In a world where millions of our neighbours live in areas of conflict, Christ calls on all of us to be peacemakers. On this page, you will find details of how your generous support for CAFOD this year, particularly at Family Fast Days, has funded practical help for our sisters and brothers living through some of the world's worst conflicts.
Please continue to join your prayers to those of our Holy Father Pope Leo and of the whole Church as we pray for peace and for the courage to be peacemakers, and please keep in your prayers all those who suffer in war.
Christ is not absent from Gaza. He is there - crucified in the wounded, buried under rubble - and yet, present in every act of mercy, every candle in the darkness, every hand extended to the suffering.
Gaza
Since the conflict in Gaza began, the amazing fundraising efforts of parishes in England and Wales have helped our local partners to tirelessly reach out to families in desperate need, despite immense challenges and great personal risk.
Our Church partner Caritas Jerusalem is operating medical points across Gaza. Though they are dangerously low on supplies and constantly being forced to move to find new safe places to operate, the incredible women and men of the Caritas team are doing all they can to bring much-needed aid to those who need it most.
Other local partners have been providing food and shelter for displaced families but are now reporting growing difficulty in sourcing food, with tens of thousands facing starvation. Despite the risks, our partners are doing everything they can to get help through to the people that need it most. It's the support of parishes like yours that have have helped make this work possible. Here are some of the ways you’ve helped recently:
In July, you helped get funds to 1,400 families to buy urgent supplies.
In August, our Church partner Caritas Jerusalem secured a new supply of medications for treating serious chronic illnesses. These vital supplies will help keep their life-saving work going.
Last month, one of Caritas Jerusalem’s medical points was damaged and had to be evacuated. This month our partners were able to return and resume their vital work providing life-saving treatment to people taking refuge in the area.
Your support helped our partner, the Culture and Free Thought Association, scale up their emergency food programme, providing 2,000 people with rice to feed their families.
Your donations this year, especially at Family Fast Day, mean that our partners can continue to provide this critical assistance in spite of the unimaginably difficult working conditions.
Donate now to support CAFOD's work in Gaza and around the world
Sudan
Over 25 million people – more than half of Sudan’s population – are in need of urgent humanitarian assistance. Sudan was already one of the poorest countries in the world when a civil war broke out that has forced millions into refugee camps with, on average, 1,000 more people arriving every single day seeking shelter, most of them women and children.
This is a conflict in which civilians are bearing the brunt, medical centres ae being attacked, there are widespread reports of sexual violence, and accusations of ethnic cleansing. Whilst Climate change has caused heavy rains and flooding, destroying homes and vital infrastructure and contributing to a resurgent outbreak of cholera.
As the conflict continues, our local partners are successfully distributing emergency food packages to displaced families and helping to fix damaged water pipelines, as well as supporting children whose families have been displaced by the fighting. It's the support of parishes like yours that have have made all this work possible. Here are some of the ways you’ve helped recently:
Last year, we reached 116,449 people in Sudan with vital aid.
Our healthcare programmes, which are helping to tackle the spread of diseases such as cholera, have reached over 300,000 people.
Our partners are continuing to provide emergency packages of food, water and medicine to families who have been forced to flee their homes.
CAFOD’s cash voucher programme is helping vulnerable families to buy essentials like food and hygiene kits to stay healthy and prevent the spread of dangerous diseases.
Thanks to your donations this year, our teams of local experts will be able to carry on working through our trusted Church network and delivering vital aid to families who need it most.
Donate now to support CAFOD's work in Sudan and around the world
Ukraine
Over 12 million people - one third of Ukrainians - require, urgent humanitarian assistance. At least 6.8 million people have fled abroad since 2022, a further 3.6 million people remain displaced within the country and, as the fighting continues, more families are displaced every day.
Since the start of the invasion, the support of the Catholic community in England and Wales, has helped us to reach over 185,000 people with direct aid including food, water, shelter and psychological counselling. Thanks to you, our local partners are helping people to rebuild their lives after the trauma of losing loved ones, homes and livelihoods.
CAFOD is part of Caritas Internationalis, one of the largest aid networks in the world. We work through local partners who are part of the communities they work in, so they understand the people they are working with and their needs. The support of parishes like yours make their work possible. Here are some of the ways you've helped in Ukraine:
We have been able to provide food to 120,000 people.
We have supported local charities to expand their work like Depaul Ukraine, which is now reaching up to 30,000 of the most vulnerable Ukrainians every day with vital aid.
We have been able to provide emergency medical support to over 20,000 people in the greatest need – primarily women, children, elderly people and disabled people.
With thousands of people homeless or living in damaged buildings without electricity or heating, your donations have helped us to provide 15,000 Ukrainians with emergency shelter, home repairs, warm clothing and fuel to survive the cold winters.
The trauma of three years of war has left an estimated 1.5 million children at risk of post-traumatic stress disorder. With your donations, we have provided over 11,000 Ukrainians, including children, with mental health and psychosocial support services
CAFOD has been working with experts from Caritas Ukraine to identify and help survivors of sex or labour trafficking and working with vulnerable groups such as teenagers and internally-displaced persons to prevent future instances.
With your support and prayers, we will continue to reach those who are caught up in this conflict and often left with nothing.
Donate now to support CAFOD's work in Ukraine and around the world
Thank you!
Your generous support for CAFOD this year has made all our work possible. Thanks to you, we have been able to respond to the urgent need of our sisters and brothers in some of the world's worst humanitarian crises.
Please continue to support CAFOD in your parish so that, together, we can build a better world.