About Gadaa.com

Gadaa.com is an independent online media outlet serving the Horn of African region and its Diaspora through publishing relevant articles and news items. Gadaa.com is also a source of vast information about the Horn of Africa's largest nation, Oromo. The Oromo people constitute close to 50% of the Ethiopian population.

Having been named after one of the world's most complicated traditional systems of governance, the Gadaa System of the Oromo people, Gadaa.com strives to live up to its name by entertaining different points of views. Gadaa.com's writers and contributors, in conjunction with the web publishing team, deliver timely and essential information about the Horn of African region, in general, and the Oromo people, in particular.

Gadaa.com has been cited as a professional resource center about the Oromo people by reputable human rights, news and academic organizations, such as:

• Cultural Profile: Oromo - The Center for Victims of Torture, Minneapolis, MN

• Power of the Press: Ethiopian journalist defies brutal government - The Cauldron from the Independence Institute - discussing the persecution of one of Gadaa.com's independent opinion article contributors.

• Multicultural Resources of the Psychology Department at the Bethel University in Minnesota, where the largest Oromo Diaspora lives outside of the Horn of Africa.

To contact us for feedback or submission, use the Contact page.

Editorial Policy

In order to promote discussion of issues regarding the Horn of African region, Gadaa.com publishes articles on a regular basis.

1. Gadaa.com accepts articles on any topic as far as they pertain to the Horn of African region and its Diaspora, and foster Gadaa (Oromo indigenous democracy) values. Only articles written in English are published.

2. Gadaa.com welcomes all articles dealing with constructive criticisms; however, Gadaa.com does not publish articles that contain personal attacks, and/or derogatory remarks against an individual or a group of people in the opposite point of view.

3. All submitted articles will be reviewed for quality of content, quality of writing and objectivity - among other factors. The Gadaa.com team will make some necessary technical (such as spelling, but never the content) edits to fit standards.

4. Statements from political organizations are not considered articles. Such statements will not be posted on Gadaa.com unless to report on them in the News & Analysis section - with appropriate quotes and external links to full contents.

5. Advice: Keep in mind that short and to-the-point articles are highly admired by readers - and drive the message home effectively. Many times, long articles lack coherence - avoid them.

6. Two important facts:     1. Submission of an article does not necessarily guarantee publication.     2. Publication of an article does NOT mean the opinions discussed in the article are endorsed by Gadaa.com.

7. Contributors are encouraged to submit their articles through the Contact page. To contribute pictures, use this page on flickr.com. Click here to review the types of articles (those labeled as opinions) published originally on Gadaa.com in the past.