In 2022, ACN allocated 10.8 million euros for emergency and refugee projects.
ACN – June 20 marks World Refugee Day, a special day to raise awareness of a difficult reality that affects millions of people around the world. According to the latest UNHCR data, in 2022 there were more than 108 million refugees and displaced people on our planet. Figures that exceed the data recorded so far and that show a major humanitarian crisis. Among the people fleeing their homes because of war, political and social conflicts or natural disasters is the Church, which tries to comfort those who have lost everything.
An example of this is the mission of Father Ubaldino Andrade, a Salesian priest from Venezuela but stationed in the Palabek refugee camp in Uganda: «Here 95% of the population comes from South Sudan. We Salesian missionaries serve a total of 16 chapels spread throughout the camp. The Church is willing to live with the refugees and share their needs, and this is very much appreciated».
The priest says that many of the people arrived here two years ago because of the civil war in South Sudan. «Last year many arrived affected by climate change, because they lived in areas where it used to rain and now there are droughts, and others come from regions where they have experienced major floods». Father Ubaldino tells the Pontifical Foundation Aid to the Church in Need (ACN) that the Church’s mission is first of all to be present among the refugees, to share their sorrows and joys. «There are about 30 humanitarian aid agencies here, but almost all of them come to the camp from nine in the morning to five in the afternoon. We don’t leave, we live with them every day and we didn’t leave at the time when Covid came.»
The Salesian missionaries work in the educational field, running several nursery schools, as well as vocational training centers. «We try to help them discover that they have many qualities and talents that they can learn and do good things for themselves and for others.» They also have about 1,500 people involved in agricultural activities, who receive training through the great experience in agriculture of these missionaries. In addition, they favor food security, distributing seeds and seeking markets for the sale of agricultural products, although it is increasingly difficult due to climate change.
Father Ubaldino Andrade is grateful for the help offered in the Palabek camp by institutions such as Aid to the Church in Need (ACN), which in addition to supporting Salesian missionaries with pastoral projects, is also present in the Archdiocese of Gulu, within whose territory this refugee camp is located. Emergency and refugee aid is deeply rooted in ACN’s history. This foundation began by facilitating spiritual assistance to thousands of Catholic refugees on the other side of the Iron Curtain in Eastern Europe. «Then, over time a pastoral action of the Church has developed is the issue of migrant care very important to us. That strong attention continues in some particular contexts, most recently in Ukraine, where we are supporting the local Church with displaced people fleeing from the east of the country to the west and other areas where there is no fighting,» says Marco Mencaglia, ACN project manager.
In 2022, ACN earmarked 10.8 million euros for emergency and refugee projects. These projects account for 11.5 percent of ACN’s total support initiatives. In many parts of the world, too, the pontifical foundation supports Christians who have been persecuted and expelled because of their faith, another reason why millions of people are becoming refugees.