Caritas Sierra Leone was established in 1981 by the Catholic Bishops Conference of Sierra Leone with the mandate to serve as the relief and development wing of the Catholic Church in Sierra Leone. Most of the agency’s efforts during the 1990’s concentrated on responding to the plight of the people caught up in the brutal civil war, by providing food, shelter, and lobbying for the release of child soldiers. Today, Caritas Sierra Leone remains steadfast in post war peace building initiatives but is also active in various fields such as – HIV/AIDS prevention, food security, emergency and humanitarian relief, youth empowerment, environmental protection, poverty eradication and gender equality.
One of the focus areas of Caritas Sierra Leone work is continued support of families and communities after the civil war through initiatives such as peacebuilding, trauma counselling and resettlement support to refugees.