Background

Political activist in the old Ethiopian Student Movement, and the Ethiopian Peoples' Revolutionary Party
Academic qualification:

International Relations and Development, post-graduate programme.
MA in development studies, International Institute of Social Studies (The Hague),
Ph D. in sociology, University of South Africa.

Served as expert member of the Working Group on Indigenous Populations under the African Commission on Human and Peoples' Rights
Worked for international NGOs such as El Taller in Tunisia, Panos Ethiopia and Panos Eastern Africa as well as the Nile Basin Discourse.

Melakou
Tegegn (Ph D)

Runner up as one of the best research papers, Institute of Social Studies (1989-90)

served as expert member of the WGIP, paid a country visit to Rwanda and wrote the report on the conditions of the indigenous communities of Kenya

Lead trainer at a civil society leadership education programme by an international NGO called El Taller and gave trainings in Tunisia and Thailand, (area of focus: civil society leadership in the age of globalization, ethnicity, gender, monitoring and evaluation systems)
Regional and country director of an international NGO called Panos in Ethiopia and East Africa, (area of focus: communications for social change, pastoralism and gender)
Served as board member of both the International Council of MRG and MRG Africa
Regional Coordinator of a regional NGO called Nile Basin Discourse (area of focus: building a network of civl society organizations in the Nile Basin countries to build solidarity and cooperation through engaging the official regional entity called the Nile Basin Initiative

Political involvement began as leader in the old Ethiopian Student Movement. Served as vice president of the university student's union at the college of Agriculture in Alamaya. Involvement in the student movement continued in The Netherlands and Europe at large. Served as president of the Ethiopian Students' Union in The Netherlands and Europe at various times.
Political involvement continued in the Left wing revolutionary movement in the 70s. Was one of the founders of the first Left Wing political party in Ethiopia namely the Ethiopian Peoples' Revolutionary Party and later served as a member of the party's central committee.
He had interesting experience, limited though, in the party's work in rural areas in an armed struggle setting mainly in the Gonder region, North Western Ethiopia.
NGO work took him to various countries in Africa (Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, DR Congo, Rwanda, Burundi, Sudan; as well as in the Middle East such as Tunisia, Egypt and Morocco; Asia such as Thailand, Vietnam, Cambodia and India)
Teaching experience in the academia includes lecturing in political science and gender courses at Addis Ababa University as well as lecturing in development studies at the Premium College in Addis Ababa. From 2011 to current, he taught various courses at an annual human rights course on the rights of the indigenous peoples of Africa, faculty of law at the University of Pretoria.