Dean of College of Social Sciences and Humanities College, who among others underscored that JU is a university committed to the promotion of cultural values and languages of different groups and even hosts short term courses of languages from abroad. He mentioned languages delivered at program levels like Afan Oromo, Amharic and English and short term international language such as: Arabic and Chinese hosted by the College of Social Sciences and Humanities. He further underlined that; the college will endeavor to its level best to promote the Ge’ez language through research and by promoting continuous discourse on the subject.
Awarding certificates to the participants, visiting Aba Jifar palace and Jimma Museum and dinner reception were among the events carried out at the closing stages of the workshop.