CARE

🗳️ Your Vote, Your Power, Your Voice! 🗳️ As we head into 2024, let's remember that our votes have the power to shape a fairer, safer world. From fighting global poverty to empowering women and communities, our choices impact lives everywhere. 💪🌎 #Elections2024 https://ow.ly/xXKa50TTm6Q

Our CARE Impact Awards celebration of hope on Monday included an extraordinary testimonial from Hiba Tibi, who throughout much of the last year led CARE Palestine’s work in the West Bank and #Gaza with courage, empathy, and grace. Hiba shared firsthand what hope looks like, even when it’s the hardest thing to keep. With her permission, I am sharing her powerful words here:

#Lebanon is facing an escalating humanitarian crisis as Israeli airstrikes expand across the country, causing widespread devastation to civilians and critical infrastructure, including hospitals and health care workers. Nearly half of primary health posts and clinics in conflict affected areas are closed. Six hospitals are no longer operating and four are only partially functional.

Women-led small businesses around the world are not having their needs met. 💰In LAC, the financing gap for women-led enterprises and businesses is nearly USD $100 billion. 💰In Vietnam, women own 21% of formal enterprises, yet lack equal access to capital, with a financing gap for WSMEs estimated at $6.2 billion.  💰82% Of Pakistani women remain unbanked or underserved by financial services #StriveWomen, a program led by CARE and supported by Mastercard Center for Inclusive Growth is working to change this using a women-centered design process to create financial products and services for women like Alicia, Barbra, and Ba, to strengthen the #financialhealth of their businesses. CARE Women's Entrepreneurship, CARE Perú, CARE in Vietnam

"In 1991, the venerable humanitarian organization CARE initiated a project developed by Moira Eknes to help women in Niger form Village Savings and Loans Associations (VSLA). More than 30 years later, those humble VSLAs have reached more than 20 million people worldwide and are now strengthening industries such as coffee that depend on the success of smallholder farmers." https://ow.ly/3Zn750TQTyK

Last night was a welcome bright spot in a very challenging world as we celebrated #hope at the seventh CARE Impact Awards in New York City. We were thrilled to stand with hundreds of supporters including singer/songwriter/actor Sara Bareilles; activist poet Liza Jessie Peterson; MSNBC journalist Ali Velshi -- and longtime CARE donor Marlene Mahta, who received one of the first-ever CARE packages as a child in postwar Germany. We were privileged to honor four change-making storytellers: filmmaker and global education advocate Zuriel Oduwole; acclaimed photojournalist Lynsey Addario, and renowned writers Nick Kristof and Sheryl WuDunn. And we were so grateful to share in-person inspiration from CARE country-team leaders Hiba Tibi (CARE Palestine/West Bank/Gaza) and Mona Sherpa (CARE Nepal), as well as video messages from many others among our more than 8,000 colleagues around the world. Our heartfelt thanks to our amazing Board members, event co-chairs, and sponsors for an evening that raised up the voices of women and families around the world, and demonstrated what hope looks like even when it’s the hardest thing to keep.

Last night, we celebrated the 2024 CARE #ImpactAwards in New York City. Congratulations to our honorees: 👏 Zuriel Oduwole, Impact Award for Youth Activism 👏 Lynsey Addario, Impact Award for Excellence in Photojournalism 👏 Sheryl WuDunn, Impact Award for Excellence in Storytelling 👏 Nick Kristof, Impact Award for Excellence in Ethical Storytelling And a special thank you to our host, speakers, presenters, and performers who made the night a success, including Ali Velshi, Michelle Nunn, Hiba Tibi, Liza Jessie Peterson, Mona Sherpa, Richard Stengel, Susan Hassan, Ashley Judd, and Sara Bareilles.

"Only a ceasefire, along with the rapid scale up of safe and unfettered humanitarian access, could begin to change the trajectory of this unthinkable and horrific reality for hundreds of thousands of Palestinians in Gaza. Extreme restrictions on aid access and the siege that has now been put in place in northern Gaza, not only block the delivery of lifesaving food, water, fuel and essential supplies, they also prevent nutrition and food security specialists from accurately measuring the complex and enduring impacts of malnutrition and doing all they can to prevent mortality. In turn, the IPC methodology that remains a crucial barometer for hunger simply cannot truly capture the depth of suffering or needs in Gaza when access is so limited and shrinking." https://ow.ly/JMxR50TQPhu

Your community. Your state. Your country. Your planet. Your vote has the power to change it all. 🗳️

"Whether or not the existence of famine can be determined doesn’t matter – widespread death, child wasting, malnutrition, illness, and severe trauma are all immense and preventable forms of suffering that have been happening for the past year. Only a ceasefire, along with the rapid scale up of safe and unfettered humanitarian access, could begin to change the trajectory of this unthinkable and horrific reality for hundreds of thousands of Palestinians in Gaza." Full statement: https://ow.ly/Kwkn50TOFSw