Emergencies

 

Current Emergencies

To find out how CARE is responding to the world's current emergencies read the Latest News for up-to-date information.

 

CARE's emergency work

Emergencies, whether natural or man-made, require an immediate and effective response. CARE has a team of experienced emergency professionals who assist survivors of conflict and natural disasters with immediate relief and longer-term community rehabilitation. We provide food, shelter, clean water, sanitation facilities, medical care, tools and seeds to those who need it most, and continue to help people rebuild their lives and restore their livelihoods long after the disaster has struck. CARE also works with vulnerable communities to reduce the impact of future disasters.

To discover more about our approach and objectives when responding to emergencies read CARE's Humanitarian Mandate.

In recent years CARE has helped people recover from some of the world’s most severe humanitarian emergencies, including:

CARE's response in Myanmar after Cyclone Nargis - read more CARE's response on Simeulue Island, Indonesia after the 2004 Boxing Day Tsunami - read more

 

Women and natural disasters

© CARE

In poor communities around the world, disasters such as flooding, droughts and earthquakes disproportionately affect women. On average, greater numbers of women die during and shortly after natural disasters than men, with up to four times more women killed in the 2004 Boxing Day Tsunami. Research shows this is due to a number of factors. For example, women are less likely to know how to swim or climb their way to safety in the event of emergency, and are likely to rescue their children over themselves. In the aftermath of disasters, women typically have less cash savings, lower levels of education and smaller social networks to draw upon than men, suffering more from the impact of food scarcity, shortages in resources and destroyed livelihoods.

CARE also recognises that women play a crucial role in reducing the impact of natural disasters on their community. As women usually have the role of collecting firewood and water, tending vegetable gardens, preparing meals and circulating information within their family and community, women possess valuable experience and insights which can help before and after a disaster strikes. CARE understands this and promotes the specific knowledge and unique capabilities of women to improve the whole community’s resilience to environmental impacts. CARE works with women, and their families, to determine how best to prepare for emergencies and mitigate the potential impact to people’s lives and livelihoods.

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CARE's Emergency Response Team

CARE's team of emergency experts assist the survivors of natural disasters and conflict with immediate relief and longer-term community rehabilitation.

You can support this work by joining the Emergency Response Team and making monthly donations to CARE. Join the Emergency Response Team here, and help saves lives.