Community organisation

Fighting for your rights is a tall order on your own.  But for the world’s poor, fighting for their basic rights is an enormous challenge.

Health clinic in Malawi
In Malawi, CARE is helping build relationships between community organisations and the Malawi Governments' health system. We are empowering community organisations to partner with, and hold to account, government and donors.
©CARE 2005/Fiona Turnbull

Many are unaware of what they are entitled to, can’t read or write, and have no way of communicating with those who have the power to make a difference to their lives.

Alone, they have no voice. But this is where community organisations – known as civil society – come in. CARE helps people build a shared voice through community organisations.

With strong community organisations, poor communities stand a better chance of having their concerns heard fairly, bringing about change, and, ultimately, improving their lives.  Together people can speak with authority to local and national governments, charities, businesses and other groups.

Strong community organisations also ensure good governance – in other words, reduce corruption and ensure governments listen to, and take on board, the concerns of the poor. These organisations can also make governments more accountable by ensuring they deliver the vital services they are responsible for, like water, health and education.

When we build and strengthen community organisations, we are defending the dignity of the world’s poorest people and helping reduce their poverty.

We work effectively with many community organisations, from small business groups and human rights campaigners to development and social movements, helping them get their voices heard and claim their rights.

CARE is in a unique position.  More than 90 per cent of our staff are local to the communities we work in.  That means we have unprecedented trust in, and understanding of, the communities and cultures we work with.

We know from our work that strong community organisations lead to poor people being in a stronger position to debate and regulate public affairs. But we also work hard to test that assumption and ensure that we understand how these groups work in different countries and find out how best to support them.