I have been working in Caritas Iraq since mid-2015 as a presenter of psychosocial support lectures within the women’s empowerment programmes which were held at Caritas Iraq – Duhok office. After the approval of a new psychosocial support programme in 2017, we received training and I became responsible for the implementation of the programme in ...
Address: Hai al-Wahde, St. -52, Mahala 904, Zuqaq 74 House 3, Baghdad, Iraq
Telephone: + 964 790 191 8249
Email: caritas.iraq2015@gmail.com
Caritas Iraq, called the Brotherhood of Charity, was founded in 1992 to provide assistance and food aid to the poor and marginalised after an international embargo was imposed on Iraq. Since then, post war Iraq has been marked by instability and social problems.
Caritas Iraq continues to grow and diversify its programmes to respond to the ever-increasing set of challenges facing the nation. The involvement of Caritas Iraq principally targets emergency relief and development programs, peace building initiatives, capacity building, health and social service support. Caritas Iraq implements five permanent projects and other temporary projects in favour of more than 11 000 households monthly.
The families and children support program includes distribution of food items for children suffering from malnutrition, provides health monitoring to pregnant and breastfeeding women, develops mothers’ capacities for employment and works to promote peace and reconciliation among the various communities.
Caritas Iraq maintains eight social centres, a rehabilitation and a youth centre, as well as two centres to receive displaced families. Their social services provide food, hygiene kits and medical care to underprivileged and displaced families, distributes medical equipment such as wheelchairs and crutches to disabled people, afford rehabilitation activities for people with special needs and offer financial assistance to students and victims of conflicts. Every month Caritas Iraq receives 1000 patients to their general clinic, a service that is free of charge and open to all.
Programs also include financial, moral and psychological support to orphans, elderly and most destitute people. The Peacebuilding Program includes activities to promote peace and reconciliation among the different communities of the Iraqi society.
Caritas Iraq main office in Baghdad has a paid staff of 108 employees, more than 400 volunteers and 20 peace messengers to carry out its services.
In order to develop and implement its programmes, Caritas Iraq is supported by the Caritas Internationalis network, in particular Caritas Italy, Caritas Germany and Catholic Relief Services USA.
Updates from Iraq
Caritas has served almost 400,000 people in Iraq since ISIS started attacking communities in 2014. Caritas Iraq currently helps 5000 families a month with programmes for psychological support, education, livelihoods, COVID-19, health, shelter, peacebuilding and developing the roles of women and youth.
As many as 3,000 migrants are struggling to survive in appalling and freezing conditions in northern Bosnia and Herzegovina and are in desperate need of adequate shelter, warm clothes, nutritious food and medical assistance.
In Iraq, Caritas seeks to address the reconstruction of the human person and the rebuilding of solidarity and citizenship after years of an ideology promoting sectarianism.
A restoration of a bishop in Mosul is so symbolic for Iraq and the Christian community in Ninawa. For many, his appointment is seen as a blessing of hope.
Caritas is preparing for a wave of people fleeing the embattled Iraqi city of Mosul. Between 1.2 to 1.5 million people could be affected and 200,000 could flee in the first few weeks.
Caritas Internationalis President Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle visited a refugee camp in Lebanon in February 2016 as part of the Syria: Peace is Possible Campaign.
One of the many things that gets left behind when a family is uprooted by war, is a child’s education. If left without schooling for a prolonged time, the long-term effects on a child’s life and possibilities can be devastating.
Wesal Badel’s home used to feel more like a cave than a house. It was made of clay and there were no windows for light or ventilation and the lack of a front door meant snakes and scorpions often found their way in.