Demo Finland in Ethiopia
The co-operation started in 2019.
Partners: Network of Ethiopian Women’s Associations (NEWA) and Ethiopian Women with Disabilities National Association (EWDNA)
The programme aims to enhance the skills of women politicians and women with disabilities to work as members of political parties and policymakers. In addition to supporting and training women with disabilities who stood as candidates in the 2026 general elections, the programme trains politicians in using traditional and social media to help identify and combat online violence and communicate inclusively with the media. The programme also works with the wider political system by supporting electoral authorities on inclusive data management and conducting accessibility audits for political parties. Trainings for women politicians encourage participants to engage in multi-party dialogue and co-operation.
Results of our work
- In 2025, the programme reached 88% of Ethiopia’s 70 political parties.
- In 2025, the Parliament of Ethiopia ratified inclusive amendments to the Election Law to guarantee inclusive electoral processes.
- The election official appointed 200 women with disabilities to work as election observers and polling station coordinators in the 2026 elections. (In the previous elections, the number was 15). Demo Finland’s programme trained 175 of these women.
- 20 political parties have made concrete changes to their documents, structures and practises to accommodate women and persons with disabilities to their operations.
- 21 parties participated in multi-party dialogues to develop disability inclusion and accessibility in their operations. 20 parties have made practical changes to implement these ideas, for instance, by building physical accessibility to their venues and adopting accessible communication.
- The Political Parties Joint Council, PPJC, published minimum standards for disability inclusion and disseminated it among political parties. The document supporting this work was published by the previous programme phase in 2023–2024, when the programme created and disseminated minimum standards for inclusion for political parties.
- The election official adopted disability inclusive voter and candidate registration and produced accessible election information. In the 2026 general election, accessibility was implemented in the polling stations unlike during the previous elections.
Background on Ethiopia
Ethiopia has been a federal state since 1995. At the time, the constitution granted the country’s 12 ethnic regions broad autonomy. Abiy Ahmed, the current Prime Minister, was elected in the 2018 general election. In the early years, he implemented a number of important democratic reforms, including releasing political prisoners, lifting censorship of the media, improving transparency and accountability in governance, and concluding a peace agreement with Eritrea, which ended 20 years of conflict. However, by the start of the Tigray conflict in 2020, Abiy’s regime had gradually become authoritarian, with federal government forces committing acts of violence against civilians in the region during the conflict. Since 2023, Abiy has sought to reduce the sovereignty of the regions, which has exacerbated regional conflicts across the country.
The state of democracy has been in decline year by year, and the trend continues. The opposition has a very narrow space, which was evident in the general elections in 2026. In April 2025, the Parliament adopted reforms to the country’s media law that significantly reduce the media’s ability to operate. The authorities restrict the remaining free media’s space by suspending the licenses of journalists or medias that are seen to criticize the government.
Although Ethiopia has ratified the UN conventions on the rights of women and persons with disabilities, their political participation is limited by a number of attitudinal and structural factors.
- Ranked 145/179 in V-Dem’s Liberal Democracy Index.
- Classified as an electoral autocracy* by V-Dem.
- Latest parliamentary election: 2026.
- Women in parliament: the House of People’s Representatives not confirmed, the House of Federation 30%.
- The UN Covenant on Civil and Political Rights was ratified in 1993.
- The UN Convention on the Rights of Women was ratified in 1981.
- The UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities was ratified in 2010.
- More information on the state of democracy in Ethiopia: https://www.idea.int/democracytracker/country/ethiopia
*Electoral autocracy refers to a state where multi-party elections for the executive exist, but there remain insufficient levels of fundamental requisites such as freedom of expression and association, and free and fair elections.