Browse by Theme: Humanitarian

As a Syrian woman working on the humanitarian response to the crisis in my own country for the past eight years, I have experienced firsthand how the response was not able to meet the needs of women and girls, without the equal participation and leadership of women in the aid sector.

Last year, 2020, should have represented the best year ever for EU gender equality policy-making and commitments. Over the course of the year, the EU made some great strides on gender equality and indeed, the year very nearly was a total triumph for EU gender equality ambition. Disappointingly, however, the EU had some inconsistencies in its approach to gender equality throughout the year and also, deplorably, rolled back on previous, fundamental commitments by the end of the year. In this context, can the EU remain a trailblazer and leader on gender equality in 2021 and beyond?

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. 

On 4th August 2020, one of the biggest non-nuclear explosions in history devastated large parts of the Lebanese capital. At least 200 people lost their lives, over 300,000 were left homeless and the blast caused an estimated US$15 billion in damage. Three months on, CARE’s Emergency Shelter Advisor – one of the first CARE staff to deploy during the global pandemic – shares five lessons on responding to a complex crisis in the time of COVID-19.

On 17 March 2020, the Jordanian government introduced measures to tackle the spread of COVID-19 in Jordan. Under such measures, Jordanians were only able to leave their homes between 8.00am and 6.00pm. Every day at 6.00pm, a curfew siren would be sounded, after which point no one was permitted to leave their property. The punishments for breaking such measures were severe as the Jordanian government imposed one of the strictest nationwide lockdowns in the world, with lawbreakers facing arrest and up to a year in prison.

As children across Europe head back to school, we look to their counterparts across the world. How are children in countries like Madagascar, Afghanistan and Haiti returning to school?

Co-authored by Emma Weinstein-Sheffield and Sue Webb

World Humanitarian Day on 19th August reminds us that “in 2020, nearly 168 million people will need humanitarian assistance and protection. This represents 1 in about 45 people in the world, and is the highest figure in decades” (UN website). The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic has brought into focus how poor housing quality and overcrowding can be detrimental to both mental and physical health.