Dear friends,
Every day the headlines remind us of the need for CARE. But they rarely cover the heroic humanitarians who rush into crises around the world.
This past February marked a year since devastating earthquakes in Türkiye and Syria killed tens of thousands, including two CARE colleagues. The destruction and continuing disruption to lives, livelihoods, and homes are unprecedented. CARE staff are also among the thousands of Syrian people who are now refugees.
Yet our dedicated teams continue to provide crisis-response and recovery support that has reached 2 million people, bringing hope by offering shelter, building latrines, and connecting families to essential services.
The same month marked the start of the third year of Russia’s brutal war in Ukraine. The UN estimates nearly 10,000 civilians have been killed and nearly 18,000 injured. Every day, CARE continues to respond to the humanitarian crisis and work alongside local organizations to address longer-term challenges.
With the continuing violence and volatility in Haiti, our CARE colleagues risk their lives to deliver assistance around the country, maintaining and growing programs that help women facing gender-based violence and families facing food insecurity.
And in the Middle East, our CARE colleagues continue to navigate the devastating situation in Gaza. Significantly hindered by access, they have somehow managed to reach tens of thousands of people with urgent medical support, water, and food. We try to amplify their reports of the daily horrors they see and live to raise informed awareness and support. CARE strives to hold the suffering on all sides of the conflict, to advocate for innocent civilians and the equal value of every human life.
Our courageous colleagues walk in the shoes of people like Ginny Ubik, whose 28-year CARE career is profiled in this issue. They drive the innovation that can advance local impact and make it globally scalable – like new digital tools to fight injustice and mistreatment among domestic workers in Latin America, the adaptation of CARE’s Village Savings and Loan Association model to emergency settings in Yemen, and Zambia’s national adoption of CARE’s Nyenyezi early childhood literacy program.
Thank you for all you do to help make CARE’s impact possible and to find new pathways to stem violence and alleviate suffering. Thank you for standing with CARE around the world.
Michelle Nunn
President and CEO, CARE