CEOSS (Coptic Evangelical Organisation for Social Services)

More Information:
Founded: 1960

Beginnings:
The Coptic Evangelical Organisation for Social Services (CEOSS) was established in 1960 by Rev Samuel Habib. After graduating from Cairo Evangelical Seminary in the early 1950s, Rev Habib began working with the Christians in a poor rural village in Upper Egypt with the aim of increasing literacy among the villagers so they could read the Bible. He was profoundly affected by the crushing poverty and awful living conditions he encountered, and realised that something more was required to meet the needs of the poor than simply literacy projects. He developed a strategy which included literacy projects, leadership training, home economics, income-generating schemes and efforts to improve family relationships. As the work grew, Rev Habib began training local leaders to keep it going. The training of local leaders is still one of the cornerstones of the CEOSS approach to development.

Activities:

CEOSS is dedicated to social and cultural development, individual well-being, social justice and inter-cultural harmony and delivers its services regardless of gender, race, religion or belief. As a Christian voice promoting pluralism and mutual respect in an Egyptian context CEOSS encourages the participation of Egyptians from all segments of society – Muslim and Christian, rich and poor, educated and uneducated, powerful and powerless – to work together toward common goals.

Areas of focus

CEOSS has five major areas of focus:

1. Building the capacity of community-based organisations and training them to use rights-based approaches as they develop their communities.
2. Increasing the scope of cultural development by encouraging dialogue.
3. Expanding access to micro-credit for Egyptians.
4. Publishing literature that promotes tolerance and expands resources available to Christians.
5. Encouraging a business approach in the Self-Supporting Sector that models the benefits of incorporating for-profit projects within non-profit organisations.

Major goals

CEOSS's mission is to promote the sanctity, equity and harmony of life. It seeks to contribute to the transformation of society by nurturing moral and spiritual awareness, enhancing a sense of belonging, promoting respect for diversity, addressing conflict, and advancing social justice for individuals and communities. It has four major goals:

1. To improve the quality of life in impoverished communities.
2. To empower communities and individuals with sustainable development.
3. To promote a culture of dialogue based on pluralistic democratic approaches and respect for human rights.
4. To promote religious and social enlightenment.