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Both the number and variety of humanitarian emergencies in the world have increased significantly in recent years. Changes in global weather patterns, for example, have caused unprecedented droughts in some places, heavy rains and flooding in others. The end of the Cold War has seen both a dramatic rise in internal conflicts and changes in the patterns of violent conflict: Today, more than 80 percent of the victims are civilians, and 80 percent of those are women and children.
In response to these and other challenges, we've taken steps to strengthen CARE's capacity to help countries prepare for and respond to emergencies. Preparedness begins with an analysis of potential hazards and the populations that may be vulnerable to them. Then, CARE and local residents develop preparedness plans that identify possible scenarios and create ways to both reduce vulnerability and strengthen the capacity of the population to respond to and recover from disaster.
The team's disaster response efforts focus on the timely provision of extraordinary support, when communities lack the resources to cope with crisis. Beyond disaster preparedness and response, other CARE programs work with communities to recover, rebuild and prevent future natural disasters.
One of the primary focuses of EHAU is to provide support to the new CARE International initiative on emergency response, known as CERT (CARE International Emergency Response Team). This initiative seeks to prepare and place response teams on the ground in an emergency situation in less than 72 hours. Our Emergency Response Working Group facilitates coordination and communication among CARE International members – supporting the implementation of the CERT project and providing assistance to country offices in emergency situations.
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