Caritas Jordan’s long tradition of working on behalf of the poor and vulnerable commenced in 1967 when they responded to the humanitarian needs of Palestinian refugees who fled their native country after the Six Day War with Israel. Since its establishment, Caritas Jordan has responded to several crises stemming from conflicts in the region through emergency support and several humanitarian aid programmes, such as providing emergency relief provisions to Iraqi refugees flooding the country during the two Gulf Wars in 1991 and 2003. They have evolved into a dynamic organisation that contributes to the fight against poverty and helps to promote development in various sectors of Jordanian society: ranging from rendering medical services to mothers and children, poverty alleviation, HIV and AIDS awareness campaigns, humanitarian assistance, social development and assisting refugees and migrants.

Caritas Jordan has always given a special concern to humanitarian assistance campaigns, recognising the importance of this sector to individuals and society alike. They provide assistance in the form of food, hygiene and detergents, blankets, heaters and medical supplies to the elderly, orphans, prisoners families, widows, homeless and individuals with disabilities. In 2012, in response to the crisis in Syria, Caritas Jordan provided humanitarian relief to over 50,000 displaced Syrian refugees: distributing food, blankets, hygiene kits, housing, education and psychological emergency to the many children. In addition, they instituted The Outreach Humanitarian Campaign to provide medical, educational, food and non-food assistance to the poor families and the elderly. Caritas Jordan winterisation campaign assists 1000 Jordanian needy families with heaters, blankets, stoves, food and fuel coupons to overcome the long, arduous winter season.

Caritas Jordan also facilitates long term sustainable solutions for socio-economic development through income generating projects to help local communities. They provide personal loans at low interest rates to small-scale enterprises and poor people that sponsor businesses such as mini markets, barbershops, garages, dairy projects and handicraft. Their pledge to development as a means to alleviate poverty assists around 100,000 people every year.

Caritas Jordan along with its partner CRS “Catholic Relief Services” provide workshops and lectures to increase the community awareness about the HIV and AIDS epidemic and educates those how to cope living with the virus. The project provides hope and support to 470 patients and creates leaders and working groups in the country to take the initiative to support the patients within their communities.

Caritas Jordan head office is located in the capital of Jordan, Amman and has approximately 120 staff and 1000 volunteers. Caritas Jordan conducts their services and activities through six Caritas centres located in different areas and regions in Jordan (Amman, the Middle, North, and South) to serve as many needy families as possible. In addition, there’re 45 volunteers committees operating in parishes, schools and society service committees to facilitate the social and emergency response activities at those centres and in the region.

Caritas Jordan is a member of Caritas Internationalis and is a part of Caritas MONA. To achieve their objectives Caritas Jordan frequently collaborates and receives support from the global Caritas network: such as Caritas Germany, Catholic Relief Services (CRS), Caritas Japan, CORDAID (Caritas Netherlands), Caritas Denmark and Caritas Canada. In 2009, a partnership with Caritas Milan yielded a capacity building project that aims to strengthen capacity of young people and promote the concept of voluntary work.