TIMRAN (ትምራን)

EHRC and CSOs Coordination Platform celebrated International Human Rights Day
The Ethiopian Human Rights Commission (EHRC) and Ethiopian Civil Society organizations (CSOs) Coordination Platform celebrated the 76th annual International Human Rights Day on December 17, 2024, G.C. at Hawassa city.
Different CSO members, associations’, universities representatives working on legal aid, university students and NGOs representatives from Addis Abeba and Hawassa cities as well as Sidama, Central Ethiopia and South Ethiopia regions attended the event.
The EHRC Human rights Education Directress, Mekdes Tadelle (PhD), in her welcoming address briefed about EHRC mandated activities.
The EHRC-CSOs Coordination Platform Co-chair and Network of Ethiopian Women Associations (NEWA), Executive Directress, Saba Gebre Medhin, made an opening remark on the Platform. She noted the platform established to collaborate on the protection of Ethiopians human rights, to coordinate activities, to advocate for the advancement of human rights, to engage citizens in lieu of their rights, to empower the society on human rights issues and other interconnected aspects of human rights.
Yemisrach Legesse, the Platform chair and Partnership Department Directress at EHRC, on her part said the Platform was established by EHRC based on a guideline in 2020 focusing on protection of human rights and then after two years subgroups created to increase the contribution of CSOs in the Platform.
An expert from EHRC Office of the Chief Commissioner (OCC), Neima Aman, presented about the Ethiopian Transitional Justice preparation process from its inception up to the present-day update and the role of EHRC with in the process.
TIMRAN Program Manager and Co-chair of the Women and Children subgroup within the platform, Hawi Geleta, tabled a brief presentation on women’s and Children Rights (WCR). She publicized the opportunities and challenges of women and children rights situation in Ethiopia.
Disability and Older Persons’ Rights Senior Human Rights Officer at EHRC, Shimeles Ashagrie, indicated in Ethiopia the number disability and older person is not justified, and this shows their right is compromised beginning from unavailability of defined statistical data. Due to this, as a nation we always depend on NGOs data and notify them around this much. He pointed nationwide more than 20% of Ethiopia’s population (roughly 20 million) live with disability, whereas there are above 6.8 million older persons in the country.
EHRC Hawassa branch office Monitoring and Investigation (MONID) head, Begashaw Eshetu, explained about the branch activities along with its stakeholders. He pointed the regional office covered Sidama region, West Arsi zone, South Ethiopia and Central Ethiopia regions focusing on three major activities including monitoring, investigating and following emergency human rights abuses.
Yibekal Gizaw, EHRC Monitoring and Investigation (MONID) Regional Director, briefed about the commission activities and success stories related with the sector he leads. He also presented on the 4th Cycle of Universal Periodic Review recommendations given to Ethiopia.
In the end, a briefing on EHRC-CSOs Coordination Platform engagement was given by Yemisrach and Saba.
At the event there was a question and answer, networking and exhibition session to mark the Day.
On her closing remark, Saba Gebre Medhin said the Platform created good opportunity to learn and interact each other. She also made a call to participant CSOs and associations to join the Platform and actively engage within its working groups. In addition, she stressed CSOs to be ready to work on the UPR recommendations given to Ethiopia.
#TIMRAN@5

Five essential facts about human rights
On the celebration of 2024 Human Rights Day, with a theme “Our Rights, Our Future, Right Now” everyone should know the five essential facts about human rights.
1. Human rights are universal and inalienable
Human rights are not granted by States - they belong to everyone, everywhere, simply by virtue of being human. They transcend race, gender, nationality, or beliefs, ensuring inherent equality and dignity for all.
2. Human rights are equal, indivisible and interdependent
Human rights are indivisible and interdependent, which means that the fulfilment of one right often relies on others.
Tackling one area can lead to progress in others- such as gender equality or poverty reduction- while ignoring even one right can create a ripple effect, harming individuals and communities in multiple ways.
3. Universal Declaration of Human Rights was a global turning point
Human rights are not just abstract ideas, through different declarations, covenants and bills, they have become actionable standards.
4. States have obligations and individuals have support
All States have ratified at least one of the nine core human rights treaties, as well as one of the nine optional protocols. This means that States have obligations and duties under international law to respect, protect and fulfil human rights. At the same time, human rights treaties offer a framework for individuals and communities to demand the fulfilment of their rights and advocate for change.
5. Human Rights Day: A platform for action
Observed annually, Human Rights Day commemorates the adoption of the declaration and serves as a platform to reflect on both achievements and ongoing struggles in the realm of human rights.
This year, the 76th anniversary of the declaration emphasizes the power of human rights as a preventative, protective and transformative force, especially in times of crisis. (Source: news.un.org)
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አራተኛው ዙር የሲቪል ማኅበረሰብ ድርጅቶች ዐውደ ርእይ ሳምንት ተጠናቀቀ
‘ለዘላቂ ሰላም እና ፍትሐዊ ልማት ቃል ኪዳናችንን እናድስ’ በሚል መሪ ቃል ከኅዳር 27-29 ቀን 2017 ዓ.ም በተከናወነው እና ትምራን የተሳተፈችበት 4ኛው ዙር የሲቪል ማኅበረሰብ ድርጅቶች ዐውደ ርእይ ሳምንት ተጠናቀቀ።
ከዐውደ ርእዩ ጎን ለጎን የሲቪል ማኅበረሰብ ድርጅቶች ከእርዳታ ተላቅቀው ራሳቸውን ስለሚችሉበት መንገድ እና ዝግጁነት፣ ለሀገር ሰላም እና ለዴሞክራሲ ባሕል ግንባታ ያላቸው አስተዋጽኦ የሚሉ ርእሰ ጉዳዮችን ጨምሮ በሌሎች ሐሳቦች ዙሪያ የውይይት መድረኮች ተካሂደዋል።
ዐውደ ርእዩ የሲቪል ማኅበረሰብ ድርጅቶች ከተቋቋሙባቸው ዓላማዎች አኳያ ያከናወኗቸውን ሥራዎች ማስተዋወቅ እና እርስ በርስ መተዋወቅ፣ አጋርነታቸውን ማጠናከር እና የልምድ ልውውጥ ማድረግ የቻሉበት ነበር።
በመርሐ ግብሩ ማጠናቀቂያ ላይ ተሳታፊ የነበሩ ሲቪል ማኅበረሰብ ድርጅቶች መርሐ ግብሩን በጋራ ካሰናዱት የኢትዮጵያ ሲቪል ማኅበረሰብ ድርጅቶች ባለሥልጣን እና የኢትዮጵያ ሲቪል ማኅበረሰብ ድርጅቶች ምክር ቤት የእውቅና ምስክር ወረቀት ተቀብለዋል።
The 4th round CSOs exhibition week wrapped up
The 4th round CSOs exhibition week conducted with a theme ‘Renewing the Promise for Sustainable Peace and Equitable Development’ from December 06-08, 2024, G.C. in which TIMRAN was participated wrapped up.
In the exhibition sidelines there were panel discussions on topics such as CSOs localization journey and its best practices in Ethiopia and their readiness, the role of CSOs in building democratic culture and others.
On the event the participant CSOs displayed their works based on the established objectives, strengthened partnership and shared experiences.
At the end of the exhibition week participant CSOs received recognition certificate from the joint organizers of the event: Authority of Civil Society Organizations and Ethiopian Civil Societies Organization Council. #TIMRAN@5