Caritas Schweiz

Caritas Schweiz is a charity based in Luzern, Switzerland working on poverty & hunger, humanitarian aid & disaster relief, refugees & migration +5 more.

Caritas Schweiz is a Swiss relief and development organisation, part of the Catholic Caritas network, based in Lucerne. It works to prevent and alleviate poverty in Switzerland and internationally, with a focus on securing income, food, housing, education, health and water access for people in need. It runs projects in around 20 countries, with activities in Switzerland including debt counselling, support for families, single parents, the unemployed and working poor, and a second-hand shop network. Internationally it responds to humanitarian crises, including earthquakes in Venezuela and Colombia, conflict and displacement in Sudan, South Sudan, Ethiopia and Ukraine, and works on climate adaptation and renewable energy. The organisation is funded mainly by private donations, with a share of its international work financed by the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (DEZA). It is Zewo-certified, and reports that about 91 percent of funds go to projects. It also runs advocacy on issues such as asylum social assistance, arms export controls and humanitarian law, and offers internships, apprenticeships and volunteering opportunities.