Disaster Preparedness

Caritas prepares as Côte d’Ivoire on brink

Caritas prepares as Côte d’Ivoire on brink

“The war in Côte d’Ivoire in 2002 triggered a major humanitarian crisis that spread to the neighbouring countries,” said Jean Djoman, Director of Human Development at Caritas Côte d’Ivoire. “The same mistakes must not be repeated now.” Over a hundred and fifty people were killed in the West African country this December after a disputed ...

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Caritas providing long term help to rebuild Haiti

Caritas providing long term help to rebuild Haiti

Close to a year after the earthquake, Caritas relief and reconstruction programmes in Haiti are well-established throughout the country. Caritas will invest more than $217 million in Haiti over a one year period that started in May 2010. This aid will cover further emergency needs caused for example by hurricanes, floods or the cholera epidemic, ...

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Take action now to prevent new food crises in Niger

Take action now to prevent new food crises in Niger

The food situation has been stabilised in the Sahel region, especially in Niger where the number of people at risk of malnutrition fell from more than 60% to around 6% over the last months. Now, it is crucial to take further action at this point, says Raymond Younoussi Yoro, Secretary General of Caritas Niger. How ...

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Flooding hits poor hardest in Pakistan

Flooding hits poor hardest in Pakistan

By Mumtaz Bashir Bhatti, Caritas Pakistan  Floods in Pakistan have displaced millions of people, destroyed billions of rupees worth of houses, killed many and washed away all belongings in rural communities from North to South. Is this what global warming looks like? Many scientists think it is. If it was, it is very clear that ...

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Six months after Chile quake

Six months after Chile quake

Chile is getting back on its feet six months after the 27 February earthquake left millions without homes and in need of aid. Caritas responded immediately, providing food, shelter, warm clothing and compassion, reaching over a million people. Now Caritas is switching to reconstruction and rehabilitation. But Lorenzo Figueroa, Secretary General of Caritas Chile, says ...

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Safety from the storm in Bangladesh

Safety from the storm in Bangladesh

Caritas Bangladesh builds shelters that offer protection when cyclones hit. They work with villagers to make sure that everyone knows about evacuation plans and that there is enough food to last through the storms. Tanjibul Hussain Sujon is a community volunteer in Bangladesh. He said, “There is a group of us who keep in touch ...

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Bringing Solar Power to the People of Darfur

Bringing Solar Power to the People of Darfur

As climate change is heatedly debated by world leaders, communities in Darfur are finding sustainable solutions to water shortages in Internally Displaced Peoples (IDP) Camps. The rainy season in South Darfur typically lasts five or six months of the year. For the remainder, the land is dry, arid and desolate. With the length of the ...

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Graffiti for change in Haiti

By Mathilde Magnier Graffiti artist Jerry has been covering the walls of Haiti’s relief camps with his works of art. His objective is tough is to encourage the Haitians to apply basic hygiene principles. “I am spraying for change. It is my mission to talk to the Haitian people,” says Jerry. He has a spray ...

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Putting a roof over the heads of Chile’s quake survivors

Putting a roof over the heads of Chile’s quake survivors

By Andreas Lexer, Caritas Communications Officer in Chile Iloca used to be a beautiful little village everybody went to in the summer, about 100 km away from the city of Talca. The blue, red and yellow coloured houses built on poles were close to the shore, the river ran in to the sea just in ...

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