An Assessment On The Practice Of Strategic Communication For National Image Building The Case Of Ministry Of Foreign Affairs Of Ethiopia

The purpose of the study was to assess the practice of strategic communication in national imagernbuilding in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ethiopia. The study assessed the roles of strategicrncommunication and current practice of the Ministry in promoting the country’s image to therninternational community. In the assessment, the researcher collected views of practitionersrnworking in the Ministry and the overseas diplomatic missions of Ethiopia.rnThe researcher employed qualitative methodology to get detail views and used purposivernsampling technique to select key informants in the Ministry. For the conceptual and theoreticalrnframeworks, the concepts of strategic communication, national image building, agenda settingrnand framing theories were reviewed respectively. Strategic communication guides for a favorablernimage promotion of a nation in a way the promotional messages are framed and set as an agenda.rnFurthermore, the Foreign Policy and National Security Strategies and other related documentsrnwere reviewed for supporting the study as a baseline.rnThe findings of the study revealed that a huge gap exists in using strategic communication forrnnational image building in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The Ministry and missions abroad dornnot use strategic communication, rather practice the traditional and conventional way ofrnpromoting a country. Also, there is lack of coordination between or among stakeholders in therncountry in promoting the country’s image. The Ministry also lacks skilled public diplomats andrncommunication practitioners who are familiar to digital diplomacy. Though the Ministry hasrnshown limited improvement in training diplomats, the rigid bureaucracy and unresponsivernworking systems have still become impediments that hinder the Ministry in using strategicrncommunication for building the image of Ethiopia.rnBased on the findings, the Ministry has to replace the traditional practices for strategicrncommunication to build the country’s image. In the contemporary world, the image of a nationrnhighly matters for developing countries like Ethiopia in attracting foreign direct investment,rntourism, and establishing friendly relations with other sovereign countries. The study alsornsuggests that the government has to establish an overriding institution which regulates therndisintegrated promotional activities of various stakeholders in the country.

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