Bridging the Gap presentation in Ethiopia

Bridging the Gap has been presented to the Ethiopian authorities, development agencies and civil society organisations at an event organised by the Austrian Development Agency (ADA), co-funding agency of the project managed by FIIAPP.

In Ethiopia, the European Union-funded project aims to promote the inclusion of disability through social protection. To do this, it is working through existing programmes being implemented by the government in collaboration with CARE, PNUD, OXFAM and local NGOs.

The event was opened by the president of the Federation of Ethiopian National Associations of Persons with Disabilities (FENAPD) and a representative from the Ethiopian Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs, which has expressed its gratitude to the European Union “for supporting the efforts of the government to promote inclusion and strengthen organisations of people with disabilities“.

In addition, a workshop on the inclusion of people with disabilities in Ethiopia, moderated by Dagnachew Wakene, of the African Disability Alliance, and with the participation of the ILO, Bridging the Gap and UNICEF, was organised after the event.

The deputy head of the Delegation of the European Union in Ethiopia, Terhi Lehtinen, highlighted the value of the project in addressing the challenges for achieving the inclusion of people with disabilities, in line with the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD), the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) and the European Consensus on Development: “I am sure that the project will also make a valuable contribution in Ethiopia to promoting inclusive policies and services from a global point of view,” he said.

The event also involved Yetnebersh Nigussie, lawyer and activist for the rights of people with disabilities, the coordinator in Ethiopia of the International Labour Organization (ILO), representatives from the United Nations Office in the country, FIIAPP and ADA