The Hunger Project 2016 Annual Report
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THE HUNGER PROJECT 2016 ANNUAL REPORT THE HUNGER PROJECT AT A GLANCE principles • Human Dignity • Sustainability • Gender Equality • Social Transformation • Empowerment • Holistic Approach • Leverage • Decentralization • Interconnectedness • Transformative Leadership vision: A world where every woman, man and child leads a healthy, fulfilling life of self-reliance and dignity. mission: To end hunger and poverty by pioneering sustainable, grassroots, women-centered strategies and advocating for their widespread adoption in countries throughout the world. THE HUNGER PROJECT AT A GLANCE PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE SUZANNE MAYO FRINDT ll people, everywhere, have a right to lead The Hunger Project is a catalytic and strategic a healthy, fulfilling life of self-reliance and organization with a bold mission to end, not A dignity. This is our vision. alleviate, hunger and poverty. We highly leverage our pioneering work, which was active in nearly In pursuit of this vision, for more than three 16,000 communities around the world in 2016, decades, The Hunger Project has been pioneering as a demonstration of what’s possible when we sustainable, grassroots, women-centered strategies invest in people. We amplify the successes in these to end hunger and poverty around the world. communities when we advocate to governments, Three pillars underpin our work: (1) we start by international agencies and development empowering women as key change agents; (2) practitioners for the widespread adoption of we mobilize entire communities to take self-reliant methodologies that put women and people at action; and (3) we forge effective partnerships the center. This advocacy work also requires with government. transformation — as we urge governments, Hunger is not merely about food. It is about development practitioners and funders to shift from transformation. It begins with the transformation sector-based projects toward processes that are of individual mindsets to move from a spirit of holistic and led by communities themselves. resignation to one of “I can” and “We will!” It calls As an investor in The Hunger Project’s work to end for the transformation of communities to break hunger for the last three decades, it is my honor down age-old barriers and patriarchal structures, to be leading The Hunger Project as President and so all community members can be active citizens CEO during our 40th anniversary celebration in and access resources that are rightfully theirs. This 2017. Together, we can — and will — achieve a transformative work to end hunger results in the world without hunger. unleashing of the human spirit. In partnership, Cover: Trained elected woman leader Mamta Devi, president of Bihra Kramank panchayat, India Suzanne Mayo Frindt Above: Photo, from right: Suzanne Mayo Frindt and her husband Dwight Frindt; former Hunger Project President and CEO Åsa President & CEO Skogström Feldt; and Ghana Country Director Samuel Afrane at Nsuta-Aweregya Epicenter’s self-reliance celebration in 2016. 1 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY: MOBILIZING TO END HUNGER uring the last 40 years, The Hunger Project’s active citizens, and when they act in partnership work has always been about, for and with with effective, accountable institutions at the D people. The work has focused on shifting community level, the result is profound social and mindsets, or historical ways of thinking, that keep political transformation. hunger and poverty in place. While adapted to meet local challenges and A fundamental element of The Hunger Project’s opportunities wherever we work, all our programs work is to mobilize communities, starting with have these three essential elements at their women, for self-reliant action. Mobilization foundation: is a process that shifts underlying mindsets Empowering women as key and resignation — awakening people to 1. Start with Women: change agents. new possibilities for their own lives, families, communities and for our world being sustainably 2. Mobilize Everyone: Mobilizing clusters of rural hunger-free. Our local staff and trained volunteers communities for self-reliant action. lead this process of mobilization at the community 3. Engage Government: Forging effective partnerships level in our programs throughout Africa, South with local government. Asia and Latin America. When communities are mobilized in this way, they engage in self-reliant In eight countries of Africa, through The actions to end hunger, and they establish and Hunger Project’s Epicenter Strategy, communities maintain community trust, which can even help are leading holistic, women-centered programs, ensure peace. reaching 1.7 million people, with the goal of declaring their self-reliance — meaning they are Our mobilization work on a global level is to set up to sustain and further the work begun in advocate for governments, funding agencies and partnership with The Hunger Project. As of the end other international development actors to shift of 2016, a total of 15 epicenters — comprising from investing in short-term projects and sector- 211,697 people — had declared self-reliance, and based silos to investing in people and in holistic, The Hunger Project has activated its exit strategy. multi-sectoral, community-led approaches that put The continuing work of these communities is a women at the center — what we call “community- demonstration of the sustainability of community- led development.” led approaches. This report highlights our work to empower self- Across seven states of India in 2016, The Hunger reliance in nearly 16,000 communities as well as our Project empowered women elected to local global advocacy efforts to end hunger and poverty. government in more than 2,500 panchayats (rural Pioneering Programs to End Hunger village councils), whose work reached more than 10 million people, to shift the development agenda Our holistic, bottom-up approach empowers in their communities and meet local needs. At the women, men and youth living in rural villages to regional level, we facilitate federations of women become the agents of their own development and leaders to strengthen their voice and provide a make sustainable progress in overcoming hunger platform for learning and exchange. These elected and poverty. When people — both women and leaders exemplify the power of investing in women. men equally — are mobilized to participate as Johannes Odé In Bangladesh, The Hunger Project mobilized 2015 to advocate for community-led approaches local volunteer “animators,” women and youth worldwide. This alliance, called the Movement for leaders, and local government representatives Community-led Development, works to create a in 185 unions (clusters of rural villages), whose widespread practice of community-led approaches work reached nearly 4.9 million people in 2016, and to advocate for funding sources for this work. to carry out holistic, bottom-up strategies to As of December 2016, the global Movement achieve the United Nations Sustainable included newly established local chapters in Malawi, Development Goals in their communities. Netherlands and the United Kingdom, with plans underway for chapters in Benin, Burkina Faso, In Mexico and Peru, The Hunger Project supports Mexico and more in 2017. communities in implementing community-led development initiatives. In 2016, these initiatives At the national level, our country leaders prioritized reached more than 22,000 people in isolated, rural the formation of effective partnerships with communities, which larger development processes government to bring The Hunger Project’s approach leave behind. to national scale. This work culminated in the signing of key memorandums of understanding The Hunger Project strategically leverages its with the Ministry of Local Government and Rural pioneering programs through our global Development in Malawi and with the Economic advocacy program to transform the way the Community of West African States (ECOWAS). world does development. Strong partnerships with government at the local Advocating for Widespread Adoption level are also essential to scaling up our community mobilization work. The Hunger Project is committed to using the strength of our approach and experience to play To support our advocacy efforts for the widespread the highest possible leverage role in the world’s adoption of women-centered, community-led achievement of the Sustainable Development approaches to development, The Hunger Project Goal to end hunger by 2030. We therefore places a high priority on documenting our work so work to advocate for the widespread adoption of that we can share it with partners and hold it up as women-centered and community-led approaches a model. With a focus on participatory monitoring so that they are available to all at a scale that is and evaluation, our system is designed to recognize beyond incremental progress — enabling true and include communities as the key stakeholders transformation in our world. in data collection and evaluation. For example, in 2016, community partners participated in 290 Though we have programs on the ground in community data presentations and monitored their countries that are home to 287 million people progress using data transparency boards, now living in hunger, our commitment extends to the implemented at half our program sites in Africa. other 528 million people who are living in hunger around the world. And, we know we cannot reach them alone. We forge partnerships wherever Above right: Ayelech Ebsa and her family learned about the possible to leverage our resources,