Global Humanitarian Surge Fund

CARE’s commitment. Humanitarian action has been central to CARE’s identity since 1946, when the first CARE Packages arrived in Europe in the wake of World War II. Over the decades, our mission has grown from delivering food packages to addressing the root causes of suffering around the world. CARE works to help families not only survive the immediate aftermath of crisis, but also rebuild their lives with dignity over the long term and strive for a more resilient, sustainable future. And by investing in preparedness, prevention and innovation, we are getting ahead of future crises. 

Among our achievements last year:

• CARE helped 7 million people get clean water or hygiene services – the largest single sector of our emergency work. For example, when Cyclone Freddy hit Mozambique, CARE already had a robust stock of humanitarian items, a solid emergency plan, and donor and government trust — so we could immediately respond to a cholera outbreak.
• In 27 countries, CARE rushed food to 5.6 million people and nutrition services to more than 639,000 to cope with the global food crisis. The timing was especially critical, as 37 countries are seeing significant price increases for food.
• CARE provided emergency cash distributions to 2.3 million people and vouchers to another 308,000 so they could buy the supplies and services they needed most. For example, in Bosnia and Herzegovina, CARE and a longstanding network of local partners used mobile outreach teams to provide ongoing care, including meals and vouchers, to hundreds of people living in forests and demolition sites.
• We ensured that 2.5 million people had access to health services – including sexual and reproductive health services for 565,000 people. In Slovakia, CARE is hiring Ukrainians to provide health services to Ukrainian refugees. And in Peru, we are collaborating with the national Mental Health Department to extend services to people in crisis.
• CARE helped 1.6 million crisis survivors rebuild their self-sufficiency through livelihood support. For example, our affiliate in Sri Lanka, Chrysalis, is partnering with the University of Peradeniya to build research facilities to improve crop yields, providing much-needed food and jobs for the long term.
• Through CARE, 978,600 people accessed critically important gender-based violence (GBV) services. In Colombia, for example, CARE is designing and implementing the protection and GBV response of the International Organization for Migration.
• With support ranging from tents to rent to group shelters, CARE helped 878,000 people in crisis find safe and dignified shelter. For instance, 90,000 people affected by the February 2023 earthquake in Northwest Syria received tents, shelter rehabilitation, heaters and fuel to help them survive the harsh winter months.

The humanitarian sector faces unprecedented demands, and CARE is determined to do our part and more. With your support, in fiscal year 2023 (July 1, 2022 - June 30, 2023), we reached 6.5% of people in need worldwide – 20.5 million people in 67 countries. Our goal is to provide quality humanitarian assistance to 10% of those affected by major crises worldwide by 2030, impacting at least 50 million people by 2030.

Meeting that challenge requires flexible sources of funding that can be applied across the spectrum of emergency response and related long-term development. Spending on humanitarian response makes up 54% of CARE’s annual budget. Nearly half of that is earmarked for multi-sector programming that spans and integrates various impact areas. For example, one of the largest multi-sector investments for FY24 is a $29 million project in Northwest Syria, focusing on a comprehensive package of humanitarian interventions, including food and water, health care, and economic empowerment/livelihood assistance.

CARE recognizes that women and girls are disproportionately affected by crisis. More women than men die in post-conflict situations, and the threat of GBV increases during emergencies. Yet women’s and girls’ voices are often ignored during emergency response planning and coordination – despite the fact that women are key frontline responders. Furthermore, humanitarian response interventions can inadvertently cause harm, increase risks and reinforce gender inequality if the needs and capacities of people of all genders are not appropriately considered.

These challenges are at the root of CARE’s groundbreaking work in Gender in Emergencies – rethinking emergency response to ensure that people of all genders, abilities and ages living in crisis have their voices heard and their specific needs met. We stand with all individuals not just in the immediate aftermath of disaster, but also over the longer term so they can recover and build back better – with increased resilience to future shocks – and live lives that are safe and free from violence.

Supported in part by flexible funding, CARE’s humanitarian teams continue to scale Gender in Emergencies approaches around the world. This year 65% of the countries where CARE leads humanitarian response have a Rapid Gender Analysis in place; 43% are focusing on Women Lead in Emergencies; and 62% have projects focusing on women’s participation in decision-making.

Links:

• CARE's gender in emergencies theory of change published in VOICE
• Toolkit for frontline CARE staff & partners