CARE (Cooperative for Assistance and Relief Everywhere)

CARE is a leading humanitarian organization dedicated to fighting poverty and social injustice. We place special emphasis on investing in women and girls because our six decades of experience show that their empowerment benefits whole communities. We know that when equipped with the proper resources, women have the power to help whole families and entire communities escape poverty.

Our mission is to serve individuals and families in the poorest communities in the world. Drawing strength from our global diversity, resources and experience, we promote innovative solutions and are advocates for global responsibility. We facilitate lasting change by:

•Responding to natural disasters and emergencies, with an emphasis on meeting the needs of women, children and the elderly.

•Helping improve the health — and save the lives — of pregnant women, new mothers and their babies.

•Helping women access loans and start small businesses so they can provide for their families.

•Helping girls around the world go to school and working with communities to improve education for all children.

•Delivering health and nutrition services to millions of children and their family members.

In fiscal year 2011, CARE worked in 84 countries around the world, supporting 1,015 poverty-fighting projects to reach almost 130 million people, over half of whom are women. This included providing emergency and disaster relief services and supplies to those in need, including more than 1.8 million women, children and families suffering from the famine and drought in the Horn of Africa.

In fiscal year 2011:

•CARE’s emergency preparedness, response and recovery programs reached nearly 12.5 million people, with special emphasis on the needs of those disproportionately affected by disasters: women, children and the elderly.

•CARE’s programs worked to reach nearly six million people with information and tools to promote gender equality and empower women to claim their rights. CARE’s women’s empowerment programs help women and men promote women’s rights, provide solidarity and support groups for women, work to prevent sexual and gender-based violence, and ensure services and support for survivors of sexual and gender-based violence.

•CARE worked to improve food security for 8 million people by providing nutritional support and promoting sustainable agriculture, and reached more than 26 million children and their family members with information and services to improve child health and nutrition.

•CARE worked to help more than 7 million people improve their household income through increased access to financial and non-financial services, participation in village savings and loan associations, market linkages and diversified livelihoods.

•CARE’s programs worked to provide more than 5 million people with improved access to school and better quality education.

•CARE worked to reach 41 million women, men and children with information and services to improve maternal health.

•Through health and social services, CARE worked to help more than 16 million people protect themselves from HIV, reduce stigma associated with the illness, and mitigate its negative economic impact.

•CARE worked to help more than 27 million people develop sustainable water management practices and helped communities improve hygiene and sanitation practices.