Caritas Asia

Last updated
Caritas Asia
Established1999 [1]
TypeNonprofit
Location
Coordinates 13°46′59″N100°32′46″E / 13.78297°N 100.54619°E / 13.78297; 100.54619
Origins Catholic Social Teaching
Region served
Asia
Fields development aid, humanitarian aid, social services
President
Benedict Alo D'Rozario
Parent organization
Caritas Internationalis
Website caritas.asia

Caritas Asia is a pan-Asian nonprofit organisation and one of the seven regions of the global Caritas Internationalis confederation. Caritas Asia refers both to its regional secretariat, based in Bangkok and its network with 25 member organisation. [1]

Contents

Background

Caritas Asia's predecessor was the Asia Partnership for Human Development, founded in 1973 and bringing together more than 23 Catholic development organisations from Asia and the West. [2] [3] [4] [5]

The current structure was established in 1999 during the general assembly of Caritas Internationalis in Rome, where the request of its Asian member organisation to create a regional secretariat was approved. The goal of Caritas Asia is to coordinate the work of its member organisations, especially in the context of responses to natural disaster, [6] as well as to strengthen the technical capacities of the network.

Membership

Caritas Asia consists of 25 national member organisations operating in 24 Asian countries. [1] In Singapore, there are two member organisations: Caritas Singapore and Caritas Humanitarian Aid & Relief Initiatives (CHARIS). Not all Asian national Caritas organisations are members of Caritas Asia; those in the Middle East, despite being geographically located in Asia, such as Caritas Jordan, Caritas Iraq and Caritas Iran, are members of Caritas Middle East and North Africa, while Caritas of Armenia, Georgia, Russia and Turkey are part of Caritas Europa.

The membership of Caritas Asia is further grouped under four subregions, each having their own sub-regional office. These are Central Asia with an office in Kyrgyzstan, East Asia with an office in Macau, South Asia with an office in Sri Lanka and South-East Asia with an office in Singapore. [6]

List of Member Organisations

Sub-regionCountryMember organisation
(English name)
Established
South AsiaFlag of Bangladesh.svg  Bangladesh Caritas Bangladesh 1967
South East AsiaFlag of Cambodia.svg  Cambodia Caritas Cambodia1972
East AsiaFlag of Hong Kong.svg  Hong Kong Caritas Hong Kong 1953
South AsiaFlag of India.svg  India Caritas India1962
South East AsiaFlag of Indonesia.svg  Indonesia Caritas Indonesia (Karina KWI)2006
East AsiaFlag of Japan.svg  Japan Caritas Japan 1946
Central AsiaFlag of Kazakhstan.svg  Kazakhstan Caritas Kazakhstan1997
Central AsiaFlag of Kyrgyzstan.svg  Kyrgyzstan Caritas Kyrgyzstan2011
South East AsiaFlag of Laos.svg  Laos Caritas Laos [7] ?
East AsiaFlag of Macau.svg  Macau Caritas Macau1951
South East AsiaFlag of Malaysia 23px.svg  Malaysia Caritas Malaysia2020
Central AsiaFlag of Mongolia.svg  Mongolia Caritas Mongolia2000
South East AsiaFlag of Myanmar.svg  Myanmar Caritas Myanmar (KMSS)2001
South AsiaFlag of Nepal.svg  Nepal Caritas Nepal 1990
South AsiaFlag of Pakistan.svg  Pakistan Caritas Pakistan 1965
South East AsiaFlag of the Philippines.svg  Philippines Caritas Philippines (NASSA)1966
South East AsiaFlag of Singapore.svg  Singapore Caritas Singapore2006
South East AsiaFlag of Singapore.svg  Singapore CHARIS2010
East AsiaFlag of South Korea.svg  South Korea Caritas Korea1975
South AsiaFlag of Sri Lanka.svg  Sri Lanka Caritas Sri Lanka1968
East AsiaFlag of the Republic of China.svg  Taiwan Caritas Taiwan1969
Central AsiaFlag of Tajikistan.svg  Tajikistan Caritas Tajikistan2007
South East AsiaFlag of Thailand.svg  Thailand Caritas Thailand1972
South East AsiaFlag of East Timor.svg  Timor-Leste Caritas Timor Leste1999
Central AsiaFlag of Uzbekistan.svg  Uzbekistan Caritas Uzbekistan [7] 2002
South East AsiaFlag of Vietnam.svg  Vietnam Caritas Vietnam 1965

Leadership

Presidents

Regional Coordinators

References

  1. 1 2 3 "Caritas in Asia". caritas.org. Retrieved 29 April 2024.
  2. "Asia Partnership for Human Development". catholicstudiesdatabase.aws.stthomas.edu. Retrieved 1 May 2024.
  3. Pollard, David (1981). "A partnership model for development: Australian non-government organisations and the special case of the Asia Partnership for Human Development". University of Wollongong Thesis Collection 1954–2016. Retrieved 1 May 2024.
  4. "Other Human Rights Institutions – Thailand". University of Minnesota Human Rights Library. Retrieved 1 May 2024.
  5. "Our work in the Philippines". Development and Peace . Retrieved 1 May 2024.
  6. 1 2 3 Gomes, Robin (8 December 2021). "Caritas Asia: Witness to charity and dialogue between religions". Vatican News . Retrieved 1 May 2024.
  7. 1 2 Caritas Laos and Caritas Uzbekistan are member organisations of Caritas Asia, but not of Caritas Internationalis.
  8. "Journeying together for a Peaceful Society: History of Caritas Sri Lanka-SEDEC from 1968 to 2018" (PDF). Caritas Sri Lanka. 2018. Retrieved 1 May 2024.
  9. "Caritas Internationalis elects Archbishop Tarcisius Isao Kikuchi as its new head". Radio Veritas Asia . 14 May 2023. Retrieved 1 May 2024.
  10. "Caritas Asia reelects president for a second term". Sunday Examiner . 19 May 2023. Retrieved 1 May 2024.
  11. "Leaving a stronger Caritas Asia". Union of Catholic Asian News . 6 February 2012. Retrieved 1 May 2024.
  12. "Caritas Asia Regional Conference". Herald Malaysia . 24 March 2024. Retrieved 1 May 2024.