Author: hunger

Daisy Owomugasho, Regional Director of The Hunger Project Uganda, wrote the following article that was featured in Uganda’s leading newspaper, ‘The Newvision’.

I believe that there has never been a moment in time more important than today when all forms of community systems are being called upon to rise up and protect our children, especially the girls, from any form of abuse. As we continue the fight against COVID-19, it is everybody’s call to ensure that we do not lose the gains we have laboured so much to realise.

Since March, when schools were ordered to close, we have seen an increase in cases of child marriage in different parts of the country. Prior to the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, Uganda was struggling, but working steadily in its efforts to deliver on a number of international obligations regarding sexual and reproductive health among girls and young boys.

The closure of schools in March as a result of COVID-19 was a good intervention, but it also had a big impact in the area of sexual and reproductive health for girls mainly. Schools play a very big role in protecting girls from a lot of sexually related crimes that are ever present in our communities.

According to the UN and our own observations at The Hunger Project Uganda, if girls were to be allowed to complete the entire primary and secondary education cycle in school, this alone reduces their chances of catching HIV by 50%. Staying in school further insulates the girls from many other sexual and reproductive health situations such as early marriage, domestic violence and all other forms of abuse. Schools, therefore, indirectly contribute to more than 70% of the girl’s chances of a healthy and productive future.

UNFPA estimates that the total effect of the COVID-19 pandemic could mean approximately 13 million additional child marriages globally. This means as a country we need to scale up efforts in building and providing safety for girls. Now that schools are closed, the responsibility of keeping our children safe, especially the girls, has shifted to the communities. Unfortunately, information that has been received regarding the first few months of the girls being at home shows that communities have not been doing a good job.

Since March, when schools were ordered to close, we have seen an increase in cases of child marriage in different parts of the country. We have seen an increase in all forms of abuse targeting the girls such as rape and defilement. Suddenly, the number of new HIV infections among young people has also started to rise again.

For years, The Hunger Project Uganda has invested a lot in building strong community systems that work to protect girls from any form of abuse, including early marriages. We have a vibrant network of community animators with local knowledge that are able to identify such abuses when they occur. The community animators also act as early warning systems against any form of abuse likely to happen to any girl.

Communities have intelligence and are usually in the know regarding what families may be planning to do. When such abuses are identified, the necessary interventions are done to ensure that the girls are protected. I, therefore, believe that there has never been a moment in time more important than today when all forms of community systems are being called upon to rise up and protect our children, especially girls, from any form of abuse.

There are some good community innovations we can borrow from; a case in point is the community of Kalamba sub-county in the Butambala district. As a way of dealing with the rampant cases of child marriage in their area, the local community with support from The Hunger Project Uganda and area leaders mobilised and adopted a community bylaw through their local council.

The bylaw gives communities the power to detect and prevent any form of child marriage by identifying and shaming individuals who continue to engage in this form of abuse. Communities work closely with all local enforcement agencies, including the Police to ensure that cases are thoroughly investigated and victims are protected throughout. As we continue the fight against COVID-19, it is everybody’s call to ensure that we do not lose the gains we have laboured so much to realise. The responsibility of keeping our girls safe from any harm should never be left to schools alone.

In order to contribute to attaining the global development goals, specifically goals 1, 2, 3, 4, 5,10 and 17, The Hunger Project Uganda through its Women Empowerment programme, is implementing Her Choice Project that seeks to create child marriage-free communities in 9 districts of Uganda and safe choices for deaf girls in Mbale. Through gender-focused community-led development (GFCLD), The Hunger Project Uganda has invested significantly in building the capacity of girls, both in and out of school, to participate in decision-making processes through peer clubs.

The Hunger Project Uganda has also built and supported community systems and structures to provide an enabling environment for girls to thrive and reach their full potential Communities should rise up and be safe zones for all our children during this pandemic. We are continuing with our advocacy of ensuring safe places for our girls.

In the Machakel region of northeastern Ethiopia, the grass grows well and the hills are green during the rainy season. However, there was also significant soil erosion on the hills. Due to the erosion, deep channels stripped of vegetation were worn into the otherwise green landscape. Almost all of the native forest on the hills was cut down and the soil was depleted, resulting in crop failures and food insecurity.

Since 2017, The Hunger Project Ethiopia and WeForest have been working together to fight erosion in the area. WeForest is an organisation that empowers communities to sustainably advance and implement lasting solutions to restore forest landscapes.

“Population pressure has increased. Large areas of forest have been cut to create more agricultural land. As a result, the soil isn’t retained as well. Because of climate change, the rains are getting heavier — large areas of land simply wash away,” says Dr Aklilu, Forestry Expert at WeForest.

“WeForest has a lot of expertise in forest planting and forest management. The Hunger Project is strong in engaging and mobilising the community. This is desperately needed because we need action from our village partners in the area. It is ultimately in the interest of the people themselves that erosion is tackled, and we want to achieve that together,” he says.

Our village partners in Machakel play a crucial role in the collaboration, contributing with:

1. Land – they make communal land available for forest planting, instead of grazing cattle
2. Time – they unite in committees, assist in planting seedlings and protecting plants
3. Selection of trees – instead of planting popular, exotic trees such as eucalyptus, they now plant protected, native trees

“The most important thing for me is that we create a better living environment for all of us and counteract the effects of climate change. The children that I will probably have [in the future], must also be able to live here” – Gizachen Buyu, The Hunger Project village partner.

Now, grass has regrown to knee height and trees have grown where erosion channels used to be. The countryside has recovered.

AS OF DECEMBER 2019:

• Seedlings were grown in three nurseries in the region
• Our village partners formed 60 farmer committees
• 530 hectares of community land was made available for forest and planting (where previously it had been used for livestock grazing)
• More than 1 million trees have been planted
• Farmers have planted 735,000 fruit trees and fruit-bearing shrubs on their own land so that 270 hectares of land is now used for agroforestry

Invest in a sustainable future and food security for families here.

The Norwegian Nobel Committee has named the World Food Programme (WFP) the recipient of the 2020 Nobel Peace Prize. As David Beasley, Executive Director of WFP, said in a statement following the award, “Today is a reminder that food security, peace and stability go together. Without peace, we cannot achieve our global goal of zero hunger; and while there is hunger, we will never have a peaceful world.”

Over the last five years, global hunger has steadily increased, driven largely by conflict and environmental shocks. And now, the global COVID-19 pandemic threatens to push 130 million more people into hunger by the end of 2020.

“We salute the Nobel Committee for highlighting the issue of world hunger, and congratulate our partners at the World Food Programme,” said Sheree Stomberg, Chair of The Hunger Project’s Global Board of Directors. “It is critical that the world community step up our efforts and invest the resources needed to end hunger.”

“We have seen that when community members work together to achieve development goals, they become stronger, more resilient and more peaceful. This is the key to sustainable change,” said Stomberg.

Hunger is rooted in deeply entrenched conditions of inequality, conflict, corruption and climate change. We at The Hunger Project work in partnership with local communities to implement solutions that are sustainable, multi-sectoral, and community-led, to catalyze systemic change throughout governance structures and society.

We are glad the Norwegian Nobel Committee turned the world’s attention to the importance of ending hunger through this award. Let this recognition kickstart a decade of action and global commitment toward ending hunger.

Originally published by The Hunger Project.

 

There are other ways to give to a not-for-profit in addition to monetary investment. Everybody has something they can contribute.

Essentially, there are two main ways you can give to a not-for-profit on top of a financial investment — they are time and skills. There is lots of work to be done by organisations who are tackling huge global issues, so the time and skills of others are invaluable.

If you’re wanting to further your involvement with a cause you’re passionate about, you can combine both time and skills to become a pro-bono partner; that is, volunteer your professional expertise to support the operations of an organisation.

Here at The Hunger Project, we have a handful of pro-bono agencies and freelancers who support us with high-quality work. Here’s a summary from one of our pro-bono partners, Good Data Institute, about how exactly they partnered with us and the impact they were able to create by doing what they do best.

In 2019, the Good Data Institute (GDI) partnered with The Hunger Project Australia (THPA) to support an internal pro-bono data and analytics project. The Hunger Project team wanted to use its donations data to better understand the needs and behaviour of its donor community. Luke Mills and Elizabeth Reid of GDI spent ~50 hours examining donation patterns, the typical lifecycle of different donor archetypes, and the strengths of different appeals and campaigns. At the end of the project, GDI provided THPA with a fact base that it can use to support its future marketing and communications strategies.

The work of THPA has long been respected by the GDI team; Tom Perfrement has previously run P2P campaigns for THPA, and Luke is close with youth board members Jo Akehurst and Ethan Atkins. GDI is inspired by THPA’s ability to form deep and extensive connections between donors and Epicentres while driving meaningful progress towards ending global poverty and hunger. The team was honoured to be able to work with The Hunger Project, and hopes to support THPA with its data and analytics needs in the future.

If you are interested in partnering with us for the end of hunger, please get in touch with our Head of Partnerships at sivanjana.kathiravel@thp.org and let us know how you’d like to work with us —all ideas welcome!

A big congratulations to long-time THP investor, National & Global Board member Roger Massy-Greene. 

He was honoured on Australia Day, 26 January 2019, and awarded a Member of the Order of Australia for significant service to the community through philanthropic initiatives and investment. 

This is well-deserved recognition for someone who has given so much personally – and together with his family – to The Hunger Project!

The Hunger Project’s innovative and holistic approach to ending world hunger calls for the empowerment of rural communities in India, Africa and Bangladesh to take charge of their own development, transform entrenched harmful traditional practices and beliefs, and be active citizens who know their rights and hold the government to account.

All of our programs – while adapted to meet local opportunities and challenges – share three essential things that will end hunger for good:

1) Start by empowering women as key change agents

The vast majority of people living in hunger and poverty are women. Women bear almost all responsibility for meeting the basic needs of the family, yet are systematically denied the resources, information and freedom of action they need to fulfil this responsibility.

Studies show that when women are supported and empowered, all of society benefits. Their families are healthier, more children go to school, agricultural productivity improves and incomes increase. That’s why we focus on building the capacity of women.

2) Mobilise entire communities into self-reliant action

Our aim is to overcome the deep resignation within people living in hunger, and awaken them to the possibility of a different future, one free from hunger. We build people’s knowledge, skills and leadership, so they can take action to improve their own communities.

3) Foster effective partnerships to engage local government 

We work in partnership with local government bodies to ensure that they are effective, include women in leadership positions, are directly accountable to local people, and provide access to resources and information. We also educate and encourage communities to demand what they’re entitled to from their governments, including services, resources and financial schemes and benefits.

You can read more in our 2021 Global Investor Report.

 

Women’s roles as village council (Panchayat) leaders are transforming the way people live in India. Although they often have much adversity to overcome – due to social conditioning and attitudes around gender – women are emerging as powerful leaders motivated by a desire to provide better lives for their families and communities.

When women are empowered with skills and knowledge, they act as change agents – creating opportunities to improve life and participate in the positive development of their community. The training they receive through our programs allows them to realise their full potential and instils the confidence required to approach local governments with authority. As such, they develop voices that are heard in public forums and generate the support of the people.

Through the Panchayat, they interact with people who can assist them in creating the changes they prioritise, such as –

• Ensuring all children (particularly girls) have access to an education
• Ensuring quality healthcare is available and accessible to all
• Installing clean water systems and sanitary facilities to meet basic human needs
• Addressing violence and inequality against women – so that all may live to their fullest potential

Elected women, like Geeta (pictured below), carry with them a deep sense of pride and responsibility to act in the best interests of all. By taking time to speak with people in their villages – including those previously left out of the development agenda – they find out what is truly wanted and needed and act on it.

 

“I draw determination from my heart, from within…I feel I’m not a regular woman – I’m a special woman! I am proud to be elected as the President of my local council area. I won by 1,500 votes because I took the time to speak to people in my community about what they wanted.” – Geeta Rao – An Elected Woman Representative trained by The Hunger Project in India.

We are thrilled to announce the launch of the Decjuba x THP t-shirts.

The t-shirts are available for purchase in black and gold or black and white in-store or via the link here.

All of the proceeds from this limited edition t-shirt will go towards The Hunger Project’s work empowering women to end hunger.

A special thank you to our wonderful partners at Decjuba.