2 January 2025
A not-for-profit, nongovernmental organization, The Carter Center has helped to improve life for people in more than 70 countries by resolving conflicts; advancing democracy, human rights, and economic opportunity; preventing diseases; improving mental health care; and teaching farmers in developing nations to increase crop production. The Carter Center was founded in 1982 by former U.S. President Jimmy Carter and his wife, Rosalynn, in partnership with Emory University, to advance peace and health worldwide.
MISSION
The Carter Center, in partnership with Emory University, is guided by a fundamental commitment to human rights and the alleviation of human suffering; it seeks to prevent and resolve conflicts, enhance freedom and democracy, and improve health.
While the program agenda may change, The Carter Center is guided by five principles:
1. The Center emphasizes action and results. Based on careful research and analysis, it is prepared to take timely action on important and pressing issues.
2. The Center does not duplicate the effective efforts of others.
3. The Center addresses difficult problems and recognizes the possibility of failure as an acceptable risk.
4. The Center is nonpartisan and acts as a neutral in dispute resolution activities.
5. The Center believes that people can improve their lives when provided with the necessary skills, knowledge, and access to resources.
The Carter Center collaborates with other organizations, public or private, in carrying out its mission.
PROGRAMS
PEACE PROGRAMS
Amid the trend toward greater democracy, The Carter Center has become a pioneer in the field of election observation, monitoring 89 national elections to help ensure that the results reflect the will of the people.
Beyond elections, the Center seeks to deepen democracy by nurturing full citizen participation in public policy-making and by helping to establish government institutions that bolster the rule of law, fair administration of justice, access to information, and government transparency.
A culture of respect for human rights is crucial to permanent peace. The Center supports the efforts of human rights activists at the grass roots, while also working to advance national and international human rights laws that uphold the dignity and worth of each individual.
When democracy backslides or formal diplomacy fails, the Center offers mediation expertise and has furthered avenues for peace in Africa, the Middle East, Latin America, and Asia.
Since 1982, The Carter Center has shown in more than 70 nations that creating a world at peace is a very possible journey, one step at a time.
Current peacemaking initiatives touch all corners of the globe and include:
HEALTH PROGRAMS
A leader in the eradication and elimination of diseases, the Center fights six preventable diseases — Guinea worm, river blindness, trachoma, schistosomiasis, lymphatic filariasis, and malaria — by using health education and simple, low-cost methods. The Center also strives to improve access to mental health care.
These efforts have brought to resource-limited countries better disease surveillance and health care delivery systems. Because communities often are burdened by several diseases, the Center also is pioneering new public health approaches to efficiently and effectively treat multiple diseases at once.
In all our work, an emphasis is placed on building partnerships for change among international agencies, governments, nongovernmental organizations, corporations, national ministries of health, and most of all, with people at the grass roots. We help people acquire the tools, knowledge, and resources they need to transform their own lives, building a more peaceful and healthier world for us all.
Carter Center Health Programs Include:
