A. Introduction
Caritas Africa is a charitable and development organization that brings together 46 national Caritas in sub-Saharan Africa and the adjacent islands of the Atlantic and Indian Oceans, with 507 local Caritas in six zones. Its mission is to accompany the Church in Africa in fulfilling its ministry of charity and justice by helping the poor and the most excluded, responding to humanitarian emergencies, promoting development, community resilience and advocating for peace and respect for human rights, without discrimination of race or creed.
Caritas Africa is strategically positioned to play high-level facilitation, support, coordination, and advocacy roles to enhance sustainable human transformation in sub-Saharan Africa and adjacent islands in the Atlantic and Indian Oceans.
B. Background and rationale
Phase 3 of the Institutional Development and Organizational Strengthening (IDOS) program, entitled Accompagnement Personnalisée de Proximité pour le Renforcement Organisationnel, le Changement et l’Engagement des Caritas en Afrique Subsaharienne (APPROCHE), is a multi-stakeholder, multi-country program that operates in 17 countries in Francophone Africa and the Indian Ocean: Benin, Burkina-Faso, Burundi, Comoros, Congo Brazzaville, Côte d’Ivoire, Ghana, Guinea Bissau, Madagascar, Mali, Mozambique, Niger, Democratic Republic of Congo, Senegal, Chad, Togo, and Zambia. The main decision makers and leaders are the Presiding Bishops and National Executive Secretaries, the General Secretaries, the National Directors (SEN/SG/DN) of Caritas in the above mentioned countries, the Bishop-President and the Regional Coordinator of Caritas Africa.
Caritas Africa is the coordinating body for the 46 Caritas in Sub-Saharan Africa and the Indian Ocean. It has been implementing the APPROACH program in partnership with Secours Catholique-Caritas France since 2019.
