Geneva, May 11, 2016. Ten days ahead of the first-ever World Humanitarian Summit (May 23-24), CARE International calls upon world leaders to participate in Istanbul and use this historic opportunity to improve the humanitarian system. “It is essential for Heads of State and Government to attend the summit and make strong, detailed commitments. Otherwise statements will remain fine words on paper only”, urges Wolfgang Jamann, CARE International’s Secretary General and CEO. “Today, we are witnessing the highest number of refugees since the Second World War. At the same time, climate change is threatening the lives of millions. In Istanbul, world leaders have the historic chance to reverse these trends and save lives. Indecision is simply no option.”
In the past two years, CARE has been heavily involved in the process leading up to the World Humanitarian Summit, aiming to influence humanitarian actors to improve the quality and quantity of humanitarian aid to people in need and political actors to reduce the demand for it. As a major humanitarian agency itself, CARE is committing to improve its very own way of delivering aid. “Over the next four years, we will strengthen our work in conflicts, work to empower women and girls as first responders in humanitarian crises, scale up financial resources for humanitarian action, climate change and disaster risk reduction, and build the capacity of local partners, including providing direct and predictable financing”, Jamann adds. “Given the unprecedented scale of disasters and conflicts worldwide, ‘business as usual’ is not the way to move forward. World leaders need to announce detailed initiatives and plans to end violence against civilians and protect refugees. They need to completely change the environment in which humanitarian aid is delivered.”
70 years ago, the first CARE packages arrived in Europe, helping millions of hungry families recover from the Second World War. “From providing CARE packages to hungry families after the Second World War we have grown into a global organization reaching more than ten million people with humanitarian aid in 2015 alone”, Jamann says. CARE’s goal for the year 2020 is to strengthen our humanitarian work to have a much greater impact for people affected by humanitarian crises, with a special focus on women and girls, who are disproportionately affected by disasters. “In Istanbul, we want to see a strengthened political commitment and practical action to protect women and girls from violence. We want to see support to the inspiring and tireless efforts by women activists who are leading efforts to assist those in need. Their voice should be heard and their efforts bolstered. At the same time, CARE will triple its funding to women-led groups by 2020”, Jamann continues.
You can download CARE's Core Commitments here.
Media contacts:
Sandra Bulling, Media and Communications Coordinator, CARE International, [email protected], mobile: +49 157 5360 5481