Armenian Caritas () is a not-for-profit

social welfare Welfare spending is a type of government support intended to ensure that members of a society can meet basic human needs such as food and shelter. Social security may either be synonymous with welfare, or refer specifically to social insurance p ...

and

humanitarian Humanitarianism is an ideology centered on the value of human life, whereby humans practice benevolent treatment and provide assistance to other humans to reduce suffering and improve the conditions of humanity for moral, altruistic, and emotiona ...

relief organisation based in

Armenia Armenia, officially the Republic of Armenia, is a landlocked country in the Armenian Highlands of West Asia. It is a part of the Caucasus region and is bordered by Turkey to the west, Georgia (country), Georgia to the north and Azerbaijan to ...

. It is a service of the

Armenian Catholic Church The Armenian Catholic Church is an Eastern Catholic Churches, Eastern Catholic particular church ''sui iuris'' of the Catholic Church. It accepts the papal supremacy, leadership of the bishop of Rome, and is therefore in full communion with ...

and a member of both

Caritas Europa Caritas Europa is a European confederation of Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billi ...

and

Caritas Internationalis Caritas Internationalis (Latin for ) is a confederation of 162 national Catholic relief, development, and social service organisations operating in over 200 countries and territories worldwide. The name Caritas Internationalis refers to both the ...

History

In 1993,

Catholic Relief Services Catholic Relief Services (CRS) is the international humanitarian agency of the Catholic community in the United States. Founded in 1943 by the Bishops of the United States, the agency provides assistance to 130 million people in more than 110 ...

(CRS), the American branch of the

confederation, recruited Zevart Nadjarian to help establish a Caritas office in Armenia. In October 1994, Nadjarian and Robert Quinlan from CRS's

Geneva Geneva ( , ; ) ; ; . is the List of cities in Switzerland, second-most populous city in Switzerland and the most populous in French-speaking Romandy. Situated in the southwest of the country, where the Rhône exits Lake Geneva, it is the ca ...

office visited the Ordinariate for Catholics of Armenian Rite in Eastern Europe, based in

Gyumri Gyumri (, ) is an urban municipal community and the List of cities and towns in Armenia, second-largest city in Armenia, serving as the administrative center of Shirak Province in the northwestern part of the country. By the end of the 19th centur ...

. Their goal was to assess the willingness of the

to set up a Caritas office, engage in relief and development activities, accept technical assistance from CRS, and use future resources to help vulnerable persons in need, ensuring that assistance was based on need rather than on religious affiliation. The Armenian Catholic Ordinariate in Gyumri, headed by Archbishop Nerses Der Nersessian and Vicar General

Nechan Karakéhéyan Nechan Karakéhéyan, I.C.P.B. (17 April 1932 – 15 February 2021) was an Armenian Catholic archbishop, ordinary of Eastern Europe for Armenian Catholics (2005-2010), Armenian Catholic bishop of Isfahan (2001-2003) and Armenian Catholic ord ...

agreed to the plan. In May 1995, the Armenian Catholic Church established a Caritas office in Gyumri. The organisation was quickly accepted as an associated member of Caritas Internationalis for Armenia. The following year, a board of directors was established and started working on an organisational strategy. In 1997, the Armenian Ministry of Justice recognised Caritas Armenia as a local NGO. Two years later, Armenian Caritas was accepted as a full member of Caritas Internationalis. Archbishop Der Nersessian retired in 2004 and was replaced as president by Bishop

. The first projects of Armenian Caritas focused on relief activities, providing basic assistance to their beneficiaries. In January 1998, Armenian Caritas began implementing community-based development programmes, such as water and sanitation projects. Towards the end of the 1990s, Armenian Caritas also benefited from capacity strengthening activities provided by CRS and the Dutch Caritas organisation,

Cordaid Cordaid is an internationally operating value-based emergency relief and development organization, mostly working in conflict-affected countries. It is one of the biggest international development organizations in the Netherlands, with a netwo ...

. Since then, Armenian Caritas has progressively expanded in size and scope. In 2019, the Armenian government planned to give Armenian Caritas land in

Shahumyan Shahumyan Province (, also spelled ''Shaumyan'' and ''Shahumian'') was a province of the breakaway Republic of Artsakh, ''de jure'' part of the Republic of Azerbaijan. The capital of the province was Karvachar. Shahumyan Province had 17 commu ...

and Taperakan for a "City of Children" for 600 disabled and disadvantaged children and youth. Protests from other civil society organisations, citing concerns of isolation for people with disabilities, led to a review, but the project was never implemented. As of 2024, Armenian Caritas is active in the provinces of Ararat, Gegharkunik, Lori, Shirak, Syunik, and

Yerevan Yerevan ( , , ; ; sometimes spelled Erevan) is the capital and largest city of Armenia, as well as one of the world's List of oldest continuously inhabited cities, oldest continuously inhabited cities. Situated along the Hrazdan River, Yerev ...

Work

Armenian Caritas is active in several areas of

social protection Social protection, as defined by the United Nations Research Institute for Social Development, is concerned with preventing, managing, and overcoming situations that adversely affect people's well-being. Social protection consists of policies and ...

and care. It runs four daycare centres named "Little Prince Centres" for children from disadvantaged families, located in

Vanadzor Vanadzor (, ) is an urban municipal community and the third largest city in Armenia, serving as the capital of Lori Province in the northern part of the country. It is located about north of the capital Yerevan. As of the 2011 census, the city h ...

Artashat Artashat (), Hellenized as Artaxata () and Artaxiasata (), was a major city and commercial center of ancient Armenia that served as the capital of the Kingdom of Armenia from its founding in 176 BC to 120 AD, with some interruptions. It was fo ...

, and

Gavar Gavar ( ) is a town in Armenia serving as the administrative centre of the Gavar Municipality and the Gegharkunik Province. It is situated among the high mountains of Gegham range to the west of Lake Sevan, with an average height of 1982 meter ...

, with the goal of integrating disadvantaged children and youth through social and psychological support. In Gyumri, Armenian Caritas also operates the Emili Aregak Center, a daycare and therapy centre for children and youth with disabilities. A bakery was also founded as a spin-off

social enterprise A social enterprise is an organization that applies commercial strategies to maximize improvements in financial, social and environmental well-being. This may include maximizing social impact alongside profits for co-owners. Social enterprises ha ...

in the same city. The Emili Aregak Center is co-financed by the Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs and was co-founded by Armenian Caritas and

Caritas Austria Caritas Austria (German language, German: ) is an Austrian social aid organisation of the Catholic Church in Austria, Roman Catholic Church, founded in 1903. It consists of a national office and nine regional Diocese, diocesan Caritas organisatio ...

. Additionally, Armenian Caritas provides social services for elderly people living alone. In the field of migration, Armenian Caritas implements projects aimed at improving the socio-economic conditions of returnees and displaced individuals. Additionally, it engages in advocacy to protect the interests and rights of migrants and displaced persons and works to prevent

human trafficking Human trafficking is the act of recruiting, transporting, transferring, harboring, or receiving individuals through force, fraud, or coercion for the purpose of exploitation. This exploitation may include forced labor, sexual slavery, or oth ...

. Another objective is community development, particularly in poorer, rural areas. Armenian Caritas undertakes initiatives to promote inclusive and sustainable local economic growth. These initiatives include fostering

entrepreneurship Entrepreneurship is the creation or extraction of economic value in ways that generally entail beyond the minimal amount of risk (assumed by a traditional business), and potentially involving values besides simply economic ones. An entrepreneu ...

, promoting and supporting sustainable agriculture, strengthening the

vocational education and training Vocational education is education that prepares people for a Skilled worker, skilled craft. Vocational education can also be seen as that type of education given to an individual to prepare that individual to be gainfully employed or self em ...

(VET) sector, and increasing access to renewable energies. Since its inception, a key area of focus for Armenian Caritas has been the delivery of humanitarian aid for both natural disasters, such as floods, and man-made disasters, such as the influx of refugees during the

Second Nagorno-Karabakh War The Second Nagorno-Karabakh War was an armed conflict in 2020 that took place in the disputed region of Nagorno-Karabakh and the Armenian-occupied territories surrounding Nagorno-Karabakh, surrounding occupied territories. It was a major esca ...

in 2020. In their relief programmes, staff distribute essential items including food, clothing, medication, and blankets, and provide shelter and accommodation. Armenian Caritas also assisted communities during the height of the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

. The work of Armenian Caritas is funded by an array of public and private partners, including different Armenian ministries, United Nations agencies, members of the

confederation, including

Caritas Germany The (), also sometimes referred to as and internationally known as Caritas Germany, is a German Catholic not-for-profit organisation and social service provider. It is the largest welfare organisation and largest private employer in Germany. It ...

, Caritas France, and CRS, as well as of other international NGOs and charitable organisations. The organisation implements its work both using staff and volunteers.

References

External links

* {{Authority control Charities based in Armenia Organizations established in 1995 1995 establishments in Armenia Catholic Church in Armenia

Social justice organizations Humanitarian aid organizations in Europe Refugee aid organizations in Europe Christian organizations established in 1995