Letter from the President & CEO
CARE’s work over the past year has felt both harder and more critical than ever before.
In the opening months of 2023, we watched CARE’s country director in Türkiye give interviews in her car after an earthquake that killed 59,259 people, including two of our own staff. In the ensuing months, we have watched cascading crises confront people around the world. From Afghanistan to Morocco to Somalia, CARE has been there.
In Sudan, CARE teams have been using all available means to resupply health centers and hospitals, including horse-drawn carts and motorized rickshaws. In Nepal, our teams have delivered blankets, shelter kits, and kitchen supplies to communities affected by earthquakes. In Gaza, they managed to deliver 12 boxes of water to a shelter that had none.
Since the October 7 attack on Israel, it has felt especially difficult to hold together and share solidarity for the enormous human suffering on all sides. We all have read and heard millions of words of polarization in the ensuing days, but the words I most remember came from Hiba Tibi, country director of CARE Palestine: West Bank/Gaza, who said simply, “Our hearts are breaking for all people impacted by this, and we wish for peace and resolution. We pray for peace in the world and for all the human souls.”
This sense of shared humanity is what binds us together and it is what animates thousands of CARE team members, who I have seen firsthand delivering hope around the world.
In Nepal, I met Asta, one of thousands of CARE community health volunteers. She has helped deliver 150 babies in remote villages. In Zambia, I watched Henry teach an accelerated learning program for girls that allows them to graduate to secondary school.
And in Côte d’Ivoire, I reconnected with Salimatou, once a CARE participant, now a CARE volunteer leader who has personally started 729 savings groups in her country, engaging 15,000 members. She tells me she is just getting started.
As we enter 2024, we are mindful that while we cannot predict the next crisis, we can remain true to the vision of a more just and equitable world, where poverty is shrinking and gender equality is a growing reality. Your support enables us to pursue this vision every day in thousands of acts of solidarity.
Michelle Nunn
President and CEO