Our Work
Seven program areas, each one part of how we approach health, education, protection, inclusion, and opportunity across our communities.
Our Programs
Each area below is a different entry point into the same work. Across our programs, that might mean helping a family reach a doctor when their child is sick, helping a child with a disability attend a school built to include them, giving a parent a safe place to report abuse, or helping someone start a small business that can support their household. These areas rarely operate alone. A family supported through our livelihoods programs is often also connected to a health post nearby, and a child receiving disability services is often also enrolled in one of our education programs. Below is a closer look at each area, including the interventions involved and a project currently underway.
Seven Areas, One Approach
Your contribution helps us reach our goal and deliver our mission of protection, care, inclusion and poverty reduction.
Explore Our Projects
Discover the impactful projects led by COC to protect livelihood and improve life for vulnerable communities around Ethiopia and beyond.
- Sidama
- 2024
Health & Nutrition
In many of the communities where we work, the nearest health post can be hours away on foot, and the nearest hospital further still. Our health and nutrition programs focus on closing that gap: training community health workers, running outreach for immunization and maternal care, and screening children under five for malnutrition before it becomes a crisis. We also work to integrate mental health support into primary care, because emotional wellbeing and physical health are rarely separate in real life, even if health systems often treat them that way.
- Maternal, Newborn & Child Health
- Community Nutrition Programs
- Immunization Outreach
- Water, Sanitation & Hygiene (WASH)
- Mental Health & Psychosocial Support
Rural health posts across our project areas in Ethiopia
A rotating outreach program that brings maternal checkups, child immunization, and nutrition screening directly to communities that would otherwise need to travel hours to reach a clinic. Local volunteers are trained to follow up with families between visits, so care doesn't stop when the outreach team leaves.
children, youth, women, and families reached
Primary schools in our program areas
An accelerated learning initiative for children who missed one or more years of school due to displacement, disability, or family hardship. Students work through a condensed curriculum in small groups, with support for children with disabilities built directly into the classroom rather than offered as a separate track.
children, youth, women, and families reached
- Amhara
- 2022-25
Education & Learning
For many children, the barriers to school have little to do with ability and everything to do with circumstance: a classroom too far to walk to, a teacher untrained in inclusive methods, or a family that cannot afford the cost of materials. Our education programs work on all three fronts at once, supporting early childhood development, training teachers in inclusive practices, running accelerated learning for children who fell behind, and distributing the basic materials that make attending school possible in the first place.
- Early Childhood Development
- Teacher Training & Support
- Accelerated Learning Programs
- Digital & Blended Learning
- Learning Materials Distribution
- Somali
- 2022-25
Child Protection & Family Support
Protection work often becomes visible only after something has gone wrong, but most of what we do is aimed at preventing that point from being reached at all. Our teams support families before crises escalate, through parenting programs, community based protection groups, and case management for children who need it. When harm has already occurred, including gender based violence, we provide psychosocial support and connect families to the services they need, without making them navigate the system alone.
- Child Protection Case Management
- Parenting Education & Family Strengthening
- Gender-Based Violence Prevention & Response
- Community Protection Mechanisms
- Safe Spaces for Children & Youth
Safe Families Initiative
DescriptionA case management and family strengthening program that pairs trained social workers with families identified as being at risk, whether due to poverty, disability, displacement, or past harm. The program combines direct support with parenting sessions run by community members themselves, so the skills remain after the program ends.
children, youth, women, and families reached
Community based rehabilitation centers
A rehabilitation program providing physiotherapy, occupational therapy, and assistive devices to children with physical and developmental disabilities, paired with caregiver training so families can continue therapy routines at home between sessions. The program also works with local schools to support inclusive enrollment once a child is ready.
children, youth, women, and families reached
- Oromia
- 2022-25
Disability Inclusion & Rehabilitation
This is where CoC began, and it remains central to how we work across every other program area. Inclusion means more than awareness: it means physical therapy that helps a child walk, an assistive device that lets someone communicate, a classroom redesigned so a wheelchair fits through the door, and a community trained to see disability as a difference, not a limitation. We work directly with persons with disabilities and their families, and we train caregivers so support continues at home, not only during a clinic visit.
- InterventionsPhysiotherapy & Occupational Therapy
- Speech & Language Therapy
- Assistive Devices & Mobility Aids
- Income-Generating Activities
- Accessibility Assessments
- Addis Ababa
- 2022-25
Livelihoods & Economic Empowerment
Long term stability rarely comes from a single handout, it comes from skills, capital, and access to a market that actually works for the people trying to sell into it. Our livelihoods programs combine vocational training with small business support, savings groups, and, in rural areas, climate-smart agriculture techniques that help households manage increasingly unpredictable seasons. The goal in every case is the same: a household that can absorb a shock without falling back into crisis.
- Vocational & Technical Skills Training
- Entrepreneurship Development ·
- Savings & Loan Groups
- Climate-Smart Agriculture
- Financial Literacy Training
Community based, rural and peri-urban areas
A savings and loan group program that trains community members, mostly women, to form and manage their own group savings funds, alongside basic financial literacy and small business planning. Groups set their own rules and lending terms, with CoC providing training and oversight during the first cycles.
children, youth, women, and families reached
Get Involved
There are many ways to support communities in need. Join us in providing healthcare, education, and protection for all.
Your contribution helps fund essential healthcare, education, and protection programs for vulnerable communities.
Work alongside dedicated teams and support life-changing projects in communities around the world.
Help spread the message and inspire others to support life-changing programs and build resilience.
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