In Ethiopia’s Burji Zone, three remote kebeles – Misimo, Harasha and Boncho – had long been cut off from essential health services. With no electricity, telecommunications or accessible roads, families faced extreme barriers to care. The nearest health centre was over 40 kilometres away, making routine immunisation and basic health services nearly impossible to access.

In Harasha kebele, a mother of two described the daily challenges: “Whenever my children became sick, I was afraid, no medicines, no health post in the nearby ...”

That began to change in July 2025.

Villages were identified through the Reaching Immunization Success through Empowerment (RISE) project delivered by civil society organisation (CSO) Ethiopian Orthodox Church Development and Inter-Church Aid Commission (EOC-DICAC) with funding from Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance and in collaboration with local health authorities.

Under this initiative, trained Village Health Leaders (VHLs), health extension workers and community volunteers conducted systematic community mapping to pinpoint areas with high concentrations of ‘zero-dose’ children – those who had not received a single vaccine by the end of their first year of life. This mapping process enabled the CSO, in collaboration with its partners, to prioritise under-served communities and strengthen targeted outreach efforts in line with the project’s ambition to improve immunisation equity.

To prepare for the mobile health team visits, local actors were equipped to identify and track zero-dose children, reinforcing the existing health systems to sustain services beyond the campaign.

Following this, a mobile health team travelled into the communities with vaccines and essential health support, delivering immunisation services directly to the families in need.

Through three intensive rounds of mobile vaccination campaigns, a total of 237 zero-dose children across the three kebeles (127 in Misimo, 110 in Harasha and 47 in Boncho) have now been protected from vaccine-preventable diseases. Eighty under-vaccinated children across the three kebeles caught up on critical missed doses, and 57 children aged under one year were connected to ongoing routine immunisation services.

This initiative was not just about delivering health services; it was about inclusion, recognition and demonstrating that no community is too remote to matter.

“For the first time in years, we feel remembered. Our kebele is one of the hardest-to-reach areas, yet you gave special attention to our children’s lives ... you have brought us hope.” – Boncho kebele administrator

*‘Zero-dose’ (ZD) children are those who have not received even a single vaccine shot. Gavi defines ZD children as infants who have not received the first dose of diphtheria, tetanus and pertussis-containing vaccine (DTP1) by the end of their first year of life.