CARE staff report

ATLANTA (Oct. 27, 2000) -- Britain's Princess Anne and senior CARE officials energetically conferred this week on global development issues ranging from operating programs in violence-racked regions to educating girls normally deprived of schooling.

Princess Anne with CARE USA President Peter Bell during her visit to CARE's Atlanta headquarters. The princess met with CARE staff to learn more about the organization's work with poor communities around the world.

Princess Anne joined CARE President Peter Bell in underscoring the importance of ongoing assistance and development programs by a multitude of organizations.

"It is particularly important for organizations, such as CARE and Save the Children, to make use of the skills and capacities of their staffs to help other people build their capacities," the princess said during a roundtable discussion at CARE headquarters here.

Princess Anne is president of the Save the Children Fund in the United Kingdom, a position she has served since 1970. She is the only daughter of Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip.

CARE and Save the Children have a lengthy history of working together in developing nations.

Explaining CARE's evolving role in promoting self-reliance and ending poverty, CARE President Peter Bell said: "We see ourselves increasingly being a global force and partner of choice within a worldwide agenda to end poverty. CARE believes the resources already exist to accomplish this."

Princess Anne and CARE USA President Peter Bell. In conversations with CARE staff, the princess discussed topics ranging from the challenges of post-emergency reconstruction to the role of public policy in attacking the HIV/AIDS pandemic.

The challenge is in delivering those resources and ensuring permanent solutions to ending poverty are found with the direct involvement of individuals and their communities, Bell said.

The princess was briefed on CARE programs in Africa, Asia, Latin America and the Balkans. She asked focused questions about several programs including those that help the world's poorest people open their own small businesses, work with communities to build schools, and operate in high-tension areas.

CARE USA President Peter Bell escorts Princess Anne outside CARE's Atlanta headquarters.

The morning conference discussed projects and issues in several of the 60-plus nations in which CARE works.

Both Princess Anne and Bell acknowledged the importance of having well-trained staff to effectively implement development programs. "The one thing you learn is that it is the individuals who work in an organization who make it what it is," said Princess Anne.

Before closing Thursday's session, Bell quoted from a letter written to CARE by then-Princess Elizabeth in 1947, a time when the CARE Package^® was being sent by Americans to survivors of World War II. Princess Elizabeth's letter thanked CARE for its massive effort, noting that "the food you are sending will bring a ray of sunshine during the coming winter months."

CARE still assists people in times of disaster, such as the widespread flooding that is now affecting 30 million people in Asia. CARE's larger role has become a focus on providing economic opportunity by helping individuals and communities become self-reliant.

CONTACT: In Atlanta: Lynn Heinisch 404-979-9453; heinisch@care.org