Help when emergency strikes
Donate nowWe’re already there when emergencies strike, and will be there long after others have left.
We work to prevent disasters and, when disaster does strike, we respond immediately by feeding the hungry, sheltering the homeless and rebuilding lives and communities in the long term.
When emergencies strike it’s the poorest who suffer the most. We will not forsake them.
Donate to Emergency Response Fund
In 2020/2021
people supported in emergency situations across the world
emergencies responded to in 20 countries
people provided with emergency relief when disaster struck
We’ve been responding to humanitarian emergencies since 1968, when the Scottish Catholic community responded to our Gospel call for a just world, giving money to help people affected by the 1968 famine in Biafra (now part of south-eastern Nigeria) and drought in Bihar in India.
Your support over the last five decades has helped us respond to emergencies like promoting peace in Rwanda after the 1994 genocide, and getting life-saving aid and long-term support to families devastated by the Asian Tsunami of 2004.
Our recent responses around the world
We work to prevent disasters and, when disaster does strike, we respond immediately by feeding the hungry, sheltering the homeless and rebuilding lives and communities in the long term.
As part of Caritas, a global Church network with a presence in more than 160 countries, we’re already there when emergencies strike, and will be there long after others have left.
We stand in solidarity with our sisters and brothers and do everything we can to ease their suffering.
1.
Relief
Through the Caritas network we respond immediately in an emergency. We get essential supplies like food, clean water, shelter, medicine and cash to people very quickly and support families in their darkest hour.
2.
Rebuild & Recover
We don’t leave right after an emergency – we’re often there for the long term, helping communities to recover and rebuild. Together with local communities we develop local solutions that will make a real and lasting difference.
3.
Prevent
We work with communities to prepare them for the worst, helping them to develop climate-resistant methods of growing food and setting up savings and insurance schemes. We stand side by side with communities to build peace and promote justice, so they have power over their own lives. We also work to advocate for governments to create systems and structures that protect the environment.
SCIAF is a panel member of the Scottish Government’s Humanitarian Emergency Fund and a signatory to Charter4Change, an initiative, led by both National and International NGOs, to practically implement changes to the way the Humanitarian System operates to enable more locally-led response.



Emergency Response: Syria
Over eleven years since the outbreak of the Syrian civil war, the conflict continues to cause immense suffering. The equivalent of more than twice the population of Scotland have fled their homes since the conflict began.
We’ve been there since 2016 and we’re still there, ensuring essential access to food, water and safe places to stay for the most vulnerable people. We’re helping families to rebuild homes and livelihoods damaged and destroyed in the violent conflict, and helping refugees to rebuild their lives.
Emergency Response Fund
We work to prevent disasters and, when disaster does strike, we respond immediately by feeding the hungry, sheltering the homeless and rebuilding lives and communities for the long term.
DonateWe help families in the world’s poorest places to live in peace, free themselves from hunger, poverty and injustice.
Find a selection of resources to use within your school or parish.
Read the latest news about our emergency work around the world.