CARE international - Research Paper Example

CARE International s Submitted by s: Introduction CARE is a large global humanitarian agency that delivers a wide array of emergency relief as well as long term international development projects. The agency started in 1945 and is a non-sectarian as well as non-governmental that focusses of alleviating world poverty1. As of 2013, the organization had working presence in eighty seven nations while providing support to nearly a thousand projects that fight poverty as well as humanitarian aid projects that reached over ninety seven million people. The programmes run by CARE in the poorer countries deal with a wide array of issues that include crisis response, pecuniary improvement, edification, food security among others. The agency also advocated at the local, state and global level for changes in policy as well as the freedoms of the people affected by poverty2. In all of these areas, CARE mainly deals with the empowerment and fulfilment of the prerequisites of women and girls as well as the promotion of gender equality. CARE International is a confederacy of thirteen National members as well as one affiliate member all of which are registered independently as non-profit NGO’s in the respective countries. CARE programs in developing countries are overseen by a country office even though the agency also supports projects and responds to emergencies in a number of countries where there is no full country office. Mission of the CARE Non-Governmental Organization According to its vision, CARE seeks a world that is filled with hope, tolerance as well as social justice that has been able to overcome poverty so that the people can live in a dignified and secure way. It seeks to be the partner of choice as far as the fight to end poverty in the world is concerned and wants to be recognised for its unshakeable pledge to the self-worth of the population. On the other hand, CARE has a mission of serving individuals and families in the communities that are hardest hit by poverty all over the globe. It draws strength from its worldwide diversity, resources as well as experience so that it can be able to promote solutions that that are innovative while advocating for responsibility at the global level. The agency promotes long-term change through improving ability for self-help, provision of economic opportunity, delivery of relief in cases of emergency, influence of policy decisions and dealing with all types of discrimination. Through the guidance of the desires of the indigenous people, CARE pursues its mission with distinction and consideration since the community it serves are not worth less. History of CARE International CARE’s roots can be traced back to 1945 when twenty two American firms joined forces to make sure that emergency food rations reached starving Second World War survivors who were in Europe in the form of CARE Packages3. Americans in their numbers, including the then president Harry Truman made contributions to the effort. The initial twenty thousand packages reached the port of Le Havre in France on May 11, 1946 and a hundred million more Packages were delivered to the people who were in need during the next twenty years starting with Europe, then to Asia as well as other areas of the developing world. Most of the nations that had been helped by the assistance CARE provide after the Second World War developed an interest in supporting the work that CARE was still doing in other countries. In the years that followed, CARE grew from a single organization based in the United States to become an international confederation referred to as CARE International. Some of the initial members of CARE international include USA and Canada whose corresponding care agencies were founded in 1945 and 1946 in that order. All the members of CARE International work together when dealing with poverty fighting projects and emergency response as well as raising funds, recommending policies and advocating and creating links with various governments. The agency has always been referred to as CARE but the meaning of the words has changed as a result of its increasing scope. At inception, CARE was an acronym for “Cooperative for American Remittances to Europe” but since it presently operates in more than sixty countries around the globe the acronym stands for “Cooperative for Assistance and Relief Everywhere”. By 1980, the agency was a legitimate registration as an association in Switzerland while its International Secretariat is based in Geneva. The secretary general is the head of the Secretariat and even though its legal name is CARE International, it is commonly referred to as CARE. Since it was founded in 1945, CARE’s focus has significantly changed as it has gone through evolution from an agency that deliver food and other goods during periods of crisis to one that provides long-term strategic for viable programs that are aimed at reducing poverty. Nevertheless, CARE still responds to emergencies as well as immediate needs even though its main focus is to identify and address the primary causes of poverty. In so doing, CARE has recognised the need to take part in advocating for changes in policy with various governments. Partners of CARE International CARE has developed several partnerships that include companies since it believes that companies play a progressively vital role in assisting people identify a way out of poverty. CARE works with different partners to assist them create practices that are more socially responsible, support innovative programs as well as enhancing developmental issues. CARE works with companies such as Barclays in initiatives that are meant to enhance the quality of life of people who live in poverty by increasing and developing access to basic financial services. The initiative aims to consolidate resources, abilities and know-how of both organizations while seeking to reach more than half a million people in South America, Africa and Asia4. Anglo American which is among the largest mining companies in the world provides funding for CARE’s economic and social inclusion project that targets the youth in Brazil. It has also provided funds for CARE’s market access in Zimbabwe as well as its relief work and savings. The agency also has also worked with the Arab Banking Corporation for half a decade with the aim providing funds for water projects in Jordan and the West Bank as well as coming up with projects that will empower women in Gaza. The agency is among the tree partners in GlaxoSmithKline’s corporate community investment initiative that seeks to make the health of people living in poverty ridden countries better through re-investing twenty percent of its profits in these countries towards the strengthening of the healthcare systems in these countries and providing support for the healthcare workers5. CARE is the executing partner in Asia Pacific with continuing ventures in Afghanistan and Cambodia among other places while developing long-term projects that will influence Maternal and Child Healthcare goals through increasing the efficiency of health workers. Budget and governance of CARE The Care International Secretariat is based in Geneva, Switzerland while maintaining representative offices in Brussels as well as New York6. Led by the Secretary General, it is tasked with providing coordination and support to several strategic planning and governance functions. Additionally, it represents the confederation to European Union as well as the United Nations while leading coordination functions associated with the agency’s worldwide advocacy. The CARE emergency group which is also part of the secretariat, is integral to providing support to the efforts of the confederation towards strengthening CARE member as well as Country office emergency responses and readiness ability if a disaster takes place. The Secretariat is also tasked with maintaining the Safety and Security Unit that supports the development and implementation of efficient staff safety as well as security policy and practice throughout the confederation. Operations of CARE International CARE concentrates on the empowerment of women and considers the enablement of women and girls as its number one priority while programming other areas towards this main agenda. The Gender Network was established in 2006 to increase the harmonisation and worth of the effort the agency was doing in relation to gender impartiality. In 2013, CARE’s projects were accessed by fifty one million people and had tools that could assist in promoting gender equality so that women could be empowered. These programs are designed to assist women and men promote the rights of women, encourage solidarity as well as women support groups while ensuring that support services for survivors of gender-based violence are available and equitable7. Emergency relief is also supported by CARE as a form of prevention, readiness and recovery program8. According to CARE, emergency responses as well as recovery projects were approximately four million in forty nations in 2013. The keys sectors that are targeted by CARE’s emergency response include sexual and reproductive health, shelter as well as food security among others. It provides emergency relief food while supporting the prevention of malnutrition by demonstrating correct breastfeeding practices, availing education that deals with the growing and cooking of nutritious foods and bettering infrastructure. The health operations that are supported by CARE focus on maternal health as well as HIV/AIDS while addressing other areas like nutrition, clean water for drinking, health education and the training of health workers in various topics9. It also advocates for climate-change and supports modification plans like the promotion of early warning signs, assisting communities come up with evaluation plans, availing technical assistance and collaborating with the various governments to decrease pollution. Significance and influence of CARE CARE’s programs have conventionally dealt with issues at the household and community level but did not address policy causes of poverty as well as the actions that are taken by the bodies tasked with coming up with policies. Through advocacy, CARE influences policy makers so that when they are in the process of making laws, they can distribute resources and arrive at other decisions that will affect the people in a positive way. The main aims of CARE’s advocacy is to develop policies, amend policies and make sure that policies are being implemented. CARE’s mission and vision acknowledges that pioneering solutions are needed if poverty is to be eradicated and if policy makers are to be influenced making them part of the agency’s efforts to achieve long-term change. Through the use of advocacy, the agency recognises that the main cause of poverty as well as discrimination originate from decisions that are made at the household level and those arrived at within the leadership of the structures of the community, governments and global firms. Controversies In 2007, the agency made the announcement that is will not continue accepting particular types of US food aid that was worth forty five million dollars each year. It argued that these kind of food aid were inadequate and posed a danger of harming the local markets. Particularly, CARE stated that it would be foregoing monetized food aid that consisted excess US food that was sent to charities in the poor countries that would sell that food to raise money for development as well as all other food aid meant to create an economic advantage for the donor. Consequently, it increased its commitment to the procurement of local food aid and also stopped accepting USDA food through concessional sales or the disposal of surplus since this was designed to create a commercial upper hand for the agricultural sector in the United States. References Anheier, Helmut K, Stefan Toepler, and Regina List. International Encyclopedia Of Civil Society. 1st ed. New York: Springer, 2010. Barclays.com,. Banking On Change | Barclays. Last modified 2014. Accessed September 9, 2014. http://www.barclays.com/citizenship/citizenship-in-action/banking-on-change.html. CARE International,. CARE INTERNATIONAL STRATEGIC PLAN 2007-2012, 2013. Accessed September 9, 2014. http://nsagm.weebly.com/uploads/1/2/0/3/12030125/care_international_strategic_plan.pdf. CARE International,. PROGRAMME STANDARDS FRAMEWORK, 2003. Accessed September 9, 2014. http://www.care.no/Documents/CI%20Programme%20Standards%20Framework.pdf. CARE International,. Overview Brochure, 2012. Accessed September 9, 2014. http://files.givewell.org/files/DisasterRelief/CARE/CI%20Overview_Brochure_FINAL%20%281%29.pdf. Inglis, Taryn, and Preston Toulon. 2014 Aid Consortium: Cooperative For Assistance And Relief Everywhere (CARE) (2014). Kehoe, Alice Beck, Paul L Doughty, and Nancy K Peske. Expanding American Anthropology, 1945-1980. 1st ed. Tuscaloosa: University of Alabama Press, 2012. Partnerships.ifpma.org,. GlaxoSmithKline’s Reinvestment Of 20% Of Its Profits In The Least Developed Countries - IFPMA. Last modified 2014. Accessed September 9, 2014. http://partnerships.ifpma.org/partnership/glaxosmithkline-s-reinvestment-of-20-of-its-profits-in-the-least-developed-countries. Read More