Hope for Children in Ethiopia Relief and Development Association (HCE-RDA) was founded in 2001 by a group of teenage boys in Addis Ababa who began supporting street children. The organization is now dedicated to eliminating severe poverty and enhancing the wellbeing of underprivileged communities in Ethiopia, with a strong focus on preventing child labour, enabling street children and adolescent girls to exit the commercial sex trade, and educating orphans and other vulnerable children. HCE-RDA is active in Addis Ababa, as well as Arada and Gulele and the Chencha District in southern Ethiopia.
HCE-RDA works to prevent and address child labour through education, awareness raising and direct support. They provide kindergarten, school supplies and healthcare to children from economically disadvantaged families. Other programs focus on street children, many of whom are engaged in commercial sex work for survival and struggling with addiction. HCE-RDA’s self-reliance initiative assists these children in overcoming psychological trauma and evolving into independent adults capable of making meaningful contributions to the community. They provide skills training in fields such as beauty, weaving, leather crafting and sewing, opening doors to safer forms of employment.