An Inauguration ceremony for a project implemented by the Mekata Disabled Handcrafts and Industry Co-operative Society and Limited Liability, took place on 30 May, 2011. This project was funded by the Japanese government through its Grant Assistance for Grassroots Human Security Projects (GGP) scheme with USD 88,227, to enhance the activities of the abovementioned local NGO whose main objective is to promote the well-being of disabled people in Addis Ababa.  Mr. Yoshinori Kitamura, First Secretary and Head of the Economic Division of the Embassy of Japan in Ethiopia, celebrated the completion of the project, together with Ato Amera Gashaw, the Chairperson of Mekata Disabled Handcrafts and Industry Co-operative Society and Limited Liability, along with government representatives of the Nifas Silk-Lafto Sub-city and members of the community. 

The problems of disability in Ethiopia need to be specially highlighted because disabled people are typically shunned, isolated and stigmatized by their community, so that they are very often neglected.  As if their many hardships are not painful enough, disabled people often face exclusion and discrimination at the hands of their communities, even their own families.  The problem is made more complex by the fact that, for the most part, disabled people also usually suffer from extreme poverty.  They often live in areas where medical and other related social services are scarce, or even totally absent, and where disabilities are not and cannot be detected in time.  In Ethiopia, resources are not sufficient to detect and prevent disability and to meet the need for the rehabilitation and supportive services of the disabled population.  

In order to ease the abovementioned problems, the Embassy of Japan responded to the request from the Mekata Disabled Handcrafts and Industry Co-operative Society and Limited Liability which was founded in 1993 by a group of disabled people in the Nifas Silk-Lafto Sub-city.  Since 1993, this local NGO has been supporting people with disabilities and also fighting against discrimination.  The implemented project constructed a cafeteria that is now being run by the members of the cooperative. 

This cafeteria was constructed in part to promote understanding between the disabled people and the community in the area.  Since the opening of the cafeteria in July 2010, this place not only generates income for the disabled and hence enhances their self-esteem by becoming productive members of society, but also contributes to reducing discrimination toward disabled people.   

Mr. Yoshinori Kitamura, in his speech at the inauguration ceremony, expressed his profound gratitude to the Mekata Disabled Handcrafts and Industry Co-operative Society and Limited Liability as well as the community of the Nifas Silk-Lafto Sub-city for their deep devotion to the completion of the project.  He also said that disabled people want what we all want, the chance to be educated, find rewarding work, lead worthwhile lives and be valued members of their community.  By giving the attention to their much troubled conditions and their deserved needs, and committing ourselves to the problems regarding persons with disabilities, much can be achieved, he said.  Furthermore, Mr. Kitamura mentioned that by visiting the project site, one can clearly see the potential abilities of persons with disabilities, and this can eventually lead towards social and economic reintegration of the persons with disabilities in the very near future. 

Since 1997, the Embassy of Japan in Ethiopia has supported over 287 Grassroots Human Security Projects throughout Ethiopia, in education, water, agriculture, health and other areas of basic human needs. The Government of Japan will continue to support a variety of projects at the grassroots level for marginalized and vulnerable people.