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Internally Displaced Persons' camp, Darfur.
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The fight against poverty is never more difficult than in times of crisis. For communities that are already poor and vulnerable, any kind of disaster whether it is man-made or natural, can be catastrophic.
CARE takes a comprehensive view: disasters do not happen in isolation. Our aim is to look further than the immediate need and work with communities on long-term sustainable development programmes.
We are committed to and actively engaged in both disaster relief and post disaster development work.
Disaster relief
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Food distribution line in Bangladesh. © CARE, Bill Dowell.
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CARE’s ability to respond immediately to disasters around the globe is aided by our dedicated funds, material and staff. These can be made available immediately to any of our offices in over 65 countries around the world when they are responding to a disaster. When large scale disasters occur, CARE may consider responding even if there is no previously established CARE presence in the country.
The first phase of our disaster response is to meet people’s basic needs – including providing food, water, sanitation, shelter and basic health care to save lives. Where possible, we buy any materials we need locally.
We carry out a rapid assessment of:
- the damage done, the communities’ own response and their needs
- how the UN, NGOs and the country’s own government have responded, and
- what CARE can do to help.
Three-part approach
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Indonesian girl recieving drinking water. © CARE, Josh Estey.
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CARE takes a three-part approach to emergency response:
disaster preparedness and prevention
rapid response at the onset of a disaster
post-disaster recovery
Rapid response to current disasters is the immediate work, but it is only the beginning. The effect of disasters is long-term and CARE's work continues long after the television cameras have gone home. We are committed to working with local communities to rebuild and avoid similar suffering in the future.
We are also increasingly focused on post-conflict rehabilitation programmes such as landmine awareness and removal, in places such as Angola, Bosnia and El Salvador.
How does our approach work?
Disaster preparedness: Being ready before a disaster strikes is an area of work CARE is strengthening. Our aim is to help communities prepare for disasters and minimise the impact when a disaster strikes. We have experience in helping local communities to become better able to predict and respond to disasters – anything from natural disasters like floods and mudslides in Central America, or food shortages across east and central Africa.
Disaster response: Dedicated resources for emergency response are vital. They allow CARE to provide fast, effective relief to communities in need. We have emergency advisors who travel immediately to the field, a fund that provides money to country offices for immediate relief work, a worldwide team of experts to advise local staff and ongoing training for emergency response staff.
Post-disaster recovery: In all its relief operations, CARE's goal is to move as quickly as possible from disaster response to rehabilitation, and then to sustained development. Instead of providing long-term handouts, CARE helps people help themselves with activities ranging from infrastructure repair and agricultural rehabilitation to small business assistance. We help rebuild livelihoods in ways that reduce the vulnerability of communities to future disasters.
To find out more, please visit the CARE International Emergency Toolkit website. |
