The women are also unable to help out financially; ill-equipped to work having never done so before. They now spend most of their time together watching the news from information from inside Syria – something they also never did before the war.
CARE International’s Humanitarian Director, Barbara Jackson, recently visited Afghanistan, a country suffering from both conflict and natural hazards, and a dangerous overall security situation for the foreseeable future. Here, she describes her experiences after her recent visit, and offers insight into the issues that the country is facing, and what CARE is doing to help.
Marking the second anniversary of the crisis that has left more than 2.2 million South Sudanese displaced and almost a third of the population without enough to eat, CARE says that any investment in South Sudan’s future must provide peacebuilding as well as economic benefits.
"Before, our children were constantly sick from the water, and our cattle weren’t getting enough," said Luli. She leans casually on the wooden counter of her small business while she talks, wrapped in a bright yellow cloth. On the shelves behind her are bottles of oils and spices, some sacks of rice and flour are stacked on the ground.
I met Sadeem in the small village of Xaaxi in Somaliland, three dusty hours away from the closest town of Burao. Together with other women and children she sits under a mango tree. Her hands are folded in her colourful cloth, her voice breaking with grief as she speaks.
The 32 year old mother of four comes from Riak village in Unity state, three hours walk from Mankein. Riak once had a smart health facility complete with medical equipment and a pharmacy, but that was before the crisis that plunged South Sudan into chaos in December 2013.
Three mothers are part of a “Mother-to-Mother” group set up by CARE in collaboration with government health services in the East Hararghe district of Ethiopia to support mothers with young children during the extreme El Niño-driven drought that has hit the country.
El Niño is the world's biggest weather phenomenon, happening every few years when warm water collected in the western Pacific slosh back eastwards, affecting rain patterns and temperatures across the world. The last major El Niño happened in 1997-98, with weather disruptions that claimed around 21,000 lives and caused at least 35 billion US$ worth of destruction worldwide. This year, El Niño is predicted to be the strongest since records began in 1950.
our response must be clear-eyed and consistent with the values of societies where the absolute respect for all human life and dignity is not modulated by ideology or prejudice pertaining to culture or religion.
In FY2023, CARE worked around the world, contributing to saving lives, fighting poverty, and increasing social justice.
