The Role of Civil Society Organizations in Promoting the Rights of Persons with Disabilities in Ethiopia

Abstract

Recognition of human rights of persons with disabilities (PWDs) by the
Convention on the Rights of Persons with disabilities (CRPD), which
Ethiopia has ratified, can be considered a beacon of hope for the
realization of equality and dignity of PWDs. There are few legislations in
Ethiopia concerning PWDs and disability related provisions. Ministries
and Agencies have begun to mainstream disability in their various
undertakings and mandates. However, the issue of civil society
organizations (CSOs) in connection to the rights of PWDs in Ethiopia is
under-explored and less researched. Taking this fact in to account, the
purpose of this article is to explore how CSOs, particularly Disabled
Persons’ Organizations (DPOs), contribute to the foundation of human
rights promotion by analyzing their roles and practices in the monitoring
and implementation of laws and policies related to PWDs. To this end,
selected provisions of the CRPD, regional human rights instruments,
national laws and academic literatures were analyzed. Having discussed
existing laws and practices, this article concludes that despite
considerable capacity and resource constraints, in order to advance
human rights of PWDs in Ethiopia, more is expected from CSOs,
especially related to collaboration with government and partnership
organizations.
Keywords: Roles of CSOs, Human Rights Promotion, DPOs, Rights of PWDs