Princess Esmeralda of Belgium
CARE Belgium, Honorary President
Testimony, 10th anniversary of CARE Belgium
This year, CARE Belgium celebrated its 10th anniversary under the patronage of Princess Esmeralda of Belgium, Honorary President of CARE Belgium. For this occasion, the Princess reflected on her long-term involvement, the organisation’s evolution and the challenges ahead.
Princess Esmeralda began her career as a journalist, covering issues close to her heart: climate change, the environment and women’s rights. She recalls that “At some point, I realised it was not enough to be just writing about it. I needed to become an activist, to be involved and to help organisations directly.” Although she had worked with NGOs on environmental causes, CARE Belgium was the first humanitarian organisation she actively supported.
Over the past decade, her role has been rooted in advocacy. Princess Esmeralda has supported public relation efforts, gala events and awareness campaigns. In 2019, she climbed Mount Kilimanjaro to raise funds for Maman Shujaa, an organisation founded by Congolese activist Neema Namadamu to empower girls in South Kivu through education and menstrual health support. The Princess introduced Neema’s work to CARE Belgium which later co-financed part of the programme.
What first drew her to CARE’s mission was its focus on women and girls. In 2014, few humanitarian organisations applied a gender lens consistently, especially in the context of the climate crisis. Princess Esmeralda stresses that this gender lens is vital. Women are disproportionately affected by climate change, often being the main agricultural workers, responsible for food and water provision. Despite that they often don’t have access to tools or training, “Women are feeding the world.”
Women offer many solutions in many different aspects, Esmeralda explains, “they are positive agents of change” and this is precisely why it is important to have women integrated in different levels of decision making. In this context, CARE Belgium hosted the event “Climate Change is Sexist” to discuss these particular issues where Princess Esmeralda intervened and featured her movie Amazonia: The Heart of Mother Earth co-directed and co-producted with Gert-Peter Bruch.
In a world where inequality is on the rise, CARE Belgium works to reduce these inequalities. Princess Esmeralda explains how these inequalities are interconnected and exacerbate each other. CARE Belgium’s mission to reduce these inequalities is more urgent than ever.
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Women offer many solutions in many different aspects, Esmeralda explains, “they are positive agents of change” and this is precisely why it is important to have women integrated in different levels of decision making. In this context, CARE Belgium hosted the event “Climate Change is Sexist” to discuss these particular issues where Princess Esmeralda intervened and featured her movie Amazonia: The Heart of Mother Earth co-directed and co-producted with Gert-Peter Bruch.
In a world where inequality is on the rise, CARE Belgium works to reduce these inequalities. Princess Esmeralda explains how these inequalities are interconnected and exacerbate each other. CARE Belgium’s mission to reduce these inequalities is more urgent than ever.
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She also highlights the importance of empowering local communities and listening to people on the ground rather than imposing solutions from the Global North. “They know where aid is needed.” CARE Belgium has embraced this locally led approach which is a positive evolution for all humanitarian engagements.
For Princess Esmeralda, advocacy and awareness-raising are key. “It’s important that people understand what is happening, why CARE exists, and why we must put the focus on women and girls”. The challenges are interconnected: climate, food security, inequality, and gender violence and therefore must be addressed together.
Looking ahead, Princess Esmeralda stresses that humanitarian work is more vital than ever with the need for solidarity only increasing. “We are facing a multiple-faceted crisis and we must therefore tackle climate justice, social justice, and gender equality together”. Her core message is that people need to care for one another, because “CARE is exactly what we need now.”
