Founded by Matthieu Ricard in 2000, Karuna-Shechen acts and advocates for a more altruistic world with the conviction that altruism is a key to build tomorrow’s world and offers concrete solutions to the challenges of our century.
Taking action
Karuna-Shechen contributes to breaking the cycle of intense poverty, strengthen the resilience and develop the full potential of poor, vulnerable or distressed populations. The organization mainly works in India, Nepal and Tibet and through a local, community-driven and holistic approach interconnecting the sectors of health and hygiene, education, food security, economic development and environment.
Advocate
Karuna-Shechen invites everyone to develop their altruistic potential and walk together towards a more altruistic, resilient and peaceful world. The organization offers the possibility to cultivate our inspiration, training tools of how to practice meditation and mindfulness, and suggests ways to take part in the change and to get involved in a concrete way.
Our values
At Karuna-Shechen, everyone is invited to pay particular attention to cultivating an altruistic state of mind.
Matthieu Ricard, founder
Inspired by the principle of universal responsability proposed by the Dalai Lama, Matthieu Ricard co-founded Karuna-Shechen with an ideal of "compassion in action" to alleviate the suffering of the destitute in the Himalayan regions.
Born in 1946, he received a doctorate in cellular genetics at the Pasteur Institute, then moved to the Himalayas at the age of 26 and became a Buddhist monk. Humanitarian, photographer, writer, lecturer, and the french interpreter for the Dalai Lama he has been awarded from the "Ordre du Mérite" for his humanitarian work. He is actively involved in neuroscientific research on the effects of mind training at several American and European universities.
All of his royalties and profits from his activities are donated to Karuna-Shechen.
For more information, please visit: www.matthieuricard.org
24 years of altruism in action
Inspired by the Buddhist teachings and secular ethics, the Karuna-Shechen organization was born.
The year 2024 marks the 24th anniversary of the association. The ideals of compassion and benevolence remain at the heart of our work, uniting and inspiring benefactors, volunteers, working teams and beneficiaries in a common vision: putting altruism into action.
The team
active members
volunteers
women
men
nationalities represented
The organization
Karuna-Shechen is composed of independent entities that share the goal of alleviating the suffering of disadvantaged populations and advocating for a more altruistic world. These entities work closely together to coordinate their efforts and foster a spirit of solidarity:
- Karuna-Shechen, “association loi 1901” registered in France, declared of general interest
- Karuna-Shechen, endowment fund registered in France, carrying out activities of general interest
- Karuna-Shechen Suisse, association based in Switzerland, recognized as being of purely public interest
- Karuna-Shechen USA, 501c3 registered in the State of New York, USA
- Karuna-Shechen Hong-Kong, non-profit company based in Hong Kong
- Karuna-Shechen India, trust registered in India
- Shechen-Karuna, association registered in Nepal
Financial transparency
At Karuna-Shechen, our work is based on effective altruism through a rational design of our activities, rigorous measurement and evaluation of our impact, and efficient use of our resources. We are committed to being transparent, demonstrating integrity, and fighting against corruption.
Karuna-Shechen’s total expenditures in 2023 amounted to US$ 3.79M, of which 82% were dedicated to our poverty alleviation programs. Advocacy activities accounted for 2% of our budget. To support our missions, operating costs amounted to 16% of expenditures.
Friends
Program partners
Financial partners
