My favorite quote of 2019 is from Sam Okello in Uganda: “It’s not about building houses, it’s about building dignity.” Sam and the team in Uganda were able to transform that commitment into houses for refugees where 90% of people feel safer.
People like Sam, and every one of you reading this, make it possible for us to change the world. That’s what 5 Minutes of Inspiration is all about. I continue to be amazed at the dedication, innovation, and excellence of all of the people at CARE who contribute to these impacts.
What inspires you for 2020?
What did we accomplish in 2019?
- Make work a safer place to be: CARE supported adoption of the ILO Convention on Violence and Harassment, a global law focused specifically on preventing violence and harassment in the world of work. In the countries where CARE supported advocacy on this issue, this law could protect nearly 47 million women and girls.
- Help families respond to crisis: We have reached more than 3.3 million people in Yemen with projects like Addressing Food Crisis in Yemen and many others, responding to crisis, and helping them access food, safe drinking water, and economic opportunity.
- Get women and young people critical health CARE: 2.1 million women and youth in Uganda get access to the reproductive health services they need.
- Grow more food, even in uncertainty: CARE supported 1.7 million people in Ethiopia to have more resilient livelihoods and improve farming techniques so they can grow food even during droughts and floods.
- Narrow the gender gap: Mali’s Nutrition and Hygiene project worked with nearly 450,000 women to help them narrow the income gap between men and women, and the gap in access to information, and cut the gap in access to information by 80%.
- Reduce violence: More than 80,000 people in Rwanda’s Indashyikirwa’s project are half as likely to face gender based violence at home, and the evidence from that work is going to influence programming and policy all over the world.
- Build trust: For 104,000 people in Burundi, 76% of people now believe that their government will take their needs into account when creating new policies and services.
- Grow income: more than 1,000 people in Kenya’s PROFIT program saw their average income go up 5 times, from 28 cents a day to $1.63. In Zimbabwe’s El Nino Recovery project, incomes quadrupled, from $11 a month to $49 a month.
How did we get there?
- Work with savings groups: Many of CARE’s projects work with savings groups (Village Savings and Loan Associations) to unlock the power of women and girls. For the 7 million people in CARE savings groups, it’s not only new savings and income that transforms their lives, it’s also the changes in their own skills and confidence, and the ability to work towards gender equality.
- Fight for gender equality: CARE works with women and girls, men and boys, community leaders, and governments to change the playing field so that women have a fair chance to pull themselves out of poverty.
- Think about the big picture: CARE works with partners, social movements, and governments to change the rules of the game—supporting laws, policies, and systems so people can live safe, healthy, and dignified lives. Advocacy to change policies can more than double the impact we have in projects alone.
- Convene creative partnerships: CARE works with social movements, governments, and the private sector to have a reach far beyond what we can do on our own.
- Understand complex environments: CARE works across humanitarian emergencies and development contexts to ensure that people get the support they need, no matter what issues they face. The nexus of crisis and long-term support is an increasingly important focus in the evolving face of poverty.
- Learn from what we do: CARE focuses on generating evidence, measuring impact, and learning from failure to make sure that we are continually offering the best we can to the people we serve.
Here’s to a healthy, happy, and inspiring 2020. Share your inspiration with others!