Caritas Internationalis is a global confederation of 164 Catholic organisations under the umbrella of the Holy See, which responds to humanitarian disasters, promotes integral human development and lobbies on the causes of poverty and violence.

Inspired by Christian faith and gospel values, Caritas works in most of the world's countries with the poor and oppressed, vulnerable and excluded, regardless of race or religion. It promotes just and fraternal societies where the dignity of every human being is enhanced.

Depending on the size of the Catholic community and the will of their bishops' conference, Caritas national members range from small entities to some of the world's largest social, humanitarian and development organisations. Combined, they have over a million staff and volunteers.

Caritas Internationalis has a General Secretariat in Rome, which coordinates the confederation's response to major humanitarian emergencies, supports members and advocates on their behalf for a better world, based on justice, compassion and fraternity.

Caritas Internationalis also has delegations in New York and Geneva representing the confederation at the United Nations. The Caritas delegations work with other international institutions and nongovernmental organisations and in close association with the Permanent Missions of the Holy See.

Caritas Internationalis is made up of seven regions: Africa, Asia, Europe, Latin America and the Caribbean, the Middle East and North Africa, North America and Oceania.

From the devastating famine in Somalia to the earthquake in Japan which killed 15000 people, to the ongoing response to conflict in Sudan's Darfur region, Caritas Internationalis launched 30 joint confederation programmes in 2011, raising pledges of €59 million through appeals from its members.

Caritas works permanently in most of the world's disaster prone areas. This presence on the ground means that in a second year of floods in Pakistan, Caritas was able to act quickly and effectively to help people in need. Local teams are able to call on the strong foundations of the confederation for additional support, as in Côte d'Ivoire when conflict threatened to tear the country apart.

The world endured its costliest year ever for economic losses from natural disasters at more than a third of a trillion dollars in damage. But it was the human loss that was most telling.

It was shameful that 2011 saw people die of famine again in Africa. Famine is declared when 30 percent of children are acutely malnourished, a fifth of the population is without food and deaths are running at two per 10000 adults or four per 10000 children every day. Parts of Somalia surpassed those levels in mid-2011.

As well as the unacceptable human suffering, it also costs more to respond after a crisis has happened than before. When famine threatened Niger in 2005, the cost of help before the crisis peaked was put at €5 a person. The world failed to act; hunger deepened; the cost of help ended up at €18 a person.

Caritas projects aim to make communities in East Africa better prepared by investing in sustainable farming. It helps them adapt to the more extreme and erratic weather patterns brought by our changing climate and to protect themselves and their livelihoods. Helping communities prepare ahead of time is key to our work there and throughout the world.

REGIONAL ROUND UP

Caritas Internationalis is made up of seven regions: Africa, Asia, Europe, Latin America and the Caribbean, the Middle East and North Africa, North America and Oceania. Here are some selected highlights from 2011.

Archbishop John Onaiyekan of Abuja, Nigeria, gave the keynote address at the Caritas Africa Regional Conference in Rome in May. He said that Africa has for a long time been the beneficiary of funds, relief materials and even personnel from other regions, but the time has come when Africans must organise themselves to give from the little that they have. Caritas Africa had already set up a Solidarity Fund to"develop relations of solidarity between dioceses and within the Episcopal conferences themselves". A Caritas Africa Emergency Management Team has also been set up to help coordinate emergency response on the continent.

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Caritas Europa produced a report on 'Bridging the Gap between Policy and Practice on the European Consensus on Humanitarian Aid'. The European Consensus is the EU's policy framework for humanitarian aid. Caritas asked that EU governments work to ensure that humanitarian aid does not become a crisis management tool whereby the lines between military operations and humanitarian aid become blurred. The report was broadly disseminated among the representatives of EU Member States and the European Commission and some of its findings were welcomed.

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Against a backdrop of severe droughts across the Central Pacific, Caritas Oceania representatives from eight different nations gathered in Auckland, Aotearoa New Zealand in April for their annual forum. Many of the states represented, such as Tonga and Kiribati, are among the most vulnerable to climate change. Amelia Ma'afu, Programmes Officer for Caritas Tonga, said they were experiencing more coastal erosion and contamination of drinking water. Young people were planting mangroves for coastal protection, but "there's a sense of hopelessness", because they are isolated, contribute so little to climate change and are feeling effects more acutely than many other places.

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Caritas Middle East and North Africa (MONA) held a special session on the Arab Spring at the Caritas Internationalis General Assembly in May. Professor of Islamic and Arabic culture, Samir Khalil Samir, SJ, said that there has been a subsequent exodus of Christians. But he nevertheless believed that "the future lies in collaboration"between all and that Christians should propose initiatives that create greater equity, spread a culture of peace and democracy, promote solidarity and act for a common development.

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Caritas Asia members promote organic agriculture and farmers' rights across the region through the Sustainable Agriculture and Farmers'Rights (SAFaR) programme. The Farmers'Conference (FC) is one of the major yearly events of the programme, held in the Philippines in September 2011. Here grassroots level farmers gather together, learn and share their concerns and raise their voice to protect their rights. Srort Lory was one of the two indigenous farmers who attended the conference with the support of Caritas Cambodia. "It is my first time joining such a great event like this and I'm so thankful to Caritas for offering me this rare chance. I will share what I learn with the people in my community," he said.

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Caritas North America is a unique region with just three members. They work together to promote the profile of Caritas Internationalis, support one another in various areas of common interest and promote opportunities for collaboration with Caritas Latin America and the Caribbean, holding joint meetings. Caritas North America has been particularly active on supporting climate justice communications work across the confederation by helping to coordinate a quarterly newsletter on the issue.

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Caritas Latin America and the Caribbean played a leading role on emergency response.When storms caused destruction and wiped out years of development in Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras and Nicaragua in October, Caritas members in Central America implemented a coordinated response based on community strengthening, the recovery of farming and livelihoods and provision of humanitarian aid. Caritas Latin America and the Caribbean has also worked closely with Caritas Haiti to support their response to the 2010 earthquake and their institutional development