Rick Perera
CARE USA
Phone: +1.404.979.9453

Andrew Shih
Corkery Group (for Gates Foundation),
Phone: +1.212.584.5012

ATLANTA -- Ten weeks after the Indian Ocean tsunami, seven of the world's leading humanitarian organizations are collaborating to expand the pool of qualified aid workers, helping address key shortages in skills. The Emergency Capacity-Building Initiative, funded with a grant of $5.18 million over two years from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, aims to combine the agencies' collective knowledge and experience to improve the speed, quality and effectiveness of emergency response.
 
To read the full release, visit CARE's Web site.

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Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation
Guided by the belief that every life has equal value, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation works to help all people lead healthy, productive lives. In developing countries, it focuses on improving people's health and giving them the chance to lift themselves out of hunger and extreme poverty. In the United States, it seeks to ensure that all people—especially those with the fewest resources—have access to the opportunities they need to succeed in school and life. Based in Seattle, the foundation is led by CEO Jeff Raikes and co-chair William H. Gates Sr., under the direction of Bill and Melinda Gates and Warren Buffett.