Caritas Swaziland, which was founded in 1977, seeks to empower communities and reduce the chronic poverty in which a third of the people live. The agency has helped half a million people in a country with high unemployment and the highest HIV and AIDS rate in the world.

The principal aims of the work of Caritas Swaziland include ensuring that people have sufficient access to food, improving understanding and prevention of HIV and AIDS and helping prepare for major disasters such as drought. This has been achieved through measures including:

• Enhancing the coordinating role of Caritas diocesan offices;
• Helping to provide education and training;  
• Promoting the role and importance of women;
• Providing technical support;
• Creating long-term and sustainable fundraising initiatives.

Training includes capacity-building to ensure institutions are in place to sustain development work, and monitoring and evaluation to improve projects. Loans and grants have helped the setting up of small enterprises. More immediate aid has included food and clothing.

Caritas Swaziland sees its main challenges in tackling the social inequalities that have also contribute to poverty, and arresting the HIV infection rate.