History
Catholic Relief Services' work in the Holy Land stretches back to the 1940s, when CRS provided humanitarian assistance to communities displaced during World War II. CRS established a office in Jerusalem in 1961 under an agreement with the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan and has maintained a continuous presence throughout the intervening decades of turbulence and change.
CRS' work initially focused on the provision of food assistance, organizing vaccination campaigns, and leading other nutrition and health-focused initiatives. In the 1970s and 1980s, CRS constructed roads, classrooms, bridges and wells as part of a broad rural development initiative. CRS also implemented nutrition education, vocational training and village health worker training projects. Water projects became a major area of focus in the 1990s.
Today, the country's strategic focus is on programs addressing food security, civic participation, peacebuilding, the provision of humanitarian assistance and educating U.S. citizens about the conflict in the Holy Land. CRS' work is carried out in close partnership with an extensive network of local civil society organizations and in consultation with the local Church.
Partners
Society of St. Yves
Society of St. Yves, the Catholic Human Rights Center for Legal Resources and Development, alleviates the suffering of poor and persecuted families through the application of Catholic social doctrine in the legal, non-violent resolution of injustice and civil rights violations. Catholic Relief Services supports the work of the Society of St. Yves, as they provide free legal aid to vulnerable people in the Holy Land. The Society provides legal services on issues including unjustly withheld social benefits, Jerusalem residency rights, demolition orders and freedom of movement issues in Jerusalem and the West Bank.
B'Tselem
The
Israeli Information Center for Human Rights in the Occupied Palestinian Territories (B'Tselem) was established in 1989 by a group of prominent academics, attorneys, journalists and Knesset members. It endeavors to document and educate the Israeli public and policymakers about human rights violations in the Occupied Palestinian Territories, combat the phenomenon of denial prevalent among the Israeli public, and help create a human rights culture in Israel. Catholic Relief Services has supported B'Tselem's "Visual Impact -Documenting the Seldom Seen" project since 2007. The project aims to document human rights abuses in the Occupied Palestinian Territories on video, and use these visual images as a catalyst for change among decision makers and the Israeli public.
The Community Media Center (CMC) is an independent non-governmental organization based in Gaza, founded in 2007. CMC focuses on the promotion of human rights and the response to humanitarian issues, through the cooperation between media and civil society. CMC has produced documentary films, aired frequent radio broadcasts, trained a growing network of citizen journalists and taken a courageous stand for the freedom of the press in Gaza. CMC is a longstanding partner under the CPP project, whose CPP-supported activities include the production of a widely viewed and critically acclaimed series of films highlighting the issue of domestic violence in Gaza.
Programs
Civil Society and Governance
In October 2010, Catholic Relief Services began implementation of a multi-year USAID-funded Civic Participation Program (CPP). CPP's goal is to strengthen Palestinian civil society actors and enhance the population's opportunities to engage in public life and decision-making. The program achieves this goal by working in close partnership with a network of over fifty individual Palestinian civil society organizations — supporting them to build their internal capacity while establishing new and productive partnerships with other organizations, Palestinian officials, and the private sector. CPP partners have made great strides in providing successful and replicable examples of how citizens can become more involved in decision-making while holding elected representatives and other leaders accountable for their actions.
Disaster Response
Through membership in the Palestinian Community Assistance Program consortium, Catholic Relief Services has worked with Mercy Corps since 2010 to support the socio-economic recovery needs of the people of Gaza. In response to the Cast Lead war of 2009 and more recent conflict, CRS promotes long-term recovery through the provision of humanitarian assistance and conditional cash transfers to provide individual households with opportunities to earn income while supporting economic recovery in Gaza.
Peacebuilding
Catholic Relief Services has a long track record of promoting dialogue and non-violent conflict resolution in the Holy Land. Programs like the recently completed Youth Voices for Community Action work with youth across the West Bank and Gaza to identify and train youth ambassadors who are voices for peace within their wider communities.
Currently, the GEMINI project seeks to create agents of change among Israeli and Palestinian university students in mixed cities in Israel. In partnership with Sadaka Reut, the project builds sustainable partnership structures (Gemini Groups) and links those structures with each other and civil society to influence public opinion and key decision-makers.
In partnership with World Food Program, Catholic Relief Services implements a conditional voucher program in the West Bank, designed to simultaneously enhance productive infrastructure while providing vulnerable households access to essential food commodities.
In exchange for direct participation in the Ministry of Agriculture's "Greening of Palestine" program (tree-planting, watershed restoration and water conservation) participants are given a food voucher that can be redeemed through local food merchants for a monthly ration of essential food commodities.
The Catholic Campaign for Peace in the Holy Land (CCPHL) engages Christian, Muslim and Jewish religious leaders and communities in the United States, Israel, the West Bank and Gaza. Under the auspices of the privately-funded CCPHL, Catholic Relief Services strives to support pilgrims, policymakers, local civil society and Church institutions, and grassroots networks of Catholics in the United States in accessing and disseminating information that promotes a peaceful, just and secure resolution to the ongoing conflict.
