Accountability at CARE International
CARE International defines accountability as:
- Being held responsible for our actions
- Hearing the perspectives of others
- Actively making changes based on what we have heard
- Explaining our actions
We are committed to meeting international standards of quality and accountability. We are guided by our rights-based approach and our programming principles to ensure that our partners and the communities we work play an active part in planning, implementing and evaluating our work.
International standards
CARE International is a signatory to internationally accepted humanitarian standards and codes of conduct. We maintain active participation with recognized aid organizations, United Nations agencies, and accountability platforms that work to uphold sector-wide standards, influence humanitarian policy and improve the quality and effectiveness of humanitarian action.
These include:
- The Code of Conduct for the International Red Cross & Red Crescent Movement and Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) in Disaster Relief (1994)
- The Core Humanitarian Standard on Quality and Accountability
CARE International engages in the following platforms to improve humanitarian policies and actions:
- The Core Humanitarian Standards (CHS) Alliance
- The Sphere Project
- Charter4Change
- The Active Learning Network for Accountability and Performance in Humanitarian Action (ALNAP)
- Inter-Agency Standing Committee (IASC)
- International Council for Voluntary Agencies (ICVA)
CARE International’s Program Information and Impact Reporting System (PIIRS) monitors our progress to achieve our global impact goals.
Pledge for Change
In 2022, alongside some of the world's largest INGOs, we committed to collectively building a stronger aid and development ecosystem based on principles of solidarity, humility, self determination and equality. We are working together to create closer partnerships with local and national organizations in a drive to shift more power, decision-making and money to the places worst affected by crisis and poverty. Learn more about Pledge for Change.
Reporting abuse, exploitation, or harassment
We know people are sometimes reluctant to report sexual abuse or harassment. We are focused and committed to creating a working environment at CARE International where people feel safe to come forward with sexual harassment, exploitation or abuse claims. We take reports extremely seriously and protect witnesses as well as victims.
Reprisals against people for reporting are a breach of our code of conduct. Concerns about any form of misconduct can be reported anonymously.
Reporting misconduct
We encourage anyone who has concerns about misconduct by our staff or relating to our programs to report those so that we can take immediate action. CARE International has a dedicated whistleblower hotline, the CARE line for receiving reports of wrongful conduct. This can include:
- Fraud
- Misappropriation
- Discrimination
- Sexual harassment
- Exploitation and abuse
- Support of terrorism
It is supported in over 100 languages and is available online or via phone. Reporting can be done anonymously if preferred.
The CARE International Secretariat also has a complaints system which can be used for specific issues relating to the Secretariat.