About us

International Orthodox Christian Charities (IOCC) is the official humanitarian aid agency of the Assembly of Canonical Orthodox Bishops of North and Central Americas. Since its inception in 1992, IOCC has provided $438 million in humanitarian relief, sustainable development and self-help programs to families and communities in more than 50 countries around the world, including Lebanon, Jordan, Syria, the Holy Land, Serbia, Ethiopia, Romania, Greece, Iraq, Georgia, Armenia, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Montenegro, Russian Federation, and the United States. IOCC’s mission is to offer emergency relief and development programs to those in need worldwide, without discrimination, and strengthen the capacity of the Orthodox Church to so respond. All assistance is provided solely on the basis of need to some of the most vulnerable people in the world — families, children, the elderly, the disabled, and displaced persons. All programs are guided by program integrity and the highest standards of financial stewardship. Since establishing a humanitarian presence in Lebanon in 2001, IOCC has remained keen to contribute to the public education sector by devoting time and resources to meet the needs of the least advantaged students in Lebanon and provide them with a healthy and safe learning environment. In 2001, IOCC implemented the School Feeding and Education Program funded by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA). The program provided mid-morning snacks distribution, school supplies, equipment, improvement of school infrastructure, awareness, education, capacity building activities, as well as a child health component. More than 45,000 students in 240 schools benefited from the program. From December 2006 to September 2010, IOCC continued its support for public schools in Lebanon through the Lebanon Education Assistance for Development (LEAD) Program, with a grant of US $ 5.7 million from the United States Agency for International Development (USAID). LEAD, implemented in partnership with Lebanon’s Ministry of Education and Higher Education (MEHE) and the University of Balamand - Faculty of Health Sciences, reached nearly 75,000 students in more than 228 public schools located in northern and southern Lebanon, Mount Lebanon, Bekaa, and Beirut. IOCC Lebanon has also responded to the humanitarian needs of people affected by political upheaval, from providing assistance to Lebanese people displaced or impacted by the July 2006 war, to most recently, aiding thousands of Syrian refugees fleeing civil war in their country and seeking shelter in Beirut and Lebanon’s Bekaa region.