Summary of the project

The project aims to improve the existing organizational structures of African Caritas organizations in order to respond quickly and appropriately to emergency situations. To achieve this, the project aims to:

  • Improve the organizational capacity of emergency preparedness and response of national partners in the humanitarian crisis situations by implementing various activities, including the provision of ToT on the CHS, disaster risk reduction (DRR), transparency and accountability standards, andregional exchanges and peer learning activities.
  • Strengthen volunteer management systems in partner countries to receive and manage local and European volunteers to respond to emergencies. Volunteer identification, selection, training, placement and post-deployment will be strengthened both by supporting robust volunteer management systems and by building knowledge and capacity on technical and quality standards.

Partners

Caritas Austria, Caritas Belgium (Caritas International ASBL) and Caritas Africa with 7 Caritas partners in Africa: Caritas Burundi; Caritas Congo; Caritas Congo, ASBL (DRC); Caritas Central Africa; Caritas Rwanda; Caritas Senegal; OCDI CET (Togo)

NB. Caritas Centrafrique was withdrawn because it did not meet all the EU criteria.

Effect / Impact of the project

Through the RECHANGE project, Caritas organizations in Africa have taken a major step forward in building their capacity in humanitarian aid and volunteer management. They are able to respond faster and better to emergency situations. They are improving their volunteer management systems to better involve volunteers in emergency preparedness and response.

In general, therefore, National Caritas have established teams of trainers at the national and diocesan levels that will continue to be strengthened throughout the duration of the project. These permanent local teams will provide ongoing support in their respective dioceses.

We note:

  • Awareness of the different humanitarian norms and policies of protection and safeguarding
  • Valuation of volunteers
  • A perpetuation and professionalization of the skills and knowledge of the staff trained in the framework of the RECHANGE project
  • A strengthening of humanitarian values within organizations
  • Consolidation of the dioceses in each country/strengthening of the Caritas network
  • The visibility of Caritas Africa to the National Caritas involved and in turn the visibility of the National Caritas to their respective dioceses

Good practices

The most important good practices we note in this first year include:

  • Exchanges and cooperation with the Caritas network: This is the case for CRS (Caritas USA), which made its staff available to the project for the facilitation of certain workshops, particularly during the training on cash transfer and cross-cutting protection.
  • The establishment of a permanent team of trainers in the Caritas network in the humanitarian field.
  • The establishment of emergency funds to accompany the humanitarian action of Caritas in Africa: The case of Senegal.
  • Supporting the emergency focal points in disseminating the project’s training and information at the local and parish level.
  • Each Caritas has adapted the training modules, the choice of topics, and the intervention strategy to local needs and contexts. This flexibility has allowed each Caritas to reach a larger number of people.