The Ethiopian Women Lawyers Association (EWLA) is a non-profit women's advocacy group founded by Ethiopian women lawyers. It was legally registered in 1995 and began operation in 1996. EWLA is headquartered in Addis Ababa and has six branches in Bahir Dar, Assosa, Hawassa, Adama/Nazareth, Diredawa and Gambella. The branch/regional offices are supported by 53 trained voluntary committee members organized at woreda and zonal levels; these offices provide structures to reach women at grass root level in Ethiopia.
EWLA’s vision is to see a country where women are equal to men and articulates its mission as promoting the economic, political, social and legal rights of women and assist them to secure full protection of their rights under the Constitution of Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia and other international human rights conventions.
The Association, to achieve its mission, works through three core programs:
Under its Legal Aid Program EWLA assists women, particularly disadvantaged women, who are victims of gender-based violence free of charge. The service includes legal advice/counseling, writing court briefs (court charges and affidavits) as well as representing clients in courts.
The second program, Public Education and Capacity Building Program works on raising awareness on women's rights. This program conducts training and advocacy workshops on the legal, social and political rights of women for students, government, and civil society organization (CSO) employees.
Through the third program, Research and Law Reform Advocacy, EWLA conducts various researches on women's rights issues and findings are used as a major resource for law reform advocacy and public education.