Our Impact

Every year, Misean Cara and its members have a critical impact on the lives of millions of people. This is achieved through projects aimed at improving the livelihoods, health, education, and human rights of people in more than fifty countries.

Our funding also supports humanitarian relief needed at times of sudden-onset emergencies, and capacity building for our members. This is to ensure their projects are as effective as possible at reaching the furthest behind.

In 2023, €13.6m in Misean Cara funding went to support life-transforming projects in these areas:

Sector

Education

Total Beneficiaries

Total Funding

€4,770,980

Areas Supported

Early Childhood Ed
Primary Ed
Secondary Ed
Tech & Vocational Ed
Non Formal Ed

Sector

Health

Total Beneficiaries

Total Funding

€3,181,457

Areas Supported

Communicable Disease
Non-Communicable Disease
Maternal & Child Health
Water, Sanitation, Hygiene

Sector

Livelihoods

Total Beneficiaries

Total Funding

€2,180,227

Areas Supported

Sustainable Agriculture
Small/medium scale enterprises and cooperatives
Savings, Loans and Microfinance
Natural Resource Management and Conservation

Sector

Human Rights

Total Beneficiaries

Total Funding

€2,405,164

Areas Supported

Children’s Rights
Governance, Civil Society and Peace Building
Women’s Rights
Natural Resources, including Land Rights
Human Trafficking

Sector

Emergency Assistance

Total Beneficiaries

Total Funding

€539,836

Areas Supported

Sudden-onset emergencies
COVID-19 (since 2020)

Sector

Member Capacity Development

Total Funding

€301,526

Areas Supported

Strengthening organisations
Skills Development for staff
Institutional change and systems development

Where we work

Our members work in more than 50 countries around the globe

In the Brazilian State of Paraíba, the Sal da Terra Association, in partnership with the Religious of the Sacred Heart of Mary, teaches basic reading and writing skills to individuals in a region with one of the highest illiteracy rates in the country.

Brazil

Zambia

In Zambia, the Sisters of Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary operate a school that provides quality, inclusive education to children with a range of disabilities. Opened in 1998, the school has become a national centre of excellence and is the only school in the country for deaf blind children.

In Gaza, where most people live in extreme poverty, older residents can access free health care through the Caritas Jerusalem Health Project. Operated in partnership with the Franciscan Missionaries of the Divine Motherhood, the project helps elders manage the effects of age-related conditions such as diabetes, heart disease and osteoporosis.

Gaza

In a high-poverty area outside Lima, the Columban Fathers promote community livelihoods and food security through projects like the Happy Worm collaborative, which buys compost from local growers and packages it for retail purchase by other urban household food producers.

Peru

The Brickfield School Project, run by the Institute of the Blessed Virgin Mary Loreto Sisters, provides quality education in their own language to over 2,500 migrant children who travel to the West Bengal region with their families for work each year during the brick making season.

India

During the COVID-19 crisis, the Jesuit Refugee Service, in partnership with the Irish Jesuits International, distributed re-usable face masks to 1,000 school children and set up 12 hand-washing facilities in communal spaces at a site for refugees in Maban, where there is a high risk of disease due to overcrowding and poor sanitation.

South Sudan

Kenya

The Ruben Health Centre in Nairobi, operated by Edmund Rice Development in partnership with the Christian Brothers East Africa District, is a focal point for community health care in an area where few other clinics exist. Services include essential mother and child wellness care.

Uganda

In Kampala, small business owners learn how to grow their ideas into self-sustaining enterprises with the help of economic cooperative programmes run by the KADCOS Nsambya Cooperative. With the support of Viatores Christi and Caritas Kampala, the cooperative helps empower the development and growth of entrepreneurs and the local economy.

South Africa

In Johannesburg, Three2Six (a Marist project) provides education support to refugee and migrant children to help them mainstream into regular public schools. Even during the COVID-19 lockdown the project team ensured the children kept up to date with their learning and provided at-home support such as food and hygiene parcels.

Nepal

The Community Nutrition Programme in Jiri, Nepal - an area with persistently high rates of childhood malnutrition – runs a kitchen training garden where groups of mothers learn how to cultivate crops to boost their families' nutrition, including ingredients to make a nutrient and protein dense 'Super Flour' for children. The Nutrition Promotion and Consultancy Service (NPCS) runs the project with support from the Church Missionary Society of Ireland (CMSI).

Tanzania

In Tanzania, community health workers with the Faraja Centre in Singida conduct HIV awareness classes with women in the local community. The project, operated by the Medical Missionaries of Mary delivers health care, medicine, and social support to people living with HIV and AIDS.

Thailand

The Marist Asia Foundation’s HIV and AIDS project in Ranong helps migrants from neighbouring Myanmar with support for basic health needs, assisting them as they seek a better future for themselves and their children. The project also works on HIV and AIDS awareness and prevention.

Paraguay

In Paraguay, a project of the Servants of the Holy Spirit worked with indigenous leaders of the Ava Guaraní’s Jejyty Miri community to get out information about the COVID-19 virus and how to stop its spread, including hand washing technique, the use of face masks. Posters were up in local languages and children in the community wrote COVID-19 safety messages on balloons to share with friends and family.

Paraguay