Fassikaw Molla Amera is the Deputy Director General of the Authority for Civil Society Organizations (ACSO) of Ethiopia. Previously he has served as Director of the International Cooperation on Legal Affairs Directorate at the Ministry of Justice. At the Ministry, he also headed the Ethiopian National Human Rights Action Plan Preparation Office, leading numerous high-level international legal negotiations and fostering Ethiopia’s legal and judicial cooperation with global entities. He was also the legal adviser of the Chief Commissioner of the Ethiopian Human Rights Commission. Mr. Fassikaw Amera brings extensive expertise in legal affairs, human rights, international cooperation, civil society, volunteerism and corporate governance.
For the past six years, Fassikaw has been at the forefront of Ethiopia’s civil society sector reform, instrumental in developing policies and laws to enhance civic space and strengthen the CSOs landscape. He spearheaded national efforts to cultivate a culture of volunteerism, leading initiatives to build capacity and designing structured national systems, including the Volunteerism Management Information System (VMIS), an online platform to connect volunteer involving institutions and volunteers. Fassikaw holds an LLB in Law and pursued postgraduate studies in International Politics and Human Rights from City University of London. Fassikaw will be speaking on Day 1, in the breakout session on “Volunteering as a pathway to active participation in Civil Society.”
