One of the best ways to help people get back on their feet after a disaster is to support them to start earning an income.
We give cash grants to people affected by disasters so that they can purchase basic supplies, and use the money to get their livelihood back on track. We also give specific support to rebuild livelihoods – such as:
Helping small-scale farmers and agricultural producers in Gaza to rehabilitate their land and irrigation systems after the 2014 conflict to enable them to resume producing food, and supporting women entrepreneurs to enable them to restart their businesses in small-scale production, manufacture and retail.
Assisting more than 50,000 people in South Sudan with fishing kits, vegetable seed kits and tools to promote food security and better livelihoods.
Supporting women-headed households in the Philippines to re-start their income-generating activities after Typhoon Haiyan – such as Aileen Militante, who used cash assistance from CARE to buy piglets to re-start her small livestock farm.
Watch this short video following a day in the life of Ethar, CARE project manager for a women's economic empowerment programme for Syrian refugees and host communities in Jordan. The project is part of a programme implemented by CARE in partnership with the H&M Foundation which has so far provided 56,000 women in 11 countries with access to the skills and funds they need to start up or expand their business.
When women earn, everyone benefits – so we help them get the tools and resources they need to lift themselves and their families out of poverty.
Our village savings and loan associations (VSLAs) help millions of women, and their communities, to begin to invest in business ventures – such as expanding their farm to begin selling at local markets, or opening a village shop.
We back this up with business training so that women have the skills to budget for and manage a small business.
And we develop long-term livelihoods projects that empower whole communities to improve their incomes and standards of living – such as the JITA project in rural Bangladesh, which trains chronically poor women to become sales agents to take and sell essential goods to other low-income households in hard-to-reach rural areas. This project not only provides jobs to thousands of women, but it also means that 2 million rural households now have access to essential hygiene and nutrition products.
