Caritas Serbia

Last updated
Caritas Serbia
Caritas Srbije
Established1995;29 years ago (1995)
Type Nonprofit
Purpose social services
Location
Coordinates 44°46′53″N20°28′18″E / 44.7813°N 20.4717°E / 44.7813; 20.4717
Origins Catholic Social Teaching
Region served
Serbia
Services social services, humanitarian aid, disaster risk reduction
President
 Ladislav Nemet
Director
Mihai Gherghel
Affiliations Caritas Europa, Caritas Internationalis
Website caritas.rs
Formerly called
Caritas Yugoslavia
Caritas Serbia and Montenegro

Caritas Serbia (Serbian : Caritas Srbije) is a not-for-profit social welfare and humanitarian relief organisation in Serbia. It is a service of the Catholic Church in Serbia.

Contents

Caritas Serbia is a member of both Caritas Europa and Caritas Internationalis. [1]

History and work

The organisation was founded in 1995, initially called Caritas Yugoslavia, then Caritas Serbia and Montenegro before taking its current name, reflecting the name changes of the country. [1] In first years, it provided support to the large number of internally displaced persons and refugees caused by the Balkan wars. It established itself as a humanitarian actor involved in distributions of food and fuel and offering shelter to thousands of people. During and after the 1999 NATO bombing of Yugoslavia, Caritas Serbia was involved in relief efforts by continuing distributions to individuals and collective centres such as health and educational facilities. According to its own statements, Caritas Serbia supported over two million persons between 1995 and 2000. [2] [3]

After the wars, the organisation worked on home care for the sick and elderly, youth drug prevention, and peacebuilding programmes, among other. [4]

During the devastating 2014 floods, Caritas Serbia launched a large-scale humanitarian response, providing food, hygiene items, and livestock feed to 5,200 affected families. [5] The total budget for this effort exceeded 2 million euros. [4] In the aftermath of the floods, the organisation also solidified its reputation as a key civil society expert in disaster risk reduction by developing specialised programmes tailored for primary schools. Caritas Serbia staff created awareness-raising materials on how to respond to natural disasters, including posters and colouring books, and organised hundreds of school workshops and numerous roundtable discussions in municipalities over the years. [6] [7]

With the start of the 2015 European migrant crisis, Caritas Serbia once again became active in a large-scale humanitarian response, providing relief items to over 100,000 refugees and migrants. [8] This initial crisis led to a prolonged support, including the establishment of laundry services for refugees residing in the reception centres in Krnjaca and Presevo, and language and animation classes for children and adults in the centres in Bujanovac and Krnjača. [9]

Counselling centre for returnees of Caritas Serbia in Belgrade. Caritas Serbia Counselling Center in Belgrade, 2018.jpg
Counselling centre for returnees of Caritas Serbia in Belgrade.

In 2017, Caritas Serbia established a counselling centre in Belgrade for persons returning to Serbia after having left for Germany. They orient the returnees and provide guidance in order to facilitate their reintegration process into Serbian society. [2]

In addition, Caritas Serbia fundraises for partner organisations responding to disasters abroad. [4] Other important activities are the promotion of mental health and the process of deinstitutionalization, home care of the elderly, and social entrepreneurship. [10] [11]

Structure

The structure of Caritas is the same as the structure of the Catholic Church in Serbia. Caritas Serbia consists of the national office as well as of 5 regional, autonomous Caritas organisations in Serbia. They work in three dioceses, one archdiocese and one eparchy. The diocesan Caritas organisations support people affected by poverty in Serbia and contribute therewith to social integration.

The five local organisations are: [12]

Despite being a Catholic organisation, Caritas Serbia provides aid and support to people in need regardless of their religious, national or any other affiliation. [2]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Catholic Church in Serbia</span>

The Catholic Church in Serbia is part of the worldwide Catholic Church in Serbia, under the spiritual leadership of the Pope in Rome. There are 356,957 Catholics in Serbia according to the 2011 census, which is roughly 5% of the population. Estimates in 2020 suggested that the figure had risen to 5.5-6%.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Krnjača</span> Urban neighbourhood in Palilula, Belgrade, Serbia

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Armenian Caritas</span> Social welfare and humanitarian relief organisation of the Catholic Church in Armenia.

Armenian Caritas is a not-for-profit social welfare and humanitarian relief organisation based in Armenia. It is a service of the Armenian Catholic Church and a member of both Caritas Europa and Caritas Internationalis.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Caritas Bosnia and Herzegovina</span>

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References

  1. 1 2 "Karitas Srbija". vodic.gradjanske.org (in Serbian). Retrieved 11 August 2024.
  2. 1 2 3 "Caritas Serbia". returningfromgermany.de. Retrieved 11 August 2024.
  3. ↑ "Caritas Serbia". Caritas Europa . Retrieved 11 August 2024.
  4. 1 2 3 "About Caritas". Beogradska nadbiskupija. Retrieved 11 August 2024.
  5. ↑ "Floods recede in Balkans to reveal desolation". ReliefWeb . 23 May 2014. Retrieved 11 August 2024.
  6. ↑ Jovana Loncarevic (11 October 2018). "Serbia: Teaching DRR in primary schools, creating more resilient communities". preventionweb.net. Retrieved 11 August 2024.
  7. ↑ "Симулациона вежба о јачању отпорности и реаговању при елементарним непогодама у среду код цркве у Растовници". prokupackevesti.rs (in Serbian). 23 July 2024. Retrieved 11 August 2024.
  8. ↑ "Caritas launches appeal to help refugees in Serbia". ReliefWeb . 3 September 2015. Retrieved 11 August 2024.
  9. ↑ "Country Profiles Serbia". migrants-refugees.va. Retrieved 11 August 2024.
  10. ↑ "Трибином "Минут до 12 за ментално здравље" обележен Међународни дан менталног здравља". novibeograd.rs. Retrieved 11 August 2024.
  11. ↑ "Caritas Serbije". Beogradska nadbiskupija (in Serbian). Retrieved 11 August 2024.
  12. ↑ "Biskupijski Caritasi". caritas.rs (in Serbian). Retrieved 11 August 2024.
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