Elena Kochoska is a woman with a disability from the Republic of North Macedonia. As an economist and legal expert, she has over 23 years of experience as a human rights defender and advocate for policy and legislative reform. Her work is grounded in the vision of inclusive equality enshrined in the CRPD, advocating for the elimination of intersectional discrimination, the right to independent living, and the empowerment of the disability community. She is committed to the achievement of inclusive equality and independent living, and to ensuring the participation and inclusion of persons with disabilities as partners in all development and political processes.
For 11 years, she served as the technical coordinator of the Inter-Party Parliamentary Lobby Group for the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. At the international level, she is currently a member of the Board of the European Network on Independent Living (ENIL). Nationally, she is the Chairperson of the Board of the Macedonian Center for International Cooperation and serves as a consultant to the national monitoring mechanisms, organizations of persons with disabilities (OPDs), civil society organizations and networks, service providers, international organizations, and embassies at the regional, national, and local levels. She supports them in mainstreaming the CRPD within their programs and actions. She is also one of the founders of the cross-disability organization Zeta in North Macedonia.
During her second mandate as a Board Member of the European Network on Independent Living (ENIL), Elena’s key objective is to support the development and strengthening of the independent living movement in the Western Balkans. She is also committed to contributing to the EU accession process by advocating for the full inclusion of the CRPD within the EU enlargement methodology.
Elena Kochoska has been active as a Disabled advocate and Human Rights issues for more than 19 years. She has been involved in advocacy, public campaigns, research and mentoring. She holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Economics from theUniversity of St. Kliment Ohridski in Prilep, Republic of North Macedonia.
Elena has experience in working with numerous international organizations with focus on Human Rights, Disability and Gender Equality issues. She has several publications to her credit in the field of disability, addressing the impact of multiple-discrimination and promoting our participation and independent living and effective implementation of CRPD.
