New figures from Misean Cara show Irish missionary organisations, including the Columbans, reached almost 1.13 million people across the Global South in 2025.
Misean Cara is the NGO that represents 77 missionary groups working in 40 countries around the world.
In its latest annual report, it reported that €13.5 million in Irish Aid funding was channelled into 344 projects last year alone. This enabled:
– Almost 983,000 people gain access to healthcare, clean water and sanitation
– Over 71,000 households improve their livelihoods, with 84% reporting better food security
– More than 118,000 learners enrol in education, with 98% staying the full year
– 47,000 people receive emergency assistance across 32 sudden-onset crises, from Afghanistan to Ecuador
The outreach comes at a critical time as 2025 saw the sharpest annual fall in global Official Development Assistance on record, down 23.1% on the previous year.
“2025 was a demanding year for international development, marked by escalating conflicts, the worsening impacts of climate change, and significant reductions to global aid budgets,” said John Moffett, CEO of Misean Cara.
Against that backdrop, Misean Cara said its model – built on missionary organisations including the Columbans, which have often worked in the same communities for decades or generations – proved its worth.
John Moffet said Ireland’s missionary organisations remained a steadfast source of hope for communities living on the margins across the Global South.
“Their long-term presence and deep roots in local communities make them uniquely effective in delivering lasting change. The results reflected in this report are a powerful testament to the value of Ireland’s continued commitment to funding Official Development Assistance, and we are grateful to Irish Aid for the strategic partnership that makes this work possible.”
The Columban projects that received funding from Misean Cara in 2025 were Warmi Huasi in Peru, where children and adolescents participate in the development of their schools and communities, learn about defending their rights, and strengthening their personal wellbeing skills. It was set up by Fr Ed O’Connell.
St Bernadette’s Children’s project in Peru was set up by Fr Tony Coney. It promotes and protects the human rights of vulnerable children and a childhood free of violence.
Si Da Vida champions living with dignity in response to the HIV epidemic in Peru. It was founded and led by the late Fr Cathal Gallagher.
The Happy Worm project aims to strengthen sustainable healthy food production through urban gardens.
Warmi Huasi reaches over 4,800 children and adolescents in Peru. According to Misean Cara Missionary Development Officer for the Columbans, Mark Cumming who visited the project this summer, “Young people are supported by Warmi Huasi through pre and after school programmes and active citizenship programmes, life planning training programmes and environmental education programmes. This enables them to take on local development projects in the service of their communities including actions on climate change.”
He also visited the St Bernadette’s project which “reaches over 6,000 children across the three institutions it manages, one a remedial school for kids struggling in mainstream school, a rehabilitation centre for girls who have suffered abuse at home and a day centre for children of all ages who benefit from extra curricular activities and after school care and support.”
The Si Da Vida project reaches over 1,300 people directly plus wider public audiences through its public radio and social media programmes. “Those reached include people leaving with HIV/AIDS, people who undergo HIV testing, who take part in support programmes for addicts, who are accompanied while undergoing hospitalisation, and benefit from recreational activities that assist social integration and HIV self management.”
Misean Cara Missionary Development Officer for the Columbans, Mark Cumming, with the staff of Si Da Vida project in their audio visual room (Mark is in blue shirt).
The Happy Worm project reaches over 200 people. The project is promoting the production of vegetables and urban forestry in very barren landscapes that promotes the production of healthy and nutritious food and protects the environment.
Speaking to Columbans.ie, Mark Cumming said, “It was a pleasure and a privilege to get to visit the work of the Coumbans during one week in July. I had the opportunity to spend a day with each of the partners, visiting their work in the northern neighbourhoods of Lima, an area of significant deprivation with housing precariously perched up the mountainsides that rise up from the city.”
“I was struck by the dedication, care and attention that staff gave to their work. It was wonderful to meet staff who themselves as young people had benefited from the work of these projects and were now today working within these.”
“I visited the Warmi Huasi centre in San Benito, a two-hour drive from the northern side of Lima. The centre has classrooms, equipped playrooms, workshop rooms, therapy rooms and offices – it is child and adolescent centre supporting after school education, workshops for young people, training of local kindergarten teachers and psychological services for young people.”
“The centre is linked in with the local schools in providing resourcing to children who need educational supports. Warmi Huasi also work with adolescents facilitating active citizenship programmes and support young people take on social action projects of their choosing.”
“I spent a day visiting the three centres that make up the work of St Bernadette’s. The remedial school takes primary school children for two years who are struggling in mainstream school, and through intensive supports works to get them back into mainstream education.”
“The rehabilitation centre takes girls who have been abused at home and works to heal and recover them so that they may return to a relative who can take care of them. The final service is a day centre, perched on the top of a rocky outcrop that so characterises this side of Lima. With pre-school and after school supervised activities and endless games rooms to play in, including a gym for the teenagers it is a hive of activity throughout the day.”
“The atmosphere in the centre was great, with kids studying and or letting off steam. Over the course of the week in Lima, there were numerous people met who mentioned how the centre had been a key part of their childhood years.”
“I spent a day with the staff of Si Da Vida, an organisation founded and led by the late Columban Fr Cathal Gallagher RIP. Si Da Vida’s has a wholistic person centred approach to its work on HIV.”
“The centre in San Martin de Porres, a poor neighbourhood of Lima carries a range of services, including the services of a doctor, physiotherapist, psychologist, educators / trainers, communications personnel including a fully equipped audio-visual room. Si Da Vida provides supports and services to those living with HIV & AIDS.”
On the road up the hills towards the Happy Worm project in Peru.
“It conducts public education & training, carries out outreach campaigns and is active in advocacy with the government on the rights of those living with HIV. It is operating in a context where there is quite significant continued prejudice in society towards people who live with HIV and AIDS.”
“My final day was with the team of Happy Worm or in Spanish, Lombriz Feliz. This organisation was founded on a municipal dump over 30 years ago. The local community worked to rehabilitate the dump and over the years converted into a centre for the production of compost and humus, the latter created through the management of wormeries that eat their way through compost producing a high grade compost.”
“They have developed a demonstration vegetable plot and tree nursery. This is their base to work from as they support communities across the northern parts of Lima develop vegetable gardens and small forestry plots on the rocky hillsides.”
