Lagos, 22 September, 2024 / 9:17 pm (ACI Africa).
Caritas Nigeria, the development and humanitarian arm of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Nigeria (CBCN), has reached out to over 15 million beneficiaries through various initiatives in the past 14 years, Archbishop Alfred Adewale Martins has said.
Speaking at a Wednesday, September 18 press conference as part of activities to mark Caritas Day 2024, the Local Ordinary of Lagos Archdiocese, who doubles as Board Chair of Caritas Nigeria outlined the entity’s achievements since its inception in 2010.
“Through our interventions, Caritas Nigeria has supported over 10 million persons with HIV testing and counselling services, TB diagnosis and treatment. We are currently providing Anti-Retroviral Therapy (ART) to over 140,000 persons living with HIV while supporting over 100,000 Orphans and Vulnerable Children (OVC),” Archbishop Adewale told journalists.
He said Caritas Nigeria’s humanitarian interventions have supported “over 5 million persons, including internally displaced persons, their host communities, and returnees affected by the insurgency in North-East Nigeria.”
Archbishop Adewale further said that the Catholic entity has also provided support to “Cameroonian refugees in Nigeria, promoting agricultural input-support to farmers, nutritional support to acutely malnourished children, and education in emergency initiatives.”
