Gender equality is an indispensable tool for lasting and deep social transformation. CARE International works towards this purpose in everything we do.
Gender equality is CARE International's central organizing principle. We cannot achieve women’s economic justice, climate justice, health equity, the right to food, water, and nutrition, or equal access to humanitarian assistance without addressing gender inequality.
By 2030, CARE International seeks to support 50 million people to experience greater gender equality in their lives.
Women and adolescent girls are CARE International’s primary impact population. With our partners, we pay particular attention to how our programming, advocacy and partnerships include, enable, and impact women and girls.
COVID-19 has exacerbated existing inequalities, underscoring society’s reliance on women on the front lines and at home, while exposing structural inequalities that are setting women and girls back.
The secondary impacts of COVID-19 include a shadow pandemic of gender-based violence (GBV), declines in mental health, economic recession, job losses, and hunger and food insecurity. An anti-feminist backlash is occurring globally as extremist governments seek to instrumentalize gender stereotypes and control women’s bodies for their political agendas and roll back the progress of recent decades. Although many donors have identified gender equality as a key factor of development, aid reaching women’s organizations remains negligible.
Gender discrimination also significantly harms people of diverse sexual orientations and gender identities. CARE International recognizes that gender is not binary and has expanded and adapted our work with LGBTIQ+ communities.
CARE International has wide-ranging gender experience. In all our focus areas – from humanitarian assistance to food and water security – we have learned that our gender perspective is among our greatest added value proposition to the development and humanitarian sectors.
CARE International’s gender equality work focuses on improving the rights of women, adolescent girls, and marginalized groups in three sub-programs:
Read our Vision 2030 Impact Area Strategy for Gender Equality here.
CARE has a vision. We seek a world of hope, inclusion, and social justice where poverty has been overcome and all people live with dignity and security and we put women and girls in the center, at the heart, in all that we do. To learn more, watch the video.
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Ahead of the Ukraine Recovery Conference on 21-22 June in London, CARE calls on governments, donors and international organizations to ensure gender equality and participation of women are key components of the recovery process.
CARE's new report is highlighting the way women and girls experience humanitarian crises differently from men and boys
Women in the region still have significantly lower participation in the job market and often work in sectors with lower wages
Globally, only 0.01% of climate change funding supports projects that address both climate change and women’s rights. In organizations like CARE and our partners, we help find the spaces where gender justice and climate justice intersect. 56% of CARE’s climate projects address gender-based violence, and 49% are at least gender responsive on our scale for gender in programming.
Our Village Savings and Loan Associations (VSLAs) are a proven way of supporting women to develop financial stability, increase resilience to shocks, and invest in income-generating activities. But at CARE, savings groups are about more than just money.
Today marks six years since the start of the Rohingya refugee crisis. Unfortunately, the environment is particularly difficult for women and girls, who face increased risks of violence and harmful social norms.
Our first ever Gender Equality Annual Report reflects on CARE’s collective progress towards the gender equality goals set out in Vision 2030. It highlights the global challenges we face, our impact to date and how CARE is leading change as we look towards the future.
The impact of a VSLA extends far beyond simply learning to save. By joining a VSLA, a woman can improve multiple areas of her life including educating her children, increasing her income, improving her access to healthcare, engaging in collective action, and so much more.
CARE Jordan's ‘She is a Humanitarian’ report finds that women’s participation in decision-making mechanisms was weak during COVID-19 humanitarian responses.
In FY2022, CARE worked around the world, contributing to saving lives, defeating poverty, and achieving social justice.
