Browse by Theme: Refugees

This World Refugee Day, I reflect on this often-repeated phrase since COVID-19 disrupted all our lives: “No one is safe until everyone is safe”. We have seen how interconnected our planet is. With COVID-19 spreading quickly beyond borders, global cooperation has been key to saving lives. Yet, the pandemic has exposed and exacerbated existing inequalities, with the most vulnerable populations often getting left behind.  

Women and girls are the hardest hit by conflict and disasters but often have little or no say in the design and delivery of humanitarian aid. CARE’s Women Lead in Emergencies approach is the first practical toolkit for frontline humanitarians to support women to take the lead in responding to crises that directly affect them and their communities. Below are some of the lessons we have learned piloting this approach with women’s groups in the Omugo refugee settlement in the West Nile in Uganda. 

Responding to COVID-19 in the world's largest humanitarian crisis

CARE International UK CEO Laurie Lee hosts a discussion with Bushra Aldukhainah and Lina Al-Saffi – who are both working on the frontline of CARE’s response to COVID-19 in Yemen.

Recorded on Thursday 21 May 2020.

“Here, we have six seasons,” explained CARE’s Shelter Programme Manager, Shah Suja, as we raced along the road that connects Cox’s Bazar town to the refugee camps. Those “six seasons” bring searing heat, torrential rain, cyclones and storm surges – and with nearly a million refugees now living in this hilly and fragile terrain, with no immediate prospects of returning home and yet prohibited from using durable construction materials, creating and maintaining safe shelters is a real challenge.

Continuing to protect and support Syrian refugees, and displaced women and girls in particular, is crucial, writes Nirvana Shawky, CARE Regional Director for MENA. But we also need to help them prepare for a future in which they access jobs – the only sustainable option for millions of displaced people, regardless of whether they return home, continue to live in exile or are re-settled.

Co-authored by Howard Mollett, CARE International UK Senior Policy Advisor, and Isadora Quay, CARE International Gender in Emergencies Programme Quality Coordinator:

January is an excuse for New Year’s resolutions and ambitious plans that may, or may not, translate into reality. So we at the CARE Gender in Emergencies team thought we’d share our top three hopes for 2019 too!

The narrative coming out of the European Union is that the private sector can provide the ‘solution’ to Europe’s concerns about migration. Is this about a more equitable partnership with African countries, or is it just self-interest and buying into populist fears?