9. Strategy goals, objectives and interventions

A goal and objectives should be established for CARE’s overall response to the emergency. The goal and objectives should reflect CARE’s long-term intentions and niche role (see section 4.3).

Overall programme-level indicators should also be established to assist in monitoring and evaluating the overall effectiveness of CARE’s response.

9.1.1 Case study: Example goals and objectives

CARE Tajikistan response to winter crisis

Goal:
To prevent death, serious illness, and starvation of the most vulnerable members of rural and urban populations in CARE operational areas, caused by the ongoing severe winter and energy crisis in Tajikistan.

Objectives:

1.  To improve food security of the extremely vulnerable population.
2.  To improve access to essential fuel, heating and lighting supplies for the vulnerable population.

CARE Timor Leste response to civil crisis and internal displacement

Goal:

Through the provision of basic relief supplies and technical support, ensure that IDPs have basic living standards and safety during their asylum in the centres. CARE will work towards attaining Sphere standards in basic services in all camps.

Objectives:

  • Protect vulnerable groups-particularly women, children, the elderly, infirmed and disabled-to ensure IDP rights and safety.
  • In coordination with other organisations and the Government of Timor Leste, ensure access to reliable basic services and support to 100,000 people in terms of food, water and sanitation, shelter, health, and protection/security, with direct support to 15 camps in Zones 2, 4, 5 and 7 (approximately 21,000 people).
  • Provide logistical support and transport for other NGOs and the UN to deliver relief supplies.

CARE Niger response to food crisis

The goal of CARE’s emergency recovery programme is to protect human life and basic means of living in the regions affected by the crisis. CARE uses a participative approach to restore both lost stocks and the local community’s capacity to cope with future crises.

CARE Bolivia response to floods

The goal of CARE’s emergency response strategy is to contribute to the immediate alleviation of suffering and losses caused by the disasters, recognising that disaster contributes to the creation and aggravation of poverty. CARE’s response will focus from the outset on not only emergency assistance, but also towards rehabilitation as a means of assisting disaster-affected communities to recover and move towards sustainable development. CARE will seek to mitigate situations that aggravate vulnerability and risk, and will assist families to protect and recover their livelihoods. CARE’s programme will assist a total of 23,400 people (3,900 families-800 families in San Julian, 400 families in Pando and 2,700 families in Potosi).

The key interventions that CARE will implement should be outlined at the sector and main activity level. These will help with specific project design and targeting of fundraising. The key interventions will provide a concrete guide to what CARE will do and, by omission, will guide what CARE will not do.

Avoid getting dragged into too much detail on programming in the strategy document. It is to set directions for the program not to plan the response. That is done in the Operational Plan.

Each main area of intervention should include objectives and indicators for monitoring and evaluation purposes. The level of detail provided will vary according to the version of strategy/ stage of the response (see section 4.4 and annexes 5.2, 5.4 and 5.6 for examples). The possible range of interventions that CARE can deliver is vast and will vary according to the specific needs of the emergency. Guidelines, response options and examples for core sectors in an emergency are provided in the respective chapters for those sectors

9.2.1 Selecting interventions to support

There is a tendency for CARE COs to choose either only interventions they have previous experience in, or conversely to select new activities in which they have no expertise whatsoever. It is important to achieve a balance between needs and capacity. You should consider CARE’s global capacity rather than just your CO capacity. If the sector is a priority, then CARE can mobilise resources globally to help scale up. Be aware that CARE has opted to develop strength in four core emergency sectors. You will get the best results from additional capacity if you work in those sectors. In other sectors it can be hard to find additional support if your in-country capacity is overstretched.

CARE should not include activities in the strategy that are beyond CARE’s global mandate and expertise, or which the CO will simply not be able to deliver.

CARE’s strategy should flag how key issues such as policy issues, cross-cutting issues and programming approaches will be addressed in CARE’s response programme.