CARE International
CARE International is a global humanitarian and development confederation addressing poverty, inequality, emergencies, and gender injustice.
Last updated October 14, 2026
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Overview
CARE International is a nonsectarian, impartial, nongovernmental humanitarian and development confederation that works to reduce poverty and advance social justice. Its origins lie in the post-Second World War relief effort created in the United States in 1945 under the name Cooperative for American Remittances to Europe. The organization became widely known for the CARE Package, a parcel of food and essential supplies sent to people affected by war and deprivation. Although the original package program was designed as a temporary response to the European crisis, CARE gradually extended its work to Asia, Africa, Latin America, and other regions and developed a broader focus on long-term development. CARE International is not a single centrally owned corporation. It coordinates a network of autonomous national CARE members, each established as a nonprofit organization under the law of its own country. The confederation has included eighteen national members, together with candidate and affiliate members. This structure allows fundraising, advocacy, program delivery, and governance to be organized through national entities while maintaining shared international standards and priorities. CARE's work covers emergency response, food and nutrition security, water and sanitation, public health, education, agriculture, economic development, climate adaptation, and support for refugees and displaced people. Its programs commonly combine immediate assistance with longer-term measures intended to strengthen livelihoods, institutions, and community resilience. CARE also conducts advocacy at local, national, and international levels, seeking policy changes related to poverty, humanitarian protection, gender equality, and the rights of marginalized communities. A central feature of CARE's contemporary positioning is its emphasis on women and girls. The organization treats gender inequality as both a cause and a consequence of poverty and seeks to increase women's access to education, income, health services, decision-making, and protection from violence. Its approach has evolved from the delivery of goods and services toward rights-based development, locally led action, and efforts to change the social and political conditions that sustain deprivation. CARE's history includes several major transitions. During the late 1940s and 1950s it moved beyond European relief into missions in Japan, the Philippines, India, Pakistan, Mexico, and other countries. In the 1960s it expanded its health and development capacity through its merger with MEDICO and participated in the early formation and training arrangements associated with the United States Peace Corps. By the 1970s it was developing multi-year programs in education, nutrition, agriculture, water, and public health rather than concentrating exclusively on food parcels. The international confederation began taking shape in the 1970s and formally met as CARE International in 1982. CARE has also developed community finance approaches. Its Village Savings and Loans Associations model, piloted in Niger in 1991, enables small groups to save collectively, issue loans from their shared fund, and distribute accumulated capital and interest at the end of a cycle. The model has subsequently been used in many development settings as a way to improve financial inclusion without relying on conventional bank infrastructure. The organization continues to combine humanitarian operations with development and advocacy. In 2019, CARE reported activities in 104 countries, 1,349 poverty-reduction and humanitarian projects, and direct reach of more than 92.3 million people, with a substantially larger number reached indirectly. Its work has also exposed staff and facilities to conflict-related risks, including an attack on a CARE building in Kabul in 2016. CARE remains an active international aid brand and confederation, but the precise scale and membership of its network should be checked against current of…
History
CARE was incorporated on November 27, 1945, as the Cooperative for American Remittances to Europe. It was created by a coalition of twenty-two American voluntary, religious, civic, cooperative, agricultural, and labor organizations after the Second World War. The immediate purpose was to send food to Europeans facing hunger and disrupted supply systems. The first CARE packages reached Le Havre, France, in May 1946. Early parcels were based on surplus United States Army ration packs and were sold to American donors for delivery to named recipients. CARE guaranteed delivery and returned signed receipts, a service that could provide families with rare confirmation that survivors had been located. As the surplus ration stock was exhausted, CARE assembled destination-specific packages containing food and selected comfort items. It produced variations for religious and national preferences and eventually distributed more than one hundred million packages worldwide. Although the initial model centered on parcels sent to individuals, the organization increasingly accepted unspecified gifts intended for teachers, hungry people, and communities. This shift helped CARE move from a temporary remittance service toward general relief and development work. The organization also expanded outside Europe, opening a Canadian office in 1946 and beginning work in Japan, the Philippines, India, Pakistan, Mexico, China, and Korea during the late 1940s and 1950s. The postwar recovery of Europe forced a strategic decision. Some directors believed the original mission had effectively been completed and that CARE should close. In 1955, under executive director Richard W. Reuter, the board chose instead to continue, close many European missions, and concentrate on emergency assistance and development in the wider world. CARE changed the meaning of its acronym several times to reflect its geographic expansion. It also began distributing tools and other self-help materials and used United States food-surplus programs to support feeding and disaster operations. During the 1960s, CARE became more involved in institutional development. It helped select and train the first group associated with President John F. Kennedy's Peace Corps and continued related country-director support until joint projects ended in 1967. Its 1962 merger with MEDICO strengthened medical programming. The original parcel program was formally retired after the last food packages in 1967 and the last tools packages in 1968, although the CARE Package idea was periodically revived for later emergencies and donor campaigns. CARE increasingly formed partnerships with governments. A 1967 agreement in Honduras supported school construction, and later programs combined education, nutrition, health, agriculture, and water access. Multi-year planning introduced in 1975 encouraged broader, integrated projects rather than isolated distributions. CARE's development portfolio included agroforestry, soil conservation, school feeding, maternal nutrition, early-childhood education, and community infrastructure. The organization became genuinely international during the 1970s and 1980s. CARE Canada became autonomous in 1973; CARE Europe was established in 1976; and national members were created in Germany, Norway, Italy, the United Kingdom, Austria, Australia, Denmark, and Japan. Planning for an umbrella body began in 1979, and CARE International held its first meeting in 1982. The confederation model preserved the legal autonomy of national members while creating a mechanism for coordination and reduced duplication. In the 1980s and early 1990s, CARE responded to major famines, including the Ethiopian famine of 1983–1985 and the Somali famine of 1991–1992, while continuing development projects in agriculture and environmental conservation. Its understanding of poverty also changed. Rather than defining deprivation only as a shortage of food, water, health care, or other goods, CARE increasingly analyzed poverty through livelihood insecurity, exclusion, discrimination, and unequal power. By 2000, this evolution had produced a more explicit rights-based approach. CARE's Village Savings and Loans Associations began in Niger in 1991 through the Mata Masu Dubara pilot. The model organized small groups that saved regularly, lent from a shared fund, and divided accumulated capital and interest after a cycle. It became an important component of CARE's financial-inclusion and women's-economic-empowerment work. In the twenty-first century, CARE has operated as a broad humanitarian and development confederation. Its programs address emergencies, displacement, food security, climate change, public health, education, water and sanitation, economic opportunity, and gender-based inequality. The organization has also continued advocacy for policy reform and the rights of poor and marginalized people. Security risks have affected its operations: in 2016, a car bomb attack on a CARE building in Kabul wounded six people. After the Taliban takeover of Afghanistan in 2021, CARE publicly discussed how women and communities might continue educational activity despite restrictions. CARE's current structure and membership should be verified through its official materials because national members, affiliates, and operational figures can change.
- 2019
CARE reports global program reach
[1]CARE reported work in 104 countries, 1,349 projects, and direct reach of more than 92.3 million people.
- 2000
Rights-based development becomes central
[1]CARE's analysis increasingly connected poverty to exclusion, discrimination, and unequal rights rather than only material shortages.
- 1991
Village Savings and Loans Associations are piloted
[1]CARE Niger launched the Mata Masu Dubara pilot, establishing the foundation for a widely used community-finance model.
- 1982
CARE International holds its first meeting
[1]The international coordinating confederation began with CARE Canada, CARE Germany, CARE Norway, and CARE USA.
- 1975
Multi-year planning adopted
[1]CARE introduced longer planning cycles to support integrated programs involving health, water, agriculture, nutrition, and education.
- 1967
Last regular food package delivered
[1]The original food-package program was formally phased out as CARE focused more heavily on development and institutional partnerships.
- 1962
MEDICO merger
[1]CARE absorbed MEDICO, increasing its health-program capacity.
- 1949
Expansion into the developing world
[1]CARE began programs in the Philippines and soon extended work to India, Pakistan, Mexico, and other countries.
- 1948
CARE shifts toward general relief
[1]The board approved a move beyond individually addressed packages toward unspecified donations and broader community relief.
- 1946
First CARE Packages reach Europe
[1]The first food parcels were delivered at Le Havre, France, beginning CARE's postwar relief operations.
Products and positioning
A global, women- and girls-centered humanitarian and development confederation combining emergency relief, long-term poverty reduction, locally based programs, and policy advocacy.
Humanitarian relief · 1946
CARE Packages
CARE Packages were parcels of food and supplies sent to people affected by postwar hunger. Early packages used surplus United States military rations; later versions were assembled for particular destinations and dietary or cultural requirements. The parcel program established CARE's public identity, delivered more than one hundred million packages over its history, and was formally retired as a regular program in the 1960s, although the concept has occasionally been reused in later relief and fundraising campaigns.
Financial inclusion and livelihoods · 1991
Village Savings and Loans Associations
Village Savings and Loans Associations are small, self-managed groups whose members save regularly and make loans from a collectively managed fund. At the end of a savings cycle, the accumulated capital and interest are shared among members. CARE developed the model from a 1991 pilot in Niger, particularly supporting women and households lacking access to formal banking.
Humanitarian assistance · 1946
Emergency response programs
CARE's emergency portfolio provides assistance during conflict, famine, natural disasters, displacement, and public-health crises. Activities can include food and cash assistance, water and sanitation, shelter-related support, protection, health services, and assistance to refugees and internally displaced people. Emergency work is commonly linked to longer-term recovery and resilience programs.
Gender equality and development
Women- and girls-centered development programs
CARE integrates women's empowerment and gender equality into programs addressing education, health, livelihoods, food security, governance, and protection from violence. The approach is based on the view that gender discrimination contributes directly to poverty and that durable development requires changes in household, community, institutional, and policy power relationships.
Brand decisions
1982
Establish CARE InternationalStrategyBackground
Multiple autonomous national CARE organizations had emerged in Europe and elsewhere, creating a need for coordination.
Action taken
CARE Canada, CARE Germany, CARE Norway, and CARE USA formed the initial membership of an international coordinating confederation.
Aftermath
CARE International provided a shared platform for cooperation while national members retained separate legal identities.
1962
Merge with MEDICOM&ABackground
CARE sought stronger capacity for medical relief and public-health programming.
Action taken
CARE merged with and absorbed MEDICO, bringing additional personnel, supplies, and health expertise into its operations.
Aftermath
The merger expanded CARE's ability to operate health programs internationally.
1955
Continue CARE with a developing-world focusStrategyBackground
European recovery led some directors to argue that CARE had completed its original mission and should dissolve.
Action taken
The board chose to continue the organization, close many European missions, and redirect resources toward food distribution, emergency response, and development outside Europe.
Aftermath
This decision transformed CARE from a primarily European postwar relief service into a global development and humanitarian organization.
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