History of Caritas Moldova
At 10 May 1995, the Bishop of Chisinau registered the Religious Catholic Mission Caritas Moldova as the social department of the Roman-Catholic Church of Moldova that operated through Caritas offices in Parishes, consisting of a local director (the parish priest of the community), operational coordinator, employees and volunteers.
As of 02 June 2015 was reorganised through conversion from Religious Catholic Mission ”Caritas Moldova” to Charity Foundation “Caritas Moldova”. Nationally, Caritas Moldova consists of the Board of Administration, Auditor, President, Director, employees and volunteers. Caritas Moldova is one of the 49 members of Caritas Europa Federation and member of Caritas Internationalis, a global confederation that reunites 165 catholic organizations for development, assistance in extreme cases and social service, which seeks to build a better world especially for disadvantaged people regardless of race, religion, age, sex, occupation or political affiliation.
- Main categories of beneficiaries of Caritas Moldova are: homeless persons, aged persons with insufficient means for existence, persons with disabilities, incurable patients or persons with severe pathologies, children and young people, vulnerable families and one-parent families, and other vulnerable categories.
- Our Foundation operates on the territory of the Republic of Moldova through its National Bureau and 11 branches located in: Balti, Bender, Chisinau, Cretoaia, Grigorauca, Rascov, Ribnita, Slobozia Rascov, Stauceni, Stircea, Tiraspol.
- The main source of inspiration for Caritas is Catholic Social Teaching, basic principles of providing social assistance and legal framework in force.
Over the years, Caritas Moldova has implemented various projects. Everything began with the simple distribution of humanitarian help received from west – clothes, footwear, hygienic items and food packages. Later on, we proceeded to projects for supporting the population, such as: „Coal and firewood”, „Help to the victims of calamities”, „Gifts and holidays for Easter and Christmas”, renovation of orphanages, pharmacy for poor, establishment and support of kindergartens, organizing summer holidays for children, etc.
In 1999, Caritas Moldova began the implementation of long term projects, such as: Home Care, Social-medical Centres, Programme for preventing illegal migration, Farm in Grigorauca village, Daily centres for children from vulnerable families in Balti and Ribnita, Rehabilitation centre for children with physical disabilities in Singerei, hospitalization of needy patients, endowment of hospitals with medical and paramedical equipment, scholarships for students, humanitarian aid and medicine for vulnerable persons, Cantinas, etc.
In 2004, Caritas Moldova revised its strategy against poverty by implementing a strategic pilot plan. Thus, beginning with January 2005, the first Strategic plan for 3 years (2005-2007) was implemented according to the standards of the Caritas Europa Federation. A simple comparative analysis indicates a significant growth from 46 implemented projects in 2004 (over 17.000 beneficiaries) to 63 projects in 2005. The first plan is followed by the Strategic Plan 2008-2010 that aimed to achieve a number of goals such as – assistance provided to groups of vulnerable persons and social reintegration of poor and marginalized people. Activities implemented on the entire territory of the Republic of Moldova are part of the Strategic Plan 2012-2016.
The main directions of activities are:
1. Community development
2. Medical assistance
3. Social Assistance
4. Education, Prevention and Youth
5. Disaster relief
6. Organizational development, lobby and advocacy
- 2007
- 2008
- 2009
- 2010
- 2011
- 2013