Other organisations

Cadena

Cadena is a Jewish non-profit in Mexico that works to reduce the impact of natural disasters in vulnerable communities. The organization works in Mexico, Miami, Chile, Costa Rica, Guatemala, Israel, Argentina and South Africa. a

• San Diego CA, Philadelphia, PA and Houston, TX USA; Pennsylvania- USA;
• Cancun and Los Cabos, Mexico; Bogota, Colombia; Caracas,Venezuela

Cadena developed 10 years ago, as a result of the hurricane Stan affecting the state of Chiapas in Mexico. Five friends from Mexico City wanted to not only send food via the Red Cross, but they themselves wanted to go deliver the food. They decided risk going to Chiapas to give the food and products to the people that needed them the most. When they arrived, they saw that the most needed people did not always get what they needed. And these friends were able to distribute what we send from hand to hand. Still today, that their work with the most vulnerable communities without intermediaries.

Faith Affiliation: Jewish

Inspired by Jewish principles such as, Tikún olam. This literally translate as “to repair the world.”  Cadena acknowledges that we came to make the world a better place, and to extend our hand to those who need it the most. Cadena also works with many other faiths

Key Facts: Cadena is currently expanding on an international level. They have an office in Guatemala, and various in the USA. They are about to open a couple of offices in Panama, Chile, Argentina, and Israel.With the help of various employees and volunteers, Cadena is able to aid 8 different countries.

Key programs

• Disaster prevention. With disaster prevention, CADENA has a team of volunteers that will respond to disasters through Mexico, as well as the world, to assess post-disaster. The Mexico City office will then gather all of the supplies and resources needed, and find volunteers take address needs in the disaster zone directly.
• Education. In the area of education, we work with various projects that include summer camps for elementary school children, high school volunteer committees, and natural disasters and innovation contests.
• Resilience. Our work currently in this area currently supports a sustainable house in Oaxaca, where volunteers from all around the world come to help the community become more resilient.

Interview with Director of CADENA, Tania Charabati

Canadian Christian Relief & Development Association

MISSION
To promote unity and excellence among all Canadian Christian relief and development organizations.

VISION
Together, seeking God’s kingdom purposes for flourishing lives and communities internationally.

VALUE PROPOSITION
To explore the relationship of Christian principles to international relief and development, facilitate collaboration, and promote the sharing of information, experience and expertise.

Caritas Internationalis

Caritas Internationalis is confederation of 165 Catholic humanitarian and development national member organisations who are working at the grassroots in almost every country of the world. When a crisis hits, Caritas is already on the ground. The diverse members give us our strength – from small groups of volunteers to some of the biggest global charities. Inspired by Catholic faith, Caritas is the helping hand of the Church – reaching out to the poor, vulnerable and excluded, regardless of race, religion or sex, to build a world based on justice and fraternal love.

The General Secretariat of the Caritas confederation is based in the Vatican City. It coordinates emergency response, policy and advocacy, communications, international representation and capacity building. The General Secretariat also has
international delegations at the United Nations in New York and in Geneva. Caritas members serves in more than 201 Countries and Territories. National Caritas member organisations are each autonomous under their bishops, but they combine as part of the Caritas Internationalis confederation, which is a body of the Universal
Church. They commit to good governance, transparency and accountability as members of Caritas Internationalis

From the founding of the first Caritas in Germany in 1897, to the setting up of Caritas Internationalis in 1951, until today, Caritas has a rich history of listening respectfully to the suffering of the poor and giving them the tools to transform their own lives. The deep moral and spiritual principles of dignity, justice, solidarity and stewardship still guide Caritas today.

Catholic Relief Services

Catholic Relief Services (CRS) was founded by the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops in 1943 to assist the poor and disadvantaged overseas.

Mission statement: Catholic Relief Services carries out the commitment of the Bishops of the United States to assist the poor and vulnerable overseas. Motivated by the Gospel of Jesus Christ to cherish, preserve and uphold the sacredness and dignity of all human life, foster charity and justice, and embody Catholic social and moral teaching

Major programs

• Emergency – programs seeking to prevent loss of life, minimize suffering, reduce property damage, speed recovery, reduce vulnerability, and otherwise better cope with natural or man-made disasters, while fostering a culture of peace, dignity and respect.
• Welfare – programs which provide a safety net to respond to the urgent and unmet needs of the poorest of society, including the provision of food and complementary assistance, enabling participants to reach their full human potential.

Catholic Relief Services – United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (CRS) was founded in 1943 and is the international humanitarian aid and development agency of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB). CRS is governed by a board composed of a Cardinal and ten U.S. Bishops elected from the USCCB, the General Secretary of the Conference, and seven lay members. Headquartered in Baltimore, Maryland, CRS provides services in 93 countries through 69 offices around the world.

Christian Action for Development and Support (CADS)

Christian Action for Development and Support (CADS) is a Christian non-profit, non-governmental organization extending support to people facing the most profound human challenges of extreme poverty working lasting sustainable change. Our aim is to provide a rapid world response to the basic needs of population affected by humanitarian crisis to help them regain independence and dignity.

Our programs include:

• health,
• environmental protection,
• food security and livelihood,
• construction and rehabilitation,
• WASH,
• peacebuilding,
• human rights,
• gender-based violence (GBV),
• child protection and
• education

Christian Aid

Christian Aid is a partnership of people, churches and local organisations committed to ending poverty worldwide. For more than 70 years, we have provided humanitarian relief and long-term development support for poor communities worldwide, while highlighting suffering, tackling injustice and championing people’s rights.

They work globally for profound change that eradicates the causes of poverty, striving to achieve equality, dignity and freedom for all, regardless of faith or nationality. We are part of a wider movement for social justice.

Christian Aid provides urgent, practical and effective assistance where need is great, tackling the effects of poverty as well as its root causes.

Faith Affiliation: Christian Aid’s values are rooted in Christian belief

Their belief that poverty can be ended is based on our understanding of scripture and the work of a creative, loving God. Established so that sponsoring churches and others ‘could respond to Christ’s command to care for all in need’.

Their values are based on our understanding of relational theology, which asserts that human beings are called to have a special relationship with God and in turn to have a particular relationship with one another.

They work for and with people of all faiths and none, where the need is greatest.

Key Facts:

Christian Aid is the official relief, development and advocacy agency of 41 sponsoring churches in Britain and Ireland. In 2016/17 they worked with 475 local, national and international partners in 37 countries. Christian Aid is also a founding member of ACT Alliance, a coalition of 146 churches and faith-based organisations working together in more than 100 countries.

Programmes

Christian Aid has programmes working on topics as diverse as emergency response, accountability, peace-building, health, land rights, tax justice and helping communities adapt to climate change.

One example is the SABI programme in Sierra Leone – a citizen-led accountability programme working in every district of the country to increase awareness of, and demand for, the delivery of basic services – including health, education, social protection, water and energy.

Youth Accountability Volunteers

Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs):

Christian Aid believes the 17 SDGs should be delivered as one package to frame development objectives in all countries, with national indicators of progress which feed into a global set of indicators to review overall delivery of the global goals.

Their focus is on ensuring that there are cross-cutting issues delivered across all goals, particularly around the ‘leave no one behind’ principal and the relationship with the finance for development process. In addition, they support the delivery of the goals on climate change, energy, and peace, justice and strong institutions.

Humanitarian standards:

Christian Aid is committed to upholding the highest standards of accountability and humanitarian principles. They are certified against the internationally recognised Core Humanitarian Standard on Quality and Accountability (CHS) for all development, humanitarian and advocacy work. They also work with our partners to implement the Sphere Standards in all humanitarian programmes.

Christian Connections for International Health (CCIH)

CCIH began in 1987 as a forum for Christians concerned about global health to discuss areas of mutual interest. Today they are a diverse network of organizations and individuals from across the globe.

Mission: to promote international health and wholeness from a Christian perspective.

CCIH serves Christians and others working in international health as it:

• facilitates networking among Christian organizations and individuals;
• relates to secular and government international health programs;
• shares information and experiences;
• promotes interagency cooperation;
• raises awareness and advocates on key international health issues;
• provides a forum for discussion;
• promotes Christian health work in developing countries; and
• engages with students interested in Christian international health.

JLI is an official member of CCIH since 2024.

Christian Health Association of Kenya

CHAK is a leading national Faith Based Organization (FBO) of Protestant churches’ health facilities and programs from all over Kenya. Established in 1946, CHAK has the goal of promoting access to quality health care. The organization’s structure includes member health facilities and member programmes, governance organs which include a regional structure and the Secretariat based in Nairobi.

Church Agencies Network

We are a group of eleven Church-based overseas aid and development agencies committed to empowering people and providing avenues for them to overcome injustice and poverty. We work closely with our Churches and partners in many countries to achieve this change.