The 2025 UN General Assembly Week and NY Climate Week spotlighted urgent global challenges and the innovative and unexpected collaborations needed to overcome them.
Two truths stood out:
- Communities most in need are reeling from shrinking global aid.
- These same communities, and those who support them, are not standing still.
CARE and peers are finding new ways to innovate and increase economic opportunities, leaning into locally led solutions and change-makers.
What women and communities need
A consistent theme across the week’s discussion was, “Women want access, not aid.”
This includes access to:
- Clean, green, and affordable energy
- Financial products that have been developed and designed specifically to meet the unique needs of women
- Affordable healthcare and childcare
- Safety in crises
- Stable jobs and livable incomes
- New climate financing, innovative agricultural techniques, and nature-based solutions
Yet far too often, the needs of women and the most hard-to-reach communities are overlooked. For example, less than 10% of climate financing reaches local levels, where the impacts of climate change is being felt now. Moreover, too few of the women and people from the communities being discussed were present during the conversations.
Corporate Council convening
For CARE, the week was a moment to lead with vision and urgency.
CARE started UNGA week with a meeting of our Corporate Council. This meeting brought together more than 30 forward-thinking companies committed to helping create equality for women and girls. The discussion centered on how global social impact programs can inform more equal and effective efforts in the United States. CARE and our partners explored how proven global solutions can address pressing domestic challenges, bringing our international experience home.
Featuring insights from leaders at Mars, Bristol Myers Squibb, and CARE, the event previewed CARE’s expanding U.S. Programs, including new opportunities for employee engagement. We “unpacked” the updated CARE PACKAGE® for Emergencies and marked the launch of new working groups focused on employee volunteering, digital access, and strengthening communities across supply chains.
Michelle Nunn takes the stage
CARE President & CEO Michelle Nunn took the stage at Foreign Policy’s Reimagining Resilience session, where she spoke with journalist Stacey Samuel on how investing in women delivers lasting returns amid crisis and recovery.
Nunn emphasized the need to expand work with private sector partners. “If we work with the private sector…to unlock the market for women entrepreneurs,” she said, “then we can create transformational engagement on their part and new capacities for women and girls.”
