Caritas Madagascar

Caritas Madagascar is a Catholic development and relief agency in Madagascar, established 1959. It is a member of the global Caritas Internationalis confederation as well as of Caritas Africa.

History
In 1947, one year after its own creation, the French Secours catholique opened an antenna in what was then French Madagascar. A year after the declaration of the Malagasy Republic, in 1959, the country was affected by large-scale floods after which the antenna of Secours catholique became Vonjy Aina Katolika, the organisation currently known as Caritas Madagascar.

In 1970, the Episcopal Conference of Madagascar founded another structure, the Bureau de liaison pour les actions sociales et caritatives ("Liaison Office for Social and Charitable Actions"; BLASC) to be in charge of development programmes. However, it merged with Caritas in 1977. The organisation was restructured several times and registered as an NGO in 2014.

Structure
Caritas Madagascar has a presence in all of the country through its local structures. A national office based in the capital of Antananarivo is coordinating and supporting a network 22 diocesan Caritas structures, which in turn coordinate the work of multiple parish Caritas organisations.

The diocesan Caritas organisations are:

Work
Some of the main areas in which Caritas Madagascar are active is agricultural development and production, healthcare and WASH. In addition to these development programmes, the organisation also implements basic social welfare activities, by for example providing food supplies to those most in need, and acts as relief actor after natural disasters such as cyclones, floods, or draughts, providing humanitarian aid and post-emergency rehabilitation.

To implement this work Caritas Madagascar collaborates with different national ministries, as well as with a range of international partners, including the World Bank, the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation, and multiple NGO partners.

The national office of Caritas Madagascar is also involved in advocacy activities towards local and national authorities.