Draft:CARE Austria

CARE Austria - Association for Development Cooperation and Humanitarian Aid (CARE Österreich, in german) is an Austrian non-governmental organization that provides development cooperation and disaster relief. As one of 16 sister organizations, it is part of the "CARE International" confederation in Geneva. Andrea Barschdorf-Hager has been managing the organization since 2009.

History of CARE

CARE in Austria (1946-1955)

The beginnings of CARE Austria start with the organization C.A.R.E (Cooperative for American Remittances to Europe), now CARE (Cooperative for Assistance and Relief Everywhere), founded in the USA on 27 November 1945.

After 1945, large parts of Europe's infrastructure and economy were severely affected. Agriculture and industry had largely ceased to exist. This led to severe supply bottlenecks. Numerous initiatives were formed in the USA to help the population in Europe. Private individuals began to send food parcels to European relatives and friends. These initiatives gradually developed into various aid organizations, all of which pursued the same purpose: to provide aid to Europe, which had been hit hard by the war. CARE was then founded by New York businessmen Arthur Ringland and Lincoln Clark as a consortium of 22 American aid organizations.

At the end of the war, a daily calorie intake of between 1200 and 1550 kcal was possible. One year later, in May 1946, the supply collapsed. The average calorie rate in the cities fell to 950 kcal per day[4].

In July 1946, the first 32,000 CARE packages reached Vienna's Franz-Josefs-Bahnhof.[5] In the post-war years, the CARE packages also became part of the Marshall Plan for reconstruction. In total, over 100 million CARE-Pakete® were distributed worldwide. By 1955, a total of 1 million CARE packages had been sent to Austria[6].

Vienna acted as CARE's main warehouse in Europe. The first CARE office in Austria was located in Strudlhofgasse in Palais Felix. The main warehouse was located at Schottenring 18. 1000 CARE packages, each containing 40,000 kilocalories, were distributed to the Austrian population from Vienna every day. Other warehouses with CARE packages were located in Linz, Salzburg, Graz, Innsbruck, Klagenfurt, Rankweil, Leibnitz and Leoben.[7] One in seven Austrians received a CARE package from the USA.[8]

Original CARE packages and more about the history of CARE can still be found in Austrian museums today. The Vienna Museum[9], the House of History in Lower Austria[10] and the Dornbirn City Museum[11] have original CARE packages on display.

CARE Austria (1986-today) In Europe, the hunger and hardship of the post-war period have been successfully combated. However, many regions of the world still need help. CARE therefore founded its own branch in Austria in 1986. CARE Austria - Association for Development Cooperation and Humanitarian Aid has been working as an independent organization against poverty and need worldwide ever since. To this day, CARE Austria provides help for self-help worldwide. Providing sustainable and effective help is an important criterion for every CARE project. A particular focus of CARE Austria is the empowerment of women and girls[12].

Organisation

CARE Austria is organized as a politically, religiously and ethically independent non-profit association. Board members of CARE Austria (as of November 2023):

President: Birgit Niessner Vice President: Michael Obrovsky Treasurer: Peter Zorn Other board members: Ursula Baatz, Irene Giner-Reichl, Irene Horejs, Georg Lennkh, Rudolf Lennkh, Eva Nowotny, Gerhard Schuster and Melita H. Sunjic Management: Andrea Barschdorf-Hager[13]

Projects: facts and figures In 2022, CARE Austria implemented 65 projects in 31 countries worldwide and employed 50 people at its headquarters in Vienna.

Project expenditure amounted to € 38.16 million, of which 57.68% was used for disaster relief and 42.32% for development cooperation.

The investments were divided between

the Middle East (39.79%), Africa (36.14 %), Asia (9.18%), Eastern and South-Eastern Europe (14.70 %) and Western Europe (0.19 %). Total income amounted to €48.06 million, of which 60.79% was public money from the EU and other institutions, 29.02% was private donations, 10.16% was public money from within Germany and 0.03% was other income[14].

Breaking the Silence Report

CARE Austria publishes the annual report Breaking the Silence - ten humanitarian crises that didn't make headlines, previously known as Suffering in Silence. The aim of this report is to put the spotlight on humanitarian crises that have not received adequate attention in the daily news. The Breaking the Silence report highlights the top 10 crises that affect millions of people every day but barely get a mention in the mainstream news[15].

CARE in Action Podcast Seit 2020 gibt es von CARE Österreich den CARE in Action Podcast.[16] in diesem Podcast vermittelt Andrea Barschdorf-Hager, die Geschäftsführerin von CARE Österreich, Einblicke in die Arbeit einer internationalen Hilfsorganisation und erläutert aktuelle Herausforderungen. Sie spricht mit prominenten CARE-Botschaftern, Helfern vor Ort und Experten zu verschiedenen Themen.[17]