How Caritas Mthatha Promotes Women’s Leadership In March 2018, Caritas Mthatha/Catholic Development Centre initiated a program called Masiphunge Women Empowerment Program. Masiphunge is a Xhosa word meaning, “Come, let’s have a cup of tea together”. The concept is based on an idea that women used to drink tea together and began to share important information ...
Address: Lesotho Catholic Bishops’ Conference Building, Cathedral Area, Main North 1, Maseru, Lesotho
Postal Address: P.O Box 200, Maseru 100, Lesotho
Telephone: +266 22 313 284
Email: rmabote@caritas.org.ls / tumaholet@caritas.org.ls
Caritas Lesotho was established in 1970 by the Catholic Bishops of Lesotho as an official Social Welfare and Development arm of the Catholic Church. It works with the vulnerable communities to avert the negative effects of socio-economic and climate-induced shocks. Its primary mandate is to strengthen their livelihoods and resilience so that they can cope better amidst these shocks. Caritas Lesotho is a department under the Commission for Christian Services of the Lesotho Catholic Bishops’ Conference.
Its main areas of work are:
- Food and nutrition security: Provision of agricultural inputs (seeds, fruit trees, tools), technical trainings on food production, nutrition education and improving access to safe water in cases on drought.
- Micro-finance: formation and training of savings and lending groups, trainings on business management and entrepreneurship, establishing linkages of the groups with formal financial institutions.
- Education: Vocational training of orphans and vulnerable children, awareness raising on educational institutions available in Lesotho and referrals.
- Child rights and protection: trainings on child rights and protection and referrals
- HIV and AIDS prevention among adolescent girls and young women (AGYW) by improving the economic prospects of their families and implementing programmes aimed at improving relations between AGYW and their caregivers to foster the element of trust as well as referrals for HIV and AIDS services.
Caritas Lesotho main office is located in its capital city, Maseru. The number of staff employed by Caritas Lesotho varies depending on the projects we have.
Being a member of Caritas Africa and the Caritas Confederation it receives support from the global national Caritas members, such as Catholic Relief Services USA.
Updates from Lesotho
This year, as part of the global Caritas Internationalis campaign to eliminate violence against women and girls (25 November – 10 December), Caritas South Sudan launched their national initiative Act Now: Prevent and Respond to Violence Against Women and Girls to celebrate and stand in solidarity with women and girls combatting all forms of violence ...
Nearly 10 years on, terrorism and violence instigated by militia groups continues to threaten the peace and safety of tens and thousands of families throughout Burkina Faso. Since 2015, men, women and children have been forced to flee their homes and leave everything behind. In more recent years, Burkina Faso has witnessed unprecedented levels of ...
Due to the conflict that broke out in Sudan last April, several men and women have been forced to leave their homes and villages behind in search of safety and for the survival of their families in other parts of the country and beyond, including Chad. In their flight, many displaced families did not have ...
“We have witnessed drought before, lost animals and crops, however, unlike other periods, we usually had enough livestock and crops to sustain ourselves until the rainy season. Now the rains have failed for the fourth time and we are not sure if the fifth rainy season will come,” shares Habey Maanur Mohamud, a 60-year-old mother ...
As part of the inauguration of the Global Year of Action of the “Together We” campaign, aimed at promoting integral ecology by simultaneously protecting people and our planet, Caritas Internationalis will launch its publication Displaced by a changing climate, highlighting the vital need for collective action to address the consequences of environmental degradation. Caritas Internationalis, ...
Since conflict erupted in Sudan in mid-April, it has become one of the most dangerous places not only for families and communities affected by the crisis, but for the national and international humanitarian workers and partners supporting them. Since the onset of the crisis, more than 4.3 million people, including aid workers, have been forced ...
Caritas Internationalis joins the appeal of His Eminence Cardinal Berhaneyesus, Rev. Kes Yonas, Patriarch Abune Mathias, and Rev. Bishop Tesfaselassie Medhin in urging US Agency for International Development (USAID) and World Food Programme (WFP) to resume life-saving food distribution immediately. The food aid was suspended on the 30th of March 2023 in the Tigray region ...
Sudan has been embroiled in a devastating armed conflict since last April, triggered by power struggles among the country’s military factions. The fighting, primarily between the Sudan Armed Forces (SAF) and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), has had a profound impact on civilians, resulting in large-scale displacement and shattered access to food, water, health care, fuel, ...
“Everybody is trying to leave Khartoum because practically no one is sure of his remaining there and being safe. And so people run away. I also had to leave, I crossed the border by car. There is a huge need for help both in Sudan and in neighbouring countries to accommodate people fleeing the conflict”. ...
Caritas Africa Info
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