Caritas Norway was founded in 1952 as Norsk katolsk flyktninghjelp (Norwegian Catholic Help for Refugees) by the Catholic Church in Norway. In 1964 its current name was adopted. Today Caritas Norway is run as an independent humanitarian foundation.

From its headquarters in Oslo, Caritas Norway works to help people in Norway and in countries in Europe, Africa, Asia and Latin America.

Caritas’ vision is a world without hunger and extreme poverty, where people can live in dignity.

Internationally, Caritas Norway operates primarily through partnerships with other diocesan and national Caritas organizations, Caritas Internationalis and Caritas Europe. In Norway, Caritas Norway collaborates with parish-based Caritas groups, diaspora groups, NUK (National Catholic Youth Organisation) and the Norwegian Catholic dioceses. Our projects in Norway aim primarily to help migrants and refugees.

The services provided by Caritas Norway within Norway include resource centres for immigrants in Oslo, Bergen, Stavanger, Drammen and Trondheim. At these centres, our employees and volunteers provide immigrants with information and guidance regarding their options and rights in the Norwegian labour market, temporary and permanent accommodation, advice regarding employment, vacant positions and how to apply for a job, as well as legal and health counselling. We also offer Norwegian language courses at several levels and offer career counselling and other activities for asylum seekers in reception centres. In 2017, Caritas Norway started an au pair centre to provide au pairs and host families in Norway with support to ensure that the au pair program functions well and in accordance with its aim of cultural exchange.

Internationally, Caritas Norway provides emergency relief and contributes to long term development. The main goals of Caritas Norway’s international efforts are to eradicate hunger and malnutrition. Currently, almost 800 million people are starving and more than 70 percent of the world’s poor live in rural areas and are dependent on the agriculture sector to survive. Investment in the agricultural sector is, according to the World Bank, at least twice as effective in reducing poverty as investments in other sectors. We work therefore to increase food security by providing small-scale farmers with training in climate-adapted agriculture.

Caritas Norway has programs in the following countries: Mali, Malawi, Uganda, DR Congo, Zambia, Niger, South Sudan, the Philippines, Sri Lanka, Vietnam, Norway, Romania, Slovakia, Czech Republic, Colombia, Cuba, El Salvador, Ecuador and Honduras.