Alawite Islamic Charity Association

The Alawite Islamic Charity Association (AICA) empowers vulnerable and marginalized communities to live with dignity, exercise their rights, and build resilient, inclusive, and peaceful futures. Founded in Lebanon in 1950, AICA works to reduce inequality and discrimination by ensuring that people in need can access essential services, opportunities, protection, and humanitarian assistance regardless of religion, nationality, gender, disability, or social background. Our mission combines community development, humanitarian response, advocacy, protection, and peacebuilding. We work across health, education, food security, livelihoods and economic empowerment, protection and social services, ... read more The Alawite Islamic Charity Association (AICA) empowers vulnerable and marginalized communities to live with dignity, exercise their rights, and build resilient, inclusive, and peaceful futures. Founded in Lebanon in 1950, AICA works to reduce inequality and discrimination by ensuring that people in need can access essential services, opportunities, protection, and humanitarian assistance regardless of religion, nationality, gender, disability, or social background. Our mission combines community development, humanitarian response, advocacy, protection, and peacebuilding. We work across health, education, food security, livelihoods and economic empowerment, protection and social services, youth development, digital skills, and emergency response, adapting our interventions to the changing needs of the communities we serve. AICA places communities at the center of its work. We engage women, men, youth, children, persons with disabilities, volunteers, local leaders, and other community members in identifying needs and developing practical solutions. We believe that sustainable change is achieved not only by providing immediate assistance, but also by strengthening people's capacities, supporting local initiatives, creating opportunities for self-reliance, and promoting active participation in decisions that affect their lives. Through partnerships with communities, civil society organizations, public institutions, humanitarian agencies, and international donors, AICA seeks to bridge the gap between immediate relief and long-term development. During crises, we mobilize rapidly to support affected populations, while our longer-term programs address the underlying social and economic challenges that contribute to vulnerability. Guided by humanity, social justice, impartiality, dignity, active citizenship, partnership, volunteering, sustainability, and respect for human rights, AICA works toward a society in which every person can access basic rights and services without discrimination. Ultimately, AICA's mission is to transform vulnerability into resilience, exclusion into participation, and conflict into opportunities for dialogue and peace—helping communities not only overcome today's challenges but build stronger and more sustainable futures.