SOUTH AFRICA, JOHANNESBURG (November 9, 2008) – The launch of CARE’s Global Conference on Poverty comes at a time of increased suffering around the world, but also a time of hope – and of change.
“A new hope is palpable across the world,” said Thomas Joseph, CARE Country Director in South Africa and Lesotho, referring to the recent election of Barack Obama in the U.S. “This world can change. There is hope for peace and justice.”
And CARE, as an organization of more than 13,000 staff around the world, is in the position to help make that change happen, said Eva Lystad, Chairperson for CARE International. For the first time in the history of CARE, staff from offices and countries around the world have gathered to share knowledge and experience, and plot a new way forward together.
“Sitting in our offices, it’s easy for all of us to think of the work we do in isolation. We don’t have the opportunity to step back and think who we are in the broader context of CARE,” said CARE USA President and CEO Helene Gayle. “But there’s something about coming together that helps to ignite a spark. This is an opportunity to inspire, and be inspired.”
Unprecedented population growth, food shortages, the global financial crisis, climate change – these trends are blurring the distinction between humanitarian relief and development. This requires a new approach, and for CARE to mobilize its resources to fight poverty more effectively.
“This conference comes at a time of truly tremendous change, with enormous implications for our work and mission,” said CI Secretary General Robert Glasser in his opening address.
In the keynote plenary speech, Stephen Lewis, co-director of AIDS-Free World and a longtime advocate for rights of poor people around the world, said that organizations like CARE need to use our experience and knowledge to speak out to pull down the barriers to ending poverty.
“At the top, people have yet to be convinced of human priorities,” said Lewis. “I beg you to engage in advocacy, and keep the pressure on.
“I have unbridled admiration for CARE. Those of us who are outsiders, we see what you are doing. There is nothing more worthy in this world than the struggle for justice, and I know that struggle is writ large on the mandate of CARE.”