Recently, IAG conducted two Intergenerational Dialog Forums focusing on Nursing and Public Administration, which both attracted a large turnout.

The Forum on Nursing was held on the 21st of April 2010. It was attended by over one hundred graduate and undergraduate students of nursing and public health, young public health practitioners, experts and representatives of relevant governmental and non-governmental institutions. Experienced professions in the field came to share their insight, including Mrs. Frehiwot Tirusew (who worked as a midwife nurse and instructor for 39 years) and Mrs. Askale Wagshum (who served as a nurse at different public and private health institutions for 41years and was a head nurse at the Zawditu Memorial Hospital). The speakers shared their knowledge and experience as well as their perspectives on the state of the nursing profession in Ethiopia, ethics in the field of nursing, the quality of education and the role of professional associations in the public health sector.

A second forum on Public Administration was held on the 18th of March 2010. The keynote speaker was Ato.Masresha Gugsa, a veteran civil servant with extensive experience in the area of public service administration during the imperial and military regimes. He served as the Head of the Central Personnel Agency (currently the Federal Public Service Agency) for several years/decades. He shared his views with the invited audience, including students of public administration, political science, federalism and development studies from Addis Ababa University, the Ethiopian Civil Service College and private universities. Also in attendance were young civil servants working in the Federal as well as regional, Oromiya and Addis Ababa administrations. Ato. Masresha Gugsa led discussions on the establishment and operation of civil service institutions in Ethiopia, the challenges in public administration as well as critical issues related to the civil service that need to be addressed in the Ethiopian context.