COVID-19 update

A message of hope from Wendy Harris, CEO & President

As COVID-19 continues its spread, I hope that you and your loved ones are staying safe and taking the necessary precautions to maintain your health and well-being.

Together, we will persevere in our work towards stronger economies and better lives in a way that ensures our continued health and safety. We know it’s a challenging time full of unknowns for everyone and changes will require adjustments on everyone’s part.

CESO is a people-centered organization that is built on meaningful connections; we believe these principles will help us pull through this together. Hopefully, we can emerge from this crisis with renewed appreciation of each other, and with stronger focus on creating a more inclusive and sustainable world. In the meantime, please stay safe, and stay (virtually) connected.

Wendy Harris, CEO and President

Virtual Assignments

We are dedicated to continuing to support our clients and collaborate with partners through virtual assignments and remote mentoring.

CESO already has a proven record of providing virtual assignments. Most of our Indigenous assignments have a virtual component to them, and many of our MERIT assignments in Mongolia have already transitioned to virtual assignments in the last few weeks with great success. Our program staff are actively working with our in-field staff to determine their readiness and ability to deliver assignments virtually.

We will have more detailed information on this in the coming days and weeks, and in the meantime, if you have questions about virtual assignments, please contact volunteerservices@ceso-saco.com. Together, we will persevere in our work towards stronger economies and better lives in a way that ensures our continued health and safety.

Organizational Changes

We’ve closed our offices in Toronto and Montreal and implemented a work from home policy. Staff are staying virtually connected and are equipped to continue working on programming.
We’ve paused all international travel and travel within Canada.

Maintaining Support to the Most Vulnerable

Help the Helpers

CESO is one of over 150 Canadian charities that have joined together to sign a letter to the Government of Canada requesting an emergency $10 billion stabilization fund in support of the charitable sector and its vital programs that have been made vulnerable by the COVID-19 crisis.

During a press conference on March 29, 2020, the Prime Minister acknowledged the advocacy of the charitable sector and announced targeted next steps to provide further support to members of the coalition.

Supporting International Efforts

Alongside the Canadian Council for International Co-operation (CCIC), CESO has signed its support to an open letter addressed to the Minister of International Development calling for international cooperation to be a part of Canada’s COVID-19 response.

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