Q&A: New CARE secretary-general on women and local leadership

BELFAST, Northern Ireland — More female and global south leadership at the organizational and program levels is among the top priorities for CARE International’s new secretary-general, Sofia Sprechmann Sineiro. “I'm totally committed to voices from the global south in the organization, in our programs, and gender equality. These are CARE’s priorities and my priorities as well,” said Sprechmann Sineiro, who has held various roles within the organization for the past 25 years and took over from interim Secretary-General Lindsay Glassco on June 1. The Uruguayan national is the third secretary-general of the humanitarian organization in as many years. Not only is promoting female leadership the right and fair thing to do, she said, but it is also more effective. “When women get involved in crisis response, they have a major impact because there's better coordination and a faster response. Also when women lead in emergency response, they question entrenched gender norms in society and in their own homes,” Sprechmann Sineiro said. Speaking to Devex, she talked about how to promote female and global south leadership, her priorities for CARE, and the need for a rights-based perspective. This conversation has been edited for length and clarity. You’re just a few weeks into the new position. How are you finding it so far? When I applied for the role of secretary-general in January, little did I know what was coming our way. At the same time, I'm actually feeling quite excited because CARE was founded — after World War II, after a moment of big, economic impact and war — for a moment like this one. In that sense, I'm inspired by the work ahead. Frankly, in this crisis, I'm also inspired by some of the work we've been able to do already — not just in supporting people in need, but in pointing out some of the huge gaps that this crisis has exacerbated. For example, we all know that gender-based violence has increased everywhere in the world during the lockdowns. And just last week, CARE published a report called "Where Are the Women?" We analyzed several countries, their responses, and how the teams that respond to the current crisis are composed — only a quarter of them are women. We actually have seen that when women get involved, crises are tackled faster and in a better way. So when I see that we’re able, in this crisis, to support women-led organizations, women leaders in our own teams, I am hopeful that we actually can make a difference in this context. It sounds like female leadership within the organization is a priority for you? Absolutely, but also in our programs, because it has shown that it actually works. We know that this crisis, and poverty generally, affects people unequally. Women are poorer than men on average, so there’s a huge underlying inequality and that's my priority too. This COVID crisis has exacerbated these inequalities ... so we will double down on this with more tenacity. What about local leadership — is that something you're hoping to promote as well? Very much so. It's not just starting now, though; it has been [underway] for many years. I'm from Uruguay, and I actually remember, when I joined CARE in 1994 as a project manager in Cambodia, how different the sector was. I remember my first trip to headquarters and how hard it was, in a room filled mainly with white, Western males, to raise my hand. It was a surprise to me at the time because I had joined the sector with a lot of passion and principles that I thought would be reflective of the change we seek. “When women lead in emergency response, they question entrenched gender norms in society and in their own homes.” --— Sofia Sprechmann Sineiro, secretary-general, CARE International We've come a long way since then, which I'm proud of. And actually CARE in 2014 decided that by this year, we wanted the majority of our members to be from the global south. We put up a very ambitious goal, which we have not met yet, but we now have 11 members from the global north in CARE and another five candidate or affiliate members from the global south. That's certainly one of my big priorities: to make sure that not only is the organization reflective of the communities we serve in terms of policies from the global north and south, but that we have a very clear intent to lead the organization, to influence the decisions and be really [impacted] by the voices from the global south. Were there any lessons learned from your previous roles within CARE that have set you up well to take on this new position? The important thing that's been part of my journey at CARE is to really view all of our work from a rights perspective. We’re not there only to respond to people in need, but people have a right to overcome poverty and to get support in doing that. Poverty is not an accident; it's the decision we take every day globally to create and decreate poverty, discrimination, and exclusion. Sometimes along the way, in logframes and operational files, we may not mention it [the rights perspective] as frequently as we should, but I think that's at the core of all of our work, of all the organizations that work on this front. It's good to be reminded again and again and again, especially at this moment, in which the inequalities that COVID uncovers are so deep. What do you think people should know about you as you take on this new role? I'm coming from a rights and gender equality perspective and from the global south. I myself grew up in exile. I'm from Uruguay. My family had to leave the country. I know what it feels like to grow up in a country which is not yours and to not be allowed back in. I know what injustice feels like, I've been shaped by it. This is who I am. Just before World Refugee Day, I always reflect about this deeply. It has such a huge impact on one's life, on one's place in the world, on how one feels discriminated against, but also on one's ability to speak against injustice. Having been with CARE for 25 years, I've visited over 50 countries and programs. It really keeps you rooted in solidarity with the people we serve. For me, when I get up in the morning, I always think of all of the people who have stayed in my mind throughout this journey that I've been so lucky to meet. I want to continue to be connected to the people we serve at all times. I'll always live in the global south. This is where my heart is, my mind is, my commitment is, and this is where I will continue leading from for CARE.