Category: newsletter

Sustainable social change can only be achieved through collective effort of people, organizations and institutions. CARE not only sees alliance building as one of our critical contributions, but we also approach this work from the perspective of the people we serve. CARE’s impact populations are in many cases marginalized or excluded from participating in mainstream or formal civil society structures. Thus, CARE emphasizes engagement with non-traditional civil society partners with less formal structures that genuinely represent our impact populations such as women’s rights movements, youth groups, girls’ movements, Village Savings and Loan Associations (VSLA), and other networks and alliance of impact populations themselves.

CARE’s analysis and experience of implementing diverse programs across Nepal for several years now indicates that patriarchal society and deeply rooted, harmful social norms are key hindering factors for transforming lives of women and girls. CARE has been working on changing harmful social norms, advocating to influence wider circles, and integrating its flagship approach into all of its programs.

CARE strengthens the capacity of vulnerable people—especially women and girls—to anticipate, absorb and adapt to shocks, manage new or growing risks, address underlying causes of their vulnerability and transform their lives in response to new hazards, opportunities, and uncertainty. CARE integrates resilience building into all programs, supporting not only increased resilience at the household and community levels, but advocating for an enabling environment and policies that support our resilience building actions at the grass roots.

CARE understands that poverty is an outcome of unequal power relations that results in inequitable distribution of resources and opportunities between power holders and marginalized communities. This power differential is further pronounced between men and women, and people of other genders. Inclusive governance is thus a core approach to addressing the underlying causes of poverty and social injustice.

CARE’s approach to Gender Equality and Social Inclusion believes that to bring about holistic empowerment and gender justice, it is critical to address three interlinked areas: women’s own agency such as skills, capacities, and awareness of rights; the relations of power that affect their choices, such as those in their households and communities; and the structures such as laws and policies that govern their lives and choices. This holistic and practical framework enables sustainable progress in our commitment to women and girls to realizing a life of dignity, free from violence, poverty, or injustice—and emphasizes strengthening the voice, rights and choice of marginalized women and girls.