Helen Thompson

Helen Thompson

Role: Head of Humanitarian

Team: Humanitarian team

Profile:

I joined CARE International UK in 2017 and currently head up our Humanitarian team. Before CARE, I worked for DFID in Afghanistan and Palestine, as well as on the Middle East and North Africa more widely.

At CIUK I oversee programmes all over the world that respond to humanitarian need caused by natural disasters and conflicts. Some of our largest programmes support internally displaced people and vulnerable communities in Yemen and Syria.

At DFID I was an accredited governance advisor, and I’ve used this specialism to expand CARE’s work on grassroots peacebuilding and women’s leadership in conflict contexts.

One good thing I’ve read

Farewell Kabul: From Afghanistan to a more dangerous world by Christina Lamb – I read this shortly after I left Afghanistan following a 2.5 year posting in Kabul. I found that it resonated with my experience of the country and the conflict, however limited that was by security restrictions, and provides a valuable insight into the history and futility of the war.

Email: HThompson@Careinternational.org

Twitter: @HVThompson24


Blog posts

Just as in the UK, trust, speed and scale is needed to meaningfully limit the impact of COVID-19 in communities already living in poverty. Unlike the UK, countries like Chad, Mali and Niger already had 12.8 million people in need of humanitarian

Working in consortium to deliver large, complex programmes has become the norm for NGOs over the last few years. Increasingly, working in consortium is a clear expectation set out in donor tenders and calls for proposals. But is the sector taking


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.

Global Emergency Shelter Team Leader

I joined CARE International UK in 2017 to lead the Emergency Shelter Team, which provides technical support to CARE country…

Head of Humanitarian

As Head of Humanitarian at CARE International UK, I provide leadership on humanitarian issues and sit on CARE’s Emergency Response…

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.

Head of Governance

I joined CARE International UK in 2006, with 15 years experience working in the NGO development sector. I have extensive…

Senior Governance Advisor – Asia and MENA

As a member of CARE International’s global Inclusive Governance technical team, currently based in Myanmar, I provide technical assistance to…

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 Africa Programme Management

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

Head of Advocacy and Policy (Jobshare)

After 10+ years working in the development and humanitarian sector I remain passionate about putting disaster and conflict-affected people at…

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.

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…

Partnership Officer

In my role at CARE I provide support across the team ranging from reporting for our partnership with GSK to…

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…

Director Women’s Economic Empowerment

I joined CARE International UK in September 2016 as global Director for Women’s Economic Empowerment. Women's Economic Empowerment is one…

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.

Svetlana Ancker was formerly a Senior Account Manager (Health), managing CARE's corporate partnership with GlaxoSmithKline which works to improve maternal…

Tom joined CARE in 2011 and from 2015 he led the Strategic Partnerships team at CARE International UK. In January…