Empowering Women & Girls

CARE strives for a world that is equal for women and girls in all their diversity.

A woman carrying a baby on her shoulders high fives a young girl with both hands. They're surrounded by chickens eating on a farm.

CARE / Jake Lyell

Our 2030 Goal: 50 million women and girls experience greater equality (particularly through ending gender-based violence, increasing women’s and girls’ voice and leadership, and increasing equitable and inclusive access to quality education).

We cannot eradicate poverty while inequality persists. Discrimination against women and girls has negative implications for global security and development, economic performance, food security, health, climate and the environment, governance, and stability.

While we seek greater equality for all people, we know that discrimination harms and disadvantages women and girls in greater numbers than any other group, and together with our partners, we pay particular attention to how our programming, advocacy, and partnerships include, enable, and impact women and girls.

Across nearly every country globally, women earn only a fraction of what men do, and and discrimination against women and girls fuels food insecurity, safety risks, and exclusion from life-saving services and opportunities. Globally, one in three women has experienced physical and/or sexual violence, most often at the hands of an intimate partner. More than 60% of the world’s hungry are women and girls; at the same time, women and girls disproportionately bear the burden of meeting their families’ food and care needs.

CARE has been working on equality for women and girls for more than thirty years in over 100 countries, and we continue to learn from them, our partners, and allies on how best to work toward equality. This wide-ranging experience has deepened our expertise and redoubled our commitment to equality and the empowerment of women and girls.

Gender-Based Violence

CARE believes every person has the right to a life free from violence. We put gender equality and the safety and dignity of women and girls at the center of what we do. Gender-based violence (GBV) is a global problem of epidemic proportions that demands committed action and sustained resources.

Women’s Leadership in Emergencies

Supporting women’s leadership and collective action during emergencies.

Help us empower women and girls.

With your help, we can keep fighting to defeat poverty by improving gender equality globally.