Browse by Theme: Reviewed 2021

This document explains CARE’s role and position at the 40th annual meeting of the Committee on World Food Security. It is intended as information for CARE’s partners and interested parties, on a focal area of CARE’s international advocacy work on food and nutrition security (FNS).

Participants from 12 West African countries confirmed the urgent need for community based adaptation to respond to the adverse effects of climate change at a West Africa Learning Event in Cotonou, 3-6th September 2013. Seventy two participants from a diverse range of 36 NGO and research organisations, and 14 government organisations shared and reflected on their experiences, successes, challenges, opportunities, questions and future perspectives across the region.

This communiqué is the collective product of these deliberations conveying strong messages on the crucial need to develop effective adaptation practice and policies to secure livelihoods and realise resilient development and economic growth in the face of an uncertain and changing climate.

Is there a business case for worker empowerment? New evidence suggests the answer is yes. Twenty-three tea estates partnering with CARE International Sri Lanka have successfully implemented Community Development Forums, which are ‘mini-parliaments’ that facilitate dialogue between workers, management and the broader community. The model opens up new channels of communication between stakeholders across the plantation region, serving as a forum where collective decisions about community development priorities and labour conditions are negotiated and decided in a transparent way.

An independent assessment by the New Economics Foundation showed that that there was a 1:26 return on investment for estates, plus additional gains for workers and the community.

In February 2012 CARE Pakistan started a project titled: 'Advocating for improved maternal newborn health (MNH) and sexual reproductive health (SRH) policy and practice for adolescent girls and young mothers (AIMS).' Implemented in partnership with Rahnuma-Family Planning Association of Pakistan (FPAP), this 14 month initiative combined evidence based research with targeted advocacy to successfully bring about changes in Pakistan's policies regarding MHN and SRH for adolescent girls and young mothers.

The AIMS project aimed to increase awareness regarding the specific reproductive and sexual health needs of adolescent girls and young mothers, and to advocate for their inclusion in provincial health policies. CARE and FPAP used evidence from the project's research to design a targeted advocacy strategy and to engage with key stakeholders including provincial parliamentarians, district officials, community leaders, civil society and media representatives, through a structured process of meetings, workshops and consultations. This is one of the outcomes of the project's research component.

How can inclusive business contribute to building new markets and stronger supply chains? This publication highlights examples from Bangladesh.

CARE Malawi developed the Community Score Card (CSC) in 2002 as part of a project aimed at developing innovative and sustainable models to improve health services. Since then, the CSC has become an internationally recognised participatory governance approach for improving the implementation of quality services. This toolkit gives practical, step-by-step guidance on using the CSC approach. The toolkit is generic in nature and can be applied in any sector including health, education, water and sanitation, and agriculture.

Despite the fact that there is enough food for everyone, almost 870 million people go hungry every night. 2.3 million children die needlessly because of malnutrition each year and 165 million more have their future potential permanently damaged because they don’t receive the right nutrients at the start of life. This is a human tragedy, with a clear moral imperative for world leaders to act and the UK should play a leading role.

This policy briefing draws on a report, commissioned by the UK Hunger Alliance (HA) and written by the Overseas Development Institute (ODI), which investigates smallholder agriculture’s contribution to better nutrition.

Findings suggest that smallholder agricultural development that is environmentally sustainable, can dramatically reduce poverty and hunger. To have greatest impact, investments should:

• Empower small-scale women farmers
• Promote small-scale farming including home gardens, small-scale livestock and fish-rearing
• Complement agricultural programmes with education and nutrition communication, health services, clean water and sanitation.