Sonia Martins

Sonia Martins

Role: Head of Africa Programme Management

Team: Programmes and Policy team

Profile:

I provide strategic support to CARE country offices and manage a portfolio of projects mainly on gender-based violence and governance themes. I have also been supporting gender mainstreaming across CARE since 2011 and I currently co-chair the CARE gender network.

I hold a Masters degree in development and governance from the Institute of Development Studies (IDS) and have over 10 years' experience in programme management, particularly in Latin America and Africa.

Email: Martins@careinternational.org


Blog posts

“He always came home late and drunk and he often kicked the door open while hurling insults at me and the children. I became such a miserable person.... After a number of curriculum sessions, I started to notice a change of heart in my husband,

Research shows that addressing intimate partner violence (IPV) requires working at society, community, household and individual levels to promote relationships built on respect, equality and peace. This blog shares the emerging learnings of

Preventing intimate partner violence (IPV) won’t happen overnight. It requires a lengthy process of social change, and achieving that requires both time and funding

Village savings and loan associations (VSLAs) have been a powerful tool for enabling millions of women to access loans, set up small businesses and improve their quality of life. But as an

20 years after the Beijing conference the incidence of Violence Against Women and Girls (VAWG) remains outrageously high with one in three women in the world condemned to experience physical or sexual violence in her lifetime. Nevertheless we

“Violence against women is accepted and some people even forget that it is a crime. It’s so common that it’s no longer considered as a serious matter.” These words from a woman activist in northern Ecuador, on the border with Colombia,


Humanitarian team

CARE International UK’s humanitarian team supports CARE’s humanitarian work by accessing funding, and by providing project management and technical advice and capacity to CARE’s country offices and CARE’s emergency responses. CARE has a strong focus on ensuring that all our humanitarian programming responds meaningfully to the needs and capacities of different people, whatever their gender, identity or particular circumstances. CARE’s emergency shelter team is also based at CARE International UK.

Head of Humanitarian

I joined CARE International UK in 2017 and currently head up our Humanitarian team. Before CARE, I worked for DFID…

Climate Change & Resilience Team Leader

I am an environmental scientist with a background in international development, specialising in climate change adaptation, natural resource management, disaster…

Inclusive Governance team

Poverty and social injustice are caused and maintained by unequal power relations that result in the inequitable distribution of resources and opportunities – between women and men, between power-holders and marginalised communities, and between countries. CARE believes poor governance is a key cause of poverty and social injustice. Our Inclusive Governance team promotes inclusive and accountable governance systems so that poor and marginalised people have influence over decisions that affect their lives. We help communities get organised and get their priorities included in development planning. We work to increase women’s voice and leadership in public life. We support service users to hold service providers to account. We work with public authorities and service providers to help them become more transparent and responsive to poor and marginalised people.

Knowledge Management and Learning Officer

I lead on communicating the impacts of CARE's Inclusive Governance work globally, coordinating a community of practice for sharing learning…

Senior Gender Advisor

My role is to provide technical advice to CARE International UK’s programme and operational teams to help meet our commitment…

Programmes and Policy team

The Programmes and Policy team is responsible for overseeing programme quality and multiplying the impact of our programming by encouraging governments, business and donors – based on the evidence we witness on the ground – to adopt policy reforms that support the world’s poorest people and communities. Working in partnership with our country programmes, women’s rights organisations and civil society, we put forward the views of the most marginalised to governments, including the UK government, multinational businesses and global institutions and press the case for change. In short, our goal is to change the rules of the game that keep people poor.

Head of Programmes

I am Head of Programmes for CARE International UK, overseeing our development and humanitarian programming in Africa, Asia and the…

Head of Africa Programme Management

I provide strategic support to CARE country offices and manage a portfolio of projects mainly on gender-based violence and governance…

Strategic Partnerships team

Strategic partnerships are a key way for CARE to increase and widen our impact. Our Private Sector Engagement team partners with national and multinational companies to co-create innovative 'inclusive business' approaches that drive new opportunities for poor people as producers, workers, entrepreneurs, and consumers. We – and our partners – believe this makes good business sense: helping to generate efficiency, securing supply chains, accessing new markets and products, and improving credibility with consumers who increasingly expect companies to behave responsibly. Our Institutional Partnerships team connects the vision and commitment of our funding partners with poverty-fighting programmes throughout the world.

Partnerships Manager

I am a Partnerships Manager in the Private Sector Engagement team. I oversee the team’s portfolio of partnerships with the…

Head of Private Sector Engagement

Laura joined CARE International UK in May 2018 as Head of Private Sector Engagement. She previously worked as Ethical Trading…

Women’s Economic Empowerment team

Our Women’s Economic Empowerment team leads CARE’s work globally to ensure women have greater access to and control over economic resources, assets and opportunities. We focus on four inter-related pathways to economic empowerment, based on a combination of women’s core economic roles as producers, workers, entrepreneurs and consumers: financial inclusion, women and value chains, dignified work, and entrepreneurship. We also focus on supporting the involvement of women in creating resilient markets in fragile and humanitarian contexts.

Senior Advisor – Financial Inclusion

Prior to joining CARE International UK as Senior Advisor – Financial Inclusion, I led the Women and Youth Financial Inclusion…

Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning Advisor

Regine is currently on leave. I lead CARE International’s Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning work for our Women’s Economic Empowerment programmes.…

I joined CARE in August 2014, because I believe strongly in our focus on economic development, gender equality and people…

CARE International alumni

Many CARE staff who have written Insights blogs have since moved on to other roles. Your blogs are still part of the CARE story – and we welcome any future contributions you may make to Insights and to our shared learning on what works in humanitarian response and international development.

John was formerly head of CARE International UK's monitoring and evaluation team. He led on the design of institutional level…

Business Manager

Sandra was Business Manager within the Women’s Economic Empowerment team and  supported the team to manage priorities and scope and…