As a member of Caritas International, the worldwide network of Catholic humanitarian agencies, CRS provides emergency relief and helps people in the developing world break the cycle of poverty by advancing the competency and leadership of local organizations.

Local Leadership (LL) is one of CRS’ most important differentiating elements in our Vision 2030 strategy. Our rationale for advancing LL starts with the Catholic Social Teaching principle of subsidiarity, which recognizes that human affairs are best handled at the level closest to the affected persons. We believe that program participants, as well as the institutions they are involved with, should play the central role in individual, community, and societal development. Growing and strengthening the capacity, confidence, linkages, and leadership of our partner organizations ensures that our shared development and humanitarian work respects the dignity and functions of each person and community we serve.

In fiscal year 2022, CRS collaborated with a total of 1,748 local partner organizations, including 653 institutions affiliated with the Catholic Church (such as dioceses, diocesan commissions, episcopal and regional conferences, congregations, and religious orders). During the same period, CRS invested $20.6 million in partner capacity strengthening efforts by sharing our best technical and operational know-how. Part of this work focuses on our sister Church partners.

The resources presented in this curated selection offer a sample of documentation to (a) learn about the journeys that colleagues from partner organizations and CRS have jointly taken over the years in advancing the work of the Church in various nations, and (b) a set of capacity strengthening resources intended to support the adaptation and replication of these journeys in other countries.