CARE International: Mission, History, and Global Humanitarian Impact

CARE (originally "Cooperative for American Remittances to Europe," now Cooperative for Assistance and Relief Everywhere) is a leading international humanitarian organization fighting global poverty with a focus on women and girls.

History

• 1945: Founded by 22 American charities to send CARE Packages (surplus US Army rations) to war-torn Europe. First packages arrived in Le Havre, France, May 1946.
• 1950s–60s: Expanded to Asia, Latin America, Africa; shifted from packages to development programs.
• 1970s: Became CARE International – confederation of national members (now 14: US, Canada, UK, Germany, France, Japan, Australia, Austria, Denmark, Norway, Thailand, India, Peru, Czech Republic).
• 1990s–Present: Focus on women's empowerment, gender equality, climate resilience, humanitarian-development-peace nexus.

Core Program Areas

• Food & Nutrition Security: Emergency food aid, resilient agriculture, school feeding, nutrition treatment.
• Water, Sanitation & Hygiene (WASH): Water points, sanitation, hygiene behavior change, menstrual health.
• Health: Maternal/child health, sexual/reproductive health, HIV/TB/malaria, health system strengthening, epidemic response.
• Education: Girls' education, early childhood, adolescent skills, education in emergencies.
• Economic Empowerment: Village Savings & Loan Associations (VSLAs), entrepreneurship, value chains, financial inclusion.
• Climate Justice: Adaptation, early warning, climate-smart agriculture, loss & damage advocacy.
• Humanitarian Response: Rapid onset (earthquake, flood, conflict) – shelter, cash, protection, logistics.
• Advocacy: Gender equality, humanitarian access, climate finance, SDGs.

Scale & Impact (2023)

• Operated in 100+ countries
• Reached 174 million people (100M+ women/girls)
• Revenue: ~$1.2B (US member ~$600M)
• Staff: ~6,000 globally

Distinctive Approach

Women-Centered: Evidence shows investing in women yields multiplier effects for families/communities. CARE's "She Feeds the World," "Women Lead in Emergencies," and gender-transformative frameworks operationalize this.

CARE is non-sectarian, impartial, and independent – funded by governments (USAID, FCDO, EU, UN), foundations, corporations, and millions of individual donors.