CARE International

CARE International released several statements regarding the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza following the Hamas terror attack against the State of Israel on October 7, 2023. This included a call to United Nations (UN) members to demand a ceasefire while pushing member states to “stop fueling the crisis in Gaza” through halting the “transfer of weapons, parts, and ammunition to Israel and Palestinian armed groups,” while claiming Israel was conducting “bombardment and siege” tactics in Gaza. ⁵

In 2019, CARE International published a report titled “Sexual Harassment, Exploitation and Abuse Transparency Report 2019,” which argued the organization had received up to “47 complaints of sexual misconduct allegedly committed by CARE staff or related personnel,” an increase from 2017 when it received 28 complaints. The report also alleged that 18 of the complaints were “substantiated.” ⁶

History

CARE International is the global network of national Cooperative for Assistance and Relief Everywhere (CARE) organizations, affiliates, and community-based partner organizations. It is a registered charity in Switzerland and Belgium, but also has offices in New York, and London. The group includes 19 members, one affiliate, and 57 country offices. ^{1 2}

The original organization, known as CARE USA as of 2026, was created in 1945 at the end of World War II, when Arthur Ringland and Lincoln Clark approached 22 American charities with the proposal of forming an organization that sent food packages to Europe. The charities agreed and implemented the Cooperative for American Remittances to Europe (CARE) in November 1945. ⁷ The first “CARE Package” was sent six months after the organization’s implementation. CARE developed other packages to send to Europe, including packages containing wool, baby food, soap, textiles, and toys. ³

By 1953, the organization had changed its name to the Cooperative for American Relief Everywhere in 1953 but later closed most of its European missions by 1955 while expanded its mission areas to countries such as Mexico, Korea, and Vietnam. ^{7 4} The organization expanded between 1966 and 1975 while developing itself as the “new CARE” that also provided aid to disaster areas as well as family planning programs to be introduced in countries such as India, Turkey, and Pakistan. ⁷

CARE Europe, the predecessor to CARE International, was formed in 1967, but the organization had no active European missions by 1975. The plan to form an umbrella organization to coordinate national CARE organizations began in 1979. The organization was named CARE International and was formally established in 1982. ^{7 4} The national CARE organizations at that time included CARE Canada, which became autonomous in 1973; CARE Norway, established in 1980; and CARE Germany, created in 1981. After the establishment of CARE International, other national organizations were formed including CARE France, founded in 1983; CARE International U.K., founded in 1985; CARE Austria, created in 1986; and CARE Australia, CARE Denmark, and CARE Japan, which were all established in 1987. ⁸

The CARE acronym was changed to mean the Cooperative for Assistance and Relief Everywhere in 1993. In 2011, CARE International organized aid and relief efforts to Middle Eastern countries such as Syria and Yemen during the Arab Spring. By 2018, the group claimed it was operating in Bangladesh and Jordan while partnering with organizations in Colombia, Ecuador, and Peru. ⁸

In 2020, during the COVID-19 pandemic, CARE International published “Rapid Gender Analysis” reports which claimed the virus was “disproportionately impacting women and girls, exacerbating pre-existing inequalities with men and boys.” The organization also distributed “health and hygiene kits,” provided relief efforts, and assisted with vaccine access through its “Fast and Fair Vaccine” campaign. ⁸ By 2022, the organization claimed to increase its advocacy efforts in Eastern Europe following the start of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and the resulting Russia-Ukraine war. The network also expanded efforts into Gaza by 2024 through the opening of a “primary health clinic” in the city of Deir Al-Balah. ⁸

According to its website, CARE International lists 1,467 programs across 121 countries as of 2025. ⁸ The organization’s website also advocates in favor of “inclusion…and social justice.” ⁹

Activities

Israel-Hamas War

In January 2024, following the October 7, 2023 Hamas terror attack against the State of Israel and the resulting Hamas-Israel War in Gaza, CARE International petitioned for United Nations members to call for a ceasefire while pushing member states to “stop fueling the crisis in Gaza” through halting the “transfer of weapons, parts, and ammunition to Israel and Palestinian armed groups,” while claiming Israel was conducting “bombardment and siege” tactics in Gaza. ^{5 10}

Following the United Kingdom’s partial suspension on arms-sale licenses to Israel in September 2024, CARE International signed another statement calling for all arms transfers to Israel to be stopped while there to be “clear and compelling evidence” that Israel was violating international humanitarian law. ¹¹ In September 2025, CARE International executive director Reintje Van Haeringen signed a statement from CARE International U.K. calling for U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer to “immediately halt all arms sales to Israel.” ¹²

Sexual Misconduct Allegations Report

In January 2019, CARE International published a report titled “Sexual Harassment, Exploitation and Abuse Transparency Report 2019” while reported that the organization had received “47 complaints of sexual misconduct allegedly committed by CARE staff or related personnel,” an increase from 2017 when it received 28 complaints. The report also alleged that 18 of the complaints were “substantiated.” ⁶

According to the report, several of the 47 complaints “were about sexual misconduct towards programme participants and community members,” and after an investigation, eight were found to be true, leading to seven dismissals and one “warning.” ⁶ Of the 47 complaints, 29 of them referred to “sexual misconduct towards other CARE staff.” Of these complaints, ten were alleged substantiated, leading to eight dismissals, one “warning,” while another “coincided with [the] end of contract.” ⁶

Advocacy

Sustainable Development Goals

CARE International supports the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), a set of 17 policy goals adopted by United Nations members in 2015 as a part of the UN’s “2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.” The SDGs include 169 policy targets and focus on issue areas including climate action, gender issues, energy production, government institutions, education issues, and global poverty. ^{13 14 15}

CARE International has also focused its advocacy on areas such as global poverty (SDG 1) and gender issues (SDG 5), while claiming that “economic justice, climate justice, [and] health equity” are unachievable without addressing “gender inequality.” ¹³

According to an archived version of its website from November 2022, CARE International claims the COVID-19 pandemic made “existing inequalities” worse, and exposed “structural inequalities” between men and women. The organization also claimed that there was a “shadow pandemic of gender-based violence” due to the COVID-19 lockdowns as well as an international “anti-feminist backlash” as “extremist governments seek to instrumentalize gender stereotypes and control women’s bodies.” ¹⁶

CARE International also stated that it “recognizes that gender is not binary,” and expanded its work with LGBT communities by 2022. ¹⁷

Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion

According to an archived page of CARE International’s website, since 1998 the organization has been increasing efforts to “build a more diverse membership and overall organizational model.” The organization notes that it increased “global-south representation” in 2014, created strategic approaches to “support diversification” in 2017, and created “The Cairo Compact,” a “proclamation” of the organization’s “commitment to truly leveraging diversity,” in 2018. ¹⁸

Funding

CARE International lists several “multilateral” funding partners on its website including the European Union (EU), the International Labour Organization, the World Bank, the United Nations Population Fund, and the World Health Organization. ¹⁹

“Bilateral” funding partners include government agencies from countries such as Australia, Canada, Denmark, Germany, Japan, and the United Kingdom. This included the United States Bureau of Humanitarian Affairs and the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), with the later ceasing operations in 2025. ²⁰