Aino Himanen

Responsible for the proposal development and management of humanitarian aid projects (Education in Emergencies, SRHR in emergencies, Child protection in emergencies, Multi-purpose Cash and Voucher Assistance) in Myanmar, Lebanon, Ethiopia, Nigeria and Mozambique, funded by ECHO and MFA Finland. Providing technical support on disability inclusion in both the humanitarian and development programmes, including on partnerships with Organisations of Persons with Disabilities (OPDs).

Providing technical assistance and leading Abilis Consulting support to the Finnish Red Cross in disability inclusion, in collaboration with CBM Inclusion Advisory Group (IAG) and Abilis Consulting network

Freelance consultant specialising in disability inclusion. - December 2024 - June 2025: Team member in the Evaluation of the Openness and Accessibility of Abilis Foundation's Grant Application Process. Main tasks included: planning of the evaluation process and data collection; review of data collection tools; support to local consultants in Ethiopia and Tanzania; data collection in Finland and during field visit to Ethiopia and Tanzania (interviews with OPDs, stakeholders, and Abilis staff); data analysis; and evaluation report writing and review. - March 2022 - May 2023: Disability inclusion advisor for Strengthening Climate Resilient Systems in WASH Technical Assistance project in Ethiopia (2021-2024), funded by FCDO and implemented by Niras UK. The main tasks include supporting the Gender, Youth and Social Inclusion lead in integrating disability inclusion into the project strategies and implementation, through preparing guidance notes and training materials, or reviewing project M&E tools and assessments. - October 2020 - February 2021: Team leader in the mid-term evaluation of the project “The promotion of inclusion of children and youths with visual impairment in regular education and self-supporting activities”, funded by The Ministry for Foreign Affairs Finland, The Finnish Federation of the Visually Impaired and implemented by their Ethiopian partner Help for Persons with Disabilities Organization (HPDO) - October 2020 - December 2020: Monitoring, project planning and capacity building support to The Finnish Association of People with Physical Disabilities and their Ethiopian partner Disability Development Initiative (DDI)

Responsible for gender and disability inclusion in Finnish Red Cross (FRC) supported development and humanitarian projects funded by MFA Finland and ECHO in the Africa region (Burundi, Eswatini, Ethiopia, Kenya, Malawi, Niger, Sierra Leone, Somalia, South Sudan, and Zimbabwe). Mains tasks included: - technical support in mainstreaming gender and disability inclusion within health, WASH, disaster preparedness and response projects (e.g. conducting project level disability inclusion assessments; development of tools, action plans and strategies) - planning, monitoring and management of projects from gender and disability inclusion perspective (e.g. ensuring inclusive planning processes and monitoring frameworks; leading detailed planning of inclusion with project teams; providing hands-on implementation and monitoring support at the community level) - capacity building of FRC and National Red Cross Societies in Africa in gender and disability inclusion (e.g. development of disability inclusion training packages (in collaboration with Abilis Consulting)) - cooperation with Abilis Consulting and CBM Global/ Inclusion Advisory Group; and supporting the identification of and meaningful collaboration with local Organisations of Persons with Disabilities (OPDs).

Responsible for the inclusion of persons with disabilities in the COWASH project extension focusing on the COVID-19 pandemic preparedness, response and resilience, including: - planning, reporting and providing technical assistance in disability inclusion activities in the project - revising training materials, guidelines and formats developed for the extension to ensure inclusion of persons with disabilities - producing a guideline on including persons with disabilities in rural households in the COVID-19 response in COWASH project - conducting field visits to selected regions and districts to monitor the progress in disability inclusion activities and providing technical assistance - documenting the inclusive activities and best practices observed - taking part in the planning of a rapid assessment on Gender-Based Violence and Disability Inclusion in the project area during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Responsible for disability inclusion activities in the COWASH project, a rural water, sanitation and hygiene project funded by the Governments of Ethiopia and Finland, based at the Ethiopian Ministry of Water, Irrigation and Energy. This included: - Planning, reporting and providing technical assistance in disability inclusion activities - Conducted regular supportive supervision visits to monitor the practical implementation of disability inclusion activities at different levels - Documentation of the COWASH disability inclusion component activities - Cooperation with the disability movement in Ethiopia, including OPDs and their umbrella organisation, as well as other WASH stakeholders working on disability issues - Member of the Equity and Disability Inclusion in WASH taskforce led by the National WASH Coordination Office at the Ministry of Water, taking part in the regular meetings and activities - Participation in Joint Technical Review groups for the WASH sector to assess the progress of Equity and Inclusion in the country (twice, including preparation of questionnaires, field visits, reporting, and presentation of findings to the sector at the WASH Multi-Stakeholder Forum)

Responsible for disability inclusion activities, including: - Planning, reporting and providing technical assistance in disability inclusion activities - Developed a Disability inclusion strategy for the project, created a Disability Inclusion Guideline for technical experts and a shorter Guidebook to be used at community level - Planned, produced training materials and oversaw the disability inclusion trainings and awareness raising events for COWASH staff and government officials at federal, regional, zone, district and kebele levels in the five COWASH regions as well as for other WASH stakeholders. - Conducted regular supportive supervision visits to monitor the practical implementation of disability inclusion activities - Ensured that disability is included in the project’s M&E system, including data collection and disaggregation by disability using the Washington Group methodology - Responsible for cooperation with the disability movement in Ethiopia, including OPDs and their umbrella organisation, as well as other WASH stakeholders working on disability issues

- Responsible for the management of projects funded by the MFA Finland and EU in Malawi, Angola, Namibia and India (education, agriculture, rural development sectors). Regular monitoring visits to UFF project countries. - Led the mainstreaming of disability issues into the projects together with Disability Partnership Finland and local OPDs in the South. - Responsible for proposal writing and planning of new projects. - Provided capacity building and training of partner organisations in the South.

- Management of projects funded by the MFA Finland in Ethiopia, Cameroon and Nepal (disability inclusion, child rights, education). - Proposal writing and planning for new projects. - Capacity building and training of partner organisations in the South.

- Assistance to the development cooperation team. Participate in proposal writing, project monitoring and reporting to MFA Finland. - Compile Interpedia’s Project Management Manual and participate in the writing and editing - Interpedia’s Development Cooperation Programme 2012-2015.