On February 28, 2026, Geneva Global Ethiopia (GGE) officially launched the “Increasing Access to Protective and Inclusive Learning Opportunities for Crisis-Affected Children in Oromia, Ethiopia” project, funded by the Government of Finland. GGE leads the program under a grant from UNICEF and in consortium with three local organizations: Rift Valley Children and Women Development Organization, Positive Action for Development, and Berhan Lehitsanat.
This two-year initiative will operate across eight woredas in the Oromia Region of Ethiopia, targeting IDP, returnees, and host communities in Guji, West Guji, and North Shewa zones.
The program will support 28,224 children (60% girls and 10% CWD) across 100 schools delivering education, Accelerated School Readiness, skilling, and school feeding programs. It will also engage 60,000 community members, most of them women, and provide integrated child protection, GBV, and MHPSS services.
In addition, the program will strengthen learning environments by rehabilitating schools, improving WASH facilities, and equipping schools with ICT materials and furniture. These investments will help ensure that schools in crisis-affected communities are safe, accessible, and better prepared to meet diverse learning needs.
To celebrate the program launch, a kickoff event was held at Bishoftu Pyramid Resorts, bringing together 66 attendees from education offices, zonal and woreda representatives, consortium partners, and the UNICEF team. Representatives from the Federal Ministry of Education, the , and the regional Women and Children Affairs office also attended, demonstrating strong government commitment to successful execution.
The launch event also provided an opportunity to define roles and responsibilities, strengthen partner coordination, sign zonal-level MoUs, and build collective ownership toward improving inclusive and protective learning environments.
Together, the participants recognized the importance of this program which will help ensure that crisis-affected children in Oromia have greater access to safe, inclusive, and high-quality learning opportunities.