International Confederation of the Society of Saint Vincent de Paul (SSVP) 2024 Report Unveiled in Brazil: A Global Web of Solidarity Serving 30 Million People
RIO DE JANEIRO, Brazil – December 6, 2025, the International Confederation of the Society of Saint Vincent de Paul (SSVP) has released its 2024 Annual Report, revealing an expansive global footprint of human solidarity: 30 million people supported, 18,000 social projects, and €1.65 billion invested across 155 countries.
Presented in Rio de Janeiro, the report underscores not only the scale of SSVP’s humanitarian assistance but also its growing political relevance and social impact in an era defined by rising inequality, displacement and persistent economic instability. A growing network of human support.
SSVP reported that its work in 2024 was powered by an extraordinary volunteer base of 1.5 million volunteers and 800,000 active members. Together, they carried out initiatives that ranged from food and housing support to long-term education, health interventions, and psychosocial care.
Opening the event, Márcio Da Silva, President of SSVP Brazil, set the tone by highlighting the organization’s deep community roots. A video presentation demonstrated how, in Brazil alone, Vincentians form a lifeline for families negotiating daily precarity, helping them preserve dignity, rebuild confidence and find pathways to stability. In these processes, politics meets humanitarian mission.
A notable voice at the event was Wellington Dias, Brazil’s Minister for Development and Social Assistance, Family and the Fight against Hunger. His reflections framed SSVP’s work as far more than emergency relief.
Dias said – “Lifting someone out of hunger is not the end, but the beginning of a journey that requires education, skills and real opportunities”, He recalled his own youth experiences with the Vincentian community. Speaking on behalf of President, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, he thanked SSVP for “every helping hand, every plate of food, and every gesture that restores dignity in a world marked by inequality”.
His message echoed a growing recognition across governments: that civil-society actors like SSVP now play a vital role in shaping national and international development agendas. The intersection of social action and public policy is becoming unavoidable as organizations demonstrate their ability to respond faster and more flexibly than state structures alone.
This report anchored in human connection. International President General Juan Manuel Buergo Gómez emphasized that the organization’s true value cannot be fully expressed in euros or spreadsheets. “The Report reflects our activity, but not what’s most important: the brotherly, personal and friendly care we offer to people in need, regardless of their religion, ideas or origin”.
This commitment to person-to-person care remains the heart of Vincentian identity, reinforcing the social dimension that makes SSVP a trusted presence in the world’s most fragile communities.
Buergo Gómez also announced the creation of the Global SSVP Foundation, a new instrument designed to strengthen financial support for development, cooperation and emergency response, signaling the organization’s move toward a more structured long-term philanthropic model.
A video shown during the event celebrated SSVP’s recognition as ‘Best International Social Organization’ by the MAPFRE Foundation, honoring two centuries of service.
In the sketch of a worldwide map of aid, regional representatives provided testimonies illustrating how SSVP adapts to local realities while maintaining the same Vincentian spirit.
Americas: With 36 countries involved, initiatives range from home visits to food banks, shelters, educational programs, and job-reintegration projects. Da Silva highlighted cross-country collaboration, noting that resource-rich nations actively support smaller, economically strained branches.
Europe: In 33 countries, European SSVP efforts confront loneliness, mental health crises, homelessness, and rising living costs. Programs prioritize emotional support, community integration, and aid for the elderly and refugees.
Asia & MENA: Across 34 countries, projects emphasize youth education, community health, and rapid response to natural disasters. Employment training and long-term development programs help ease cycles of poverty.
Africa: In 42 nations, work focuses on families at risk, orphans, food assistance, educational access, and psychosocial support. Even in resource-scarce conditions, SSVP branches supply hope, safety, and long-term opportunities.
Oceania: From 10 countries, members traverse remote islands, bringing food, care for the elderly, homelessness support, and charity shops that fund local community needs.
Together, these accounts painted a mosaic of global solidarity rooted in local knowledge and relationships of trust.
Projects That Change Lives: The report highlighted several emblematic projects that have reshaped communities:
United States: Charity Pharmacies: A network of charity pharmacies provides essential medicine to people without health insurance. Over 237,000 prescriptions were filled annually, demonstrating how health access can be restored when volunteers and professionals collaborate.
Global: 13 Homes Campaign: Through the Famvin Homeless Alliance, SSVP has helped build 2,700 homes and supported 10,800 people, offering both temporary shelter and permanent housing solutions. The initiative also supports reconstruction after disasters, linking immediate relief with long-term rehabilitation.
Brazil: Mobile Hygiene Units: These units offer showers, toilets, counselling and a rare moment of dignity to individuals experiencing homelessness. Spaces that become entry points for rebuilding social ties.
Peru & Sri Lanka: Community Strengthening: From daily meal distribution in Peru to the construction of sanitation facilities in Sri Lanka, SSVP focuses on the social glue that binds communities together.
Education Initiatives in Benin and Syria:
- A floating school in Benin ensures children continue learning despite seasonal flooding.
- In Syria, Vincentian youth are building training programs that reconnect university students to job markets amid national instability.
Oceania & Asia: Transformational Community Care: In Fiji, ‘The Home’ offers a sanctuary food, shelter and therapeutic support for those without family. In the Philippines, the Mangyan Mission Centre supports isolated Indigenous communities with lodging, cultural preservation, and economic tools.
Europe: Building Community Bonds: French national meetings brought together volunteers and the people they serve, highlighting SSVP’s belief that social change is rooted in genuine human relationships, not merely the provision of aid.
A global network built on dignity: The stories and numbers in the 2024 Report reveal an organization that has evolved far beyond traditional charity. SSVP’s presence in 155 countries forms a living network of social impact, bridging humanitarian action, political cooperation, and grassroots community building.
In a year marked by new social challenges, the organization demonstrated that solidarity, when organized and deeply personal, can become a powerful global force.
And as the SSVP looks ahead with stronger governance, new funding mechanisms and a growing volunteer family, it continues to affirm a simple but transformative idea: the world changes when people choose to accompany one another with dignity and friendship.
