Structure of CARE

CARE International (CI) is a confederation composed of twelve national Members, each being an autonomous non-governmental organization in its own right. CI Members in North America, Europe, Asia and Australia carry out a range of project-related, advocacy, fundraising, and communications activities in support of CARE’s relief and development programmes in over 65 countries worldwide.


Robert Glasser
CI Secretary General
CARE International Secretariat
The CI Secretariat is based in Geneva, Switzerland, with representation offices in New York and in Brussels to liaise with the United Nations and the European institutions respectively. To know more about CARE’s advocacy work, please click here.

The CI Secretariat is an international foundation, registered under Swiss law, and governed by the CARE International Board of Directors. Under the leadership of CI Secretary General, Robert Glasser, it coordinates and supports the work of the CARE national Members and Country Offices, carrying out the following activities:

providing support to the CI Board of Directors
implementing policy decisions made by the Board of Directors
promulgating and ensuring Member and Country Office compliance with the CI Code, a document that comprises policies and guidelines by which Members agree to conduct their domestic and overseas activities, and to interact with one another
ensuring effective representation on behalf of the Members and Country Offices with multilateral institutions and other international bodies
co-ordinating CI's response to humanitarian disasters
co-ordinating CI's policy and advocacy response to humanitarian and development issues prioritised by the membership
supporting the organisational development of CI's Members
establishing and overseeing standards and criteria that pertain to membership of CI
overseeing CI's organisational evolution
The CI Secretariat is the home of the CARE Emergency Group, which provides a quick-reaction capability in situations in which an emergency is likely to overwhelm normal CARE programmes or when a disaster strike in a place where CARE has no presence.

CARE International Members
Each CARE Member is registered as a non-profit charitable organization according to the laws of its own country, and is regulated by these laws and its statutes. Governance oversight is provided by a board of directors, who serve as trustees. The management of each CARE Member is conducted under the leadership of the National Director, who is the chief executive, and his/her senior management team.

CARE International's twelve Members are as follows:

CARE Australia
CARE Canada
CARE Danmark
CARE International Deutschland
CARE France
CARE International Japan
CARE Nederland
CARE Norge
CARE Österreich
Raks Thai Foundation (CARE Thailand)
CARE International UK
CARE USA

CARE International's Country Offices

Health Education in Bangladesh. © CARE.
For every country in which CARE operates, all programmes and projects are implemented through a single integrated operational presence, termed the Country Office, under the leadership of the CARE Country Director.

CARE Members participate in country programmes by becoming involved in project identification and design, and through their subsequent provision of technical assistance, financing, human resources or other kinds of support to the Country Office. In all cases, participation occurs within the context of the Country Office strategic plan and its programme and programme support structures.