Listing Category
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DISABILITY ADVOCATE Dibabe is Executive Directress of Ethiopian women with disability national association and a founder and member of Sexual and Gender Based Violence women movement campaign led by Network of Ethiopian Women’s Association(NEWA), she is board member in Ethiopian Disability Action Network, an advisory committee member in Ethiopian Civil Society and executive committee in Ethiopian civil society organization national counsel, member in African Women in dialogue, East African Women Human Rights Defender and Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs Ethiopian Disability Act draft committee, and Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs report organizer committee. Currently, she is a General Manager at Ethiopian Women with Disabilities National Association and as a leader and a woman with disability herself. Dibabe has led disability movement campaigns, met with Addis Ababa Mayor and decision makers and lobby for inclusive service delivery, and advocate for women with disability rights. She is a woman with disability who, despite facing multifaced challenged in her country, surpassed challenges and used them as an opportunity to grow and be an advocate for all persons with disability to exercise their human rights fully.
- Email: dibababebacha1@yahoo.com
- Mobile Number: 251911874359
by emwa
DISABILITY ADVOCATE Firehiwot is intersectional disability advocate (self-advocate) from Ethiopia who has extensive experiences in disability inclusion, gender mainstreaming, youth participation at national, continental, and international level, including in the UN system. She is currently Project Officer at the African Disability Forum (ADF) for the “We are Able!” project in Ethiopia, advocating for disability inclusive food security programs and policies. In addition, she led on and provided technical support for ADF’s initiatives on Gender, Youth and Inclusion, including the Young African Women with Disabilities Leadership Program, the first in its kind pilot program that aimed at increasing and improving meaningful representation of young African women with disabilities in leadership and decision making. Before joining ADF in November 2021, Firehiwot worked at the H.Q. of the ILO in Geneva, as Jr. Gender Equality Officer, and Jr. Technical Officer on disability inclusion. She has working experiences in Ethiopia, Ghana, the U.S. and Switzerland. Firehiwot earned her Master’s in Disability Studies from Syracuse University in New York, with Scholarship award from Open Society Foundations. She was also an awardee of Open Society Foundations’ Civil Society Professional Program and is an alumna of the Young African Leaders Initiatives (YALI) RLC East Africa.
- Email: fsiyum@gmail.com
- Mobile Number: 251910466718
by emwa
DISABILITY ADVOCATE/WOMEN RIGHTS Mihret is an immediate past President of Federation of Ethiopian National Association of Person with Disabilities, because of this position she has been advocating for the rights of more than 20million people with disabilities in Ethiopia. She is also current President of Fikir Ethiopian National Association on Intellectual Disabilities. Mihret is also a chairperson to Advisory committee of Ethiopian Women Human Right Defenders Network. She is also one of the founder and current President of Special Olympics Ethiopia -which is a sport federation focusing on people with Intellectual Disabilities. Mihret got Postgraduate in Development Management program, another MA in Project Management and Bachelor’s Degree in Management Information System from different universities. She is one of the fellows of BRIDGE CRPD-SDG Disability right movement for East-West Africa. Mihret has a total of more than 15 years’ work experience as Executive director, Program Manager, Team lead, Project officer & Trainer (i.e. social and economic development issues including Knowledge management, Disabilities Right, UNCRPD, SDG, GBV, Sex workers, and HIV/AIDS) with in NGOs and Organizations of People with disability. Mihret is a proud Rotarian full time volunteer who believed in ‘Service above self’. Apart from all the above volunteer leadership contribution, she is also working with Inclusion Africa as an Inclusive Education Regional Program Coordinator and this work engaged her to advocate for the rights of people with intellectual disability at Africa regional level specifically within 23 African countries.
- Email: mahinigusse@yahoo.com
- Mobile Number: 251911305850
by emwa
LAWYER/DISABILITY ADVOCATE/ SOCIAL WORKER Rigbe is a diversity and inclusion advocate with over 14 years’ experience, working on disability rights and gender justice through research, advocacy, project management, training and human resource management. She is a Mandela Washington Fellow and has served in the East Africa Regional Advisory Board for the Mandela Washington Fellowship. She holds a Master of Social Work and a Bachelor of Laws. Besides having a physical disability, herself, Rigbe developed interest towards disability rights advocacy after working for a Non-Governmental Organization on the Inclusion of Persons with Disabilities, which exposed her to issues and challenges faced by Persons with Disabilities in general and Women with Disabilities in particular. Rigbe was also involved in her own private practice carrying out social consultancy for vulnerable groups focusing on Disability Inclusion. She is currently working as the Commissioner for Disability Rights and Rights of Older Persons at the Ethiopian Human Rights Commission. Prior to that, she worked at the U.S. Embassy Addis Ababa as a Senior HR Assistant and Disabilities Advisor. As part of her voluntary activities, Rigbe has worked as a legal aid counselor at the Ethiopian Women Lawyers Association (EWLA) and a project facilitator for non-governmental organizations working on disability inclusion. She is currently an expert member of the Working Group on the Rights of Older Persons and Persons with Disabilities in Africa. She is a board member of the Strategic Initiative for Women in the Horn of Africa (SIHA Network), co-founder and board member of the Ethiopian Lawyers with Disabilities Association, co-founder and board chair of Setawit NGO, and a board member of Eyu-Ethiopia. She has served as a board chair of the Ethiopian Women Lawyers Association (EWLA), a member of the National Experts Board/Advisory Group of the Resource and Support Hub Program and a member of the UN Women Civil Society Organizations Advisory Group.
- Email: hagrigbe@gmail.com
- Mobile Number: 251911451104
by emwa
DISABILITY ADVOCATE Shitaye has BA Degree in Foreign Language and Literature (Non-teaching/Journalism) and MA Degree in Gender Studies both from Addis Ababa University in Ethiopia. She has also earned Diploma in Mainstreaming Disability Equality in the World of Work as well as Certificate in Gender Mainstreaming Training from the International Labor organization’s Training Center (ITC) in Turin, Italy. Shitaye has more than twenty years of work experience in disability rights advocacy and promotion of disability inclusive development programs of different organizations. She has served the Federation of Ethiopian Associations of persons with Disabilities (FEAPD) at the capacities of Training Officer and executive Director, the Austrian Development Agency (ADA) as its National Program Manager and Team Leader for the global project bridging the Gap II (BtG II): Inclusive Policies and Services for Equal Rights of Persons with Disabilities. She is also serving as facilitator of disability awareness sessions and trainer of different capacity building training programs of mainstream development programs and projects of several development partners, international nongovernmental institutions, governmental institutions and advocacy groups. Shitaye is an Alumni of Bridge CRPD-SDGs West-East Africa capacity building program which is lead and coordinated by the International Disability Alliance (IDA) and advocate for the rights of persons with disabilities in general and the rights of women with disabilities in particular. Currently she is working for the African Disability Forum (ADF) at the capacity of Director for Advocacy and Communication and oversees the proper implementation of Young African Women with Disabilities Leadership Program; and she is also the Board chair for Ethiopian Center for Disability and Development (ECDD).
- Email: sastawes@yahoo.com
- Mobile Number: 251911443712
by emwa
DISABILITY ADVOCATE Tigist is an advocate on disability inclusion, deaf sign language, deaf culture. She is a deaf advocate. Her deafness has no limitation in her life. Her educational back ground and work experience helped her to be in the disability movement. She has BA degree in Ethiopian sign language and deaf culture and an MA in Special Needs Education from Addis Ababa University. She was the former director of Association of the Deaf (ENAD). She has volunteered to convince the government to give the right for the deaf community to drive cars and succeeded. Since January 2022, she has joined Teki paper bags as a project manager. She has found an NGO to help children living with disabilities through innovative, inclusive education programs. She is now a board member at Light for the World global.
- Email: tigistiruneh@gmail.com
- Mobile Number: 251911018104