On World Humanitarian Day, Caritas Internationalis remembers and honours all its staff and volunteers who devote their lives to the service of others, even endangering their own safety.
“Today, our world faces three main threats: growing inequality, multiplying conflicts and the climate emergency. Humanitarian workers increasingly face the challenge of responding to complex emergencies and protracted crises,” says Alistair Dutton, secretary general of Caritas Internationalis. “Our staff sacrifice every element of themselves, including their own safety, to serve the most vulnerable and ensure that their fundamental rights are guaranteed. They are there before, during and long after every disaster, and they continue their mission ‘No Matter What’ as stated in the slogan of World Humanitarian Day 2023.”
As a confederation of 162 national Caritas operating in 200 countries and territories worldwide, Caritas Internationalis is active in the humanitarian response to almost every crisis. “I have just returned from my first trip as Secretary General, which was to Ukraine. The quality, breadth and scale of our two Ukrainian Caritas organisations are exemplary. Both have had to increase their programmes and also their staff tremendously, yet they have not lost the identity, the very essence of Caritas’ mission: a real sense of care and love for the people they serve.”
Caritas’ humanitarian response is based on the Church’s tradition of integral human development and considers people in their entirety. “The people we serve are not mere objects to receive humanitarian assistance; they are at the centre of our action. We consider all their needs, which are not only material but also social, psychological, and spiritual.”
Caritas is also grass rooted and belongs to the communities it serves. Caritas staff experience what the community itself experiences. In war-torn countries such as Ukraine or Syria, humanitarian workers continue to work even when their loved ones have been killed, kidnapped or have fled the country, or when their homes are destroyed and they themselves are displaced. After the recent earthquake in Syria and Turkey, for example, many of the staff members of Caritas Anatolia were forced to sleep in their cars, yet they never stopped distributing aid.
In 2022, in the aftermath of the Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha’apai volcano eruption, Caritas Tonga provided life-saving humanitarian assistance to people while the entire country was cut off from the rest of the world. “Thanks to the work of prepositioning emergency stocks, Caritas Tonga was able to assist affected communities, distributing non-food items and clean water systems to enable villagers to catch clean and drinkable water,” says Cardinal Soane Patita Paini Mafi, Bishop of Tonga and President of Caritas Oceania.
Unfortunately, Caritas workers’ commitment, courage and dedication face numerous crises, extreme poverty and a lack of attention from the international community.
“There are many crises that are forgotten, not to say neglected,” highlights Alistair Dutton.
For example, we are witnessing an unprecedented food crisis in the Sahel and Horn of Africa regions. In Ethiopia alone, more than 20 million people are at risk of starvation.
“As humanitarians, coping with all these crises is a huge task that we cannot stop because everybody in the world deserves a decent life and access to the essential things they need. The mission ahead of us is enormous, but we draw strength from being united. We are one Caritas family, serving one human family,” says Dutton.