CONTACT: Amy Lynn O'Toole, (404) 681-2552, ext. 453

ATLANTA (March 6, 2000) - Today, the international relief and development organization CARE marks the 50th anniversary of its work in India. Since the inception of the India-CARE Agreement on March 6, 1950, CARE's initial efforts, which focused on food and emergency relief, have grown to encompass some 15 long-term self-help development projects in agriculture, education, health, and small-enterprise activity development. CARE's experience in India also has helped shape the organization's work worldwide.

"In many cases over the years, CARE's efforts in India pioneered programs that were later adopted all over the world, so we are especially proud to mark this milestone in our history together," says Peter D. Bell, president of CARE USA.

Among those pioneering efforts, CARE's response to the Bihar famine in the 1960s prompted the organization to begin managing the delivery of massive amounts of food commodities, and CARE's food-for-work program in India was one of the first of its kind in the world. The expertise CARE gained in food storage and logistics, as well as its programming in large-scale feeding, have been replicated in other countries. Similarly, lessons learned from CARE's savings and loan associations in India have been incorporated in the design and implementation of subsequent projects in small economic activity development programming in other countries.

Over the past five decades, CARE's work has helped contribute to a decline in India's poverty from 54 percent of the population to 36 percent. CARE also has worked with the government of India to bring an end to famine, slow population growth, adopt new technology, overcome caste discrimination and increase freedom for women.

Today, CARE's presence in India has grown into one of the organization's largest country operations in terms of the total budget and number of beneficiaries reached.

About CARE
CARE is one of the world's largest private international relief and development organizations with projects in more than 60 countries. CARE's offices in India have a staff of 475 in nine states: Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Delhi, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Orissa, Rajastan, Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal. CARE also works in the neighboring countries of Bangladesh and Nepal.