Blog

At the end of August our dear colleague and friend Tesfu Equbeyonas passed away untimely and suddenly, leaving a deep void in the Bridging the Gap team and in the disability rights movement in Ethiopia. Pia Korpinen, Bridging the Gap coordinator in Ethiopia, writes some words to remember him as the kind, cheerful and committed person he was.

Khalida Eisa Haron Abdallah, Senior Public Health Inspector at Port Sudan Municipality, shares her life story as a woman who lost her hearing as a teenager, explaining the difficulties she faced and how her family's support and perseverance led her to a successful career.

Melaku Tekle, Executive Director of the Ethiopian Center for Disability and Development, tells us about his life story, his professional career and the need to keep working together to improve the situation of persons with disabilities in Ethiopia

Irene Valarezo Córdova, Assistant to the Undersecretary of Las Manuelas Mission for the Government of Ecuador's Plan Toda Una Vida, shares his life story as a person with cerebral palsy, explaining the difficulties she has faced both at school and university as well as in the professional world.

César González, President of the National Association of Public Officials with Disabilities of Paraguay (ASONADIS) tells us his life story from being diagnosed with infantile cerebral palsy to becoming a disability activist in the association he currently chairs, ASONADIS, and gives us his view on the disability movement in Paraguay

2019 was a year of big transformations in Sudan, where support for the rights of persons with disabilities also received a new contribution: the creation and launch of the Group of Friends of Persons with Disabilities, originated by the initiative of the Italian Embassy, which, at the request from relevant public institutions started a process leading to the creation of a “Common Space” in which all actors involved in supporting the rights of persons with disability might meet and exchange.

Carmen Serrano, Communication officer of Bridging the Gap, tells us her impressions of the issues discussed in the workshop ‘Tejiendo confianza’, organised by the European programme Eurosocial and Oxfam Intermón and held on 30 September and 1 October in La Antigua Guatemala.

Mihret Nigussie Chengerei, acting president of the Federation of Ethiopian National Associations of Persons with Disabilities, writes about her experience at the European Development Days 2019.

Joaquín Rodríguez, Coordinator of the National Federation of Blind Persons of Ecuador’s (FENCE) project "Promoting the educational inclusion of children with visual disabilities", tells us his experience during a peer exchange visit on inclusive education in Spain.

Resilience building has become an increased priority for the Ethiopian government and also for development partners present in the country.