The Water and Land Resource Centre (WLRC) hosted a farewell dinner in honour of His Excellency Dr. Abraha Adugna, State Minister of Water and Energy, on the evening of 29 April 2025 at Haile Grand Hotel, Addis Ababa. The event gratefully recognised Dr. Abraha’s invaluable support to the WLRC and the Water Resource Management sector of Ethiopia over the years of His service as a State Minister. His impactful leadership as the Member and Co-Chairperson of the WLRC Board of Trustees since 2018 and Steering Committee for the WLRC-managed big projects were also vividly acknowledged.
During the Farewell, the WLRC Director General Dr. Gete Zeleke expressed his and WLRC’s deep appreciations for Dr. Abraha’s professionalism, strategic leadership and commitment which played vital roles in the Centre’s growth and success. “Despite his super busy schedules, Dr. Abraha consistently made time to attend our workshops and events, offering his guidance and unwavering support,” Dr. Gete noted.—We received the news of his departure with mixed feelings: on the one hand, we are happy about and proud of his new role as Deputy Executive of the Nile Basin Initiate (NBI) given its strategic significance for Ethiopia; on the other hand, we are unhappy as we will certainly miss his presence and critical support in our future endeavours.” Dr. Gete also thanked the MoWE Minister H.E. Dr. In. Habtamu Itefa for his visible support to WLRC in signing the institutional affiliation agreement between MoWE and WLRC and for supporting WLRC’s initiatives through his deputy H.E. Dr. Abraha.
Token gifts and Certificate of Appreciation were handed to H.E. Dr. Abraha and His wife Mrs. Helen by Dr. Gete, H.E. Mr. Jelmer van Veen, First Secretary of EKN, and Dr. Tena Alamirew Deputy Director of WLRC..
Dr. Abraha thanked Dr. Gete for the kind words and commended the WLRC team for their commitment and dedication. He identified the occasion as ‘bittersweet’ – as his departure would entail missing the good professional families at MoWE, WLRC EKN and others on the one hand, but prepares him for more strategic responsibilities on the other. Dr. Abraha identified the WLRC Leadership, the Management and staff as highly professional, committed and productive crew. He expressed his gratitude for the gifts and assured the team that he would continue to follow and support the Centre’s work in the future. Furthermore, he committed to reach the messages to the Minister H.E. Dr. In. Habtamu. Both Dr. Gete and Dr. Abraha duly acknowledged EKN’s support to the MoWE at large and to the WLRC in particular.
Mr. Jelmer on his part positively recognised MoWE’s and WLRC’s responsible professional and executive engagements in the water sector, and he pledged to maintain the connections with them and to continue supporting these institutions even from a distance as also him would be moving to Nairobi after two months.
The Farewell event was attended by WLRC Management and team, a representative of EKN, and family members.Bottom of Form