Statement by Deepmala Mahla CARE V.P – Humanitarian Affairs
Donors have once again missed the mark to meet the ‘challenge of a generation’ at the High-level pledging event for the humanitarian response in Ethiopia, Kenya, and Somalia. Of the $7 billion needed to meet the immediate needs of those affected by a catastrophic drought, conflict, climate change, and rising costs, donors pledged US $2.4 billion to provide life-saving and life-sustaining assistance for nearly 32 million people across the region.
The influx of funds pledged by donors today is a drop in the bucket to meet the surging needs across the region. We need to see these pledges translate into fast and flexible funding directly to those operating on the ground – local, national, and international NGOs, and especially women-led organizations – who have the capacity to save lives and respond to the hunger crisis and its intersecting impacts, including those most impacting women and girls.
Yet humanitarians alone cannot solve this crisis – we must see urgent action for multi-year investments that support communities to become more resilient to future shocks and for countries to deliver on their commitments from the Paris Agreement and prioritize climate financing, especially in fragile contexts and at the local level. Women have a critical role to play and must be central in all climate action efforts with greater financial support for gender-transformative and just solutions.
About CARE
Founded in 1945 with the creation of the CARE Package ®, CARE is a leading humanitarian organization fighting global poverty. CARE places special focus on working alongside women and girls. Equipped with the proper resources, women and girls have the power to lift whole families and entire communities out of poverty. This year, CARE and partners worked in 111 countries implementing 1,600 poverty-fighting development and humanitarian aid projects and initiatives that reached 174,000,000 people.
To learn more, visit www.care.org
Media Contact:
Anisa Husain, anisa.husain@care.org