Over the next few months, El Niño is expected to disrupt global weather with devastating effect, leading to droughts, flooding, food shortages and economic instability.
You have the power to give women and their communities something precious: time to prepare.
With the right knowledge, tools and support, they can face El Niño with confidence and protect what matters most before it’s too late, saving lives, livelihoods, and homes.
The impact of El Niño
El Niño is one of the world's most powerful climate patterns, and it has now begun. Once it develops, it can trigger droughts, floods and extreme weather across the globe. Scientists expect it to strengthen over the coming months, with forecasts suggesting it could become one of the strongest El Niño events in 150 years.
The last major El Niño affected an estimated 60 million people worldwide. Today, more than 170 million women and girls are already at risk of hunger in the countries expected to be worst affected, making the need to act early more urgent than ever.
But El Niño is different from many other humanitarian emergencies. Because scientists can forecast it months in advance, we have a rare opportunity to act before disaster strikes.
We know the impact of El Niño is coming. Together, we can help women and their communities prepare before it's too late.
Early action makes every pound go further
Preparing for a crisis is not only more effective, it’s also more cost-effective.
For every £1 invested in early action, up to £7 can be saved in emergency aid costs.
That means providing support now can save up to seven times that amount in future emergency response.
When women and their communities receive support before El Niño's impacts are felt, they have time to:
🐄 Protect crops and livestock
🚰 Store clean water and food
🔨 Strengthen homes and community infrastructure
⚠️ Establish early warning systems
Early action in practice
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Woman holding a water filter © Alejo Espana/CARE. CARE distributed 538 filters in Quiché and 190 in Baja Verapaz. -
Women walking with hygiene kits © Alejo Espana/CARE. Each kit contains toilet paper, toothpaste, laundry soap, powder detergent and sanitary towels. A total of 538 families received these kits. -
Van filled with food packages © Alejo Espana/CARE. Each kit contains beans, fortified wheat flour, maize dough, vegetable oil, sugar, Incaparina (a fortified food) and salt. A special kit for children with malnutrition was also distributed, containing Nutrilisto (a fortified food). 583 food kits were distributed, benefiting more than 2,000 people. -
CARE Guatemala colleague providing practical farming advice to the local community © Alejo Espana/CARE. Participants learned how to make compost, prepare and restore soil, set up family gardens, and received hydrogel.
In early 2026, when forecasts warned that Guatemala was facing an increased risk of drought, CARE and local partners acted early, before the impacts were felt.
This included helping families improve access to safe water through water storage and filtration systems, providing food and hygiene supplies to households, and supporting livelihoods with poultry kits so families could continue producing food and maintaining an income.
These may seem like simple interventions, but when delivered at the right time, they can make a powerful difference. Families are better able to manage the challenges ahead, protect their livelihoods and reduce the impact of drought on their daily lives.
This is what early action looks like: practical support, delivered at the right time, helping communities prepare, adapt and build a more secure future.