Caritas Europa

19/08/2026

Today is World Humanitarian Day.

On this day, we honour humanitarian workers serving communities affected by crises and conflicts, and remember those who have lost their lives.

In the past three years, more than 1,000 humanitarian workers have been killed worldwide, including members of the Caritas family in Mariupol, Gaza and Kharkiv.

Protecting humanitarian workers means upholding international humanitarian law and ensuring that humanitarian principles are respected in every conflict.

The EU has committed to strengthening their protection. Now those commitments must become concrete action.

🔗 Read the full article: https://www.caritas.eu/when-the-law-fails-who-protects-humanitarian-workers/

17/08/2026

Our hearts are with the people of Flores and all those affected by the devastating earthquake that struck East Nusa Tenggara, Indonesia, on 15 August.

The 7.7 magnitude earthquake affected 10 regencies across three provinces, leaving at least 47 people dead, 101 injured and more than 5,900 people displaced.

As families face the loss of homes and disruption to their daily lives, urgent needs include food, clean water, medicines, emergency shelter and other essential supplies.

Caritas Indonesia has rapidly mobilised, coordinating with the four affected dioceses, to activate emergency service posts and deploy response teams to support affected communities.

We stand with all the affected communities and all those working tirelessly to support communities through this difficult time. 🙏

You can support Caritas Indonesia at 👉 https://karina.or.id/en/donasi
Caritas Asia

08/08/2026

🌊 Years of waiting. Endless obstacles. An uncertain journey home.

That was Odysseus’ journey back to Ithaca, to his wife and son, a story brought back to life this summer by Nolan’s The Odyssey.

But for many refugees today, the journey to be reunited with their loved ones is not a legend. It's a reality.

❗ Across Europe, the right to family reunification is increasingly under threat. Suspended procedures, long waiting periods, complex paperwork and high costs are keeping families apart, sometimes for years.

👪 A story told nearly 3,000 years ago reminds us of the human cost of separation. Family reunification is not a privilege; it is a fundamental right.

📖 Read Caritas Europa’s paper on family reunification at the link in bio

06/08/2026

🚀 The ATELIER online course is now live!

Want to learn how to design projects and initiatives with people, not just for them?

The new Co-design for Social Impact and Inclusion MOOC provides free access to knowledge, methods and practical tools for designing collaborative processes that foster social inclusion and create positive social impact.

Aimed at students, educators, social workers, designers, and practitioners, the course explores approaches, methods and tools for facilitating participatory and inclusive innovation processes.

🌍 Available in 7 languages: English, French, Greek, Italian, Portuguese, Romanian and Swedish.
💻 Free, self-paced and hosted on the Unite! platform.
🏅 Complete the course and earn an Open Badge recognising the competencies you have developed.

The course was developed within the Erasmus+ project ATELIER: innovative education for social inclusion via co-design practices, coordinated by DAD (Politecnico di Torino). Caritas Europa is a member of the consortium together with S-NODI Group, Akadimos Educational Group, SYNTHESIS Center for Research & Education, KC Center of Competence., Observatório Lusófono de Actividades Económicas (OLAE), National University of Science and Technology POLITEHNICA Bucharest.

🔗 Start learning today: https://lnkd.in/ekKbvadT
🔗 Visit ATELIER website: https://lnkd.in/dSk-_i4J

30/07/2026

Ahmed* was only 16 when he left Egypt, believing an online promise of work and the possibility of reaching Europe.

Instead, he became trapped in a journey of exploitation.

Recruited through social media, Ahmed was controlled by traffickers at every stage. They arranged his travel, provided false documents and forced him to work to repay an ever-increasing “travel debt”. Threats and fear prevented him from escaping.

When he finally arrived in Albania, exhausted, frightened and alone, he was identified as an unaccompanied minor and received support from Caritas Albania. There, he found safety, assistance and people who listened to his story with care and respect.

Today, on the World Day Against Trafficking in Persons, we remember that behind every form of trafficking is a human life, a human story and a dignity that must never be forgotten.

This year’s UN theme draws attention to forced online scamming, one of the fastest-growing forms of human trafficking. Digital platforms are increasingly used to deceive, recruit and control people through false promises, fear and violence.

Ahmed’s story shows how online recruitment can lead to exploitation in the offline world, and why cooperation is essential to protect victims and dismantle criminal networks.

For 25 years, COATNET – Christian Organisations Against Trafficking Network – has brought organisations together to prevent trafficking, support survivors and advocate for coordinated, survivor-centred responses.

Read Ahmed’s story and learn more about the work of Caritas Albania and COATNET: https://www.caritas.eu/behind-every-scam-is-a-human-life/

*Name changed to protect the child’s identity.

AuthorAriela MitriHead of Sector Anti-trafficking and Migration Caritas Albania Every year, on 30 July, the world marks the World Day Against Trafficking in Persons, reaffirming a collective commitment to ending one of the gravest violations of human dignity. This year’s United Nations theme, “T...

16/07/2026

“I truly cannot put into words how I felt when I was first reunited with my family. For me, family is not just a word in the dictionary. It means hugging my wife, kissing my children and playing with them. Family is life itself.”
— M., anonymous beneficiary of Caritas Stuttgart

Family unity is a fundamental right under European and international law. Yet this right is only meaningful if people can actually exercise it.

To make family reunification accessible in practice, we call on EU Member States to:

🔹 Make family reunification procedures fast, fair, affordable and flexible.
🔹 Remove unnecessary legislative and administrative barriers, accept alternative evidence of family links when official documents are unavailable, and reduce financial costs.
🔹 Broaden the definition of family in displacement contexts and provide quality legal and social support throughout the process.
🔹 Ensure passport and documentation requirements do not prevent people fleeing persecution from exercising their rights.

Family reunification is a right, not a concession or a luxury and all refugees, regardless of their type of protection status should have access to it.

Read more in our position paper: https://www.caritas.eu/family-reunification-a-right-not-a-privilege/

10/07/2026

💭“I feel like I’m living a waking dream,” repeats Chierno when he speaks about being reunited with his wife and four children.

Being separated from family is hard for anyone. For refugees navigating reunification procedures, it comes with anxiety, uncertainty, and the weight of everything they've already been through.

But when family reunification finally happens, the transformation is incredible. ✨
As Aurélie Decossaux from Caritas International.be explains, it's the lifting of a huge emotional burden, allowing refugees to finally think about the future, find stability and truly integrate into society.

Family reunification is about restoring stability, dignity and the chance to move forward together.🫶

Read the story of Chierno and the full interview with Aurelie: https://www.caritas.eu/story-of-chierno/

09/07/2026

🗨️ "Everything around me shook from explosions so powerful that words can hardly describe them. By morning, darkness had replaced daylight, and the air had turned black with smoke.", Maria Chetvertak, project assistant at Caritas Ukraine, describing the moment another attack struck Kyiv on 6 July.

🔴 This is the reality for people living in Ukraine.

A recent attack on Vyshneve, in the Kyiv region, caused significant loss of life and damaged hundreds of civilian sites, including the home of Oleksii. When the explosions started, he was on his way to work. By the time he returned, only ashes remained: a gazebo, two bicycles, and a generator were the only things left standing.

His street was one of nearly five in Vyshneve devastated by secondary explosions following the attack, which struck hundreds of civilian sites.

When the attack began Maria took shelter on the ground floor of her apartment building:

🗨️ "I was able to evacuate at around 5:30 a.m. My brother managed to reach me and drive me out in the middle of the devastation. In many ways, my home was incredibly fortunate, my apartment building remained standing. I was far luckier than many of my friends and the hundreds of other people whose homes burned to the ground and who lost everything in a single moment."

Colleagues at Caritas Ukraine and Caritas Kyiv teams were on the ground delivering emergency food kits directly to first responders and evacuated residents during rescue operations and continue to support the affected population.

🙏 Our thoughts are with every family touched by this devastation. We can't forget the people of Ukraine.

08/07/2026

How can non-formal education help create hope and new opportunities for people facing disadvantage?

This was the central question explored during the third transnational meeting of our Erasmus+ project, "Non-Formal education for disadvantaged people – Training professionals in a European context," which brings together Caritas organisations from across Europe to strengthen the skills of professionals working with disadvantaged communities through exchange, cooperation and shared learning.

From 27–29 May 2026, 18 professionals from Caritas organisations in Germany, Romania, Italy, Lithuania and Austria came together in Sfântu Gheorghe, Romania, to exchange experiences, learn from one another and discover inspiring approaches to supporting disadvantaged communities.

One of the most moving moments was a visit to the Roma community of Őrkő, where the local Caritas Family Centre offers children and parents a safe space to learn, create and grow together through painting, music, games and other educational activities. These experiences foster confidence, strengthen community ties and open new perspectives for the future.

Learn more about the project: https://www.caritas-ooe.at/ueber-uns/eu-projekte/non-formal-education-for-people-with-special-needs/partners/

06/07/2026

For many refugees and migrants, family reunification is an "administrative marathon." 🏃‍♂️📋

The process is long, complex, and deeply overwhelming. That's why the work of dedicated professionals is so crucial. We spoke with Aurélie Decossaux, a social worker at Caritas International.be, who supports families seeking to reunite.

"People are often lost and don't know where to begin," Aurélie says. "One of Caritas' first tasks is therefore to provide information and accompany them through the different stages."

This process has become increasingly challenging in recent years, both in Belgium and across several EU countries. Families face tighter deadlines, extensive paperwork, unstable situations in their countries of origin, and political tensions that complicate visa procedures.

Caritas' work goes far beyond administrative support. More than legal guidance, it offers a listening ear and accompaniment, helping families feel less alone as they navigate the path towards reunification.

“It is a field that is quite legal in nature, but we bring a social dimension through listening and supporting people.”

Read the full interview with Aurelie: https://www.caritas.eu/story-of-chierno/