Founded in 1945, CARE sent some 100 million CARE packages to Europe in the aftermath of WWII. Pasta, coffee, milk… The parcels were ambassadors of reconciliation and direct aid. This tradition of politically and religiously neutral solidarity continues to this day.
Today, CARE is present in 105 countries and is one of the largest humanitarian aid networks in the world. Throughout the years, CARE has provided relief and support following a rights based approach – recognising that poverty is often caused by the absence of rights, opportunities and assets, due to social exclusion, marginalisation, and discrimination. We put women and girls in the centre because we know that we cannot overcome poverty until all people have equal rights and opportunities. During the last three decades, inclusive finance as a key instrument for poverty reduction and women’s empowerment has played an important role in CARE’s work.
In 1991, the organisation developed its first Village Savings and Credit Association (VSLA) programme in Niger. Since then, CARE has launched about 50,000 VSLAs in 46 countries.
Today, VSLAs supported by CARE directly reach 6.7 million members, 81% of whom are women. During the rehabilitation efforts in Haiti in 2010/2011, CARE Luxembourg initiated its first support to innovative approaches that adapt VSLAs to a new complex humanitarian and development context. In the meantime, many new innovative initiatives have followed aiming to improve digitalization and applicability of this powerful tool.
