Caritas Nepal () is a

Nepal Nepal, officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal, is a landlocked country in South Asia. It is mainly situated in the Himalayas, but also includes parts of the Indo-Gangetic Plain. It borders the Tibet Autonomous Region of China Ch ...

ese humanitarian relief and charitable organisation. It is the social arm of the Catholic Church in Nepal and a member of both

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 ...

and Caritas Asia.

History and work

Caritas Nepal was founded in 1990 by Anthony Francis Sharma to support the most vulnerable members of society, particularly in response to natural disasters or other emergency situations. In 1991, the organisation opened its first school for

Bhutanese refugee Bhutanese refugees are Lhotshampas ("southerners"), a group of Nepali language-speaking Bhutanese people. These refugees registered in refugee camps in eastern Nepal during the 1990s as Bhutanese citizens who fled or were deported from Bhutan du ...

children. Four years later, Caritas Nepal provided help to families from 17 villages of Bardiya affected by floods. In 2003, the organisation started its

integrated pest management Integrated pest management (IPM), also known as integrated pest control (IPC) integrates both chemical and non-chemical practices for economic control of pests. The UN's Food and Agriculture Organization defines IPM as "the careful consideratio ...

(IPM) approach and became one of several organisations that played an instrumental role in the dissemination of IPM technologies in the country. Another major pillar of Caritas Nepal's work is its

climate change Present-day climate change includes both global warming—the ongoing increase in Global surface temperature, global average temperature—and its wider effects on Earth's climate system. Climate variability and change, Climate change in ...

adaptation projects. In 2015, Nepal was struck by a devastating earthquake. Caritas Nepal redirected much of its ongoing work to life-saving activities and quickly became a major relief and rehabilitation actor. Its initial efforts included the provision of immediate relief materials to earthquake-affected individuals, such as clothes, sleeping mats, blankets and

WASH Wash or the Wash may refer to: Industry and sanitation * WASH or WaSH, "water, sanitation and hygiene", three related public health issues * Wash (distilling), the liquid produced by the fermentation step in the production of distilled beverages ...

items like buckets and soap, as well as

tarpaulin A tarpaulin ( , ) or tarp is a large sheet of strong, flexible, water-resistant or waterproof material, often cloth such as canvas or polyester coated with polyurethane, or made of plastics such as polyethylene. Tarpaulins often have reinf ...

sheets. Later, the organisation supported the reconstruction of thousands of homes for affected families. In 2023, Sr. Durga Cecilia Shrestha, a member of the Sisters of St. Joseph of Cluny, became the first woman to lead Caritas Nepal. The organisation consists of a head office, three provincial offices, and nine field offices. Caritas Nepal carries out its work through both staff and volunteers. In 2024, the organisation operated in 23 districts, supporting more than 40,000 people.

References

External links

* {{Authority control Charities based in Nepal Organizations established in 1990 1990 establishments in Nepal Catholic Church in Nepal

Social justice organizations Humanitarian aid organizations