Despite the ongoing conflict, instability, and limited humanitarian access in the Amhara Region, the Ethiopian Orthodox Church Development and Inter-Church Aid Commission (EOC-DICAC) continues to stand with vulnerable communities through its Integrated Gender-Based Violence (GBV) and Protection Response Project.
Implemented in two woredas of North Shewa Zone and three woredas of Awi Zone, the project is improving access to protection services for women and girls who are among the most vulnerable during emergencies.
A major milestone of the project achieved in Awi zone; three permanent Women and Girls Safe Spaces (WGSS) in Fageta Lekoma, Jawi, and Ayehu Guagusa wewre completed. Constructed at a cost of nearly ETB 12 million and furnished and equipped with an additional ETB 2.3 million, the safe spaces provide secure environments where women and girls can access psychosocial support, protection services, and opportunities for healing and empowerment.
To promote dignity and personal hygiene, EOC-DICAC conducted a community-based needs assessment and distributed comprehensive dignity kits to 300 of the most vulnerable women and girls. Each kit contained 14 essential items, enabling beneficiaries to maintain their health, hygiene, and dignity while facing the challenges of displacement and crisis.
The project also extended targeted assistance to 20 survivors of gender-based violence, providing essential household and personal care items to help meet their immediate needs and support their recovery. Also, provision of cash support for 120 survivors and vulnerable women and girls. This survivor-centered intervention reflects EOC-DICAC's commitment to restoring dignity and building resilience among those most affected by conflict.
Beyond material support, the project prioritizes emotional healing and psychosocial well-being. Through the Women and Girls Safe Spaces, EOC-DICAC has conducted 42 healing and learning sessions, creating safe and confidential environments where survivors and vulnerable women and girls can receive psychosocial support, develop life skills, share experiences, and strengthen their resilience.
The Integrated Gender-Based Violence (GBV) and Protection Response Project demonstrates EOC-DICAC's unwavering commitment to protecting women and girls, restoring hope, and strengthening community resilience in conflict-affected areas. By combining safe spaces, dignity support, survivor assistance, and psychosocial care, the project is helping vulnerable women and girls rebuild their lives with dignity, confidence, and hope for the future.
Genet Asefa, a 24-year-old mother from a remote area of North Wollo, has endured an extraordinary journey of hardship. Her daughter, Amen, was born with a birth defect known as clubfoot a condition that twists a baby’s foot out of its normal position.
Instead of compassion, Genet was met with stigma and harmful myths. Some community members told her that Amen’s condition was a punishment or caused by her own actions during pregnancy. Feeling ashamed and isolated, Genet hesitated to vaccinate her child. “I was afraid,” she recalls. “I thought the vaccine might make her leg worse.” Later, she admits, “It was my mistake. I didn’t understand how important vaccination was.”
Determined to seek treatment for her daughter, Genet traveled to Bahir Dar. But life there was painfully difficult. With no family, home, or income, she survived by sleeping on cold floors, renting space for 20 birr a night, or spending nights on the street. For over two years, she struggled to care for Amen in unimaginable hardship.
When the CDC-SIPI project, Health Extension Workers (HEWs), found Genet and Amen on the streets they learned that Amen, now four years old, had never received any vaccines a zero-dose child. Through patient discussion and reassurance, the HEWs earned Genet’s trust and helped her access vaccination services for her daughter. ReadMore/success
“The feeling of having my child immunized,” Genet says proudly, “is greater than anything else.” The fear and shame that once burdened her heart have been replaced with knowledge, confidence, and hope.
After receiving the first round of vaccines, Genet was invited to a Community Conversation (CC) session organized by EOC-DICAC and the local health team. There, she found acceptance and strength. Today, Genet is an active CC member and a strong advocate for vaccination. She tells every mother to let their child vaccinated around Gordema Gebriel Church.
With the support of the Health Extension Workers, Genet has found her voice and now stands beside them, reaching children who are too often forgotten. Her story is a reminder that compassionate healthcare not only saves lives but restores dignity and hope.
When a coalition of committed partners joined forces to reach Ethiopia's most remote villages, they didn't just bring vaccines they brought hope to communities that had been forgotten for years and demonstrated how collaborative action can bridge critical equity gaps in immunization coverage.
Through GAVI's Alliance commitment to reaching zero-dose children and the strategic support of funding management partners Oxford Policy Management (OPM) and Manniondaniel, the groundwork was laid for a transformative intervention through RISE project strengthened health systems to reach ZD children.
EOC-DICAC's through community-based implementation capacity aiming to reach isolated populations a multi-stakeholder partnership was formed to address this equity challenge.
Mariam Ware, a mother of two from Mismo village in Garbrare Kebele, Burji Zone, represents the transformation happening across these remote communities. Living with her husband as subsistence farmers, Mariam had watched helplessly as both her daughters—2-years-old Bereket Samuel and her one and half year sister; suffered from continuous coughing and repeated illnesses.
Neither of them had ever received routine immunization services before the mobile team's arrival. "My children often fell sick. They struggled with repeated coughs. For me as a mother, watching them suffering was heartbreaking," Mariam shared, her voice heavy with the memory of those difficult times. read more>Success
Mela’eke Selam Lealem, a dedicated priest deeply invested in the well-being of his community, resides In the Awi Zone, Banja Woreda, Bassa Kebele.