Intense month for Bridging the Gap in Ethiopia

Bridging the Gap in Ethiopia lived a very intense month of activities between mid-November and December. Four important trainings were organised, with the objective of strengthening the relevance of the disability component in international cooperation activities in the country.

First, a “Disability Awareness and Inclusive WASH Solutions Training” was organized in favour of CARE Ethiopia and stakeholders from East and West Bellessa in Bahir Dar and Gondar respectively, aiming to introduce accessibility principles that make water and sanitation facilities and services accessible for persons with disabilities.

Secondly, a training on collecting disability data using the Washington Group Short Set of Questions (WGSQ) took place addressing two Kebeles in West Bellessa and SWEEP staff, helping creating awareness on the importance of collecting disability inclusive data to influence policy, programming, service provision and budget allocation and to agree on the piloting of disability data collection in West Belessa selected communities.

And finally, last but not least, a one-day Disability Equality Training for DfID staff was organised in Addis Ababa, so to create awareness and trigger commitment to realizing the human rights of people with disabilities for DFID staff with the purpose of outlining forthcoming collaboration between DfID and BtG on disability inclusion.

The year thus concluded on a very high note for our project in Ethiopia, setting the bar high for more and greater contribution in 2019 to the inclusion of persons with disabilities in the country.