CARE's work in Latin America and the Caribbean
A vibrant and dynamic region, Latin America and the Caribbean is rich in indigenous cultures and people, as well as in natural resources such as gold, silver, coffee and Brazil nuts.
A girl in Guatemala writing in a CARE textbook
©CARE
The energy which is so central to the music and dancing enjoyed here can also be seen in the political and economic life of the continent. Between 2005 and 2006, a number of countries in the region are having elections - and people take their political rights very seriously, sometimes leading to political instability.
Many of the countries in which CARE International works face almost constant electoral change and a fluctuating political scene.
Most of them are also so-called ‘middle-income’ countries, meaning that they are not among the poorest countries in the world.
Extremes of wealth and poverty
But the reality is that they are countries of statistical extremes: a small percentage of people own a large percentage of the country’s wealth and are simply become wealthier, while the majority live below the poverty line, often in very remote areas or large and sprawling slums.
Some of the problems faced by people in this region are a lack of employment and no access to services, such as clean water, or hospitals, especially in remote mountainous regions. In Bolivia, for instance, we work with some of the very poorest people who only have employment for a few months of each year when they travel to cities on the country’s border with Brazil.
Claiming rights
Another major issue in this region is the exclusion of marginalised groups, such as indigenous people and women, among poor rural Mayan families in Guatemala for example. And connected to this is a lack of rights awareness where people do not know what they are entitled to, or how to make a case for it. Much of our work in the region is focused on encouraging people to realise their rights.
In Haiti, decades of poverty, environmental degradation, violence, instability and dictatorship have left it as the poorest country in the Americas. Here, one area CARE is developing is new ways of encouraging political engagement on HIV and AIDS.
Choose a country:
in this section:
Related links
What we do
