Persons with disabilities take centre stage at high-level gathering in Addis Ababa

There's an urgent need for greater attention and investment in including persons with disabilities in Ethiopia. Despite their contributions, persons with disabilities encounter significant barriers to employment and participation. This recent high-level event highlighted the importance of collaboration among governments, UN agencies, and NGOs in promoting inclusive environments that promote dignity and opportunity.

At the Skylight Hotel in Addis Ababa, a packed hall of policymakers, donors, and advocates turned their attention to a group too often sidelined in development discussions — persons with disabilities. The High-Level Advocacy Event, hosted by CBM Ethiopia and the Federation of Ethiopian Associations of Persons with Disabilities (FEAPD), brought together 82 participants, including State Ministers H.E. Huria Ali Mahdi (Ministry of Women and Social Affairs) and H.E. Seharela Abdulahi (Federal Ministry of Health).

Among the attendees were representatives from UN agencies (UNHCR, UNICEF, UNOCHA, IOM, UNRCO, and WHO), GIZ, The End Fund, Sightsavers, and other international NGOs and CBM partners — all pledging continued collaboration on disability inclusion.

 

The event — part celebration, part call to action — showcased the resilience and achievements of persons with disabilities across Ethiopia, while urging renewed investment in inclusive employment and equal participation in society.

How inclusion transforms lives

The resilience and achievements of persons with disabilities were brought to life through storytelling, art, and lived experience. Videos, personal testimonies, and performances by youth with disabilities brought the audience to their feet, offering glimpses into how access to education and work can transform lives.

One short film followed a woman entrepreneur who, after receiving inclusive business training from a CBM partner, now employs others in her community. Another featured a young man whose formal job gave his family financial independence for the first time. When persons with disabilities can access decent work, entire families move out of poverty.

Calls for greater investment in inclusive employment

The United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction’s campaign for 2025 is a call to fund resilience, not disasters. The policy paper echoes this theme by calling for a fundamental and systematic change of mindset from funding of short-term aid toward sustained resilience. By signing this paper, CBM is calling for greater investment in inclusive early warning systems which ensure community preparedness by collaborating with OPDs in risk assessments, capacity building projects, and adapting multi-hazard early warning systems to be accessible for all. 

For more information on the group call to action, and the key messages outlined by the signees, download the policy paper and read more on what needs to be done now. 

The day opened with remarks from Dr Rainer Brockhaus, CEO of CBM Christian Blind Mission, who reaffirmed CBM’s long-standing partnership with the government of Ethiopia and organisations of persons with disabilities (OPDs).

Heiko Schömbs, Heiko Schömbs, CBM’s Director of Institutional Donors and Business Development, and Abenet Leykun Berhanu, CBM Ethiopia Country Director, reaffirmed that disability inclusion remains central to CBM’s mission, stressing the importance of creating environments where persons with disabilities can fully thrive.

Building momentum for an inclusive Ethiopia

 

A panel discussion followed, examining the barriers that still prevent many Ethiopians with disabilities from participating in the workforce — from stigma and inaccessible workplaces to limited data on inclusive employment. Key outcomes of the discussion included:

  • Advocating for increased investment in inclusive employment for persons with disabilities, across both formal and informal sectors.
  • Highlighting, through beneficiary stories, how meaningful work promotes dignity, independence, and social inclusion.
  • Raising CBM’s visibility and advocacy impact within development and humanitarian programmes.
  • Strengthening partnerships and collaboration for future initiatives that support the rights and inclusion of persons with disabilities in Ethiopia.

 

Closing the event, Mr. Abayneh Gujo, Executive Director of FEAPD, urged stakeholders to “sustain and scale what works,” noting that real progress requires consistent policy action, funding, and visibility for persons with disabilities.

Highlights of performances by persons with disabilities