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More than 500,000 highly vulnerable children throughout Ethiopia are going to school, growing healthier and getting the psychological care they may need, thanks to the sweeping work of Pact and its partners.

And that’s a result of only a single USAID-funded project called Yekokeb Berhan, just one of a series of Pact-led development activities throughout the sprawling, 76.5 million-population country. Yekokeb Berhan involves federal and local governments, international NGOs such as UNICEF, FHI360 and Child Fund, and nearly 50 community nonprofits.

While children in households at risk of HIV/AIDS and other health and social challenges are the focus of Yekokeb Berhan, Pact also applies its expertise in governance, livelihoods, health and capacity development to help other poor and marginalized populations in Ethiopia build their own solutions.

Nearly 50,000 women in remote areas of Ethiopia are addressing sexual and reproductive health through community conversations, learning to read and write, and improving their incomes through Pact’s award-winning WORTH savings-and-lending groups.

Pact’s alternative basic education centers serve both children and adults in rural areas who have little access to formal schooling. Spread out in 43 localities, the ABECs, as they're known, are led by hundreds of Pact-trained community volunteers who help nearly 33,000 kids and 17,000 adults with literacy and math skills.

Pact is also helping more than 500 primary schools establish and operate Scout groups to educate children about civic responsibility and HIV/AIDS prevention. Children involved in Scouting, student councils and other self-governed groups learn good civic behavior and how to protect themselves and others against HIV infection.