Caritas Australia gathered supporters and ministers together at NSW Parliament House this week to discuss how the charity is responding to a series of increasingly intense and complex global challenges.
In 2023, deaths from global conflict increased by 96 per cent to 238,000, with 120 million people now forcibly displaced from their homes worldwide. Meanwhile, climate damage is costing the world $16.3 million per hour in damages.
Keynote speakers were Bob Carr, a former foreign minister and premier of New South Wales, and Kirsty Robertson, CEO of Caritas Australia.
Mr Carr addressed attendees on climate, giving Kiribati as an example of how Australia can assist small island states in the South Pacific.
He then explored the role of Australia’s diplomatic leadership amid the prospect of war between rising and prevailing global powers, while drawn out wars of attrition persist in Ukraine and Gaza.
Ms Robertson spoke to some of the challenges the Caritas Australia Emergency Response Fund seeks to address.
She gave examples of the need for support for displaced people in Ukraine and Moldova, people suffering through the most severe hunger crisis of our time in the Horn of Africa, those impacted by brutal conflicts in Gaza and Sudan, and communities being destroyed by climate impacts across Asia and the Pacific Islands.
“Our Emergency Relief Fund supports real communities to prepare, respond and recover from disasters,” Ms Robertson said.
“Most of these disasters never make the front page of the papers, are never live streamed onto your phones or talked about in the workplace. But they affect communities across the world and disproportionately affect women, children, the elderly, and those with disabilities.”
FULL STORY
Caritas Australia event sees funds raised for a world in crisis (Caritas Australia)
