Caritas Middle East and North Africa (French: ), also known as Caritas MONA, is a Catholic charity network active in the Middle East and North Africa and in the Horn of Africa. It is one of the seven regions of the worldwide Caritas Internationalis confederation.
The name Caritas MONA refers both to the regional secretariat, based in Lebanon, and the network of 15 member organisations.
Work
The work of Caritas MONA's secretariat involves coordinating responses from its member organisations to disasters and humanitarian emergencies within the confederation, as well as providing technical support and capacity-building through training initiatives, among other to ensure compliance with Caritas Internationalis Management Standards. Additionally, Caritas MONA engages in advocacy efforts, such as addressing violence in Iraq in 2008, the 2020 Beirut explosion, and calling for a ceasefire in the Gaza humanitarian crisis in 2023.
The member organisations are active in a broad range of sectors in their respective countries, including in healthcare, education, social service provision and humanitarian aid.
Membership
Caritas MONA consists of 15 national member organisations. They are located in the Maghreb and the Mashriq region, as well as in the Horn of Africa. The Caritas MONA member organisations that are located on the African continent are exclusively members of Caritas MONA; they are not also members of Caritas Africa.
Despite being located in an EU member state, Caritas Cyprus is also a member of Caritas MONA. The national Caritas working in Israel and Palestine is Caritas Jerusalem.
List of Member Organisations
Country Member organisation Established Caritas Algeria 1962 Caritas Cyprus 1974 Caritas Djibouti 1978 Caritas Egypt 1967 Caritas Iraq 1981 Caritas Iran 1992 Holy LandCaritas refers to the territories in which Caritas Jerusalem is active (Israel and Palestinian territories) as "Holy Land". Caritas Jerusalem 1967 Caritas Jordan 1967 Caritas Lebanon 1976 Caritas Libya ? Caritas Mauritania 1972 Caritas Morocco 1947 Caritas Somalia 1980 Caritas Syria 1954 Caritas Tunisia ?
Leadership Presidents 1999–2007: Claudette Habesch 2008–2016: Joseph Farah 2016–present: Gabriel Hatti
Regional Coordinators ?–2017: Rosette Hechaime 2017–present: Karam Abi Yazbeck
References