Jean Pierre Sibomana

I am a program officer for Uganda working with DRF’s Disability Movements’ division members and liaising between DRF and grantees in Uganda. My experience brings a strong background in grassroots organizations of persons with disabilities from under-resourced communities to advance our rights. I am the Co-Founder and Project Director of the Self-Advocacy Initiatives for Persons with Disabilities, a group that has empowered hundreds of the most marginalized children and women with disabilities by raising awareness, decreasing stigma, promoting inclusion in policies and programs, and realizing equal rights in areas, such as legal capacity, just livelihoods, and access to basic services.

My advocacy efforts were recognized by receiving a 2019 Mandela Washington Fellowship, which allowed me to work and volunteer at Access 2 Independence in Iowa, among other organizations. I have a bachelor’s degree of honors in Sociology and a master’s degree in Development Studies from Mount Kenya University. I have also studied at the University of Iowa in the School of Business and Entrepreneurship.

I hope to advance my professional career by enrolling in a master’s in Disability Studies at the University of Manitoba. I am food of writing books and poems that reflect on the darkness Rwanda experienced during the 1994 genocide. I am a father of two boys, and I love traveling with them.

Book recommendation: Robinson Crusoe by Daniel Defoe