CARE began working in Cuba in 1995, prioritising food security and sustainable livelihoods. Our work has evolved to support community-based food production, environmental adaptation, and developing connections between business and work in both rural and urban settings.
Relief efforts in Cuba
Cuba faces deep-rooted social and economic challenges linked to urbanisation, poverty, and inequalities between women and men. Migration from rural to urban areas has increased pressure on housing, health, and social services, often resulting in overcrowding, intergenerational households, and rising social tensions. These conditions disproportionately affect women, who continue to bear the greatest share of unpaid domestic work and have fewer economic opportunities in the emerging private sector.
Due to its geographic location, the country is highly susceptible to natural hazards, including hurricanes, heavy rainfall alternating with periods of drought, and earthquakes. Although Cuba has a strong disaster preparedness and alert system led by the Civil Defense, international assistance remains a crucial element in emergency response efforts.
CARE’s recovery efforts ensure that immediate humanitarian actions contribute to long-term, sustainable development. We help institutions and communities — particularly in rural and disadvantaged areas — better prepare for, respond to, and recover from natural disasters.
The current situation in the country highlights the urgent need for stronger and more coordinated humanitarian support to address immediate needs and help communities rebuild in a way that is sustainable. This means seeking innovative approaches to strengthen community resilience, equal economic opportunity, and working with the most disadvantaged groups.
History of CARE in Cuba
CARE began working in Cuba in 1995, prioritising food security and sustainable livelihoods. Our work has evolved to support community-based food production, environmental adaptation, and developing connections between business and work in both rural and urban settings.
CARE places a special focus on women and at-risk groups, strengthening their ability to rebuild their lives and livelihoods after crisis. We work exclusively through local partners, contributing to the organisation’s decolonisation and localisation agenda.
Our programs promote small-scale farming, local governance participation, and women’s empowerment, strengthening local economies and ensuring equal access to resources and opportunities. We also support the delivery of quality reproductive health services by strengthening local health systems.
Through these resilience, humanitarian, and food security initiatives, we contribute to building sustainable and adaptive communities — so that women, families, and future generations in Cuba can thrive despite growing economic and environmental challenges.
Hurricane Melissa
In October 2025, Hurricane Melissa struck eastern Cuba, affecting over 3 million people and causing widespread damage to homes, infrastructure, and livelihoods.
The storm worsened existing challenges — including an arbovirus outbreak, economic hardship caused by inflation, chronic shortages of food, medicine, and fuel, and the mass departure of people seeking stability elsewhere. These factors tested the resilience of communities already facing multiple, connected crises.
To address these critical needs, CARE is providing emergency food distribution and hygiene and sanitation programs in the hardest-hit eastern provinces, in partnership with local authorities and organisations. These efforts meet immediate needs while laying the groundwork for community recovery, specifically focusing on durable construction, jobs, and water for drinking and agriculture.
Please give now to CARE Australia’s Global Emergency Fund to provide lifesaving support to families all around the world enduring crises like this.
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Support our ongoing work to create a more equal world.
Your donation can help end extreme poverty and give people the means to build a better future for themselves in countries like Cuba.
For those living in extreme poverty, your support brings education and training, healthcare and clean water, nutritious food, and new ways to earn an income. And in times of crisis, you help us deliver emergency relief. Please donate today.
Photo: © CARE Cuba and © Yogendran Azaria/CARE.
