Caritas Chile is prominent in humanitarian and social assistance in Chile, partly as a result of two upheavals. The first was the earthquake in 1960, in response to which large amounts of aid came from the United States through Catholic Relief Services, enabling Caritas Chile to increase its presence throughout the country. The second was the military coup of 1973, following which aid from Europe in the form of food, clothing and medicines was channelled through Caritas Chile, further increasing its capacity.

Caritas Chile is committed to the construction of a just, equal and caring society, in pursuit of which it is involved in numerous humanitarian and development programmes.

Programmes

Caritas Chile works with:

• Children and young people – Caritas Chile focuses on the poorest communities, confronting domestic violence and child abuse and helping young people to find work. Many children do not go to school because they have to work to help their families. There are 200,000 working children in Chile;
• Older people – Caritas organizes parish clubs for older people, campaigning for their rights and publishing guides to better health and nutrition;
• Refugees – Chile has an agreement with the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) Refugee Agency and receives refugees from eastern Europe, Afghanistan, Iraq and the Middle East, but principally from Colombia, where people have fled the fighting between the guerrillas and the paramilitaries. Refugees are helped to find work and homes and to integrate into society;
• Victims of natural disasters – Caritas helps to provide emergency shelter, food, medicines and clothing;
• Prisoners – Caritas helps Chile’s 47,000 prisoners keep in touch with their families and helps them understand their own patterns of behaviour and to find productive work after their release. It also helps pardoned political prisoners with their reintegration into society.