The Republic of Mozambique is located in South-East Africa, and Caritas Moçambicana is an entity of the Catholic Church in the country, which defines itself as “a driving force of charity, based in the community, which seeks to promote the integral development of all men and women.” It consists of 12 dioceses across the country.
Caritas Moçambicana was established in 1977, barely two years after the country’s independence, to help refugees from Zimbabwe. Since its foundation, the organisation has also helped to combat the pain and suffering of Mozambique’s people, primarily caused by the civil war that began in the same year and continued until 1992. Caritas Moçambicana saw the need to concentrate all its efforts on bringing relief to war victims, to the extent that it was considered an “aid organisation” by the parties in the conflict.
After the end of the war, Caritas Moçambicana had to rethink its objectives, as the reason for its foundation was no longer valid. Therefore, as time has gone by, it has focused its efforts on these areas:
- Assistance to populations in the event of emergencies (Mozambique is constantly affected by drought in the south, cyclones along the coast, and floods in the central and southern parts of the country)
- Integrated rural development and livelihood
- Food security and sustainable agriculture
- Support to vulnerable groups, forgotten or marginalised as a result of their political choices or socio-economic changes
- Creation of opportunities for training, housing, agriculture and investment
- Promotion of the good use of natural resources and credit for the development of individual, family and social group initiatives
- Organisational and institutional strengthening
- Staff capacity building at the General Secretariat (national Caritas), and at local and diocesan Caritas levels
Caritas Moçambicana has become an interlocutor with the government in relation to the implementation of social and support programmes for people affected by natural disasters. At the same time, it works jointly with European Caritas organisations such as Caritas Spain, Caritas Portugal, Caritas Italy, Caritas Germany, Caritas Austria, CAFOD (Caritas England and Wales), Trócaire (Caritas Ireland), and CRS (Catholic Relief Services), as well as with other CIMOs like Caritas Japan, Caritas Macau, and other private agencies and people of good will.