In a country where disability is perceived as inability by many, there are few people who demystify this old established stereotype. Indeed Yetnebersh Nigussie is one among these very few brave personalities. The 35 years old advocates of human rights, inclusiveness and gender equality lost her eyesight at the age of five.
However, her disability has never deterred her from moving up in education. It did little to stop her from rising to global prominence. It indeed didn’t hamper her from achieving her dreams and aspirations, and making contributions to the betterment of societies.
Yetnebersh has always been vocal about rights issues and exercised leadership since she was a teenage girl. While attending secondary school, she has been vocal through different clubs. Later, when she joined the Addis Ababa University (AAU) in 2001, where she studied law, Yetnebersh’s extracurricular activities expanded. She chaired the AAU Anti-AIDS movement for several years. She later founded AAU’s Female Students Association in 2006 and served as its first president. Yetnebersh who also holds a master's degree in Social Work promotes human rights fearlessly pushing for the rights of PWDs as well as women. She is an outstanding advocate of the rights of Persons with Disabilities (PWDs) enshrined in the UN Convention.
Over the years Yetnebersh has received a number of national and international awards, the latest being the 2017 Right Livelihood Award, the "Alternative Nobel Prize” sharing the honor with Azerbaijani investigative journalist Khadija Ismavilova, Colins Gonsalves, Senior Advocate of the Supreme Court of India, and American environmental lawyer Robert Bilott. EBR has featured this outspoken woman of excellence. Grab your copy to learn her amazing rise to global prominence.
In a country where disability is perceived as inability by many, there are few people who demystify this old established stereotype. Indeed Yetnebersh Nigussie is one among these very few brave personalities. The 35 years old advocates of human rights, inclusiveness and gender equality lost her eyesight at the age of five.
However, her disability has never deterred her from moving up in education. It did little to stop her from rising to global prominence. It indeed didn’t hamper her from achieving her dreams and aspirations, and making contributions to the betterment of societies.
Yetnebersh has always been vocal about rights issues and exercised leadership since she was a teenage girl. While attending secondary school, she has been vocal through different clubs. Later, when she joined the Addis Ababa University (AAU) in 2001, where she studied law, Yetnebersh’s extracurricular activities expanded. She chaired the AAU Anti-AIDS movement for several years. She later founded AAU’s Female Students Association in 2006 and served as its first president. Yetnebersh who also holds a master's degree in Social Work promotes human rights fearlessly pushing for the rights of PWDs as well as women. She is an outstanding advocate of the rights of Persons with Disabilities (PWDs) enshrined in the UN Convention.
Over the years Yetnebersh has received a number of national and international awards, the latest being the 2017 Right Livelihood Award, the "Alternative Nobel Prize” sharing the honor with Azerbaijani investigative journalist Khadija Ismavilova, Colins Gonsalves, Senior Advocate of the Supreme Court of India, and American environmental lawyer Robert Bilott. EBR has featured this outspoken woman of excellence. Grab your copy to learn her amazing rise to global prominence.
Amharic