All activities at the Kasisi Agricultural Training Centre (KATC) – from growing vegetables to commercial production, training, research and advocacy – are based on the principles and practices of organic agriculture and agroecology. Photo: KATC

In another tumultuous year marked by global conflicts forcibly displacing millions of people, climate-related disasters, and growing inequality, Canadian Jesuits International (CJI) and its partners continued to serve and advocate for the poor and marginalized. Knowing that our work has made a positive impact on the lives of so many allows us to look back on the year with hope.  

CJI makes a difference thanks to the generous support we receive from you, our loyal supporters, and our dedicated Jesuit partners worldwide.  In fiscal year 2023-2024, CJI helped fund 43 projects for a total of $1.762 million. These projects served more than 40,000 people from 16 countries in Asia, Africa, the Middle East, Latin America and the Caribbean.  

Our partners’ projects include “skill circles” that help internally displaced and vulnerable Afghan women learn embroidery and tailoring skills to help them economically; research and training to strengthen Indigenous women’s leadership in Latin America; a people’s forum to strengthen community advocacy in India; and a youth program to address climate justice in Africa.  

At home, CJI continued to work with students in Catholic high schools, hosted webinars and in-person events, and visited parishes to inform and encourage Canadians to stand in solidarity with the communities that our partners serve. 

Last fall, CJI’s Board of Directors approved a new three-year strategic plan (2024-2027) that responds to the urgent issues of our time. 

Mid-year reports from United Nations agencies provided a sobering reminder of the challenges facing humanity. At the end of June, an estimated 122.6 million people worldwide remained displaced by war, persecution, and human rights violations, according to the UN Refugee Agency. Our partners confirm this reality on the ground. About 11.2 million people have been uprooted by the armed conflict in Sudan, and Jesuit Refugee Service (JRS) has provided education, rehabilitation and health support to those who have sought refuge in Chad and in South Sudan. In Lebanon, JRS continues to expand its humanitarian response to meet the urgent needs of those who have been forced to flee the conflict between Israel and Hezbollah.  

Climate change has led to deadly, extreme weather events; food insecurity, and forced displacement. The goal of gender equality is "still out of reach," a UN report said, noting that "it will still take a staggering 137 years to lift all women and girls out of poverty." It also cited that every year, one in four girls is still married off as a child, a reality that the Jesuits in Eastern Africa, are trying to change through programs that prioritize the education of girls.  

The challenges are daunting, but we cannot give up.  As Fr. Xavier Jeyaraj, SJ, former Secretary of the Secretariat for Social Justice and Ecology (SJES) at the Curia of the Society of Jesus in Rome, said during his visit to the CJI office last summer: “When the world is hungry for truth, justice and love, can I be a drop of water in the desert?”