A natural disaster, a conflict zone, or an ongoing humanitarian emergency. These are just a few of the places that CARE’s Rapid Response Team (RRT) might be called to at any given time.
Made up of 11 full-time senior humanitarian response experts, the Rapid Response Team can be deployed anywhere within 72 hours to support CARE offices around the world.
Humanitarian needs worldwide are at an unprecedented high, and the capacity to respond to crises is often overstretched. The places where CARE works can at times be overwhelmed by new or rapidly increasing needs. This is where the RRT comes in. The team of highly skilled, experienced staff have technical expertise in different areas such as emergency shelter, water and sanitation, responding to and preventing gender-based violence, and advancing gender equality, among others. Team members speak several languages and have years of experience responding to floods, earthquakes, hurricanes, conflicts and refugee crises.
Having RRT members ready to go means that CARE can ensure the right people are at the right place and time.
The RRT is hosted by CARE Canada—with one member hosted by CARE UK—but works on behalf of all CARE offices worldwide. CARE offices in specific countries reach out to request the RRT’s services to work alongside and support local staff and partners who know best what their communities need. The team reinforces the timely start-up, scale-up, or support of emergency operations, allowing some of CARE’s most capable and experienced staff to arrive on the ground quickly to respond to emergencies more effectively and with greater impact.
“Having access to the RRT was essential to the quick start-up of operations in Ukraine. Clearly defined protocols and well-established procedures made rapid mobilization possible and supported the response in the critical launch phase.”
– CARE Germany
Quick facts about CARE’s Rapid Response Team:
- RRT members were deployed to over 14 countries—such as Ukraine, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Türkiye, South Sudan and many more—in CARE’s last fiscal year (July 2022-June 2023)!
- Country offices reported that having access to the RRT:
- improved program quality
- strengthened CARE’s work with local partners
- increased the timeliness of the response; and
- resulted in a more gender-focused response!
Support from Canadians like you allows us to be nimble in times of crisis and respond quickly to emergencies, to help create safe spaces for women and girls who are among the most vulnerable when disaster strikes, and to help meet women’s unique health needs. Thank you.
P.S. Stay tuned as we introduce individual members of the Rapid Response Team!